Let There Be Light!

The big excitement at my house this week was having a new back door installed. I love it - especially the extra light! - although it has completely freaked out my Little Girl (my cat). She doesn't seem to understand why she can all of a sudden see out the back door. She doesn't adapt very well to change. Here's the before and after:

 
While the carpenter was here this week, he also rebuilt the fence across the backyard and fixed the garden shed door that the wind blew off the hinges last week. It was a great week for home improvement here!

In stitching news, I received a surprise package via FedEx yesterday. My Evertite stretcher bars for the Melissa Shirley Christmas banner arrived unexpectedly. Have you ever seen 40" Evertites? I certainly haven't, but here they are -

Wow - these are the XXL size! I remember telling Jill at Amy's to go ahead and order them for me but I just didn't expect to see them at my doorstep yesterday. Wish it were time to start the Christmas Banner Home Study, but we still have a few months to go.

While the Evertites were sent from their home out in Oregon, I received another small package from Amy's with the ribbons for the Queen's sleeves, some more Splendor for the "Keep Calm" canvas, and a skein of Watercolors for Peony Collage. Since so much of Peony Collage involves the use of Watercolors, I had not been able to stitch much this week. Last Sunday, while I watched the US Open, I was able to stitch most of the French Ribbon detail since it didn't involve using Watercolors. I fell in love with this little section of the canvas. It's such a pretty, feminine detail.

The photo doesn't do the ribbon detail justice. The pale pink and pale peach sections are so subtle - such a nice color combination.

I'm looking forward to the July 4th weekend in Jacksonville with Andrew and Anna. Last year they were here for the 4th and we went down to the Savannah River to watch the fireworks display for Augusta. This year, I'm looking forward to an evening of fireworks on the beach.

Hope you have fun plans for the July 4th weekend!