House and Garden Sampler Update

I hope your weekend is going well.

Last night I finished the tree that's next to the Tudor-styled home I finished on Thurday. I am now quite excited to start the next house, which will be a house from a book I bought years ago.

Here's the Sampler at this point:


Close-up of the Tudor-style home:


I added the little birdhouse near the fence since I so love watching birds in our yard.

It looks to be another busy weekend. After a rainy, gray Friday we awakened to a bright sunny sky and lots of birds singing. That is something to behold after a very gray day! For those of you who live where it's cloudy all the time, I truly don't know how you stand it but then again I guess you get used to it.

Enjoy your day!

TGIF

Yesterday was cloudy and gray, and I felt much the same way.

Last night I decided that rather than work on yet another pile of papers and my endless checklist of 'things to do' for work, it would serve me better to stitch a bit.

I finished the Tudor house, and I even added a fence and tiny birdhouse.

I will post a picture soon! Now it's on to House #5.

Have a great Friday, everyone.

Inspiration

I had to post a picture of this beautiful Round Robin that I found on a RR bulletin board. It was posted by Jen. I love the way the different houses flow together in this particular piece. I love the garden elements, fences, sheep, trees, and more. Isn't it wonderful?

Enjoy!


If anyone knows where I can find any of the elements in this pattern, please let me know.

Update on House and Garden Sampler

The last time I showed a photo here of my House and Garden Sampler, this is how it looked:

I have been working on it a little bit these past few weeks, so here's how it looks today:


I haven't added many garden designs, but I will later on. For now I want to concentrate on getting the houses done, and I'll add other features later on when those are completed.

Here's a few more photos of the progress so far:




A close-up of the tudor house, which is a type of house design that I have always loved. Now I get to have one of my own!



I'm not too thrilled with how the colors look so far, and I need to get some richer looking colors in here. Any ideas on those?

Please give me your suggestions on what sort of garden elements you think would look nice added to the sampler. I'm not very well versed with what's 'out there', but I know a lot of you are very much in the know!

Thanks for looking,
Sue

10 Facts About Me- The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I just found out I got tagged! Thanks, Terri! (Forgive me if the link doesn't work, I am very, very challenged on getting it to work here)

Here's the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly:

1. I do not like loud children.
2. I am strongly against people who are lazy and can't do simple things for themselves.

3. I have been stitching for more than 35 years.

4. I could go for days at a time without leaving my house, and be perfectly happy.

5. I’m probably the most over-analyzing person I know.

6. I love to walk alone, and daydream.

7. I have a repeating nightmare of falling into deep, rushing water while driving in a car.

8. People don’t know me that well at all, even though they perhaps think they do.

9. I’m happily married to someone who is very much my opposite in many ways.

10. I love chocolate chip cookies with nuts.
Now, I am going to tag two people and they are Susan and Stitcher W.

I can't get the links to work here. I am sorry I can't seem to get it to work.

A New Look

I decided to change my blog's template and I ended up with this one which is called "Harbor". In light of that change you see the photo above which we took last summer in Hanelei Bay on the gorgeous island of Kauai. (Yes, the place where Puff the Magic Dragon lived, Hanalei...)

Someday I will get the time and interest in learning how to get a more custom sort of template, but for now these pre-made ones are just fine.

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My day began great as I didn't have to rush off to class and instead got to leisurely do things around the house. This included feeding our large variety of backyard birds! I can't believe I didn't have interest in doing this sooner. We've lived here close to twenty years, and it's just been in the last year that I've really gotten into feeding and watching all the birds in our yard. Then again, it's probably that I was just too busy before to notice or care!

Summer Thoughts and Baked Spaghetti

It's cold and dreary here so I thought I'd post a photo of these flowers taken in the summertime. They are uplifting to me! I have another wretched cold going on--the price one pays for working with the wee ones.

Had to share my niece's Spaghetti recipe--Baked Spaghetti, that is.

Here it is:
Baked Spaghetti

¾ pkg Angel Hair Pasta
4 tbsp butter or marg
1 cup grated parm chs
4 eggs – well beaten
2 cups cottage cheese
¾ lb ground beef or turkey or Italian sausage
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup diced green pepper
2 cups diced zucchini
2 cups diced fresh mushrooms
2 ½ cups canned diced tomatoes with juice
1 - 6 oz. can tomato paste
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp dried oregano
2 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp garlic salt
1 sm can olives
2 cups mozzarella cheese


Cook spag. Drain and stir in butter, add parm cheese & eggs. Form spag into crust in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Spread cottage cheese over crust. In a very large skillet brown ground beef or sausage. Drain meat if necessary and set aside. Heat same large skillet over med heat and sauté onion, green pepper, mushrooms, & zucchini until tender. Add meat back to skillet with sautéed veggies and stir in tomatoes with juice, tomato paste and all spices. Add drained olives. Spread mixture in baking dish and bake covered for 30 minutes at 350. Sprinkle cheese on top and return to oven for 5 or 10 minutes uncovered until cheese melts. Enjoy!

* This is a great casserole for company or to return half to the freezer and reheat in two weeks. It is also wonderful as leftovers.

Enjoy!