Little more Bayfield and Ashland, Wisconsin

Good Morning

I have a little bit more about Bayfield, and then Ashland, Wisconsin.

What was a real surprise is they had been having cold, rainy weather just before we traveled up there.  Bayfield is almost  at the top of Wisconsin. Let me tell you it was such a beautiful area.

I would love to go back there a gain.  I think a trip in the fall would be beautiful.

Imagine the fall colors.  

Here is one of the places that Ron was able to find cider.  Let me tell you, sitting tin this chair makes you feel really small!

At this orchard I had to check out the barn quilts, and they had advertised that they had lupine plants for sale.
Now after seeing all these beautiful plants, I had to have some as well.

Lupines

You can think I have an obsession with flamings, but trust me, nothing like this person with their hats.
This was in the loft of the bar, They were every where!

In the top of that barn, they had a viewing station.  This was the view.  That is Madeline Island off in the distance.
I said it was beautiful while we were there.  It was expected to get cold again after we were gone.
Can you believe this view?

Ring-billed Gull posing.

This view is in Ashland.  I love to get off the beaten path.  Good thing Ron does not mind driving to most of the places  I suggest.

Ashland is noted for murals that have been painted around town.  There is a brochure, that takes you on a tour of where they are located.  I think I read they have been done by two women.  In a lot of them the people or painted from real photographs.  Donations for the paintings are provided by the families that are being honored.  They are amazing paintings. 

One lady told me about this building.  It is supposed to have won several awards for its architectural design.  It is in the shape of  Noah's Ark.  It is sitting right along the Lake Superior shore. 

Here is another of the murals.  This one is as the market looked many years ago.

You never know what you will see along the road., Now this is one big fish.

In another town along the way home we saw these cows all dolled up.

And of course up North would not be complete with out a giant sized Paul Bunyan.

Mallard ducks are still having ducklings.  These are not too long out of their eggs.

What would summer by with out the wild day lilies along the road side.

Black-eyed Susan is another summer favorite.

A Great Blue Heron could be hiding anywhere.

So far this summer has be hot and humid.  Rain has been predicted, but I have had to get out and water my plants. We have been having chipmunks
borrowing in our yard. The little devils have been enjoying munching on my pepper plants.  A few weeks ago I planted four pepper plants.  All by one got eaten right down to the roots.  I had to get some fencing to put around then.  One industrious fellow has even tried to borrow under the wire  to get to the plant.
There are several squirrels, and bunnies hanging around as well.  I have been enjoying watching all the baby birds being fed by their parents.

So far it has been a lovely summer.
I hope you are having a lovely summer as well.
Next time I will catch you up on the sewing I have been doing.

Mary

Fun in the burbs

Here is one of my little cross stitch projects all sewn up into a zipper pouch.
The fabric surely fits this pansy.

Have you ever seen these?
There are fall crocus.
I saw some like these while in Racine, and had to find our about them.
One of our local greenhouses had them.
Funny, though, they are not inexpensive.
I just had to have a couple though.
Maybe the chipmunks and rabbits won't eat them.

The Monarchs are still in the area.

The robins are getting a bath before their flight south.

The latest grouping of rows that I have pieced.  Some still need their embellishments,
but that won't happen until it is put together and quilted.

Who knew that there are iris that blooms out of season.  This was a surprise.

When you are out and about, you never know what you are going to see!
I was sitting at a stop light, and these horse seemed to be greeting me.
He was very interested in what was going on around him. Sorry about
the picture quality, I took it through my windshield.

Just a bit of fun and progress.

Hope you are having a great week.
Mary

My garden flowers

I have been working out in my gardens the past weekend.  Time to get the weeds out and the seeds in.
I think we are finally passed the frost warnings.  (Let's hope so.)
Peonies have started to bloom..  When we moved to our present home, we brought a couple of the peony plants we had.  They never did as well as they have done here.

The plants are huge. They get plenty of sun, and no real care. 

The "Three Amigos" come to visit every day.
They come for dinner each evening.

Found this unique black petunia at the nursery center.  It needed a home in my garden.

White columbine.

Lupine, I think these are so pretty.

Rhododendron, that we brought back from Buffalo, New York a few years back.
At the time, no one was selling these in our area.  I had seen them in bloom in Buffalo, and wanted one.
Good thing we drive there every year.  It is in a protected area in the front of the house, and does very well. 

I have a few wildflowers too, like this Solomon's Seal. (Another transplant from New York.)

Wild Bachelor buttons.

Blue Columbine.
I don't have a big garden. It really is several small gardens.  I have been packed  with plants.  Some things reseed themselves. I do plant annual seeds as well.  I always seem to purchase more then I need, and they don't all get planted.  This year, I dumped all old seeds in a bag, and have now planted them.  It will be interesting to see if any come up.  I love zinnas and had even dried  seeds.  I planted them as well.  You just never know what will come up.
I love color in my garden.  The more the better.  It one is good, lots is better.
Have a great flowery day.
Mary

Country Roads

We love to take the back way home.  On our way home from Michigan, Ron had found out about a road south of Grand Rapids on the way to Holland, Michigan.  I saw a sign that said, pick your own flowers 1/2 mile north.   I just had to check it out. prettypetalsjamestown.blogspot.com The Kuipers family is in Byron Center, Michgan.

This is what we found.  A do it yourself bouquet.  This family had set everything up on the honor system.  Flowers were $.20 a stem.  They provided clippers, vases, and bows, for creating your bouquet, or you could just put them in a can.  The water facet was right there.

I was like a kid in a candy store!  I love, love, zinnias.  They are my favorite summer flower. 

Here is what the garden looked light from the road.

Can you believe all the zinnias??

Zinnias and cosmos.

The biggest display of zinnias I have ever seen, and some plants were as tall as me!

Do love them.

Here is the bouquet I brought home. 20 of the prettiest flowers.

Have a great day.

Mary

May was a busy month,

May was a busy productive month.  This is my first finish for the month.  Kris at Dandelion Quilts had a small quilt swap.  This is what I made for my partner, Carol at, Carol's Crafty Creations.. I liked how it turned out.

Saturday, May 12 was the walk for ALS.  Here is Kerri Anne and my son Andrew.  Kerri Anne did walk the first mile, the second she had a little help from a lot of friends.

Saturday night my sister Linda, arrived from Maine to visit with Dad and I for the week.  We enjoyed a wonderful brunch with Dad at Alden Gardens, where he lives. 

My husband drove to Elma, New York, to spend Mother's Day with his mother.  He did surprise me with this beautiful bouquet of flowers.

Linda and I went to IKEA one day. What a cute way to move your lunch.  We each could not resist a few wonderful things from this great store.  Linda does not have an IKEA up in Maine.

Dad and I one day.  Have to check out the wildlife. No baby swans yet!

Then I went to the lecture and workshop with Bonnie Hunter.  That was so good.

I purchased these cool magnets from Bonnie.  As you can see I used mine for sewing, Linda on the other hand is not a sewer, so she attached her corkscrew to hers.  Now she was ready for anything! Have corkscrew will travel!

One the way home from the airport after dropping Linda off for her flight home, we stopped in Wheaton to check out the Farmer's Market!.  What a wonderful stop.  The flowers and produce was looking so good.  I bought all sorts of fresh produce.

Then I started on projects I wanted to finish.  In all I made 17 new zipper pouches.  I have a variety of zippers that have wanted to play with fabric.  The pouches became all sorts of sizes.  I love making these.  They are always great for quick gifts.

Finished these 2 needle keeps.  About time.  They have been sitting in a partial state of finish for a couple of months.  Sometimes all things need are a few stitches and they would be done.  Why do I wait?

Another pouch.  I love how this one turned out.  The patchwork are all Japanese linens. It is just so cute.

I put together a small quilt top. These are siggy blocks from the last 2 years Dear Jane siggy swap.  Can't wait to show when this one is done.  I took it to be quilted today.

Here is the workings on Bonnie Hunter's. Patchwork and Pinwheels.  I am really enjoying using my scraps for this quilt.

Here is progress on Patchwork and Pinwheels.  I think mine is going to be pretty colorful.

Another finish.This quilt is from  a yahoo group I belong to.  The center of all the blocks are signed by members.  The block is called Prairie Flowers.  I received this one back from the quilter, Wendy, and got the binding on and it is done!! I like how it turned out.

This is the wonderful quilt I received from my swap partner, Carol.  She used the big stitch method for the quilting.  I absolutely love it.   It is just my style.

3 more of the pouches I made this month.

Last but not least, "Cottage Garden Path."  This was a project I started in 2006,  It is a pattern I found on the internet, Jeanne rae crafts.. It came out monthly.  This was another quilt top, that I found out all the pieces were there, they just needed to be put together, then quilted.  I got this one back from Wendy, and now it is done.

So, like I said it was a busy month.  I hope I can keep up the momentum for the next couple of months.  I have 3 more quilts that need to be bound and finished.  Plus, I really would like to get this Bonnie Hunter quilt done. 

I hope everyone has a great rest of the week. Stay happy and healthy.

Mary