A Beautiful Day !

Woke up to an absolutely beautiful day where I live. The sun is shining, a slight breeze, all the windows are open and I feel great!
I have two recent finishes to show all of you. Remember that baby sampler I posted that I was helping a friend out with..well, it is finished! YAY!~ It was a lot more stitching than I had expected it to be, but it came out so pretty, I just have to share:

The Mom had stitched the Monkey square separately, and I made a tooth fairy pillow out of it for her baby:

I put a big "pocket" on the back so the tooth fairy can leave some coins for a very special little girl :)
Now, onto something else I had finished stitching. I have a very dear and wonderful friend that has always been like a Mom to me. She was always Grandma to my children also. I have been wanting to stitch her something special for some time now. She will be turning 87 years old this year and knew I wanted to give her a stitched piece for her birthday. Here is what I stitched for my dear friend: "A Friend Indeed" an old freebie from Blue Ribbon Designs:

I had a "helper" while I stitched...here is my daughter's bird "Andy"!

and...his side-kick "Misty"!

By the way..if you would like to listen to Andy's whistles, he has his own Facebook page, yes he does!
 Click Here :Andy The Bird

My Son sent me a picture he took while on leave. It's our neighbors dog "Sparky" What a beautiful dog!

The picture looks like a postcard! Oh!, look at the closeup...
What a GORGEOUS FACE! I just LOVE him to pieces...yes I do! :)

I have been up to more crocheting...made another frilly scarf :)

Saint Patrick's Day is upon us..Although a wonderful day to celebrate, its also the day my husbands Father Patrick passed away , 20 years ago today. Our bird "Sunny" also passed away on this day years ago. I still make the traditional meal of corned beef, and I make the most wonderful Irish soda bread! I cannot stop eating it...(which is not such a good thing)! This recipe bakes up a wonderful bread that is so moist inside, I make this recipe every year now!

If you would like this recipe, head on over to my recipe blog! Click HERE!
My pansies have survived the winter months in their special planters...they are blooming now, prettier than ever!

I ordered some new stash in the mail, a new chart, and DMC threads. Sometimes I am able to get a floss fairy to help me out with DMC floss. The craft store for me is over a half hour away, and with the price of gas, I just don't go often :( It always seems that when I am in the middle of a project, that is when I run out, or need a certain color, and of course it is always the color I do not have! Love getting new stash in the mail!

This chart is called "Amish Alphabet" the designer is From The Heart. Pretty design!
I will show you a quiet place I go to sometimes..there is plenty of woods behind my house..sometimes I go for walks through the woods, sometimes I even sit down and take time to pray. It is so peaceful and serene out back, I know how blessed I am..

Sometimes I find little things as I roam around...

I wish you all a very Blessed Saint Patrick's Day!

Backyard Visitor

Earlier today I heard a screaming outside...
I went to see what all the clatter was about.
There was this very large bird flying around, then landed in a tree. I ran to get my camera, and this is what I snapped:

I thought it to be an owl at first..it was up quite high, had to zoom in with my camera..
After looking at the photo, It didn't look like an owl to me anymore...I thought perhaps a hawk.
I am not so sure about either, if you look at the beak, it is straight and not hook billed.
It appears to be a young bird..although large in size.
It has the sweetest face!

Anyone know what type of bird this might be?
Louise
***Edited to add***
Thank you to Abbie for your comment...I looked at the photos of a Swainson Hawk..but not sure the markings on the chest are just alike or not..I did look up Red Shouldered Hawk and noticed the chest has the same color marking and horizontal lines as the bird in my picture. The straight beak stumps me though! Might just be the picture itself and it's beak really isn't straight at all...

TOAD!

I may have just saved a life...
I went into the garage a little while ago and saw this little guy hiding out..
glad I found him and set him free outside.
He is pretty cute isn't he? :) You just never know what you will run into in Florida!

Hello Mr. Crow

So very nice to meet you..but you woke me up this morning with your loud calls!

EEeeek!!

I am thinking it will be a long time before I unpack all the boxes we have piled to the ceiling in our garage from moving back to Florida.
I finally found more of my baking dishes. YAY!
(not that I haven't been baking!) Nothing stops this baker from doing her thing...
I have already baked sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, a vanilla cake and lemon cake. :)
When I realized I couldn't find the proper baking dishes or pans..I took a trip to the store and purchased what I needed for now.
With the mounds of boxes, and most of them not labeled properly (who did that anyways?!) It is just easier to pick up what I needed till I can find my old things again.

We have been so busy! Our daughter started high school. She is absolutely loving it!
She is back with her old friends again, and making lots of new friends too. It is such a joy to see her so happy. We took a trip to the mall yesterday. What a delight to have Mother/Daughter bonding time together. Made my heart smile when she grabbed my hand to hold it as we walked in the mall. I nearly cried!
We went to all the shops she loves, and then we picked up some dinner, just the two of us, what fun!
This was the best decision we have ever made moving back to Florida.
We really should have never left. Sometimes though, you don't realize till you leave how much you will miss something till it is gone. So glad we have it back.
Nothing feels as good as HOME does!

As I was going through some boxes, my DH Patrick is outside doing yard work..he called me outside. He told me the cutest animal was on the bush out there sunning itself. I couldn't wait to see what it was!
I thought..hmmm..."a lizard?, a bird?"..
No....I could NOT believe what he asked me to come outside to see...

it ..
was...
a....

SNAKE!!!!!
EEEeeekk!!!

Here is a picture of the animal he called a "cutie" LOL
As long as it stays far away from me, I am ok with it.
I looked, I saw, I snapped a picture, then I ran back inside!

Have a nice day everyone!
Raggedystitches,
Louise