An antique sampler

Greetings, all!
I have been out working in the garden, but it started to really pour!!  I thought I'd pass the time making a quick blog post.
Here is an antique sampler I had folded up in a drawer.  I found a really ugly sampler that I had stitched years ago (on aida cloth!!) but in a nice vintage frame.  I disassembled it, and voila!!  The frame  turned out to be the perfect size for Dorothy Crawford.  She is a Scottish sampler, dated 1845 which is pretty late for a typical Scottish sampler to be stitched.  Nothing out of the ordinary, the red and green eyelet alphabet, letters and numbers, and initials, but very pleasant to look at.  I love her red eyed bunnies and purple dogs.  She is finished with hem stitch, so I mounted it to a piece of linen.

Of course, I can't end without a kitten photo.  They are almost a year old now, but will always be the "kittens" to me :)

Melinda

A Mother's Day Bouquet for you

This is a beautiful tree peony that was given to us from a dear friend's garden down the street.  It was absolutely beautiful for days, but is now beaten down by the heavy downpour yesterday.  Happy Mother's Day to all.  I am very blessed to have my dear Mother and best friend living here with me.
Melinda

Some progress and photos on a beautiful spring day

Good evening everybody.  I hope you all have had such a wonderful day as I have...low 70's with no humidity.  First I'll share my progress on Scarlet Letter's Manifesto.  I have now been working on this for two months, and it is hard to put down.  I always want to stitch just a tiny bit more...  It is nice because when you don't feel like concentrating on a chart, you can just stitch mindlessly on the background.

I also made a small start on M Quertier, also Scarlet Letter.  There is something I love about the stark black Quaker medallion samplers...sorry the pic is slightly blurry.

On Saturday, I stopped at one of the antique stores in town, Midwest Memories.  Every time I drive through Tipp City, I always think that if there is a park out in front of an antique store, it is like karma for me to go in.  Do you ever see something in a store and think that is so unique it must be really expensive?  Imagine my delight at finding this darling vintage sewing box for $12!!!  It has nice little brass hinges and folds out to reveal a lined interior with pockets, and a large pincushion.  The other little pincushion I made.

Here are two of the horses enjoying the green grass.

I spent most of the day outdoors mowing, weeding, placing pots for annuals and filling them with potting soil.  Here is a picture as you come in the gate with the crabtree starting to bloom.

This big old lilac next to the barn I'm sure is over a hundred years old!  There are several of these old lilacs and used to be lots of big old mulberry trees scattered around, but storms have taken all but a few.

Just a part of the garden as things start to come alive.  Thanks for stopping by...I love to read your comments!   hugs, Melinda