Crafty Things: Hand-Crocheted Baby Afghan #2

At long last I have finally finished the second of two baby afghans that were on my project list. The first one I was working on over the winter was for my nephew B, who was born in January. I managed to finish it in time to give it to him as a baptism gift in February. Click HERE to view B's afghan.

And because my step-sister was also pregnant at the same time as my sister (but not due until April), I started working on another in late February in hopes that I would have it finished in May for the planned baptism. Well, my niece N didn't want to wait until April; she arrived in March. The bapstism was moved up to April and I was not finished with the afghan. Nor was I finished with it in May. Or June. Or even early July when my step-sister and her husband came down from Minnesota for a visit!

But finally, I managed to finish it.....so here it is:

The pattern was called "Granny's Love", because it's made up of granny squares whipstitched into strips, then the strips are whipstitched together, and finished off with a pretty lacy border.

Granny squares are easy to make and actually go very quickly; there's no reason it should have taken me so long to finish it. I actually had it about half way done by April, but then with spring and a million other projects going on and the busy days of summer and yard work and everything else, time got away from me and I didn't work on it for almost two months! Very bad of me, I know.

But I guess my niece N won't mind; she doesn't need an afghan in summer, am I right??

I also bought her an outfit.....Girls clothes are so cute, aren't they? It's more fun to shop for my nieces than my nephews. Unfortunately, until N came along in March, I had only one niece amongst FIVE nephews!

Thanks for stopping by!

Dishing about New Dishes

Hello all!
I had the most terrible cold this last week; I hate summer colds. I rarely get them, but I was at a child's birthday party last week Sunday and my baby nephew B had some kind of cold, so I'm sure that's where it came from.

Anyway, I treated myself to a little antique store browsing earlier today, to look for goodies to add to my budding blue transferware collection and also for glassware and stemware to add some variety to my tables.

I resisted buying more vintage linens, but I couldn't resist buying this strawberry apron to add to my apron collection. It's so summery and cute!

I also found this Delft blue Holland hand-painted tile and had to have it. I love these, because of my obsession with blue and white.

I also found five of these blue transferware B&B plates that I want to use with my Spode and my other antique pieces of ironstone blue transferware. These are English ironstone, marked Staffordshire on the back.

This dinner plate and matching B&B are Japanese and were marked Masuka "Chatham" on the back, but the pattern was so pretty and matches so well with my other pieces, I had to have them.

I also found a cup and saucer, which is also Japanese. It was marked "Blue Normandy" and also a set of 4 Delft blue hand-painted egg cups.

The egg cups have the flower design on one side, and say "Holland" on the back with a windmill.

I saw these 'Swanky Swig' Tulip glasses, made by Hazel Atlas Glass, c.1941 and fell in love with them.

I just thought they were so pretty....and I also envisioned how nice they'd look on a table with my green dishes and the dishes I found at GW that have red cherries on them.

I also found this white wicker plant stand and knew I had to have it for my porch!

One of these years I think I will spray paint my black metal chairs white. I've had them so long; I think I bought them at Wal-Mart years ago when I was living in an apartment that had a little balcony where I could sit outside. I'd also like to get some more white wicker furniture for our porch; maybe a couple of chairs, or a love seat.

Thanks for stopping by!

Summer Sunday: Summer Breezes

Early in July we enjoyed a week of really perfect summer weather; the kind we seldom get here, especially in July. The temperatures were at enjoyable high 70s and low 80s, with low humidity, and lovely cool breezes. I opened the windows every day so I could enjoy the summer breeze. I also decided to capture an image of the summer breeze playing with my lace curtains, which amused me for quite some time. I had just washed these curtains also, so I got the scent of freshly laundered linens wafting through the parlor as a bonus.

Sometimes just a small pleasant thing, like watching the breeze play with the window curtains, can make your day.  I also admit that when I see it, I always think of that Seals & Croft song, "Summer Breeze". :-)
"Summer breeze, makes me feel fine, blowing through the jasmine of my mind...."

Thanks for stopping by!
I'll be joining The Tablescaper for Summer Sunday today!

Outdoor Wednesday: A Little Garden in Which to Walk...

"A little garden in which to walk, and immensity in which to dream. At one's feet that which can be cultivated and plucked; overhead that which one can study and meditate upon: some herbs on earth and all the stars in the sky."----Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

My coneflowers, monarda, gaillardia, salvia and campanula are still going strong, and will be blooming until autumn...but right now the show-stoppers of the perennial garden is my tall phlox. I have pink, purple and white varieties.

The white ones always bloom before the pink, but I usually do get a second blooming. In this picture the white is starting it's second flush of blooms.

Pink and green coleus carries through with my pink and green color scheme.

For added contrast and a punch of color, I planted dark red celosia in the beds that line the front walk.

Elsewhere in the garden, my hostas are blooming also, sending up shoots of delicate white flowers.

These hosta varieties are called "Frances Williams", "Gold Standard" and "So Sweet".  I also have two new small guys who were added to the hosta bed this year.

Here's one of them; even though he's small and new, he put up two of his own flowers. This hosta variety is called "Twilight".

To add some color and vertical interest to the hosta garden, a pot of red New Guinea impatiens and "Merlin's Magic" coleus sits on a small stand in the hosta bed.

In the back yard, white geraniums that I over-wintered are blooming, along with white euphorbia.

Thanks for taking a walk with me in the garden....

I'll be joining Susan at A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday!