Saturday, April 16, 2011

Part Two and Some Fun as Well

The final leg of our trip brought us down the coast and an overnight stay at our #4 son and DIL's home.  They are only a couple of hours from us, but it is always nice to be able to spend time with them and the grandchildren at their home.

We all packed up and headed to the local Farmer's Market, did a little shopping and picked up some yummy food for dinner.  We are blessed to have some fabulous fresh Farmer's Markets in our area almost every day of the week since our area is basically an agricultural area. The weather, however,  was cold and we awoke to frost on the rooftops in the morning.  I'm thinking that cannot make the farmers happy.


Globe artichokes.


Lilacs - the smell was to die for!!!!


A variety of fresh goodies.  I loved the golden beets.


Buckets of Calla Lilies.


Nothing like a fresh strawberry!


Aren't these colors great together?  A quilt idea?????

Our glass elevator attendant!

Never one to sit with idle hands while driving, I had many small projects that I had packed for the trip.  I made several hats for the grandchildren, finished my Birdie Stitches block and did some tatting.




Of course the first few days back home is filled with catching up on mail and laundry.  Can someone tell me how does a house get dusty when no one is even living in it!!!

While we were away some wonderful packages arrived in the mail for me so coming home was just like Christmas.  I had won several giveaways in March and they made their way to my house. 

First was a "everything green" giveaway from Maggie.  It was just packed full of wonderful "green" goodies including a beautiful hand quilted tote.


An inspirational Art Quilt book arrived from Sherri.


A lovely fall book and fabrics came from Vicki.


As well I received some fabulous cards from Tracey.  Tracey makes her cards from her photos that she takes around her farm in Australia.  I love how she places her quilts on her animals for the photos.


My Civil War blocks that I missed while I was away gave me hair pulling issues.  If there was a way to do a seam wrong, I found it.  I took so many stitches out that I almost threw them all away.  In the end I figured I could live with my Little Blue Basket having tan bases instead of blue.  Grrr.


This week's White House block gave me no problems.  Thank goodness!!!


I really love scrap quilts and have started a Spiderweb quilt.   Thanks to Wanda for some fabulous scraps (her quilts are to die for) and some fat quarters from Marilyn, my quilt is growing by the day.


One wonderful thing about returning home is to see how much the garden has grown.  Everything is really blooming out and the warmer temperatures are appreciated by us and the flowers.


This orchid merely had buds when we left.  We came home to this lovely showing.


My new iris garden is popping out all over.


As well, the roses are putting forth their first big flush of color.


I love the lavender.


It is a beautiful weekend in the neighborhood and the kids and grands will all be coming for a BBQ to celebrate the April birthdays.

30 comments:

  1. That looks like quite a garden. I would love to go to a farmer's market like that sometime. Actually just a farmer's market would be nice. We're too small to have that here.

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  2. The farm market looks great. Farm fresh is always best! Your grandchildren look so cute! They will look really cute with their hats from grandma. I've been downloading the Birdy Stitches blocks--yours look really cute! I haven't had time to start the blocks. I like all the mail you received while you were gone--enjoy. That is a whole lot better than bills! I think your civil war blocks look great. No one is going to know about the basket block unless you tell them :) The spiderweb blocks look fun! I haven't tried that pattern. Thanks for sharing all the neat pictures with us and have a wonderful weekend!

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  3. You are so lucky to live someplace so warm - fresh produce? I cannot even imagine as I watch the snow continue to fall. Perhaps all the misconceptions of Canada being perpetually winter are not misconceptions at all? At least they feel like realities this year! We got 15 cm of snow on the 14th and they are predicting more.
    I love the little hats you knitted and the chubby hand stitched birds you did on those blocks are awesome.

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  4. Great post :-) Lovely pictures! I like the picture of the lilacs.... I'm working on a quilt with Lilac Hill fabric right now.

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  5. Very nice pictures! The flowers were especially beautiful. I especially love lavender....the scent is heavenly.

    Farmer' markets are great and we enjoy visiting the one nearby...anxiously awaiting their opening.

    Your blocks are great and I love the kids' hats you knitted. Great job!

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  6. wow! what fun! nice day out!!! love this!

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  7. How did I miss Part I?? What a fabulous, though hairy at times, trip. Your garden looks absolutely fabulous.

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  8. Your trip sounds wonderful and it was so nice seeing all your photos. Love those farmers markets.
    Your roses are looking healthy and full of blooms. What I'd give for such a beautiful rose garden!
    I love that orchid too.
    You stay busy every minute, don't you? Such cute little hats :)
    Great giveaways. You've been lucky lately!
    The little strawberry eater is a sweetie :)
    We'll celebrate 40 years together tomorrow!
    Time flies when you're having fun :)

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  9. OMG I can't believe the size of those artichokes! LOL I am very behind on my CW blocks, hopefully I will get caught up tomorrow - I'm trying to decide if I want to put a handle on my basket. Congrats on all the nice winnings.

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  10. What a great farmers market.
    the golden yellow and purple would be a lovely quilt.
    Gorgeous grandies.
    You did keep your hands busy, nice hats and stitcheries.
    Great mail and beautiful flowers to come home to.
    I really love spiderweb quilts.
    Enjoy your BBQ with the family.

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  11. I feel like I was on the trip with you.

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  12. Fabulopus photos! That strawberry looks large enough to be a meal in itself! And your sewing is always such an inspiration to me. Beautiful!
    Your garden is way ahead of mine at the moment. Rose bushes are growing but we are a couple of months from flowers, I think. However, the weather has been so warm you can practically see things growing. The best have been some seeds I planted in trays - they were seedlings within 3 days and are getting bigger every day. I can't wait to see what they are. I forgot to label the tray. Sigh. Oh well, gardening surpirses are good.

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  13. Wow!!! I'd like to go to that farmer's market! What a great trip and even on vacation you are very productive!

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  14. those artichokes just look yummy! I love farmers markets...just all the colors are inspiring...Glad you had a fun time!

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  15. That farmers garden looked great. I love all of your projects, you manage to get a lot done. Your garden is awesome. Mine is still trying to sleep for a day or two more, we aren't quite as warm. I love your posts.

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  16. Good to see that spring is in the air for you. Everything is so lovely in this post. Your CWQ blocks are gorgeous. I'm glad to report that I'm keeping up with them too. I will post the last 4 blocks together soon - Love you scrap quilt too - Hugs Nat

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  17. I enjoyed all the lovely photos you posted of the farmers market and your garden. I can almost smell those lovely lilacs:)

    Your grandchildren are adorable! How nice to be able to spend time together.

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  18. Looks like you had a great time and looks like you had a great homecoming with all of those gifts. I LOVE your lavender. I just saw some on another blog called Mona lavender. Is that what yours is? Is it hard to grow? I would love to have some on my deck. Oh and I loved sweeing that farmers market. How fun.

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  19. The farmers market pictures are great. Love your spiderweb beginnings. And your garden is looking lovely.

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  20. You are so lucky to have such a great farmers market near you. I laugh at my kids friends when they don't know what a star fruit, papaya, and kiwi are. But I felt a bit naive when I saw some of your pics. I never knew that beets were any color other than red. And I love beets. It seems the postman has been good to you lately. Enjoy your goodies.

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  21. That was quite a bonanza in the mail when you came home! I'm glad you can use the skinny scraps too.

    We are so far from farmers markets right now. It was 37 degrees today. I hope the frost didn't hurt the crops.

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  22. Wow! Lots of impressive photos!!! Look like a wonderful time at the market, and lots of great stitching going on! Good for you!!! 8-)

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  23. Wow Needled Mom..and you thought I was busy! Love your garden, the visit with the grandkids and especially your quilt blocks. How I can relate to the pulling out the stitches part. I'll be sewing all day to day..when I'm not cooking for hubby's boss.

    Love your post!
    xo
    Donna

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  24. Oh my, Mary! What great pictures.... and those packages! They are unbelievable.

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  25. Your gardens make me drool and so anxious to get into mine and digging around!! It will be a while yet as it is still so cold. Hail, sleet and snow in the north today!

    That farmers market looks so good. Can't wait for ours to open in a few months. I can just smell the lilacs just from looking at the pictures of them. Mine are budded but this cold will slow them down a lot.

    Lots of great surprises when you got home!! Isn't that fun?! I had a fun surprise from you today!!!!!! I just love the puzzle piece, it is just so adorable!! Thank you so much!! I love the little flowers you put on the side, as always you do lovely work!

    I took Miss T's quilt to the quilter yesterday and now am working on the Christmas one with the trees in each block. I think it's going to be cute and has lots of stitching around the trees which I love to do and is an easy pattern. Everything is cut out and the trees are on the blocks so tonight I will start the stitching around them.

    I didn't know you did tatting. Is that what's done with a little, oh now I can't think what it's called! A mind is a terrible thing to lose!!!

    Well I just gave Dad a haircut. They are going to go tomorrow to visit their neighbors that live beside them in Florida, they live about 45 minutes from here. I hope the weather has cleared up.

    R is over visiting his Dad. Tomorrow he and J are going to Manchester to visit a couple of the agencies and then a Chamber of Commerce dinner. They won't be home until late and that's with flying, thank goodness they don't have to drive.

    We are having about 20 in for Easter dinner. It's going to be really casual this year for a change and everyone will go home from church and change into their jeans etc.. Everyone is bringing something and I will bake a ham and a turkey and of course make some yeast rolls. They would fire me if I didn't make any!

    Again thank you for the sweet puzzle piece, you are so creative!! xoxoxox

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  26. Love all your photos from the Farmers market, wish I could smell that lilac! Nice to come home to your own garden starting to bloom when you've been away. Love the look of your spider web quilt too, nice and scrappy.

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  27. Having our own veggie garden (in the summer!!), I don't usually need to go to a Farmer's Market but I still enjoy going to one:-) The one we have in town is closed for the winter months and won't be opening until May sometime. There's one we like going to in Niagara Falls when we're there but they still hadn't opened yet either.

    Congratulations on all the giveaways you've won, woohoo:-) It's so much fun receiving such goodies in the mail instead of the usual bills! I'm still waiting for a couple more prizes that I had won in the OWOH, the gals told me to be patient because they were still working on it! lol

    Your orchids are so beautiful and what a treat it must have been to come home to find them all in bloom like that. At the Floral Showhouse in NF, their orchids were all in bloom and I couldn't get over how wonderful their scent was.

    I'm sooooo envious of your garden, look at all those flowers blooming and GREEN grass and trees! lol Still no buds on the trees over here and I think my tulips and daffodils are scared of showing their faces, especially with the winter storm we had yesterday. Today it's sunny and 45F so it's melting...let's hope that's the last of the snow!!

    I've always wondered that too, how come the house gets so dusty when no one is home...one of life's mysteries! hehe Take care my friend!! xoxo

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  28. I get sick if I do things while driving.....but it looks like you made good use of your time. Loved your post and pictures.

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  29. Lots of pretties. I love a farmer's market. Everything is so fresh. Your birdie blocks are very sweet and I really love your spiderweb blocks.

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  30. Those vegetable look so fresh and appetising, especially the artichokes.

    Have not seen courgettes sold with the flower on before. It does look a sensational display and can see why it takes you into quilt mode Mary.

    The flowers in the Queen Victoria memorial gardens outside the palace are not for the wedding visitors, they are always there. Just happens the unseasonal hot weather brought the tulips on too soon. I see on tv today it is just the yellow wall flowers left.

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