Birthday Outing, Flowers and Fabrics

This is Gladioli by the artist, Adrian Paul Allison. Here is the link to Adrian's Wikipedia page.

                                                  

Gladioli are the flower of August, my birth month. It blooms large and showy and in many colours. As much as I wish it were my favourite flower, it is not. In fact, if I lined up all flowers it would probably land near the end of the pack. It's a little too over the top for my liking. While I admire showy, it's not me. I prefer the wild flowers, the tiny, the ones that bloom against all odds in challenging weather and places. Blue Flag comes to mind as a perfect example. It blooms atop grassy Newfoundland cliffs where the stiff breezes off the North Atlantic can almost knock you over on a windy day. It blooms bright and beautiful in spite of the conditions with not a helping hand from anyone. The version I planted here is more of an Iris, tall and slender, compared to the stocky Blue Flag at home. But I do love it too.

I enjoyed my birthday very much. I'm 75 now and, though that's just a number, it does sound like a daunting figure to me. Am I now supposed to feel old but I absolutely do not. I'm very lucky so far with being able to move my body without aches or pains the same as I have done all my life. Tony will tell you it is because I work at it. Which I do but I'm thankful to be able to do that too and still have the will to keep it up.  

But getting back to the birthday. I had a weekend away at a beautiful hotel in a neighbouring town, Perth. Here is a view of our hotel from the park it is beside.

 We sat outside on the sunny Saturday and watched as folks were setting up for two weddings. How fortunate for those brides to be blessed with sun during this very wet and cloudy summer. The next day, it was back to gloom and rain clouds.

 Here is a photo of our room snacks. 

We spent Saturday wandering in and out the shops on the main street. One of them is a fabric shop so we spent quite a lot of time in there and I did buy fabric. It is much more tempting in person than online I realized. And these pretty end bits were on sale.  I also bought John James needles which are my favourites.

They had a wall of Tula Pink which I resisted so there is more I could have bought...of course!

While together, I made a start on an embroidery kit Beth gave me last year. Puffins are Newfoundland's provincial bird. 

They got to see many including this one below at Bonavista while on this summer's trip home. They are such a comical looking little bird. 

Meanwhile, Brad kept Tony company with takeout and drinks which they both enjoyed. I am lucky to have had a good break like that and I enjoyed every minute. 

The dogs gave me such a greeting when I got back I had to brace myself or they would have knocked me down. 

Back home and with my sewing, I've pulled out this appliqued hanging to layer up and quilt which I have officially begun. This is Kim Mclean's floral design and you can see her beautiful work and designs at that link.

And on that colourful note, I'll end this post. I have lots more to share with you, so till next time then. 

Take Care all!