As I was saying...

I just had an "oops."  Blogger and my internet connection were not playing nicely together, so I am posting all of this via Photobucket.  I accidently sent the previous post before I was finished.  I tried to log on to Blogger and clean it up, but of course I can't get connected to post or delete anything there.  We'll chalk it up to technical difficulty and move on. ;)

The second FUFO that I assembled over the weekend (see the post below for the first), was an ornament stitched from a kit that I purchased ages ago.  I've had the thing finished for so long that I don't even remember stitching it.  Well, it was nearly finished anyway.  The stitching was done, but I still needed to add the beads.  I had shied away from assembling this one for two reasons.  First, because it's stocking-shaped, and I wasn't excited about sewing it up.  As if that wasn't enough, there was also twisted cord trim.  I hate making twisted cord, and I'm even less thrilled about whipstitching it on, especially if what I'm sewing it onto has curves like this tiny little stocking.

Personally, I think this turned out quite nicely, even if I am not the worlds greatest twisted cord maker.  The cord looks skinnier on one side, but that's just the camera angle.  It's actually even all the way around.  I'm really quite pleased with myself for finally finishing this one.

Since we were in the country this weekend, I was able to take a few photos of my flowers.  The first one is a winter hibiscus, with an enormous lavender plant in the background. 

Next is a hydrangea, which has produced some very large clusters this year. 

Now, just so you don't think that I have a country home with beautiful flowers everywhere, I'll show you one of my poor little rose beds.  These plants used to be so beautiful when my dad was tending them.  But when he got ill in 2004, he couldn't take care of them.  Once he passed away, I had so many other things to do that tending the roses wasn't on my priority list.  This year, I've gotten quite a few blooms, even though the plants look awful.  They're sort of between blooming sessions now, and the Japanese beetles have also attacked.  I purchased a small pump sprayer-- sized so that I can easily carry it around-- and battled the bugs this weekend.