Sashiko.....finally finished

Yesterday Blogger did not want to co-operate and I finally gave up. This morning was better. I do have problems at times to get all the pictures to show up, usually the first one, so that's why the rose is first, just in case it was a no show.
With the cool and rainy weather we have had, the roses are doing very well and I think I start to like them.So far I have not run into many problems disease wise.

This piece with hand appliqued circles and sashiko is finally all together. The borders were a lot of work. I did each border piece seperate, sewed the whole thing together and then finished the sashiko where the border pieces would meet. That way I could match them no too badly.









I have not decided how to quilt this. I could use a big stitch, similar to sashiko or machine quilt it. Regular quilting is not possible with my
painful shoulders, what is too bad, but reality .
It does not help either, that I try to keep the flowerbeds looking not great, but acceptable.


Behind the house are a lot of shrubs and in front of them is a real nice groundcover, that has taken over. Very slowly I'm pulling most of that out and later will replace that with some SLOW growing perenials. As I was working away I heard a noise and I found this little fellow in one of the bushes. He did not like the idea of having to share the flowerbed with anybody else.
We have had company of and on for the last week. Shawn and Emily flew from Calgary to Hamilton, spend some time with Jeanette and Tony., Then we picked them up and they have been busy since with weddings and visiting friends. A few more days at a cottage and it will be time to fly back home. It was really good to see them again.

A farmer's fix

Our lawn looked a little yellow, according to Laurence and that needed a change. Since the big farm sprayer was empty and clean, he decided, that it would be easy to spray some liqued fertilizer on the lawn. Now our lawn is big, but it is not a field with as a result, that we have a tiger striped lawn. There was not enough fertilizer in the sprayer to make it work right and there was not enough pressure to spray the right width. And around the flowerbeds it is still a little yellow. He wanted to try it again, but once was enough for me.
This is the workshop sample with the Chinese lantern plant. It is ready to be quilted. The size is about 19 by 26 inches. If the weather stays like this, I should finish it by next week.
The weather has not been good in the last week. Most days we have showers and it has been cool. By the time you can work in the garden, another shower shows up. The roses seem to like it though and I have a wide variety of shapes and colors. I think I might to start to like them.
Today is Canada Day . We missed the local parade , but might make it to the ball game later in the day.

I will leave you with this week's favorite

Summer

Summer is finally here.We had a hot one today with temperatures around 30C. With the rain we had last week the crops are growing very well, but so do the weeds. I was all set to edge all the flowerbeds with the shovel, when I heard from a friend ,that there is something called a flowerdbed edger you can rent. What a life saver! We rented it for 1/2 day and with Laurence running it, we went around all the beds in no time. Next time we will wait till the soil is drier. I had to clean the mud out quite regularly. But it did the job. The pots in front of the house look good. Now I realize that the colors are not all coordinated, but during the move I lost the tags and so had no clue what color the begonia's would be. Next year better.





At last count there are 25 rose bushes that have survived the winter. The first ones are blooming including this pale pink shrub rose. I really did not want to look after this many roses, but looking at all the different colored buds I might change my mind yet.
At last count there are 21 orchids in the house, including these 2. Where they all came from, don't ask. Last evening was our horticulture meeting and the speaker, Gerald Swan, is an expert in growing orchids. I learned a lot. The one on the right I took home from Jenny on Sunday . It did not look good with brown leaves all over. I took it along last evening and was told what to do. Gerald even transplanted it for me in a larger pot. Now it will go in the windowsill above the sink and I just hope it will show some green growth soon. The one on the left I won!!!!
The speaker brought 4 orchids for door prices and since I had the first number, I could take one of them home. It is another lady slipper with the name of "Transvaal" I saw a picture in one of the speaker's books and it has beautiful brown flowers.
With all this weeding and cleaning in the garden not much applique is getting done. I'm working on 3 smaller project and should have something to show next week.