Summertime.......

 

And Sister Visit......!

We are at the beginning of a Heat Wave, Dear Readers, with temperatures to soar into the high nineties today and even top 100 degrees tomorrow and the next day, which is not at all the normal pattern for this region. Yes, Summertime is here with a vengeance! So after taking an early morning visit to my RL garden (a daily ritual) I have retreated inside for the duration. The Roses, foxgloves and lilies are all blooming furiously outside, and as I pass the Folly Garden in all it's Green Glory.... I am reminded (and tempted) to leap into the next installment of 1000 days of making the ______ (you pick the plant) for I am just overwhelmed by the options! Yes the Rose is high on that list.... but the list is long, and because the garden was also full of tiny clover blossoms and mushrooms... the tiniest little Fairy Mushrooms... I thought to visit the Fairy Garden at the Folly on my way by. Do You remember that tiny spot tucked in under the Summer Lilac shrub?

 

A Tiny sliver of summer morning sunlight

 sneaks in through a gap in my shades, 

lighting that dark forgotten corner beside The Folly Porch...

 

Where Queen Mab and her Minions 

might have partied the night away when we were not looking... 

teasing the fireflies and flirting with the crickets, 

casting spells on the unwary spiders....

 

Who have no choice but to spin Fairy Blankets

 in the grass 'til dawn...

 

When the Fairies disappear..... 

leaving behind the evidence of their revels 

for any who care to notice... 

 

Did you happen to notice....?

 

Or were you too busy dashing on by as I was the other day

 on my way to pick up my Sister for a brief visit!

 She was in the area visiting her grandchildren 

and as always I borrowed her for an overnight at my house. 

And I am sure you can imagine that we took advantage 

of the opportunity to pull out the needles and thread

 and play with the tiny dolls...

 

 

You might recall that we had begun these little ones on her last visit... 

so they were already wearing their petticoats and shoes... 

and they finally got their names... 

This is "Grace"...

 

 

And this one is "Dolly"... she is a bit shy...!

We had decided we wanted their dresses to be all lace... 

like an Edwardian Summer Tea gown....

it was just a matter of choosing the right pieces of lace... 

 

My sister chose this piece to make their cuffs... 

so we attached those first.

And we were a little concerned that their 

underpants were too visible... 

requiring more layers of "Something"...

 underskirts...? Pleated overskirts...?

 

 

I guess they are showing off their new cuffs!

 

Can you believe that was all we accomplished on the first day...?

 Well, there had been the car trip to go get her... 

and we had to stop for dinner... 

(working here on the dining table!) 

 

Next morning we started in again.... 

aware of the too short visit and not enough time....

 

And just as I was getting going.... 

look who stopped by.....!?!

"Excuse me," said Lady Arabella Rat... 

"Could I have a moment of your time?" she added politely. 

"Who are you...?" asked Dolly, clearly fascinated. 

"I am Lady Arabella," said Lady Arabella, 

"but I was speaking to your human, if you don't mind."

 "Oh!" said Dolly. "Of course not..." she added self-consciously. 

 

"If you are going to be doing a little sewing..." 

said Lady Arabella, speaking directly to me,

 "Would you mind adding a little bit to my gown 

while you are at it? 

I am rather tired of waiting..." she added pointedly.

 

"I thought you would have at least 

embroidered the skirt by now..." she added chidingly. 

"Ahem..." I replied, a touch embarrassed, 

but truly intrigued at the possibilities...

 "I am so sorry to have been so lax... " I said. 

"And I suppose I could make a small contribution now... 

since we are in the process of making some tiny gowns.... 

it really would be no problem...!" I added,

 getting excited at the possibilities!

 

And really, in almost no time at all,

 Lady Arabella got her pink gauze crinoline petticoat!

 

"It will do for a start..." she declared huffily. 

But I know in secret she was vastly relieved 

to have even gotten this far! 

Sometimes it does pay to be presuming!

 

Of course, Dolly took one look at the lovely pink crinoline

 and said "Can I have one too....?" 

And I had to agree, it seemed the perfect solution 

to her lacy dress... a lovely pink underskirt!

 

And even though we wished we could just carry on

 and stitch through the night.... 

I had to take my Sister back to her family. 

The dresses were all still a long way from finished...

 

But Grace got a pleated lace overskirt, 

Dolly got a lovely pink underskirt.... 

and Lady Arabella got her crinoline..... 

and my Sister and I got to spend time together

 sewing tiny things!

 What, Dear Readers, could possibly 

be better than that? 

Summertime and A Sister visit!

 

 

 

The Rhododendron in Bloom...

 

Is Breathtaking....

What can I say, Dear Readers, at this time of year when the whole world is competing for the most sumptuous displays of floral glory, and suddenly the Rhododendron is in full bloom! It steals the show, commands the worship of every eye and never ceases to amaze me! Did I really make that shrub? It is so splendid in its abundant brilliant color, there is nothing like it ever! In the Real World, the blossoms last but a week if the weather is kind (this year it was not, in my neighborhood) but here in Miniland I can allow the blossoms a longer span of display. And after the blossoming lilac shrub has bowed it's last curtain call, it is Time for the Rhododendron to shine alone on the stage..... and shine it does!

 

It is so overpowering, 

I can almost ignore the rest of the unfinished garden!

 Sigh. 

Yes, the rest has seen no improvements since last year. 

The rocks are mostly sort of in place the way they ultimately should be.... 

but no moss has come creeping in... no ferns.... 

no wild flowers growing up between the rocks... 

but the Dreams are still there! 

Those dreams of "Someday".... 

and sometimes I can feel them coming closer

 and teasing me with details.... 

oh so many details still to be accomplished!

 

And yet, the very fact of the Blossoming Rhododendron

 is encouragement in itself!

 I got it made..... the rest will have their day!

 

It is enough to revel in the beauty of the moment.... 

to admire those multi-stamened florets and 

ponder the possibility of adding a bumble bee or two..... 

and to acknowledge that Summer is on the doorstep....

 

 

And the Rhodie must have its moment in the sun!

 

I hope you don't mind, Dear Readers, 

that there is nothing New to show you this week. 

But the Rhododendron is in bloom, and it is so magnificent,

 it just takes my breath away!

 

Flowers.... Flowers......

 

And Still More Flowers.... 

Well, Dear Readers, It is that time of year when we are swept into Flower Season in a great heady rush of blossoms! The Trees, the Shrubs, the Gardens, the very lawns at our feet are bursting abloom and transforming the world from a bleak landscape to a colorful wonderland seemingly overnight! Ahhhh, I do Love springtime! And, of course, here in Blogland it is the season to bring forth the Lilac Shrub in all its Spring flowering glory! It is such a brief season, lasting barely a week or ten days in RL, but I allow it a slightly longer run here in Etherland. There she stands! The ancient lilac beside The Folly porch, scenting the air with that wonderful aroma.... (well, in my imagination, at least!) and filling the hearts of all passersby with Joy! If you wonder why it takes me so long to finish my Dream Landscapes... this is the reason! It is so beautiful, but agonizingly slow to materialize! And now, every year I get to revel once more in the awe of this miniature shrub!

 

We have been experiencing a lot of cloudy days recently,

 but I was able to get pictures of the Lilac in sunlight 

yesterday morning before the clouds moved back in.

 

If you Really need to know about the making of these blossoms.... 

you can read about it in the archived posts for 2018

  (beginning in March) and (ending in October 7) 2019. 

It took a year and a half to make the shrub in four seasonal variations! 

Yes, sometimes it just takes a huge amount of time!

 

 

But, oh, it is so satisfying when it is done!

 

But that is not all the flowers I have to share with you this morning. 

I also have been stitching up a "milles fleures" 

 background for the Medieval Lord Tapestry!

 

Some of you might recall the previous Tapestries

 I have stitched in this series, showing the background

 liberally strewn with blossoming greenery. 

 

Here is the original kit picture for reference. 

Because I moved and changed so much of this design, 

I found almost no spot that I could stitch as the kit had specified,

 except for the part to the left of the Lord's head. 

I also had widened the area being stitched from 3 and 3/4 inches 

to 4 and 3/4 inches, so there was really no comparison.

 But I decided that it would be best to use the "flower forms"

 as designed, and just fit them in wherever

 I could in the new design! 

I also tried to keep a similar overall balance 

of pale and darker blossoms and to "sprinkle" 

them in a natural seeming arrangement.

 

Here you can see the "finished" addition

 of the kit designed flowers. 

But some of you might also recall that I had

 added a few more flowers to the 

other pieces of this Medieval series.... 

Lots more in fact!

 

In case you needed a reminder.... 

Here you can see all three of the Tapestry "fragments" 

lined up next to each other for reference.

 The one on the left is the first I stitched

 and I only changed a few details of the headdress

 of the lady to the left and added more flowers, of course. 

The middle one I designed the Lady to the right

 as well as all the background to her right, 

plus the added flowers. 

So you can see why I have to continue

 with this altered background for the Lord's Tapestry!

 

You might have noticed there are no blue's in the Lord's Tapestry 

(other than the midnight blue background) 

and I had added tiny blue flowers to the others. 

I dug around in my archived kits and 

found the threads for the Lady's Tapestry...

 

I keep the remaining threads, needle and charts 

in clear plastic pockets in a binder for just this reason!

 The blue threads and some of the green threads

 I used were all right there!

 

It was just a matter of fitting more flowers

 into the background wherever I could... 

keeping an eye to the color balance too. 

There are also tiny "white" blossoms being added... 

but they are nearly impossible to see until the background is stitched.

 

 Here all the flowers have been added... 

before the background midnight blue is added.

 

Which is quick to follow... 

because we need to see how it will look...!

 

And Oh, how I love what it does to the colors!

 

But not to distract you, Dear Readers, 

I have also been stitching a few "flowers" 

on the Chinese Dragon Carpet too!

 

Now that the daylight is lengthening and the light is stronger, 

I have been working on the Dragon Carpet again. 

It needed the corner motif's redesigned

 from what the original kit specified. 

But first I had needed to add all the little "golden blossoms"

 to the chart in the appropriate places. 

Because I had changed this design too,

 I had to alter the position of these blossoms.

 

And I had redesigned the corner motif entirely! 

I wanted to carry the central motif of the sun

 out to the corners, and balanced it with 

additional golden flowers just inside the corner.

 

Here you can see I have added the golden flowers

 to all the corners and the "sunburst" to the outer borders as well. 

Now all I need to do is design the remainder of the borders.... 

and stitch the white background... 

that will take a while!

 

Well, Dear Readers, I have been

 Wallowing in fields of blossoms lately,

 stitching Flowers, flowers and still More flowers.... 

and Loving every minute of it!

 

 

Green, Green The leaves.....

 

 But Is It Enough....???

I Hope You will understand, Dear Readers, that as I approach the completion of The Summer Rhododendron Shrub, I have been anxiously counting leaves and trying to figure out if the amount of batches I assumed I would need will end up being enough! Above you can see the Summer Shrub nearly finished... or at least I hoped so. I stopped making batches of leaves after 40 batches of 40 leaves each.... making 1600 leaves!

Here the last group of stems are having their leaves attached...

a Very slow process when the humidity level

 is hovering around 85% every day!

And done!

Look at that empty storage dish!

And this morning I added the last nine leafy stems to the shrub....

a Very slow process of waiting for the glue to dry

 so I could add a couple more....

But is it enough?

Surely I could fit in another batch or three of leafy branches!

We must have a look at it in The Folly Garden...

I see an awful lot of gaps....

And of course, it is so dismal and gloomy out 

(threatening to storm.... again.....) that you can barely see it...

But is it enough?

Don't get me wrong.... I Love the way it looks!

But is it dense enough....?

I think it needs more leaves.....

*sigh*

Is it just a matter of the angle of viewing...?

From above it looks a bit fuller....

But from bench level.... it's a bit "airy".

And maybe it will look a lot better in sunshine....

Perhaps if I give it time it will "grow" on me...!

Maybe one or two more batches of leaves.....

We are close, Dear Readers....

Ah, yes, I will be making more batches of leaves

 no matter what....

There is a whole 'nother shrub waiting in the wings!

So Green leaves, here we come!