On Friday I finished the top and forgot to get a photo before I layered it and started the quilting. I decided to fill in some of the top area with sky which is not in the original photo, but then neither is all that area on the right where I extended it to be long. I think it was a good solution as I had no good fabric for distant prairie to fill it in.

I’m anxious to get more quilting done!

Last week we replaced the stonework on this corner of the fish pond where we had removed it to fix a leak. I smashed a finger and have a bruised nail which is making typing difficult! There used to be an overgrowth of cattails where the liner is showing, but we did not want to redo those really big rocks, so yesterday we bought this floating cork plant holder. I hope when the plants grow, the liner will not be noticeable and will also be protected from the sun.

The local Pond and Water Garden tour is this weekend and we went yesterday. There were 9 gardens on the tour and it was actually a bit of a disappointment this year as less than half of them were that good. I forgot to get a picture of the best one, I was so busy admiring it and talking to the owner, but this one was pretty good.

It was a lovely day with the high only in the 80’s. When we got home and I finished my little planting job, I retired to the hammock with my summer Stephen King read.  It was actually chilly there in the shade with the nice breeze blowing through!

We finished the new rock work for the pond and I think it looks better than before the leak! These are all rocks picked up on our property. They match the rocks on the side of the house and the fireplace.  Often you can see fossils embedded in them, like little scallops or clams as this used to be a sea!

I wish I had put the cushions on the furniture before I took the photo, but you can see a bit of the hammock down in the shade garden where I like to read.

The stuff floating and littering everywhere are tiny flowers off the tree that is over the deck. We have had wind and rain and it is a mess! I blow the deck off to try and lessen the amount that gets in the pool but it is a loosing battle for now. The filter needs cleaning often.

Some of the rocks are BIG and HEAVY! Thank goodness my husband is a willing helper!

The good news is – the missing quilt, “Mon Grand Pere” is found and not a moment too soon as it has been accepted along with “Lazy Afternoon” to hang in New Visions’ “Culture and Agriculture”, a multi media exhibit in Wisconsin – their 24th annual exhibit of art with an agricultural theme. I don’t usually enter shows that are not primarily quilting except for the local art guild, but this one seemed right up my alley!

The bad news is – I have been so busy lately that I missed the deadlines for AQS Knoxville and Aullwood Audubon shows!

I had hoped to get the binding on the Longhorn quilt yesterday but it was a rare lovely day with no rain so we tackled the damage that occurred last winter to the fish pond/water garden. This involved resetting all of the rock work for about half of it and it is pretty good sized. We got a really good start and will be able to finish in another day, but not today. It’s raining. Again.

No problem, I’ll finish the binding instead!