As the saying goes...

One man's junk is another man's treasure...
I often times think of this saying
as I pass
a farm grove
filled with junk.
Why is it that groves
are the final resting places for
items
such as
old pick-ups...

for old clown cars...
I couldn't help but wish that this car was sitting in my backyard,
however,
I. L.O.V.E I.T.
Don't you?

old signage...

lichen-covered vehicles...

old cupolas,
look at that lovely verdigris-covered
copper roof...
{sigh}
LOVE IT.
I wouldn't mind this
in my backyard flower garden
either...

It wouldn't be a grove full of junk
without some
peace sign
graffiti...

old vehicles
make new homes
for spiders
and
fruit-bearing
vines...

If you look closely you may even
find a bird nest
tucked
here and there...

Mother Nature at her best,
wild seeds
planted by birds...

&
old
rusting buckets
become home
to new green seedlings...

all groves filled with junk
need a telephone booth,
right?

and
the more cars
the
merrier...
Look at that old blue paint...
I'm always trying to find fabric
and flosses in this shade of
faded blue.

&
an old
rusting
firetruck...
And that faded rusty red
color...
always trying to find flosses & fibers
in this shade as well
{sigh}

more signage...
There always needs to be a doctor in the grove,
right?

Wait a minute...
what's this?
Paint?
Rags?
Glasses?
It looks like someone works here,
underneath this big shade tree,
in amongst all this collection
of rusting iron...

the glasses are off,
and they've been rained on
&
it appears
the artist
is taking a break...

a break
from
his paint brushes...

a break from creating
creatures
from rusting iron.

BIG CREATURES...

The junk now begins to turn to art
as you meander
further up
the road in this
junk-filled
grove.

Art by the self-proclaimed doctor,
Dr. Evermore of Baraboo, WI.

His art is created from rusting junk
that was salvaged
from his demolition company.
Much of the materials
for his art
was collected
in the 1930-1950's.

Enjoy his creations...


Here we have two baby bugs
having what appears
to be a sword fight...
I'm thinking they're sibling bugs,
don't you?
To give you a better idea how big these critters are,
a picture of my sisters and nephew
being gobbled up
by this scary bug!

There were not only bugs but there were birds too...
BIG BIRDS.
Big birds playing musical instruments.
This one is playing the clarinet...
A bird on the base...
a bird on the chimes...

and
all bird bands
need a conductor,
right?
The dh here,
standing in awe,
just quietly
taking it all in...
Probably thinking of his
junior high school days on the trumpet,
would be my best guess...
&
a funky bird looking his way,
tooting his horns
at the dh...

and the whole bird band...

Heading over to the other side of the grove
we found this...
a baseball team
on the
playing field...

Here is the batter...

and the pitcher,
throwing a 97 mph fast ball...

Stee-rike three, batters out!

And, of course,
there must be an umpire...
See his face mask,
and
his chest protector?
Isn't that a hoot?
His hat is even on backwards!
LOVE IT...
my favorite piece of junk art!
I know a son who would love to
have this piece in his backyard...

A gigantic dragon standing guard

of this 4 ton piece of art...

The
Forevertron.

A space-like contraption
that Dr. Evermore built
to take him on his journey
to life after death.
Simply said,
it is huge!
It's hard to capture
the size of this piece
in a photo.

Some salvage-art pieces are painted,
such as the frog band...

A frog on the accordian,
isn't he cuter then a bugs ear?

At the end of our journey
through this man's grove
my eyes started to feel like these...

and these...

Open wide,
with awe
&
total amazement
of these
creations
constructed from rusting
salvage parts.

Creatures of art...
one man's junk,
another man's
treasure.

If you are ever in the Baraboo/Madison WI area,
look up this treasure,
you'll be glad you did.

Have a good weekend everyone,
Brenda

And to think I missed it...

Our little town's running club
hosted a half a marathon
around our lake over the holiday weekend.

I was out of town.
I missed it.

Pictured above (the lady in red) is the runner-up in the matron class.
Sarah Heath of Des Moines, Iowa.
She finished in 1:46:10
not too shabby.
Pretty darn good time.

It appears this speedster
in red
is jockeying for position
by running on the grass
to get around the pack of runners.
And to think I missed her,
along with almost everyone else,
who was running along side
her!
Doesn't make me feel so bad.


She and her husband Todd,
slipped into the City Beautiful,
checked into the King's Pointe Resort
Saturday evening,
where they spent the night.

She arose bright and early,
threw on a bright red sweatshirt,
a pair of dark sunglasses
and a large white visor
and registered for the half marathon
under a fictitious city
and
her maiden name.

Who ever said,
politicians don't lie
anyway?

Incognito and all,
Sarah Palin is running folks!
Marathons that is...

Some may think this is what she should stick to,
running marathons.
And now you may tar and feather me...
I couldn't help myself.

Enough politics,
is it November 2012 yet????????

Have a good day,
Brenda

NEW PATTERN SERIES...

has begun!

Announcing the release
of the
1st
in a series
of
12 monthly charts
~October's Word Play~
A sweet little door hanger,
with jingly bells,
to hang upon your door knob.

A fun little way
to greet
your friends
&
family
that frequent your home...
there will be one for all 12 months!


November's chart will follow on the 1st of October.

With thy Needle & Thread,
Brenda

Word Play...

Announcing a series of 12 new little charts,
one for each month.
These are quick stitches
that can be easily stitched
in a weeks worth of stitching,
while enjoying
your morning coffee.

Anyone else do this?
Morning coffee stitching?

Tis my favorite part of the day...
Freshly brewed coffee,
the house is still dark,
the only light on,
is the one I'm stitching under,
and
the only sounds are the choirs of crickets
and
the cardinals coming in to feed...

It is often during this quiet stitching time
that I'm thinking of what's next...

I'm showing a snippet of the first release,
October.
What I'm not revealing
on the piece
is a sweet little witch
whose iron cauldron
has become overgrown
with
bittersweet vine!
Oh, no!

Various words pertaining to the month
are scrabbled onto the linen
along with fun little motifs.
The finished size
is approximately 7" x 4".

Each pattern will be released
on the 1st of the preceding month
(with the exception of Octobers...it will release shortly after the Labor Day Holiday).

Here is a list of themes for this series:
January - snowy days
February - cupid & love
March - everyday/strong words
April - Easter
May - Spring
June - Gardening
July - Patriotic
August - Everyday/strong words
September - Everyday/strong words
October - Halloween
November - Harvest/Thanksgiving
December - Christmas

Also on a side note...
We are patiently waiting for linens from various suppliers
that we used on our latest releases.
We always try hard to order this, well ahead of time, before the release of the patterns. We got part of our order, but not all of it. So here we are once again, waiting for the UPS/FedEx man every day, with hopes that our linen will be on the truck that day. We hold orders with hopes that it will be coming today...

Maybe today will be the day that we'll feel like
giving the UPS/FedEx man a big ole smooch...
we'll keep our fingers crossed!

As of yesterday,
all orders that were for a pattern and it's appropriate linen only...
we shipped the pattern
and put the linen on back order for you.
I really dislike doing this,
but
please know
we've got a piece of linen
reserved for you.

And one last announcement,
Country Stitches
will be closed
this Friday through the Monday Labor Day holiday.
I'm taking some days off to spend with family.

Have a good day everyone,
Brenda

Beads & Baubles...

New jewelry creations are here!

LOVE LOVE LOVE
this new
trumpeting angel charm!
A color print of an antique sampler,
cherub and glass bead
all dangle
from a chunky chain.
Fun piece
to
wear!

And teddy is modeling our new pin,
featuring a tiny little color print
of the
Mansion at Fox Hollow
antique reproduction sampler.
Tiny brass hand
and
glass beads
add extra
charm
&
detail
to this pin.

Jewelry pieces are now available for purchase here.

With thy Needle & Thread,
Brenda

Coming Soon!

WINTER
Sampler of the Season

Releasing on the first day of Autumn,
September 22, 2011.

The Spring sampler to follow,
on the first day of Winter.


With thy Needle & Thread,
Brenda

They're Here!

Look what the UPS man brought us today!

A Schoolgirl's Work by the Spencer Museum of Art,

and the gals from Blackbird Designs.

One made it's way home, from work, with me tonight
and,
well,
rather
then doing things
I should be doing,
like making dinner
for the dh...
I sat down in my comfy chair,
put my feet up,
with this lovely new book
and
fresh cup of coffee in tow...
and
1 hour later,
I'm thinking
it might just be
a carry-out type of night...

Books are now posted on our website for purchasing.

Have a good evening,
Brenda

This is totally amazing...

While perusing on pinterest.com one day
I came upon the miniature carvings of Dalton Ghetti.
I was immediately captivated...
and we all thought
working over 1 thread
on 40 count linen
was intricate work...

Dalton actually uses a needle as a carving tool.

It always amazes me what people
use for their foundation
of art...
Whether it be canvas, clay, glass,
fibers,
or lead...
Pencil lead.
Disposed pencils,
mostly of which are found on the streets.

Look at this folks...that chain is made from the lead...
U.N.B.E.L.I.E.V.A.B.L.E.

And of course,
the needle and thread
is my personal favorite
{sigh}

Oh,
but,
that button
carved on the carpenters pencil
is a very close 2nd...

Dalton does not sell his artwork,
he only gifts it to friends and family.
I'm thinking he might be,
like maybe,
something like,
my
15th cousin
or something...
how about you?

If you are lucky enough
to live
a hop
a skip
or a jump
of Chester CT,
his work is now on display
through October 10th
at the Lori Warner Studio/Gallery.

Have a good day everyone,
Brenda

Hear that song?

Yea, that one.
Sweet Caroline,
baa, baa, baaa...

It's stuck in my head
this Sunday afternoon,
as I sit with my magnifiers
perched low on my nose,
counting,
and recounting
as I chart
this antique sampler...

Yep, it's quite the scene...
me in my readers
rocking to Neal Diamond!

I'm really drawn to that bird perched upon the branch,
it is somewhat out of the ordinary
and
I like that about it,
don' t you?

I'm starting to feel like I'm coming down the home stretch on this piece...
down to charting the petite stitches (worked over 1).
I always find a way to leave those for last...
not fond of stitching
or
charting
those tiny little pups!

Adam & Eve,
the tree
&
the serpent
are entirely
petite stitches
{sigh}

It was 1827
she was 13,
her name was
Caroline Hansford.

Sweet Caroline.

I call this my Sweet Caroline sampler.
Caroline stitched this sampler for her mother
and has a very touching verse.

A sampler that will fill my winter evenings
with pure stitching pleasure...
I'm looking forward to stitching this one...
the colors and motifs are yummy!

Back to Neil Diamond...
Any Neil Diamond fans out there? Diamond and his hit Sweet Caroline were a bit before my time...
I was in kindergarten and my oldest sister was a senior when he released Sweet Caroline. President Kennedy's daughter,
Caroline,
who was 11 at the time,
was his inspiration for this song.
He would later sing it to her on her 50th birthday.


so good, so good, so good
Brenda
who can't get that song out of her head

Dirty Bananas...

You know,
you just never know
what a 2 1/2 year old will say
or call things
sometimes.

I. LOVE.THIS.AGE.

A few weekends ago G'ma & G'pa Gervais went for a visit to Beckham's house.
His Momma & I were having a discussion about bananas,
I have no idea how we got on the topic of bananas...

dirty bananas...

Yep...
according to Beckham
these are "dirty bananas"
and
he won't eat a "dirty banana".

There cannot be any signs of brown spots on them
anywhere.
However,
he loves his Momma's banana bread...
we just won't tell him,
will we?

I came home from work yesterday,
saw those three bananas
and thought I probably should do something
with those
"dirty bananas".
The dear husband just bought them.
Is it me,
or do bananas ripen faster then they used to???
Or is this just an aging thing...
talking about me here,
not the bananas
{sigh}

I'll never look at a ripening banana again, without a grin
and thinking
of this little sweet heart.

I will admit, there is a small window of opportunity for when I think a banana is best for peeling & eating. This window of opportunity is about a couple of hours long. Can't be too green, and it can't be too yellow, not too firm
and not too mushy,
and
I'm right there with Beckham...
I don't like to peel and eat a "dirty banana"...

I read in one of my cooking magazines that if you break the bananas apart they will not ripen so quickly. I think this works...now the dear husband thinks this is just a crazy old wives' tale.
It does work,
trust me,
he just doesn't know what he's talking about...


MARGARET GAZDA'S BANANA BREAD
3 tablespoons margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
3 ripe bananas
1/2 tsp lemon juice

Cream margarine and sugar, add egg. After thoroughly mixed add sour cream. Stir dry ingredients together in a bowl and gradually add to the mixture. Smash bananas with a fork and add lemon juice, stir to mix. Add bananas to dough, mix thoroughly.

Mix 1 tsp sugar and 1/4 tsp cinnamon and sprinkle on top of bread. Bake 25 - 30 minutes (I use the tooth pick test) at 350 degrees. NOTE - I always use the foil mini loaf baking pans. I feel the bread gets done in the middle at the same time the tops are nice and brown....larger pans get so dark on the tops before the middle is done....this is my solution to this problem and this batch makes 4 cute little personal pan loaves of bread! I call them personal because I can sit down and eat a loaf all by myself {sigh}

Banana bread, still warm from the oven,
slathered with strawberry cream cheese,
yes,
I like to have a little banana bread
with my cream cheese
;-p
Y-U-M...
a match made in heaven!

Have a good weekend everyone,
Brenda

Good Thursday Morning...

Enjoying my morning cup of coffee
&
color planning.
I love color.
I love playing with color.
Trying to achieve that same
faded-with-time
look...
The beautiful hand dyed flosses
are wonderful
for helping us achieve
these lovely
faded shades of color.

I'm being a squirrel here...
I'm doing some planning and preparing
this morning
for my winter-time stitching.
This antique reproduction sampler
will be my "in between" project
for the upcoming winter months.
Thinking and hoping
for an early 2012
release on this one.

And speaking of lovely color...

My Surprise Lillies are now standing
full attention towards the late-summer skies,
planted randomly here and there,
throughout my flower beds.
I think they are multiplying
as their seems to be an abundance
of them!
I always toil with the question,
do I cut a bouquet and bring them in the house to enjoy,
or leave them outdoors?

Due to their abundance,
I've decided to bring them indoors
to enjoy.
Their aroma is splendid
and
their petals of faded pink
are so delicate and dainty...

and they remind me
of this photo,
taken 1 year ago...

and
that
makes
me
smile!

Also...
I'm getting photo updates
from model stitcher, Suzanne
of the
Winter
Sampler of the Season Sampler
and
it is looking wonderful...
can not wait to see it in person!
Watch for it's release date
on the
first day of autumn.

Have a good one everyone,
Brenda