12th Blogiversary Celebration Giveaway!

Hey, dear friends! Happy Blogiversary to me! And to you for being my blogging friends!! It's so good to check in with you this and every morning. Let me just tell you what's going on around here, and then we'll get to the giveaway. Okay?

The biggest accomplishment yesterday was to finish off the sixth of seven rows of blocks on Ella's Flower Garden. I should easily be able to finish off the quilting today.

Here's how it's looking from the back. Can you see the four-petal flowers that form from those Terry Twists? I really enjoy quilting that motif. It looks pretty from the back, and one can cover a lot of ground without cutting thread if one sticks to the path of righteousness...meaning, if one doesn't lose one's way, as I do occasionally.

All of this was accomplished with the assistance of my steadfast helper cat. He really loves the mid-arm machine. It makes for excellent chin scratching. If you don't know this already, just know that kitties have very itchy chins.

We recorded the January 6th hearings yesterday morning to watch later in the afternoon. While we watched, I stitched up the next section of Calendula Patterdrip's Cottage. The stitching is less dense here, and so I moved my hoop to the right to capture just a bit more of the spiderweb.

It was a warm day and time to give the flowers a drink. Unless we've just been very lucky, I think my pinwheels are deterring the squirrels and the deer. For the first time since planting them, I have some actual blooming geraniums. The squirrels were biting them off as fast as the buds could form.

Here's a pink one here.

Same goes for the dahlias. There were lots of flowers when I planted them. Then none. Now some!

We have actual cherry tomatoes coming on. It's about darned time.

I was surprised to see ten flowers on the Red Cardinal clematis. A bunch opened seemingly overnight.

And these funny little Dr. Seuss flowers on the hens and chicks are opening. We were in the middle of a heat dome when their buds formed last year. They shriveled up without ever opening, poor things. As a succulent, they were not happy about such hot weather. It's good to see them back again.

Around front, the whiskey barrel there is empty of anything right now. Last year, I planted Black Eyed Susans here, thinking they would return this year. I haven't seen any sign of them, and so I sprinkled some California poppy seeds there last week. Now they are sprouting. I'm hoping I didn't plant them too late, and that we'll still get flowers this year.

Around the back side of the house, the smallest clematis finally put out a flower. This is another one that got bitten off every time a bud formed. You can see that something has been nibbling at its petals.

I gave it its own pinwheel a couple of days ago. Now maybe we'll get more flowers.

The lavender is in fine form too. I've already snipped a handful or two for drying. It'll be used in next year's lavender tea, used to make the Bees Knees cocktails.

Mike has been hard at work squirrel-proofing the greenhouse. Yesterday, he shoveled a layer of gravel, then covered it with landscaping plastic. That will keep weeds from growing up through it. Then, he laid down a brick border. He was gone when I was taking this picture, picking up some pea gravel to cover the landscaping plastic.

By day's end, he had the whole thing finished. I've already ordered four large flower pots to put on the left side (the sunny side). There, I'll plant dahlias, and be hopeful for flowers next year. Dahlia bulbs have to be dug up each winter where we live to prevent freezing. By putting them in pots, we'll be able to move the pots into the garage in winter, and we won't have to dig them each year.

Inside, the first flower has formed on one of the pickling cucumbers. These are so late. I doubt we're even going to get any cucumbers this year. Still, I continue to be hopeful we'll get at least enough for some refrigerator pickles.

Okay, so thank you for wading through that update. Let's get to the good stuff, shall we? 

Sorry…this giveaway is closed.

Today I'm celebrating 12 years of blogging by giving away an 8-fat quarter bundle of this Sunburst Summer Days fabric by AGF Studio for Art Gallery Fabrics. It seemed like something bright and summery was in order.

Consider this my thank you for your readership, your many kind comments and suggestions, and your encouragement over these many years. Here's what you need to do to be a winner.

1. Just leave a comment...any comment will do. If you can't think of anything, then tell me about any travel plans you might have for what remains of summer. Please leave your comment here on the blog. If you are an email follower, simply click on the title of this post to be taken to the actual web page. You can leave your comment there.

2. Since this giveaway is to thank those of you who have followed along over the years, this prize is reserved for followers only...new, old, salty, sweet, bitter, and twisted...just step on up and tell me how you follow. If you want to become a follower, you can find lots of ways to do it there in my left side bar. Also, I will ship internationally, so all residents of Planet Earth are welcome to join in. 

3. If you're no reply, be sure to leave an email address. You can't win if I can't contact you.

So good luck, and a big thank you for helping me celebrate the day! I'll leave this giveaway open through Saturday, July 16th and announce the winner sometime on Sunday, July 17th.

Good luck everybody!