~ New BEES, Old BEES ~ and Garden Thingies ~

 

 Hello hello Friends & Folk!

it is a Thursday evening...high winds and low temps here on the farm tonight.

April is being finicky and FICKLE for sure!

we have wonderful growth in our gardens, but the colder temps of the past 2 nights

~ are not being friendly to delicate blooms and buds.

...Fingers & toes crossed that all will survive!!

 

I wanted to share two new designs with you...

 this is

"The Bee Kind"

{Be kind to the BEE kind"

~and~

"Plant & Weed Quartet"

 

these {above} will be available tomorrow 4/23
in our Etsy shop, as both PDF and Mailed patterns...

 

 Do you LOVE bees ???????

{ or beekeeping, honey, knowing that by digesting honey you are supporting local beekeepers, treating your body to one of the very 1st-known natural antibiotics/healing agents., a natural humectant for your skin, an Earth-born gift that without we would perish from the planet???}

I love bees. Peter & Hannah & I kept bees for a short time when we first moved here to VA in 2003...we weren't successful, as our queens kept wanting to waylay to other lands...

we let them go, feeling they knew better than we ~ and have since been blessed by visits of offspring from our original hives each year ~

the tender and gentle workers perch on my fingertips as though they 'know' me...

I have been known to sing to them, and they, in turn, dance for me.

 

Between stitches,... I watch them flit from flow'r to flow'r ~ gathering their pollen to feed their young ~

knowing that we, in some small way are helping our neighbors gardens and crops come to fruition...

eating local honey has helped my allergies immensely also.

As a needlework designer, my love for bees creeps in.

here is a smattering of my earlier designs that include my beloved BEE-Friends:

"Blessed Bee' Punch needle

"Bee Good" punch needle

 

"Birds & Bees" punch needle

"BUZZbee" punch needle

 

"The Bee Sampler" cross stitch

"Keeping the Bees" punch needle

 

"Give Bees a Chance" cross stitch

 

 

 

 

www.Notforgottenfarm.etsy.com is our Etsy shop address ~

all paper/PDF patterns & Books are 20% OFF ~

 

thank you for visiting, come by again soon & Blessed be!

🌻

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ A Freebie for You! ~

 Hello Friends & Folk!

Happy Monday to us all ~

guess what? it's raining! AGAIN!

wow, have never seen this much rain in one month ~

good for the soil, plenty of nitrogen for our plants ~

 but the mold spores grow too and boy do they play with my allergies

 ~ yuck.

Since I am 'cleaning out' my 

"somewhat older/never completed/need to be finished and stitched"

 designs on my computer, I found this sweet honey bee that I charted a couple of moons ago...

and though ~ 

Hmmm....my friends might want to stitch this to add to their growing

bee-themed finishes that I see them displaying?

so, for your amusement and the fact that I love to share, here is

🐝 ~ Bee a Kind Soul ~ 🐝

 

I would LOVE to see your finishes of this design...

I originally charted it to be worked on 36ct linen with DMC threads ~

{symbols legend shows DMC}

but

make it yours! ...change the colors, 

how about stitching it really small, one over one on 30 or 28ct linen?

don't like to stitch on linen? then use that Aida cloth ~

there is NOTHING WRONG with cross stitching on AIDA cloth!

{{You have my permission to do so!}}

~ AND there are wonderful folks who offer hand dyed AIDA cloth now too!

You can Google 'hand dyed AIDA cloth' and it will show you many shops who offer it ~

I will also post this FREEBIE on my "Freebies" page

for you for future reference ~ that link is over there on my right sidebar ---->

လလလလလလလလလလလလလလလလလလလလလလလလ

 Well, I am off to process weekend orders, then stitch to my heart's content...

...rainy days are made for stitching

aren't they?

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ All we are Saying....

...is Give Bees a Chance! 

{and I know you sung that in your head while you read it! lol}
Here is another fun little motto-stitch/sampler from Notforgotten Farm™
I have been wanting to stitch this saying for a while, and went about doing just that, finally ~
I love the way it turned out, the colors and motifs just work together so well.

I stitched the model onto 35/36 count Osnaburg ~ 

it is an uneven weave fabric that gives an old fashioned look to my work.
Osnaburg can be found in most craft stores, in the Utility Fabric section, 

near the burlap/muslin, etc...

Stitch Count: 106w x 60h
All DMC Threads
Stitched one strand of floss over 2 threads of ground fabric {osnaburg}

Now Available in ouyr Etsy Shop ~

AND is included in our Quarantine Sale going on now!

 

Click Here to purchase either PDF or Mailed Version

🐝 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Have fun, Happy Stitching and...Blessed 'BEE'!!
Lori

~ A Bee in my Bonnet ~

 Good Morning Friends & Folk ~

and a beautiful March Wednesday it is!

mild temps, beaming sunshine and dry weather

will find me working a bit in my herb gardens this morning...

cleaning and clearing, and cutting back the last years' overgrowth.

once my chores are finished, 

you will find me on the porch swing with my needle and thread in hand...

working on whatever comes to mind...

no pattern, no plan ~ just inspiration from my garden

~ and a few beautiful photos saved from Pinterest:

Unfortunately, 

I had to shut down commenting on this blog, 

~ due to spammers leaving ridiculous comments.

 

 Hoping you all have a beautiful day filled with creativity and peace ~

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ Between the Raindrops ~

is that the sun?

no, wait ~ it's gone again.

no really...is/was that the sun? 

*sigh*

i love the rain {as we all know} but it's been here a little too long now.

~ saturated soil {ok, red clay} 

... and soggy everything.

come on sunshine, stay for a while!

I've been punching up the next model for our 

click -> Primitive Punch Needle Club

{and yes I have fallen behind, apologies to my members}

This sweet strawberry below will become a needle-keep ~

and I am waiting on threads to come in.

Hoping to have them soon and get these shipped out for you!

 *please ignore my filthy garden clogs*

*please admire my beautiful chocolate mint!*

This time, 

I've used only DMC 6 strand cotton floss for the model.

I have had a few PPNC members say 

that they are having difficulties punching with the Valdani pearl cotton..

that it wants to 'splice' when they punch with it. 

{I have never had a problem with it}

anyhoo, this current kit will contain all DMC floss to finish the project, 

which will measure approx. 3-3/4" x 5" when completed by you.

I will show you the 'finished-finish' soon, 

as I have to get the backing fabric stitched on today.

and while my punch needle was handy 

and I had excess weavers cloth from said project above,

I figured I'd punch a little bee.

or maybe it's a big bee.

or perhaps it's a fly that thinks itself a bee?

 not sure, but it's cute.

 

all of the rain has turned everything here a lush green.

except for that damn red clay...

we have a family of chickadees living in this little birdhouse near the patio ~

watching them flit in & out makes me happy. 

All kinds of 'volunteer' plants are growing....

even though they are considered weeds, 

they are valuable to our planet.

did you know you could make a nice salad with dandelion leaves?

oh and a soothing medicinal tea too.

used for centuries to treat fever & upset stomach

and to stimulate appetite...

not that i need any help with that.

Peter has divided his banana plants, 

and they are sprouting again...

especially in the rain & heat...like our own little tropical paradise.

this time we have 5 or 6 of them coming back to life 

after being dormant all winter in the basement.

 

my cinnamon basil and parsely have perked up a bit this morning...

I love basil!

 

love the black variety of basil too...a little stronger taste to it.

 

flat Italian parsley next to  a small iron birdbath....

my garden toads love to sit in it at night and take sips.

 Hoping the sun will continue to shine for the rest of the week...

grass needs mowed

laundry needs hung

farmhouse needs aired out from being closed up for days

and I need some vitamin D ~ hoping for a little patio-stitching!

Post office run today, then picking up miss Joan and taking her to Joann's store.

those coupons are burning a hole in her pocket!

Many thanks for the sympathy cards that have been sent to us for Joan.

Today marks the 2nd week since her Arthur has been gone.

xoxoxox

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ Industry ~

 

It is not how busy you are, but why you are busy — 

the bee is praised, the mosquito is swatted. 

~Author Unknown


How doth the little busy Bee
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From ev'ry op'ning flow'r!
~Isaac Watts (1674–1748), 

excerpt from "Idleness and Mischief" (children's hymn)

 

 Busy as a little bumbler-bee here lately...

working on punch needle ~

and rug hooking...

~ and more rug hooking.

I'll have 2 new cross stitch designs coming soon,

they are being stitched by another little busy-bee friend! 

The bees were busy, 

and their humming brought pleasant hopes of summer. 

~Lady John Manners, "Belvoir at Eastertide," 

in The Garden: An Illustrated Weekly Journal of Horticulture In All Its Branches, 

1886 May 8th

Happy Rainy Wednesday to you!

 

Blessings from the Farm ~ 

 Lori

~ Just Listed on EBAY ~

"Bee Witched" © 

from Notforgotten Farm™

designed & hooked by me ~

{and I love her sooooo}

Finished Rug now available for your bidding pleasure on EBAY

{{ click HERE to see more photos & perhaps bid on her! }}

* * * * * * *

~ Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori 

~ Spiraling ~

Good Morning Friends & Folk ~

it seems like Spring has finally decided to stay for a while now…

and I am so happy for the warmer temps & sunshine!

since the weather has been so nice, I have been trying to work a little outside more ~

here is my progress on

" Bee Witched" 

you can see that I've made small spirals from contrasting wools for her skirt…

purple & burnt orange make a nice combination :)

… they aren't stitched on yet,

 but have pins through them to hold them together whilst I play with 

adjust them where I'd like to them to be…

{apologies for the blur}

I'm liking how I have them placed, 

so now I will begin stitching them down.

Once the spirals are stitched down onto my rug linen, 

I've hooked around them using an awesome hand dyed yellowish & black boucle wool

that looks like tiny polka dots when hooked…

I've used this same wool throughout the tall & wonky beeskep too ~

this ties the whole design together and makes for a rug with character & movement.

I'va also used the same grey/blue wools for her hat, 

the 'door' to the beeskep and the beeskep's legs for more balance there.

I've begun hooking her top with two different purple wools, 

one is a hand dyed and the other is an as-is texture with many subtle colors throughout.

I'll bring the purple wools down into her skirt next,

most likely in the planned-random striped style that I've hooked her top.

so far so good!

~

 Then it will be on to the background ~

not sure what color yet, 

but I am thinking dark wools 

to make those saturated colors I've used really pop.

:::::::}}}}}O{{{{{:::::::

 our Farm  Shop 

has resumed it's normal hours once again and will be open 

Today {friday} ~ 10:00 - 3:00

Tomorrow {saturday} ~ 10:00 - 3:00

so come on in for a visit!

~ Blessings from the Farm ~

Lori

~ Wool Gathering ~

wool·gath·er·ing

ˈwo͝olˌɡaT͟H(ə)riNG/

noun

noun: wool-gathering

1. indulgence in aimless thought or dreamy imagining; absentmindedness.

   "she wanted to be free to indulge her woolgathering"

   Synonyms: daydreaming, reverie, dreaming, musing, abstraction, preoccupation;  absentmindedness, forgetfulness Usage:"She was free to indulge her everlasting woolgathering"

** "Woolgathering" 

once literally referred to the act of gathering loose tufts of wool 

that had gotten caught on bushes and fences as sheep passed by. 

… Woolgatherers must have seemed to wander aimlessly, 

gaining little for their efforts ~ for in the mid-16th century 

"woolgathering" began to appear in figurative phrases such as:

 "my wits (or my mind) went a-woolgathering" 

- in other words, "my mind went wandering aimlessly." 

From there, 

it wasn't long before the word "woolgathering"

 came to suggest the act of indulging in purposeless mind-wandering. ~ 

** excerpt from Merriam Webster Dictionary

Here is proof that this is true ~

the fence-line along where our mother & son sheep dwell 

shows exactly what the above refers too…

when Bobby & Esther rub against the fence, their wool gets caught and hangs there ~

the fence no longer holds them in, 

their constant rubbing has pulled the wire down to a point where it's useless now :)

they are now free to roam wherever they please here at the farm ~

they are SO dirty from the recent rains!

their first shearing this year will be very soon ~

the old fencing still shows sheep's wool ~

I do gather it from time-to-time…

a pleasant past-time indeed…

to go searching for bits of wool to use in my creations…

But ~

my description of Woolgathering is a bit different ;)

I am constantly hoarding collecting wool ~ 

not mindlessly, no…

very purposefully.

{ altho I do seem to let my mind wander when looking for just the right color }

wool spills from my cupboards, shelves and baskets…

it is piled next to my chair, on the dining room table and even in the kitchen…

in this old farmhouse there is evident-proof that a rug hooker lives here.

you can tell that by the wool dust & snippets everywhere!

… wool-worms and noodles emerge from their hiding places almost daily, 

and our vacuum-emptying is almost always a very colorful & pleasant surprise :)

I love to add lots of different colors & textures to my hooked projects

such as the one below in progress:

there must be 8 different wools alone

 in just the beeskep!

do you see the little snippet bowl I made in the photo below?

made from a densely felted orange blanket and old mother of pearl buttons…

I found the directions to make it 

HERE

{please pardon the cat-hair…proof that Iggy is always a generous helper}

I'll be happily hooking the rest of the beeskep this afternoon,

once my other chores are finished up, of course….

… then I'll begin color planning the little witch's dress ~

Hmmm….

there's that woolgathering again!

~ first though, I think I'll go out to visit old friends for a bit ~

and offer them an apple or two for their gifts.

Hoping your day is filled with creativity & treasures found ~

Blessings from the Farm ~ 

 Lori