Mostly Blues Happy Post

I've spent more time outside lately it seems than in. I've been raking, scrubbing, sweeping and replanting. It feels good to be moving and though I have a slightly sore shoulder and scratches on my hands, I'm thankful to have the strength to do these things.  As well as admire these pretty common dog violets that have crept into the flower beds and are in bloom now. I've let them be which may be a mistake as there are many more around than last year.  But they are so pretty.

And a favourite perennial of mine, the  purply blue dwarf hyacinths have cropped up here and there.  (A blue hyacinth symbolizes sincerity, btw). Blooming before I had a chance to rake the garden. White violets peeking out there on the left.

It feels marvelous to come inside, shower, check for ticks!, and sit back with a cup of tea (in my gift of a cup from daughter) and some stitching.

Applique has been my main focus in the sewing room. Prepped a pile of leaves and chose a new flower shape for more of my Stringed Blocks As Backgrounds blocks. This is a great scrappy project as I've been combing my little tins and totes for bits big enough to use.

Hopefully I will finish five of these and ten more of the basket blocks this month.  That should be doable so I'll make it my June OMG at Elm Street Quilts where Patty is doing some painting with colourful fabrics using foundation paper pineapple designs to great effect.

In between these two got taken to the vet for their annual checkups. A few fatty lumps between the two of them but otherwise great especially for their ages; Rex is 12 and Murphy is 8.  They both find vet visits stressful and sleep a lot when they get home. Poor things. Still very soggy down by the pond and with regular rainfalls, it will probably remain so for a while longer.

I had a flock of blue jays drop by to check out the bird feeder last week. I am always happy to see blue jays though I know some don't like them.  It was unusual to see such a large group of them at once. After much jabbering and jockeying, they disappeared in a flash. The oldest known banded wild blue jay was almost 27 years old when it was found off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada caught in fishing gear. So much about these birds is unknown which suprises me as they are so common.

And now to the sublime-
One of my friends on Facebook (thank you Linda!) sent me a link that led me to the amazing embroidery on the Game of Thrones' costumes..costume designer, Michele Clapton's stupendous work.  Breathtaking stumpwork!
I spent ages looking through The Wedding Gallery  I don't think I've seen anything like it before and I've been looking at embroideries for a long time. The rendering of the natural world- birds, fish, leaves, trees, insects etc. filled me with awe for such talented fingers.


And something else that is awe inspiring. It is Iceberg Alley time off the coast of my home province, Newfoundland and Labrador.  This is the video of Dylan Dreyer from The Today Show visiting Newfoundland and kudos to Dylan for learning to pronounce Newfoundland the way we do.

This was a post I tried to keep all blues but alas Rex and Murphy are not blue and none of my scraps are blue as such either so that didn't quite work out now did it.

Thank you, btw, for all for the kind comments on my posts...a real positive in my days. It is also the only way I know who is reading and an avenue for us to connect. If you visit me, I will definitely visit you back!

Thankful too to link with Not Afraid of Color, It's A Small Town Life, Paying Ready Attention, My Quilt Infatuation, Humble Quilts, Viewing Nature with Eileen and Brian's Home Blog.