Monday 27th March - Heartsease

"Heartsease I found, where Love-lies-bleeding

Empurpled all the ground

Whatever flowers I missed unheeding

Heartsease I found."

                                                    Christina Rossetti

The tiny violets are just beginning to come through in the grass now, so small that you might miss them if you weren't looking for them. If you google 'love-lies-bleeding' you will be shown pictures of amaranthus caudatus

from gardenerspath.com

 but my first thought was of dicentris spectablis which I know as 'bleeding hearts', or 'Dutchmen's trousers' 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/

But 'Love-lies-bleeding' is an old name for 'Violas', Ang tells me, the smaller version of the bigger showier pansy.

A viola is what Ang sent to me at the end of last week as her Cross Stitch Picture inspired by a some given to her by friends. 

she filled in the space at the top and bottom of the grid with the kind of patterns they tried (and failed!) to teach be back in infant needlework classes.

I took the poem from the write-up that we do in the book which travels back and forwards with the stitching; you can see a corner peeping out in the picture. 

I'm still adding what seems to be hundred of little stitches to my cross stitch picture. It isn't really hundreds, though, and getting quicker and quicker to do, and another hour tomorrow should see it finished. There's still a good chance of meeting the date of 31st of March! 

The advantage of having identical grids to work on is that a good deal of planning can happen in advance. As I beaver away at the last details of this month's picture, I'm already beginning to think about April, and filling spare spaces in my diary with sketches and charts. Nothing too detailed, as we don't discuss which areas we will choose; that's part of the surprise when we open the box.

My 'flat presents', for there are two, are a small embroidery picture, and a rather lovely paperclip with 'The Lord is my Shepherd' at one end - very handy for holding my music open at the right page when I am practising. Some books have a habit of shutting themselves up, or not opening properly in the first place and this will keep them in order.  

The second half of March has been a strange and difficult couple of weeks, with events appearing out of the blue to turn our usually leisured pace of life into quite the 'swan' act.

image from another blog of mine
www.themusicjungle.co.uk, and was drawn especially for me.

Psalm 23 has been a great help in keeping me going. Things are mostly resolved now, and I shall be grateful for the Easter holidays beginning on Monday.

Heartsease was a great choice of flower!