“I would heartily advise all men of meanes, to be stirred up to bend their minds, and spend a little more time and travel in these delights of herbes and flowers…”

 ~~John Parkinson, Theatrum Botanicum (1640)~~

Summer is in full swing and I am feeling much better than I was a month ~ nay, even a few days ago.  I have a tendency to be quite out of sorts until the garden is in.  It took me a little longer this year and there were a multitude of setbacks, but it is finally in!  There are nasturtiums, marigolds, catmint and coneflowers.  Cosmos, yarrow and dill.  Cheerful snapdragons the color of the sunset. Tomatoes and chives and gently swaying grasses.  All is freshly weeded and mulched.  There is an old wood bench tucked against the fence that is shaded by a sheltering maple.  It is a pleasant spot to observe winged visitors, for my garden has an abundance of feeders and a large bath.  The garden gnome (mossy old fellow!) plays his concertina beneath a shower of birdseed.  Two mushroom-shaped garden lights, a gift from a neighbor, emit a soft glow at dusk.  St. Fiacre in his leafy bower watches peacefully over it all. My heart is in this little bit of a garden and all is right with my world… 

"That beautiful season the Summer!  Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood."
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ~ 

Early Work Mercantile

 Take a peek at my Early Work Mercantile page where I’m offering some wonderful items with a nod to the red, white, and blue – including 3 sets of my paper covered boxes, antique samplers in red and blue, an old red make-do and a trio of patriotic pincushions made with early calicos.

Two New Patterns!

Two new patterns are released this month!  One for cross stitch and one for needle punch. 

If you are in the mood for a little Christmas in July you will love Christmastime Sewing Roll – one of the Quaint Country Ladies designs from last year.  It includes some wonderful symbolic motifs including pomegranates (life), doves (peace, Holy Spirit), and St. Lucia/St. Lucy with her crown of candles – a symbol of light and harbinger of the Christmas season.

Rosy Posey is a cheerful little design for needle punch.  And if you hook rugs, you can enlarge the pattern and hook it!

Links to both designs can be found below.  Available in mailed and e-pattern (instant download) format.

In the Works...

Watch for another new cross stitch pattern in August!

Until next month, my friends, wave your parade flags, enjoy a glass of lemonade, and relish these blessed days of summer…

~Wendy~

 "We love our land for what she is and what she is to be.

Oh, it’s home again, and home again, America for me!"

~~Henry Van Dyke~~