Diane's Stumpwork block finished.....

Here is my part of the block and I barely finished on time. It can go into the mail to Arlene in Australia tomorrow... This is one of those times that the finished work was pretty close to what I had envisioned in the first place. That does not happen all that often.. I especially wanted to incorporate the skinny triangle in the upper left into the rest of the block..... Had to tiptoe across Cobi's seam twice to do it. I did echo Cobi's viney approach and her colors. I used a much coarser thread.....cotton perle #12....... No seam treatment here....but I did paint a button for her....


It was my first time to do stumpwork wired flowers and I was sure they would all disintegrate when I cut them out... I did have some problems with the long narrow shape but solved it by doing the blanket stitch all around the couched wire before I started the long and short from the bottom up... Then before I cut them out I shaded them with alcohol inks. Although it doesn't show that well they are rounded and unattached at the mouth of the flower.. I'll want to try it again soon while it is still fresh in my mind...

Here is the entire block..... Still plenty of room for the last two stitchers. A big thank you to the group for extending the time on this one as the block took almost a full month to get here...

Another Day in the Life of Morris

Morris adds new dimension to the term "follow the paper trail" It is by far his favorite aperitif.



Yesterday I didn't remember leaving 7 pieces of footwear in the middle of the living room when I took a shower but I did remember I neglected to shut the bedroom door....and when I was taking pictures of all the shoes I looked down and guess who was undoing mine?
BTW if you didn't know the proper name for the little plastic or metal sleeve at the end of your shoe laces, it's "aglet." Mine are rapidly disappearing.



Molly continues to be "super mom" and when Morris falls asleep here and there, she snuggles close to him...

My old needlecase roll!

When I was in Alaska I put in two entry bids on vintage sewing items really never expecting to get either. My DIL is of Dutch descent and I loved this antique Dutch clamp pincushion... Of course I didn't get this one but might try to replicate it. The winning bid was $187. Isn't it gorgeous....

The second was this old leather needlecase and I put in a beginning bid of $12.99 and no one else bid on it and it arrived yesterday... It is so clever the way it rolls out and the "core" has storage for thread, thimble etc....

It is stamped as made by Kirby, Beard, and Co. which were makers of fine pins and needles in Birmingham., England around the turn of the century..When I was looking at it on e-bay I was thinking that I would replace the buckle with a little vintage silver one I have...

But now that I have it, I won't change one thing.... It was probably a working man's sewing kit...someone such as a sailor or such. All the buttons, thread, thimble etc. are original to the case...very very old...

Anyway I couldn't be happier and still can't believe I was the only one bidding on it... I am going to try to adapt this concept to a CQ needlecase..

Progress on Diane's Stumpwork block

I haven't posted much stitching because I haven't had much time to stitch... I finished the hummingbirds and the vine and now I'm "down to the wire" You will notice the hummers have no beaks and aren't stitched down yet... I will add their beaks after they are stitched.

Working with wire will be a new experience.. Can't decide whether to do a "real" flower or a fanciful flower... I love the texture of the fly stitch leaves which is new to me and also the Portuguese stem stitch. I struggled a bit with that stitch to get a rhythm and I'm still not sure I'm doing it right but like it anyway.. Isn't it a soft look? I love following Cobi.....

I was able to pick up on Cobi's vine approach and also echoed her colors...
This block will go out on time even if nothing else does.....

Magpie fledging day!!

Yesterday morning the magpies by the sheep shelter were squawking like crazy... First I thought it was because I was running a drill nearby but finally thought something may be threatening the nest...(ravens do sometimes).. When I got to the tree three babies were hopping around the branches outside the nest and the parents were calling them to "move on out" in magpie chatter...

Before long two had fledged but at dusk one timid soul was still hopping close to the nest frantically...couldn't get a good shot... but it wasn't there this morning. You can see the nest just at the left in the photo....it is a very loose, raggedy affair and it's amazing that it doesn't blow away in a strong wind but they come back every year and reinforce it and use it over and over.....

The cake I didn't bake!

I was at a bridge party the other day and I heard someone in the other room say they just had to get Gerry's "Rhubarb Custard Cake" recipe that she made last year and some else said "OMG that was so good" and all agreed.... I'm saying "Gerry who?" and "What cake/" because I have lots of rhubarb. They kept insisting I had brought it and I swore I had NO recipe for any such cake...

Finally Jane said I had sent the recipe to her and she would send it back to me!! ...and she did... It must have been something I did on a whim from a newspaper recipe because I do not have the recipe and don't remember baking it...

But it's easy and good and still hoping it will all come back to me! Here's the recipe via Jane

" Gerry, here's your recipe for the delicious rhubarb custard cake."

Turn oven on to 350 degrees.

1 yellow cake mix (fixed according to directions on box)

Put in 9 x 12" pan.

Sprinkle on top:

4 cups cut rhubarb
1 1/2 cup sugar

Pour over all:
2 cups whipping cream

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Enjoy!!

The ultimate traveling tray table

There were actually women at the retreat who could do CQ with their work and all their supplies in their laps.... if you are one of these you need not read on.

I have to have some kind of work surface.... For years and years I have used these cheap retro metal TV tables. They are light and easy to pop in and out of the trunk of the car.. Last year my mom was in a care center for months and I spent time there every day in 4 hr. stretches... I kept one of these little TV tables in her closet and stitched away hour after hour while mom slept.... But I also take one along when waiting at doctor's offices, auto repair places, when I need to pass time between appointments without going all the way home and anywhere we travel by car and I need to pass time waiting on my husband....

I did a lot of stitching on this last trip to Alaska in airports and was always looking for a work surface...wishing I had my little retro TV table... The only problem with it is the legs just wouldn't travel well on a plane. I also hate to be in hotel rooms trying to stitch without a good surface....

So I search the internet for a tray table that would travel and found "the swiss army knife" of tray tables...http://www.lapdawg.com/functions/tv-tray.html

It unfolds into endless configurations and can be used as a snack table, laptop table, bed tray etc. etc. etc. It only weighs 5 lbs and would fit in a suitcase to travel but also be easy to take and set up anywhere...

To quote them: "The LapDawg X4 v2.0 is our most versatile TV tray. In addition to holding your snacks, it can function as an ergonomic laptop table, book holder, lap desk or bed tray." The name "LapDawg" is a bit embarrassing and I do admit it is on the pricey side BUT I do have a birthday coming up and if I leave enough copies of this web site laying around....who knows...

Drama Queens.....

In the previous post I mentioned Crambe cordifolia.... It's leaves can be 2-3' and the plant is 5-6' tall... Often called Giant Baby's Breath or Sea Kale.... Usually hardy zones 5-9 and I have mine in a protected area. It loves full sun and does NOT like wet soil so my garden with no supplemental water is perfect... The tiny honey-scented flowers bloom in early summer...

I love these huge drama queens and they can bring a small garden or area to new heights... There are only a few giant perennials I can grow here but I have them all and will share them as they come into bloom.. I love anything taller that I am...

Since the sheep ate my crambe to the ground they will take a bit to recover.... I let the blooms dry on the plant and they make a nice fall feature... Warning though..... they will root rot if planted in a too moist area....keep on the dry side...

May's BJP progress

I did get started on May's BJP while I was in Alaska but I have no hopes of getting it done by the end of the month... I have 2 other projects that need to be postmarked before May 31 and this can wait and be late. Stitching time is practically nonexistent this month competing with absolute necessary outside chores...

We have both the Western Bluebird and the Mountain Bluebird in our area.. It is usually the red-breasted Western Bluebird that have nested here although I haven't seen any this year.


A nice note today...the double columbine are blooming and so are two of the species clematis...which are finally becoming more available.. I saw signs of growth on my very-difficult-to-transplant Harison rose and all the herbaceous clematis have survived (which are rarely seen on the market) and I want to transplant them closer to house so I can enjoy them but have no idea WHERE!!!



There are spectacular small-flowered clematis and if you choose wisely you can have blooming clematis from May to October. My absolute favorite is "Duchess of Albany"

And when the sheep got out while I was gone they ate all my wonderful Crambe to the ground....hopefully it will recover as it is one of the big and bold plants I adore...

Well-traveled Block.....

Lisa's encrusted block took an exceptionally long time to get here and then I got right on a plane with it. The airline stewardesses love it... Except for the lace arbor all the work was done either in planes or airports.... 3 planes coming and going.... In fact I took the very last stitch on the very last bee just as the plane landed in Spokane. (a total of 20 hours in planes and airports)

This morning I beaded and added the rose button... Usually I bead the rose buttons with either pink, gold or pearl. This was the first time with green and I kinda like it..

Instead of color, I uses the daisies to move the eye from the lower right up to the upper right and the bees to keep it moving across... Lisa has two bunnies to boot!!!! It's off to Ritva in Finland tomorrow...just a tad late...

Destroying the bowl is proper puppy etiquette!

I took this photo of Morris this morning as it's his 3-month birthday.... He gave me a royal welcome home with lots of kisses all the way home from the airport. He hasn't left my side all day today...

This picture was taken just two weeks ago so you can see how quickly he is losing his puppy face. It is puppy etiquette that if someone gives you a treat in a paper bowl, you must destroy the bowl.

It's a mother thing!!!

I hesitate to label my son a "computer geek" but I think anyone who has to have 8 screens qualifies... I made great fun of him when he set this all up but I have to admit that it's fun to have a lot of my favorite sites up at once... (Notice Susan that yours is bottom right)... And this is the purpose of my visit...computer stuff...

He is incredibly busy during the season so he wants to transfer most of the computer web work to me in Spokane. He's building a new website and we needed to figure out ways to transfer photos so I can edit them in Photoshop . It's no problem to send just a few but transfer one hundred or more at a time is something else....

Before he burned them on a CD and sent them by FedEx Express to me... Now we have Picasa set up on his computer so he can send them via the Internet daily... In addition there will be a photo cam at the fish rack so I can load daily catches from my computer to You Tube. I've also been busy critiquing the new site...

We still have some glitches to work out but it's so much easier doing it here rather than by phone.. Now I begin the long journey home and will arrive at about 10pm and will be so glad to hug Morris (and DH and Molly too.)

More Ninilchik, Alaska

Since it's my last day I took my camera with me on our run to the post office... Today was a "clam tide" (-2) and hundreds of people with buckets and shovels are on the beach

as far as you can see in either direction.

Probably the most photographed church in Alaska... Ninilchick was settled by a Russian missionary and his small flock in 1846. Many descendants of these original settlers still live here and services are still held in the Russian Orthodox Church..

And of course I had to take the obligatory moose photo as they are every where. They are not the least people shy and slowly graze so getting pictures is a snap literally. We saw 9 yesterday on our way to pick up octopus for halibut bait....

Of course my son did not start with a big beautiful lodge... He first had this pseudo lighthouse and 3 small cabins... That's a sand hill crane on the roof...

You can see in this shot from the next bluff over that his property sits high above the beach.. This lighthouse and the small cabins are now used for staff...

And one of the people who always brings great joy to my life is my gorgeous daughter-in-law Vivian... My son is so lucky to have her as his life partner.... besides she "talks pretty". She was born and raised in South Africa and has a delightful accent... She's my favorite scrabble partner and I rarely beat her any more.

Where I'm at

This is my son's fishing lodge. My bedroom is on the lower left. Their living quarters are on the lower floor during the fishing season. The first guests of the season are arriving today and I leave tomorrow.

It is in Ninilchik, Alaska and sits on a bluff on the Cook inlet. The view is incredible as you see all the mountains across the inlet including two active volcanoes. They erupt occasionally disrupting all flights in and out of Alaska.. At this time of year the sky is full of eagles who feed on the low tides and at high tide soar in the air around the lodge... incredible for a bird lover like me... a sand hill crane landed on one of the cabins yesterday.

The guests actually sleep in lovely cottages and this is one pf the room on the main floor which are used for dining and socializing.... Each year they have a celebrity chef and the food is incredible... I used to come in the summers and do a lot of baking...not any more though...they are 18 hour days during season....

Max is the official lodge dog and is about 15 tears old and huge... I couldn't believe how gray he was this year.. I always think I'll never see him again when I leave. He is the most loving, gentle giant...

Progress on RR travel blocks....

I did get a lot done on Lisa's spring encrusted block between planes and enroute... The next step are more daisies and lots and lots of bees.


The last bee skep I made I used gold cording and on this one I used gold elastic cord which I really liked much better... Keep that in mind if you consider doing a skep...

I'll do the bees on the flight home... I have lots of beading left to do but will wait to get home to do that.... She has one bunny and there will be one more....

Since I've been here I've made progress on the hummers for Diane's block... The wings and tails are just one color so that will be a good traveling piece at this point....

How have I survived without these products?

This post is a thank you to my granddaughter Madi for expanding my life experience with tubes, jars and bottles.... When I visit here I stay in her old room... My bathroom has shampoo, one all-purpose lotion, and soap. Her bathroom and shower has numerous large baskets of all sorts of exciting, mysterious things that even when I read the labels I'm not sure where to use it... but at my age and my state if disrepair I can hardly go wrong... Unfortunately there is no manual for the use of all these products.

First some things are labeled "for women" and some are "for girls" so there was an obvious transition going on and not counting on miracles, I opt for the "women" products. I definitely want to try a tube of stuff that promises to restore sexy blond highlights for lustrous impact.. Even though my hair is gray it may help...sexy highlights have to be good at any age... among the other alternatives was a "solar power highlighter" which seemed a little scary.

Under the category of "maybe but what is it" ... a "phyto-marine lusterizer, a tube of "Bright Fun with shimmering sparkles"... hair or body? , or "moistrepair revival creme"... body or hair?.

Then there is the "unbelievable even to me category" which includes things like a "curling balm" which instantly intensifies and creates curls and a container that is labeled a "thickefy styler" and then defined it as "a coiffant epaissisant" which also seems a little scary.. Who makes up these words and can we use them in Scrabble..?

And edible items are represented with all sorts of things such as black cherries, nutmeg, mangoes, pomegranate, peach, papaya, etc. .... plus a gingerbread-scented lotion.

After perusing the baskets I will pass on all products alluding to my non-existent tan and settle on something that actually uses the word "shampoo", a sweet-pea-scented exfoliating body scrub which I needed after sitting next to "Private Itch" on the plane and the most promising tube called "Foot Bliss", a moisturising pomegranate foot butter... I love anything using the word butter that isn't fattening.....and maybe finish with a "take-me-away" tropical dream body mist.....

I have heard that Madi occasionally reads my blog although she has never left a comment.... YGG and thank you sweetie!!!!

Alaska

I made it to my son's in Alaska on 3 planes and a long drive. All went well except for my seat mate on the Seattle/Anchorage part... He had missed his first flight because security found brass knuckles in his luggage... He talked and drank non-stop and kept scratching and adjusting his private parts... The flight was full or I would have asked for another seat..

Barely got here and got an e-mail from DH who is minding my babies....all the sheep had gotten out. Molly and Morris ran away and came home all muddy, Molly got into the chicken food and I missed a kodak moment... Morris lifted his leg to pee for the first time.... I still have the rest of the week to go...

"Hard to believe but true" catagory

When we moved here there was an ancient Gravenstein apple tree. It was gray, gnarled, and the entire center of the trunk was rotting away.. There was a hole in the side and as far as you could reach up or down inside it was empty...

We figured that it was not long for this world and each year more and more of the trunk rotted away until there was only a thin shell up one side.....That was 30 years ago and every year it continues to bloom and every year we know it will be its last year.

Some years ago we propped it up with some old fence rails and keep the limbs trimmed to reduce the weight and amount of fruit.. Yes fruit!! It not only continues to bloom it bears apples every year... For me this tenacious old tree has become symbolic of our lives, our marriage, and our farm... It may even outlast us...

BTW this is my 600th post...should have planned a party!...

Molly and "her" Morris

Well I noticed that it has been a whole week since a puppy picture so I'll just slip one in of Molly and Morris in a quiet moment... We had been so apprehensive about Molly's acceptance of a puppy and felt the most we could have hoped for is a resigned acceptance... so we are continually amazed and delighted at her devotion to Morris ....

Plan for Diane's stumpwork block

Sometimes I do work with a rough idea or sketch and this stumpwork block of Diane's is a good example... When I'm working on cooperative block I like to pick up on what has gone before me... In this case Cobi did a lovely viney heart in the lower left with sweet peas... every single one is wired and beautiful. Cobi does the most exquisite work....every stitch and thread is perfection.

To continue with Cobi's vision I'm adding a vine also.... a trumpet vine with 3 small hummingbirds.. There is an awkward triangle on the upper left that I hope to incorporate into my design. To do this my vine will weave through Cobi's seam..... Cobi wired the flowers and did the leaves in satin stitch... I am going to do the same as I can't imagine wiring that many leaves... especially since I've never wired anything before... Please keep in mind that this is a VERY ROUGH sketch at this point but it does show what direction I'm traveling... This block took 29 days to get here from the Netherlands and this is a pretty ambitious plan so I doubt that I will have it ready by mail date...

Buttons and Lisa's block

These buttons are off to Susan E. today and hopefully one will find a place on her "Alice" block. I actually did these buttons 3 times... The first time there was too much imagry on them and the clock effect and numbers were lost. So I sanded them down and did them more simply and liked them....but I had used a permanent marker to do the numbers and when I sprayed the glaze the ink dissolved and it was a mess.

So the third time I tested all my sprays and all my markers. She had said she might do a "Dali"esque block and I thought maybe the black and white might be useful... If I were applying these I would couch them in gold cording and add something for the winder at the top.....

I made a start on Lisa encrusted DYOB and since she wanted a garden theme I started with a lace arbor... I have no plan for this block (except for a bunny somewhere in it) and will let it evolve as it goes.

This will be my "airport" block. I'm going out of town next week and it involves 3 planes both coming and going and many hours of waiting...several 2-3 hour and one 4 hour wait... When I use my frequent flyer miles they always give me the very worst connections..... So I expect to finish this block in airports..

Morning Mayhem with Morris

Morris's morning starts about 5:30am by nibbling on my ears.....even when I hide my head under the covers.... The living room is littered with bits of paper, bits of batting, thread, CQ trim, and doggie toys.... Of course doggie toys are his least favorite and CQ trim is "the most". He drags around a 1/2 yard of batting... hiding under it, rolling in it and tearing it apart.... He loves to chew on my slippers...when I am wearing them.....AND while I'm walking...

Then there is the little footstool.... He hides under it to jump out and attack Molly and any naked ankles passing by. He pulls it around by the fringe, turns it over to chew on the legs... and of course then pulls it around upside down by the fringe.

But by7am he is tuckered out and needs the first of his two morning naps... Do I love this puppy? ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!!