Friday Fotos...Spring, Sheep and Stitches

This morning, after taking the boys to school, I grabbed my camera and took the dog for a quick walk. The sun was shining without a cloud in the sky...the air was cool and crisp...songs of birds filled the spring air. It was wonderful. On my walk, I looked at the hills that surround the neighborhood and on the one I spoke of yesterday, I caught the shepherd and his dog working with the sheep (he & dog are somewhat located in the upper middle of the photo):

The sheep have worked their way to the side of the hill that faces us. From my son's window, we can see the areas where they have eatten the tall grass down to the ground. When fire season starts up, we will definitely feel appreciation to the shepherd and his sheep!

Continuing my walk with the dog, we pass up a lot of flowering bushes.

I am not sure what the name of these bushes are - but who ever landscaped our neighborhood must of had the flower colors in mind when planning for the spring. The purples and the pinks of these really put one in the Easter mood. And don't forget these flowering crab-apple trees that I posted a photo of yesterday...

When you walk through these trees at full bloom, you almost feel like you are walking in a Winter-wonderland...and I prefer walking amoung flowering trees than trees full of snow, don't you?

Lastly, on some of the trellises around the neighborhood park are the wisteria beginning to bloom:

These always remind me of grapes on a grape vine ready to be harvest. Now back at home from our little walk, the dog runs into the garage to get a drink of water and I see that our little Cali-lily plant continues to grow and flower without any maintainance...it grows like a weed!

Thank you for coming on my early morning spring walk with me and sharing the sights...now to reward you for making it this far in the post here are some stitching photos:

First a finish to show:

"A Walk in the Park"

by Little House Needleworks

stitched on 36ct linen (forgot the name)

DMC floss - black & white - stitching 2 over 2

button from Just Another Button Company

finished by mounting it on a cigar box from Michaels; painted box black and wrapped round wooden buttons with fabric purchased at Jo-Anns.

This is a gift for my sister who lost her canine friend in December. Maxie, as she called him, was with her for a long time and became her best friend. I know she misses him.

And now that I am caught up with my "exchange" project (for a little while as I have 2 to complete by May 1) - I have pulled out my Mary Wigham.

Here is what is looks like now - and because I don't have a quick reference to what it looked like before taking it out of hibernation, here is a photo of the motif I finished last night (GAST: Tinbucket):

Well, Blogging Buddies...thank you for making it to the end of this long post. I hope that you enjoyed our spring walk together ending in stitches!

Remember...Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa