A trio of Santas and a visit to charming Brunate, Italy

And another month comes to an end... just like that! 2025 is now one third over. Unbelievable...  I've been concentrating on one big project for the past few weeks and I'm pleased to say he's finally done! Yes, that rotund golden-robed Santa is finished and I just love him. Oh, I'm addicted to these Teresa Kogut Santas--they remind me of Prairie Schooler stitching. No surprises in the colors--easy, stress-free stitching. Just what I need with all that's going on in the world these days!

"Right Jolly Ol' Elf" is stitched on 40 ct. Vintage Country Mocha Newcastle with most of the suggested threads. I did change the package in Santa's sack to a lighter green because the darker one was blending in too much with the gray of the sack. I also used that same light green (DMC 3053) with the darker green in the wreath. As I look at my photos now, I realize that I need to add a long straight stitch for a hanger for the wreath and red star (even though none was charted). Without a hanger, I feel like the wreath and star appear to be floating in mid-air! I will be sure to add one before I frame it.

"Right Jolly Ol' Elf"--I loved every stitch!

I so love all of the cute motifs in any Teresa Kogut design, but that adorable snowman stuffed into Santa's sack just takes the cake! How cute is he?! I used straight stitches for his arms rather than the cross stitches that were charted.

Such a cute little passenger hitchhiking in Santa's pack!

And his big snowman pal is pretty lovable, too! Some people don't like stitching with white, but it doesn't bother me. I find big patches of colorblock stitching to be quite meditative. 

Don't you love the sweet expression on this snowman's face?

I'll be framing both this Santa and the red one that I showed you in my February post (right here) with the same black frames. The charts can be found in the "Hello Santa" book--love them all and now I need to decide which one to do next. I may take a break from Santa for a bit as I have a pretty Spring chart on my mind and also a very special project that I need to devote my time to. You'll just have to wait to see what's next!

Another Teresa Kogut Santa is finished... on to the next!

I was also able to stitch and finish two very quick Christmas ornaments for April and May. You'll recognize them as Prairie Schooler Santas, I'm sure, although they are not from the same chart.  

A pair of Prairie Schooler ornaments for April and May

My ornament for April is from Book No. 23: "A Prairie Year II." I left off the square border and substituted various snowflakes around the perimeter to make this a round ornament (my favorite kind!). The other big change was to remove the teddy bear in his sack that was originally charted and replace it with a small tree.

My April ornament from "A Prairie Year II"

My May ornament is from PS Book No. 215: "A Merry Mini Surprise." Like the April ornament, this one is stitched on 40 ct. woodland brown Newcastle which is sadly no longer available in the U.S. I have searched and searched :(  I changed the green to DMC 3362, the red to 221, used DMC 356 for the cheeks and mouth, and 610 for the tree stem. Again, to turn it into a round ornament, I added snowflakes. The greenery at the top is simply dried boxwood leaves and artificial berries that I glued onto the gingham bow along with a silver jingle bell. I'm so happy with these two new additions to my Christmas tree!

And my May ornament from "A Merry Mini Surprise"

For years, I've been finishing all of the PS Santa ornaments (both big and small) using the same burgundy gingham ribbon that was always available at Joann Fabrics. Now that that wonderful store has shut down, I can no longer find the same ribbon. If anyone has any extra that they would like to sell me, please let me know... I have searched high and low online and nothing seems to be available anywhere in this color and size (5/8 inch wide). 

HELP! I can no longer find this burgundy gingham ribbon (manufactured by Berwick Offray) that was once available from Joann Fabrics. If anyone has any sources, would you please let me know? I'm down to my last six inches!

I had planned on making this the final installment in my European adventure from way back in September, but I found there were too many photos for one post. So, this will be the next-to-the-last post on my trip. I'm not sure how many of you are reading this portion of my posts, but I really want to get everything recorded before I totally forget things and jotting everything down in my blog seems like the best way to do so. Anyway, today we'll still be at Lake Como, but in one very special area called...

Brunate, Italy

The village of Brunate, often called "The Balcony of the Alps," overlooks Como and Lake Como and has only 1800 residents. The only way to reach it is by a very steep winding road or by taking the funicular. We chose the latter. 

Although I was still ill, my fever had broken and I felt well enough to venture out for the day. The morning dawned bright and cool as we walked to the funicular for our journey up the mountainside.

My sister, brother-in-law, and husband entering the Funicolare Como-Brunate, which has been operating since 1894. The journey up the mountain took under 10 minutes.

When we reached the top... wow! Just look at these cliffside homes... so beautiful and what amazing views they must have.

Walking along the streets in Brunate was so peaceful and quiet. Elegant homes and gardens greeted us everywhere we looked.

I thought this mural was so very lovely. It was not painted on a church; it adorned the side of a building in Brunate.

  

View of Lake Como from Brunate

In addition to the many beautiful homes, there were some very special gardens.

Gorgeous vistas everywhere you looked!

 

This beautiful pink church, La Chiesa di Sant' Andrea Apostolo (The Church of Saint Andrew the Apostle) dates back to the 17th century although it has been rebuilt and added on to since.

Most of the elegant properties were gated, but you could peer through the iron bars and spot interesting sights such as this tiny grotto installed in the hillside by the homeowner.

Lots and lots of steps! We certainly got our exercise that day!

 

We trekked up a very steep road to reach the Volta Lighthouse. The 95 foot tall lighthouse was built in 1927, 100 years after the death of Alessandro Volta who is credited with the invention of the electric battery. The 143 steps up to the very top of the lighthouse were not open to the public the day we visited.

A final look from the lighthouse grounds. By this time, the skies had darkened and it was time to head back to the hotel for our final night at Lake Como. Our day in Brunate was one of my favorites of our entire 2 1/2 week trip... There was even more to explore and if we'd had more time, I think we would have gone back the next day. Such a beautiful, relaxing area!

So, did everyone enjoy a nice Easter weekend? We went to our oldest son's home in Maryland and had the best time watching our grandson loving all the festivities. We had wooden egg on the spoon relay races (I'm proud to say I didn't drop mine once!) and Mister B had an outdoor egg hunt. It was a beautiful sunny day and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. After so, so many years of hosting holidays, it was wonderful to be able to go elsewhere as a guest!

Mister B was so excited to discover that the Easter Bunny had hidden his eggs in one of his toy cubbies. In the upper right, my youngest son and Mister B race to the finish line in their "egg on the spoon" race.

 

Everything is greening up so nicely here in western Pennsylvania. And the spring flowers have been especially lovely--at least they were until a violent storm went through last night. So many trees were down and some folks are still without power. We were lucky here and only experienced some flickering lights, lots of flying debris, and strong winds and rain. I can't imagine being in a tornado--this was scary enough! Anyway, I had picked these flowers when I heard a storm was on its way and am so glad I did! 

My husband planted new daffodil and tulip bulbs last fall and this was the result! It always amazes me that the humble bulb can result in such beautiful blooms after a long winter.

Another long post... I do apologize! I just have one final river cruise post for next time and then things will get back to normal. No big trips are planned this year, but we do hope to get away for a week at our favorite Maryland lake with the whole family this summer. How about you? Do you have any trips planned for 2025 or are you sticking close to home. I always love hearing from you in the comments or by email--thank you for taking the time to write! I hope you each have a wonderful May--things are looking so green and lush here in my part of Pennsylvania. Take care now! Bye for now...

Zooming in With Easter Greetings!

Hello, everyone! How has April been treating you? Things here have been fine although I do wish the sun would stop hiding behind the clouds and the days would warm up! (It's dropping down to 30° tonight!). This will be a quick post as I just wanted to pop in and wish you a Happy Easter. Will you be traveling or hosting Easter dinner? Have you stitched anything bunny-related lately? How about any spring stitching?

I recently began a larger spring piece which I hope to share with you next month, but I did manage to stitch yet another bunny. (I told you, I'm addicted to stitching those fluffy little creatures!). This sweet finish, "Carrot Express" by Needle Treasures Nook will be an Easter gift for my grandson who adores cars and bunnies (and dogs, and cats, and birds, and cheetahs, and pandas, and just about any kind of animal known to mankind--ha ha!). I used 40 ct. soft ivory Newcastle linen and made several changes to the colors. The bunny is stitched in the suggested colors, as is the steering wheel, but everything else was changed. I stitched the car wheels in DMC 844, the greenery in DMC 320, and the carrot car in Weeks Dye Works "Carrot" (of course :). I also left off the charted border and turned this into an oval finish. Isn't it sweet? I hope Mister B likes his new Easter decoration!

"Carrot Express" will soon be zooming to its new home with my grandson!

I finally managed to get my Easter stitching on display. Because I have so many small finishes for the season, I like to divide them by color and display them that way. This year, the pink pieces are in my dough bowl sitting on a little table at the end of my kitchen. The slate blue pieces are in a tiered tray on the center of my table. The green pieces are in my corner cupboard. And the biggest, cheeriest display is this yellow and aqua blue one on my kitchen side table. That is the only display I took photographs of so I'll share those with you today. Just love how it brightens up my kitchen day after day! Do you have a favorite? Mine is the sheep pulling the robin as he perches on his bright blue eggs (in the front left of the photo). 

Such a cheery display on my kitchen side table! The aqua and yellow certainly make me smile.

 

Most of these are by With Thy Needle and Thread. The one on the bunny chair is by Tiny Modernist, the one in the back middle is by La-D-Da, and the basket of flowers on the middle left is by Prairie Schooler.

The little chick in the front is a freebie by La Comtesse & Le Point de Croix which you can find right here. The bird on the eggs (on the right) can be found in the Spring 2020 issue of "Punch Needle and Primitive Stitching" magazine, and the Easter chick (in the far back right) is an old Lizzie Kate chart. All the rest are designs by With Thy Needle and Thread.

I recently received this sweet Easter card from my friend, June, in England. Isn't that bunny darling wearing her flower crown? I'm quite sure this design is from one of the British cross stitch magazines.

Thank you, dear June, for this adorable bunny card--I love it!

I also want to share the collection of vintage Easter postcards that belonged to my husband's paternal grandfather. I found them in the family home in Naples, Florida and just happened to bring them home with me back in 2022 when we were renting out that house on Airbnb. Thank goodness I did, because a few months later that same house was flooded by Hurricane Ian's storm surge and the contents were basically destroyed. I'm so glad I saved these beautiful cards from sure destruction. They were all sent to my husband's grandfather in the early 1900s--most are dated 1911-1916. Aren't they special?

My husband's grandfather's vintage Easter postcard collection dating from the early 1900s.

Below are two of my favorites... Very different themes, but both so bright and vibrant. 

I'm amazed at how lovely the artwork and colors remain after more than 100 years!

 

 

And speaking of old things... I came across this wonderful Easter morning photo from 1960. Shown are my little brother (who was three) and five-year-old Carol checking out what the Easter bunny had delivered. I just love my smocked dress (surely made by my maternal grandmother), my little bonnet, and the sweet white gloves. Easter in the mid-20th century--don't you love it?

I hope the sun shines for your Easter weekend and that your day is filled with lots of love and joyful family traditions. My little grandson, Mister B, is so hoping that the Easter bunny will leave him a trail of jelly beans to help him find his Easter basket like he remembers from last year. I'm also going to be helping him make our traditional bunny cake. Four (almost five!) is such a fun age! I just love watching him anticipate the family traditions that the various holidays bring. Thank you for stopping in today--and, as always, I truly appreciate each and every comment! Take care now my friends. Bye for now...

Birds, a Birthday, and Boating

Hope everyone has had a good month! March here started off great--warm with sunny skies--more like May weather. Sadly, that didn't last into the second half of the month and it's been cooler and rainy ever since. I'm hoping the weather improves in April! In spite of the weather (or perhaps because of it), the trees are already budding, which seems much earlier than normal. Our daffodils are bobbing their sweet yellow heads and the birds are singing up a storm. Yes, spring has definitely arrived!

What have you been stitching lately? I'm working on one of the larger Teresa Kogut Santas and my monthly ornaments, but in between them I've gotten addicted to these darling bird designs by Heartstring Samplers. They are just so sweet! Now, to be honest, I didn't stitch all of them this month. I began with the American Robin last year, moved on to the American Goldfinch and the Blackheaded Grosbeak, and recently finished my favorite--the Black-capped Chickadee. I had originally planned to frame them individually in a grouping on my wall, but some of them are so small (not even 4" square), that I'm thinking of little pillows displayed in a bowl instead. Or maybe I'll frame some and make pillows of the smaller ones... What would you do? 

My first four finishes from Heartstring Samplery's "The Bird Collection" charts

All are stitched on 40 ct. vintage country mocha Newcastle with most of the suggested overdyed threads. I did tweak a few colors here and there to show up better on my chosen fabric. Do you have any of these birds in your part of the world? Which is your favorite? Here's a closer look at each one...

We've been seeing more and more robins hopping around our yard lately--many of them appear to be pregnant. 'Tis the season!

 

I love seeing goldfinches--such a bright, happy bird. They really enjoy eating the sunflower seeds from our garden each fall before they migrate south.

We don't have these pretty birds in western Pennsylvania, but I wish we did--such vibrant colors!

The cheery chickadees are definitely one of my favorites--such lively spunky, little birds.

I would love to stitch all twelve of these! Which one would you stitch next? You know me--I'm such a lover of all shades of blue, I will probably pick a blue one. Perhaps the Tree Swallow?  You can click on the photo for a better look at all of these charming designs and let me know!

Twelve beautiful bird designs by Heartstring Samplery. I so hope she adds to the series and includes blue jays, cardinals, and hummingbirds.

We were away again this past week... drove down to Maryland for four days to help my oldest son celebrate his 43rd birthday (gasp--how can I possibly have a child that old!?!?). It was an "interesting" trip to say the least as their sewer backed up into their basement on the second day of our visit. UGH--the smell, the mess!! Having dealt with a sewer backup of our own 35 years ago, we knew how terrible experiencing something like that is. Oh, the joys of home ownership! My son was able to get a plumber to clear the blockage that afternoon and then Service-Pro arrived and cleaned, sanitized, and removed the affected drywall in the basement bathroom and furnace rooms. Luckily, the filthy sludge had not covered the entire basement.

 

On a sweeter note... I made some of our favorite chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting for my son's birthday. I've shared these links before, but for those of you who are new readers, I'm sharing them again:  Small Batch Chocolate Cupcakes from the Celebrating Sweets website and Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting from the Peas and Crayons website (just scroll down underneath the cupcake recipe for a variety of frosting recipes). I only made half of the peanut butter frosting recipe for the six cupcakes. So, so yummy!

 

Lots of peanut butter frosting with a "bit" of chocolate cupcake :)

Mister B wanted to carry the plate with both my cupcakes and the two he especially picked out for his daddy from a bakery. He was so, so proud as he carefully (and very, very slowly--ha ha!) transported them to the table. We sang "Happy Birthday" once and began singing it again, but he stopped in his tracks, looked at us and commanded, "Spanish!" Too cute!  So "Feliz cumpleaños" was sung, too. I'm truly amazed at my little bilingual grandson. His caregiver and his mom speak mostly Spanish to him, so he's very fluent in two languages at the tender age of four!

 

Mister B proudly carrying the birthday cupcakes to his daddy.

I've been slowly bringing out my Easter/Spring decorations. That's the only way I seem to be able to get anything done these days as I've gotten older--bit by bit.  I'm always shocked at how many bunny-themed pieces I have when I let these cuties out of their storage drawer each spring--I swear they multiply over the winter :) 

 

Bunnies galore! Do you have a favorite?

So, that does it for the stitching and family news for this post... On to the next-to-the-last stop on our European adventure that we went on last September. This time we'll visit the beautiful...

 

Lake Como, Italy

 

This was an add-on trip to our Rhine River cruise and I jumped at the chance of going to this part of northern Italy. I think we've all heard about the beauty of the area and read about the wealthy residents that are lucky enough to live on the shores of this lovely lake. But... there was a problem with this particular stop on our journey--I was sick! I began getting a scratchy, sore throat while in Lucerne a few days earlier, but tried to ignore it hoping it would go away. Sadly, that was not the case and by the time we arrived by bus in Como, I was miserable--pale and feverish and just plain sick. I felt even sicker when we got to our hotel room and discovered that it was not overlooking the water, but faced an alley with a McDonald's at the corner! Yes--a McDonald's--not exactly what you travel 4265 miles for! Now, I grant you--it was not the typical red and yellow, golden arches type of McDonald's--there was just a small sign identifying it as McDonald's in a pretty stone building, but still... The hotel was all filled up so there was no hope of getting a better room. I actually flopped down on the bed and cried, telling my husband I just wanted to go home. We realized that flying while sick (I don't yet know if it was a bad cold or Covid) was not the best idea, so I agreed to stay. I went straight to bed, missing dinner, and slept and slept. By morning I felt a tiny bit better--well enough to venture outside.

 

That first morning, we went on a walking tour of Old Town Como. I barely recall what I saw being so ill, so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

 

Como's Old Town with La Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta (Duomo di Como) in the background

 

Such a picturesque alley!

 

Many of the ancient buildings had tiny balconies with attached flower boxes.

Oh, my! These cakes (seen through a bakery window) look too pretty to eat, don't they? 

One of the interesting stone murals found in Old Town Como.

After lunch, the famous lake called our names and we enjoyed a wonderful (although a bit chilly and windy) boat ride where we saw many breathtaking sights and homes.

Boating on the lovely Lake Como.

 

One mansion after another lines the shores of Lake Como.

Villa Oleandra, owned by actor George Clooney, is one of the most photographed spots on the lake.

Another must-see destination! The stunning gorge and waterfall that separates the two sides of the little village of Nesso. I so wish we would have had the time to explore this charming place.

A hillside view of the delightful village of Nesso

Looking like something out of a fairy tale, Villa La Cassinella, is the estate of billionaire, Richard Branson.

Another magnificent beauty gracing the shores of Lake Como.

We eventually reached our destination--the enchanting town of Bellagio, sometimes called "The Pearl of Lake Como." Oh, it was wonderful... filled with so much history and character. Sadly, the boat had to be back in Como by a certain time so we were limited to a mere 45 minutes of exploration time. Our group was very unhappy (to put it mildly)! This is a sad truth when you go on a guided tour--your time is not your own for very long. I truly hope to get back there some day for an extended visit, but it's not likely that will happen.

Pulling into port near the town of Bellagio, Italy.

Such a beautiful view at the top of this steep stairway. Lake Como is in the distance.

Loved the pastel walls and pots of flowering plants seen in Bellagio.

Lots of steep stairs and pretty alleyways greeted us.

Isn't this a pretty little scene with the top of an old church peeking out through the soft foliage?

I wish it had been sunnier and I had felt better, but I still enjoyed our day on Lake Como very much!

I think that's a good stopping point for today. I hope you enjoyed both my stitching and my travel photos! I always enjoy seeing other blogger's travel posts as there are just so many beautiful spots in the world that I will never be fortunate enough to travel to. I'll (finally!) wrap up my travelogue in my next post--hope to see you there. Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit today--your comments and emails certainly brighten my day when I see them. I truly appreciate each and every one of you! Wishing you a Happy April--may your days be sunny and bright. Bye for now...