Blog Archive

Showing posts with label Grandma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grandma. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Stamp # 2 -Summer Harvest - Summer Stamp SAL

 Just above the old red chicken house , used to be a fenced in garden that  during the summertime beamed with tall stately cornstalks, twisty twirling bean vines , leafy mounds of zucchini  and squash plants and neatly staked rows of tomatoes galore.

Soon it will be time for hay. 

2025 garden squash

Papa tended to it quite diligently. In the evenings, he would go out and pick whatever was ripe and ready at the time. Nanny who by the end of the day had changed into her dress with a duster over it would go outside , sit on the porch and wait to see what Papa would bring in from the bountiful garden. 

Summer Pasture is based on Papa's and Nanny's farm. 

Sometimes he would tote a bushel basket filled with green beans. Do you remember those baskets?  

Nanny would sit on the porch with a large bowl in hand and would begin the process of stringing the beans and snapping them. Every now and then us  7 grandyoungin's would join in,  but usually it was just the older 3 girls.

 It would not be long before we would tire of "the stringing of beans", and   the allure of the sound of a June Bug buzzing by would steer us away .  

We promptly would jump up  in search for a string in order to tie it to one of their teeny little  legs-  that is if we were so lucky to catch one.  If we were successful in catching a June Bug, the hard part was tying the string. Oh, their little feet  would just pinch and scratch our teeny hands.  "Eeeek," we would squeal. 

 Once the string was attached  the June Bug  would buzz and buzz in circles around us. Our own little pet June Bug we would think. 

After tiring of that we would , plop on the stone walkway and with our fingers twiddle the little roly poly bugs that meandered along the cracks and crevices of the stone slabs. 

Oh what terrors , we young kids must have been to the insect world on the family farm. Please do not judge us too harshly, but we were young  farm kids, and we tried not to hurt them. In fact we admired the little crawlies.  

 As the evening sun began to set, flickers of light would flutter in the sky. "Where are the jars? "we  would frantically ask Nanny as she was busy snapping beans. 

"Right here, Sweeties. " And she would spring up from the old metal chair and bring us old pickle jars that she had placed holes in in the lids. Once we took the jars, she went back to the task at hand - stringing and snapping, as we scampered around the yard in hopes of catching a lightning bug or two.  

But let's get back to the garden. Shall we?

 Once the tomatoes began to ripen, Papa would bring them into the country kitchen each evening and sit them on the table. Nanny had a small bowl that she would place them in. Ever so gently she would pick up each and every one and inspect them.

 "Do you have to handle them all?" Dad would joke . 

"Yes, I do," Nanny would laugh. They were always fondly  pickin' at each other . 

It  would not be long before Nanny picked out the most perfect tomato, and it was promptly washed and sliced.  Freshly picked cucumbers which were also sliced  would soon join the tomato on the platter, and we all would indulge in the fruits of Papa's and Nanny's labor . 

Aaaw such wonderful happy times . I do miss those days immensely.  Nanny and Papa lived  a hop, skip and a jump- just down the road from us so we were at their house  every day . 

This brings me to our next Summer Stamp #2 called Summer Harvest. 


Anytime I think of summer , I think of spending time in the vegetable garden just like Nanny and Papa did. We still put out a garden to this very day on my Nanny's property though not at the original spot. 


As many of you know, I am stitching each Summer Stamp twice-  one made into a pin pillow and 2nd in a grouping of 9 stamps. 

As I stitched Summer Harvest on the large sampler, I decided to make an ADDITION- using 1 strand of DMC 301 ( or your favorite orange) I added little lines in the carrot for detail. 

I also used DMC 782 and made French knots for the berry seeds. You may want to do the same or just stitch some berry seeds in the strawberry. 

 Summer Harvest was stitched with the following DMC floss colors: 782, 815, 898, 921, 926, 930, 3052, 3345, and 3346.  

Of course, if you decided to stitch, Summer Harvest you could use whatever floss colors that make your heart sing. 🤗

🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵

If you are interested in stitching this piece,  just grab , the images. For printing tips, refer to the post Tips for Printing which has loads of tips from my sweet friends. 

🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵 🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵


NOTE:  This is not listed in the directions , but you may want to make note of it. I used DMC 782 to make French knots for the berry seeds in the strawberry .  In the larger sampler, I used DMC 301, to make random straight stitches in the carrot as details





Summer Header,  And The Garden Grows  and Summer Harvest. 

If you missed any of the previous posts in respect to the Summer Stamp SAL , below is a schedule with links back to the appropriate posts.  

SUMMER STAMP SCHEDULE

April 2nd  Summer Stamp Introduction

April 7th  Stamp Stamp Border

April 14th Summer Stamp Header

April 21st  Summer Stamp 1 "And the Garden Grows" 

April 28th Summer Stamp 2

May 5th  Summer  Stamp 3

May 12th  Summer  Stamp 4

May 19th  Summer Stamp 5

May 26th Summer Stamp 6

June 2nd Summer Stamp 7

June 9th Summer Stamp 8

June 16th Summer Stamp  9 

June  23rd Bonus Summer Stamp 10

June 27th Final Reveal

 More Spring decorating with Spring Pasture in my vintage flower vase. 

 Gosh, I have been quite a chatterbox today. I am ever so grateful that you took the time to stop by for  a visit and listen to me ramble on about my childhood days on the farm. I also so appreciate so many of you stitching the Summer Stamp SAL with me  and for cheering me on. I wish you the most delightful day. 

Before I forget. If you are in the neighborhood, I will be posting a  tutorial on how  I dye a small piece of Aida fabric with Rit dye this afternoon around 12. So drop by if you can. 

As Always...

Happy  Stitching and Quilting,  y'all

Melisa 

"The glory of gardening :hands in the dirt , head in the sun, heart in nature. "- unknown 

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy who loved to work on the farm and loved being out in nature . I love and miss you so much.. Love you , Amo. 

  🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉

 Other Posts That Might Strike Your Fancy!

🌞Parade of Homes 2026- Early 2026 parade of home freebies.
🌞2026 Love Parade- A Parade of Previous Valentine Freebies- Valentine themed stitches up to Feb. 4, 2026.  
🌞 Root A Toot Toot Patriotic Parade Early 2024 patriotic freebies. 
🌞A Buzzy Bee Parade An early 2025 bee freebie parade.
🌞A Sunny Sunflower Parade for 2025 A parade of sunflower freebies up to July 24, 2025
🌞Pumpkin, Leaves and Autumn Please- A Fall Parade 2025 A parade of Fall themed stitches and doodles up to September 8, 2025.
🌞 A Parade of Stamps 2025  A parade of stamp cross stitch design freebies up to August 14, 2025

🌞Time to Dye-  2024 post on how I tea/ Coffee Dye my fabric. 
🌞Pin Pillow Tutorial - 2023 post on how I finish my pin pillows with chenille trim. 
🌞A Spooky Parade - Halloween freebies up to October  4, 2025. More Halloween pieces followed this date.
🌞Turkey Struttin' Thanksgiving Parade 2025- Thanksgiving freebies up to the date of November 3, 2025. More Thanksgiving freebies followed  this date. 
🌞Ho! Ho! Ho! Christmas Parade Of Previous Freebies- 2025- A Parade of Christmas Freebies up to the date of November 15, 2025. More Christmas Freebies followed this date. 
🌞A Chilly Parade of Winter Stitches 2025- A parade of Winter themed freebies up to the date of Dec. 21, 2025

Tuesday, February 3, 2026

Tiny Love House- Tiny House Freebie

Happy Tuesday, dear friends. 

Did you know that today is National Carrot Cake Day? Oh yum!  What I wouldn't give to have a large slice of carrot cake dripping with cream cheese icing right now. Hee! Hee!  Last year , I shared my Carrot Cake recipe which I always prepare for Easter. It is a family favorite. 


 Of all my cake pans, the carrot cake always seems to bake the best in my Nanny's old Bundt pan;  I believe it is a magical cake pan blessed by my Nanny. 🤗 

I have many fond memories of her baking Lemon Bundt cakes using this pan. Her icing was always homemade and lip smacking good. I have yet to find her recipe,  but I will continue the search through her recipe collection. 


Do you have a family favorite cake recipe? 

From the Graphic Fairy



Today is "Tiny Tuesday " stitching day for me. My dear friend, Christina on Instagram started this years ago, and I have stitched teeny pieces ever since. Hi, Christina! 😘❤

I will begin my March Tiny House. But first let me show you February's "Tiny Love House".  

                          

Tiny Love House is a little pink House surrounded by hearts- so simple, but so cute- well at least in my eyes.  

Tiny Love House has the same border as my January's "Tiny Winter's Day House. " 

If you missed January's Tiny House, just click on the link below to visit the post with the chart and information.

My goal is to stitch 12 houses. They will all have the same border in the same color which is DMC 898.  All of my "tiny houses" will be finished the same with a bit of fabric and lace. I shared a finishing tutorial in my January 13th post along with the Tiny Winter Day House

Supplies gathered for finishing

🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵

If you are interested in stitching this piece,  just grab , the images. For printing tips, refer to the post Tips for Printing which has loads of tips from my sweet friends. 

🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵 🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵






 Hopefully by the year's end, I will have a dough bowl full of teeny, tiny, seasonal houses- that's the goal at least.    

Well, I better pick up my needle and thread and get to work.  Do you have any special projects in the works today?  

Remember to take a little time for yourself and do something that you love . You deserve it! 🤗

Warm Winter Wishes and lots of hugs and ...

As Always...


Happy  Stitching and Quilting,

 y'all

Melisa 

"A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built of love and dreams. "- Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy. I love and miss you so much.. Love you , Amo. 


❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ 

 Other Posts That Might Strike Your Fancy!

🌞Parade of Homes 2026- Early 2026 parade of home freebies.
🌞 Root A Toot Toot Patriotic Parade Early 2024 patriotic freebies. 
🌞A Buzzy Bee Parade An early 2025 bee freebie parade.
🌞A Sunny Sunflower Parade for 2025 A parade of sunflower freebies up to July 24, 2025
🌞Pumpkin, Leaves and Autumn Please- A Fall Parade 2025 A parade of Fall themed stitches and doodles up to September 8, 2025.
🌞 A Parade of Stamps 2025  A parade of stamp cross stitch design freebies up to August 14, 2025

🌞Time to Dye-  2024 post on how I tea/ Coffee Dye my fabric. 
🌞Pin Pillow Tutorial - 2023 post on how I finish my pin pillows with chenille trim. 
🌞A Spooky Parade - Halloween freebies up to October  4, 2025. More Halloween pieces followed this date.
🌞Turkey Struttin' Thanksgiving Parade 2025- Thanksgiving freebies up to the date of November 3, 2025. More Thanksgiving freebies followed  this date. 
🌞Ho! Ho! Ho! Christmas Parade Of Previous Freebies- 2025- A Parade of Christmas Freebies up to the date of November 15, 2025. More Christmas Freebies followed this date. 
🌞A Chilly Parade of Winter Stitches 2025- A parade of Winter themed freebies up to the date of Dec. 21, 2025
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Monday, November 10, 2025

Monday Rambles

We have flurries! Brrrr! ❄❄❄❄

Good afternoon, sweet friends and Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Were you a busy bee, or did you take the opportunity to sit back, relax and do something that you enjoy? 

Well, it has been a very busy day these last few days since our last visit. I have been getting in lots and lots of grandma time which means loads of hugs, kisses and entertainment. Mr. R., my oldest grandson , got his cast off on Wednesday only to be replaced by a brace which he has to keep on for 7 weeks. His arm is not fully healed but is on its way. He will go back next month for another x-ray.  

Basketball signups will be this week. Both grandsons will play, but Mr. R.  may not get to "officially" play until January. Meanwhile, my youngest grandson , Mr. F. has been enjoying his pitching and batting practice for baseball.  

Over the weekend, they had a sleepover which you know what that means- today, I have spent all morning cleaning the house.   Four young boys on a rampage can wreak havoc on a house. LOL. 🏃🏃🏃🏃

While cleaning in one of my cupboards, I found some sweet handmade Christmas treasures that I bought during the World's Longest Yard Sale over the summer. 



The first little bag which I picked up for a quarter held 2 crocheted red bells and....a darling crocheted Santa Claus. 

Gosh, I do need to learn how to crochet little pieces like this. They make my heart flutter. 🎅 💓

The 2nd bag which I purchased for fifty cents held  precious delicate snowflakes made from plastic canvas. 

White yarn was woven around the snowflake edges. 

The snowflakes are made of 2 layers of plastic canvas , woven with white yarn. 

One snowflake even had some gold thread woven in as well. I believe I will put these on my mantle garland this year. 

Gold thread was woven in 1 snowflake. Cute! 

Now that brings me back to this morning snowflurries. Yesterday the temperatures began to drop from the mid 50's to a bone chilling 27 degrees by this morning. As the temperatures began to drop, I bustled about outside placing the remainder of the plants in the greenhouse while Mr. Pinker began the heater. As of now, my plants were snug as a bug in a rug. 

It spit snow all morning long, but alas, nothing laid. We are expecting 2 more days of cold weather, and then it will warm up to the 60's again. Wheew! Thank goodness! I am not ready for snow. Usually , I am still sporting shorts come Thanksgiving time. 

As the snow fell and the wind blew, I settled into my comfy chair to relax after cleaning the house from the great romper room sleepover this past weekend. Hee ! Hee!  I grabbed my Bow Tie quilt and added in a few more stitches. 

Time to sit down in my stitchy chair to quilt away on the Bow Tie quilt. 

My needle has went around, and around and around each little bow tie block.

Whoopee! It is now time to move the hoop!

11 more blocks to go! 

I am seeing the light of day. 11 more blocks to go. YeeHaw! I am on my last row! 

Well  Sweeties, that is my long ramble for the day. Sorry to be so long-winded.  

Have a humdinger of a day and thank you for the ever so sweet visit !😀🤗

As Always...


Happy  Stitching and Quilting,

 y'all

Melisa 

"Its snuggle weather!  " 

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy. I love and miss you so much.. Love you , Amo. 


🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃 

 Other Posts That Might Strike Your Fancy!

🌞Parade of Homes- Early 2025 parade of home freebies.
🌞 Root A Toot Toot Patriotic Parade Early 2024 patriotic freebies. 
🌞A Buzzy Bee Parade An early 2025 bee freebie parade.
🌞A Sunny Sunflower Parade for 2025 A parade of sunflower freebies up to July 24, 2025
🌞Pumpkin, Leaves and Autumn Please- A Fall Parade 2025 A parade of Fall themed stitches and doodles up to September 8, 2025.
🌞 A Parade of Stamps 2025  A parade of stamp cross stitch design freebies up to August 14, 2025

🌞Time to Dye-  2024 post on how I tea/ Coffee Dye my fabric. 
🌞Pin Pillow Tutorial - 2023 post on how I finish my pin pillows with chenille trim. 
🌞A Spooky Parade - Halloween freebies up to October  4, 2025. More Halloween pieces followed this date.
🌞Turkey Struttin' Thanksgiving Parade 2025- Thanksgiving freebies up to the date of November 3, 2025. More Thanksgiving freebies followed  this date. 

I am joining these lovely ladies' link parties. I hope you check them out; they always have so many wonderful projects going on and provide the opportunity for other needle workers to meet.

Frederique at   Quilting Patchwork Applique for Patchwork & Quilts - Saturday

Kathy at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday

Kate at Life in Pieces for  Stitching Stuff ( Sunday) 

Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework for Oh Scrap - Sunday 

Melva at Melva Loves Scraps for Sew & Tell- Sunday

Brenda at Songbird Designs for Monday Musings

Judy at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday





Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Days at Camp and Mini Halloween Sampler - A Halloween Freebie

Is it still summer? Hmmm well it feels and looks that way at camp. 🤔
All sorts of flowers are in bloom like...

Morning glories...

Asters...

Black eyed Susans...

and Queen Anne's Lace. 

The days are warm , bright and sunny which makes me jump for joy! 

But are there signs of fall? 🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂

Well sure... 

The sawtooth oak acorns are falling. 

Corn has been harvested.

Golden rod is on it's last leg of blooming.

And a few trees are changing color and losing their leaves. 

I have been spending my time strolling the fields of turnip greens and fields of long gone corn crops as the sharecroppers have come and gone with their combines . The other day I watched the farmers as they came in to harvest soybeans. They had a very busy, long day.

Late this evening, I plan to work on a new stitch. It is another wee sampler with stacks of Jacks waiting for the Halloween season. It is called Mini Jack Sampler. I haven't figured out what colors I will use yet, but I will probably pick and choose from the floss selection from my "Halloween Stamps".  

If you are interested, I am posting Mini Jack Sampler as a "CHOOSE YOUR OWN COLORS" chart. I will certainly update this post later with my progress and the colors that I use. 


🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵

If you are interested in stitching this piece,  just grab , the images. For printing tips, refer to the post Tips for Printing which has loads of tips from my sweet friends. 

🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵 🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵






Well Sweeties, that is my ramble for the day. I do apologize for not being able to visit like normal . We are off grid right now except for the occasional excursion to town. I do hope the days are treating you well.
Have a lovely day!

As Always...


Happy  Stitching and Quilting,

 y'all

Melisa 

"I always get to where we are going by walking away from where I have been. "- Winnie the Pooh 

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy. I love and miss you so much.. Love you , Amo. 

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

 Other Posts That Might Strike Your Fancy!

🌞Parade of Homes- Early 2025 parade of home freebies.
🌞 Root A Toot Toot Patriotic Parade Early 2024 patriotic freebies. 
🌞A Buzzy Bee Parade An early 2025 bee freebie parade.
🌞A Sunny Sunflower Parade for 2025 A parade of sunflower freebies up to July 24, 2025
🌞Pumpkin, Leaves and Autumn Please- A Fall Parade 2025 A parade of Fall themed stitches and doodles up to September 8, 2025.
🌞 A Parade of Stamps 2025  A parade of stamp cross stitch design freebies up to August 14, 2025

🌞Time to Dye-  2024 post on how I tea/ Coffee Dye my fabric. 
🌞Pin Pillow Tutorial - 2023 post on how I finish my pin pillows with chenille trim. 
🌞A Spooky Parade - Halloween freebies up to October  4, 2025. More Halloween pieces followed this date.

An old outhouse sits near the  camp. It brings back memories of Granny's outhouse, but hers was a 2 seater . There was always a Sear's catalog in her outhouse . 

Popular Posts

Wordless Wednesday Late Summer on the Farm