I ended up making 32 berries for the “Very Berry Christmas” block. Now to decide on the arrangement! I have 
taken photo’s of 3 different placements for the berries and would like everyone’s opinion. Not that I will go with whatever the most pick or anything. I would just like to know what you all think and I will decide from there. Opinions count 
This version on the left is #1, it has some berries in the center around the center flower not in groupings of 3 as the pattern had there just isn’t room for that but in a circle around it instead. Also some berries scattered around the green leave wreath.
In the next version in the photo on the right #2 I decided to put the berries in a different order. This version has berries only in the green leaf wreath area. It makes a difference in not having any berries in the center doesn’t it? 
Does not detract from the center flower?
In this next version on the bottom left, #3 I went back to berries around the center flower and in groupings of 3 around the green leaf wreath. I like the groups in the leaves but not so sure if I like them also around the flower.
Each photo can be clicked on to enlarge and see closer.
by Karen on June 6, 2009
in weather
For 3 days in a row we have had cooler than normal early June weather and it has been so nice. We have had the windows open and have been working outside a lot. I have gotten no little berries made today for the quilt block but will work on them as soon as I get off the computer!
Tomorrow it will be back to hot weather again and air conditioning. It was nice to have the windows open while we could. 
Last night we took a walk out at the lake and had to forgo walking out on the jetty as we normally do; the mayflies were awful! So many of them, if we had tried to walk out there we would have been covered with them. Mayflies must stick to the water areas because we have none here at home and in the areas of the park we walked at that was not next to the water we were not bothered my them. They should be gone soon.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend.
Last year in the early spring I had read that propagation of hydrangea plants could be done in several ways. One method was to cut a stem and put it in water to root and another method was to take a lower branch and gently bend it down to the soil and place a rock or something on it to hold it to the soil. Leave the stem on the soil for several months and then check and see if it had developed roots. If it had roots cut the stem off of the mother plant and dig the rooted plant gently out of the soil and plant where you wanted it.
I tried both methods. I rooted 5 stems in water and they all developed roots after several months. When the stems had good size roots on them I planted each in a small pot until a root ball formed. At the same time I was doing that 
method I had done the other as well with two stems bent to the ground. Both methods worked and I had 7 plants to plant last fall in the new flower bed that I had made. I thought this was really neat – have you priced decent size hydrangea plants? Too expensive in my opinion if I could do it from my own plants!
My “mother” plant is a BLUE hydrangea — BUT — all new 7 plants (6 of which have blossoms) have PINK blossoms. I thought that was kind of strange but I had thought that I had read somewhere that soil ph plays a part in color. I checked with the “grumpy gardener” and sure enough that is what happened. The ph balance in the new garden is different from the soil where the blue hydrangea is and that made the difference. I am satisfied though 
with my pink hydrangeas and really like the color. It is nice being able to have a bouquet with both colors in it. I was surprised at how many blossoms are on the small plants already though! I really didn’t think I would have many blossoms – all but one plant has them. My blue hydrangea is about 15 years old – I am so glad that I was able to root plants from it.
Now the other part of my title says “beginning of the berries” I finally got started 
today making the berries for the Christmas Baltimore Album block! I got 14 berries made today and I have placed them on the block to see what it will look like. I have more berries to make but this will give you an idea of placement. In the wide open space in between the leaves – don’t know if you can see where I mean? There will be groupings of 3 berries. Close up by the red where I have one berry all around the flower there was supposed to be groupings of 3 berries there also – I guess I made my flower too big because no way will 3 berries fit in those spaces in clusters without looking way too crowded so I am saved of having to make 56 berries and will make a total of 40 berries instead. I am going to go ahead and make the clusters of 3 for the open spaces in between the leaves though (8 areas). I will post another photo when I get the berries done.
As I have mentioned before when we were traveling I had intended to really work hard on my “Insanity Revisited” Dear 
Jane quilt. But that isn’t how it turned out. I had brought enough fabric and patterns along to do a whole row – 13 blocks. What I got done was 2 blocks!! Since we got home last week – a week from today I have managed to finish two more blocks and sew the 4 blocks together with the sashing. Finally I have accomplished a little bit.
Also on our travels I had brought along one block that was completely prepared to work on from my Christmas Baltimore Album quilt. I have 3 finished blocks and this one called “A Berry Christmas”. It needs 56 tiny berries scattered thoughout the green wreath area. Well I make them and finish it like that? Doubtful. I just do not think I want to make 56 berries. They show two versions on the pattern, one with all the berries and one with clusters of 3 berries throughout the wreath. I think that would make 24 berries total instead and I think that is what I will do with it, unless after I get started I change my mind.
I do want to finish the Christmas top this year and I still have one more complete block to applique and 4 borders that have the same type of pattern to applique on it as well. Maybe it will be quilted for next year’s Christmas.
Since we got home in the evening I have been trying to spend about an 
hour almost every night quilting on my first Dear Jane quilt “Insanity”. It is coming along and I have made a little progress. These blocks and triangles are from the Row # F. The quilting in the block with the red fabric isn’t complete but I will finish that block tonight. Finally getting back into my routine – just took a couple days to get back into the swing of things.
in my house this morning! My living room is a little dim in the morning and I had not turned the lights on yet. Here I was walking from the bathroom into the kitchen going through my living room when I caught something out of the corner of my eye going underneath the edge of my couch!! I only caught a glimpse but thought I had seen the tail of a mouse. I am not afraid of mice but I do not want them in my house. I finished getting myself ready for the day. I had bought – several days before – a box of 4 bug bombs as we had been gone for a month and I had found several bugs in the house. I wanted to de-bug the house, maybe I could kill a mouse at the same time? I decided to try it out and see but to also make a stop at the store to get some mouse poison.
I turned off the air and the fans and got the bug bombs going and left the house. When I got back home of course I didn’t see a dead mouse laying in the middle of the carpet or anything didn’t really expect to of course. One of the first things to do for the day was to open up several boxes of mouse poison and put them out for the uninvited guests.
In the middle of the afternoon I came back in the house for a little bit and low and behold as I walked from the kitchen to
the living room there on the living room carpet is a blue-tailed lizard heading to scoot under the couch! I snuck up on it and caught it by it’s tail — I have done this before (but outside) almost any child can catch a blue-tailed lizard if you try and I had helped my girls do this when they were kids and occasionally catch one just to look at it. They are harmless. Have I ever mentioned I was a tom-boy when I was a kid grow up with 8 younger brothers and this might happen to you too!! LOL
The proper name for this lizard is a Five-lined Skink. They are small creatures, the blue tail marks the young. This one was about 5 inches long tail included. This photo comes from the link above that tells you about Arkansas lizards. I have a feeling this lizard got in the house while we were bringing things in from the camper on Thursday. I was going back and forth to the camper to the house that I wasn’t always taking care to shut the door all the way. These lizards and another one called the Eastern-Fence 
Lizard or Gray Lizard live on our deck and all around our house for the warm months of the year, which means they lounge around within our view and run here and there in front of us and past our feet on the deck for about six months of the year. We have caught both kinds over the years and are pretty neat to watch them.
I have never had one get in the house though that I know of – maybe they have and figured out how to get back out?
Catching a lizard I could do – now if it was a mouse the poison would have had to do the job for me although I can dispose of those after they are dead without having a hissy fit.
I did get 3 squares of Dear Jane sewed together today for the beginning of the 7th row and I have another square prepped and ready to go. That’s as far as I have gotten with my sewing. I have been too busy outside. I have a feeling this summer might be slow going for quilting and piecing.
