All about Flowers

It's that time of year when the leaves begin changing their beautiful colors and the weather gets crisp and cold. It's time to pull out the wool sweaters and start layering. Me, I lament the coming of frost and the eventual disappearance of the brightly colored flowers from my garden. I can be seen outside picking every last available bloom and then spreading the vases of precious last flowers out all over the house. It just seems impossible that I am going to have to wait a good 7 months to have their beautiful colors outside my door.


And so today and all this coming week, I am celebrating flowers on the blog. It seems that I am not the only one to love a good bloom or two. I just ordered Alicia Paulson' new book directly from her. It is a beautiful collection of projects, many of them featuring flowers and old-fashioned goodness. When I heard Alicia was doing an embroidery book, I was so excited. I love her take on different crafts. And I love that she is helping to get the word out about the joy of embroidery. The introduction that Alicia writes will bring you to tears. (p.s. Order from Alicia - she will make more money by selling her book directly to you and you'll help out a fellow stitcher!)


On the other side of the pond, the wonderfully talented Jane Brocket has written yet another book! My, she is prolific. This one is called "The Gentle Art of Quilting" and boy it is darn beautiful. My photo shows the British cover but it is available in the U.S. with a different cover here. Or from your local quilting shop, I assume. Most of the prints used for the quilts are floral based, as so much fabric is. Must be many others love to cover their homes in flowers when there is a lack of them outside.

Jane celebrates flowers and color constantly on her fabulous blog Yarnstorm. Jane's blog was one of the first I ever stumbled upon. It was during her tulip photography season and it just sucked me in with all the beautiful color. I am always envious of her tulips. I can't grown them here because the deer and the sheep pluck all the lovely buds off before they bloom and have a snack of them. So I live vicariously through her tulip photos every tulip season!

Check out the article Deborah Knight wrote for Knitch Magazine about her visit to my "Get Stitched on the Farm" classes this August. Deborah made an amazing flower collection during her visit here to the farm. Knitch is the very interesting on-line magazine of YarnMarket.com. It is full of interesting profiles and stories about knitting.

Have you heard about this flower decorated chain-link fence in Denver? Wow - how wonderful. Thanks to Auntie Shan for letting me know about it.

And lastly for something not about flowers but about local goodness. My friends Maggie, Jim and Evelyn, chef-owners of Greenfield's fabulous farm-inspired restaurant Hope and Olive are featured in this week's American Profile (a blow-in in many small local papers nationwide). The story is about their Free Soup and Games Night which they offer once a month on Mondays when their restaurant is closed. So far, they have raised over $50,000 for local charities. Although you may not be able to visit Hope and Olive, you may be able to spread the word to a good local restaurant in your area. You can read the article and find their recipes here. It really is exciting to see a local business featured on the pages of a hugely circulated national magazine. Congrats guys!