Déjà vu – or - Blueberries & a Dry Spell

Looking back, seems my summers are more predictable than I thought.  Almost the same time last year, I took my girls blueberry picking and took pictures in the same spot in the woods.  Things aren’t quite the same though; last year was a very wet season and the berries were much more abundant.   

The stream near my house has dried out, and there’s no humidity.  I’m glad I have these older pictures to look back on for comparison  (picture below was taken only two feet from the picture in the link.) 

Some things stay the same.  Our treks into the woods.  Our trips to the berry farm.  Some things are just different; I probably won’t be making jam or yelling at anyone about getting mud in the house. 

I wonder if I’d have even noticed these details if I hadn’t blogged about them - the routines I have for doing things in the summertime.  Do you have vacation routines?  Notice things that you wouldn’t have without blogging?  Or think I overused the semi-colon?  Yeah, I like hearing from you in the comments, can you tell? – I love to read your words and click over to your blog to see what you’re up to (I definitely need to catch up on some of those this weekend!)

Little Busy Fingers – Showing Off My Kids’ Crochet

My little girl, last seen knitting here in 2006! has learned to crochet and taken to it very well.  Here’s a turtle she made from the book Amigurumi Two!: Crocheted Toys for Me and You and Baby Too & I’m so proud of her:

Now I have one child that crochets, and another who [grudgingly] knits.

July Featured EtsyBlogger – Sykin

This month’s EtsyBloggers Featured seller has two shops! I’m always impressed by folks that can handle that. (Even though my shop has hand-crafted items mixed in with supplies, I couldn’t imagine keeping track of two different sites.)

Beautiful photography & jewelry at her nwwonders shop!

And an entire shop devoted to Twilight! Since I am a serious fan of vampire fiction, I picked out a favorite from this shop - Blood Blood and More Blood Necklace:

I think that would look quite dramatic worn closely to my neck.

I like this idea of turning a favorite theme into a craft -- it’s inspiring me to think of all the books I read and the things I return to again and again.

What about you? Do your hobbies inspire the others?

Knitting in Progress

One of many projects I’m working on right now:

Lots of projects going on, knitting, crochet, sewing, planning… but mostly trying to stay sane with kids at home in the summer heat.  Maybe next Thursday I can pick up on the Artful Thursday mojo again…

Summer Gardening, Saving Water & Fighting Pests

For the past few summers it’s been really damp outside and I had almost given up on growing anything edible. This summer, the heat is more even and I’ve been able to get out every morning to water… but something is eating my work! I’ve got a few things producing:

To save water I have a bucket under my a/c (I know, a/c is using power…) and another one in my dehumidifier to collect the H20. I haven’t had to turn on a hose to water much, so that’s been really good.

I’ve mulched around the plants with dried leaves and newsprint to help keep the moisture in the soil. It looks a bit scraggly and I’ve still been weeding – next year I will have to be more vigilant about laying this down thicker. This week I’ve been noticing some destruction of the pepper plant leaves and some missing tomatoes!

It’s supposed to rain later today, but when that’s over I plan on laying down a nice thick spray concoction that’s worked for me in the past. This should repel the insects (and any humans or pets that get a whiff):

Grind up in a blender:

1 Tablespoon Cayenne pepper

2 cloves crushed garlic

few drops dish detergent

1 Quart water

Strain through a cheesecloth, put in a spray bottle and coat garden, reapplying after a rainfall.

I’ve used this in the past and don’t even remember where it’s from originally (I have it scrawled into the margin of my Heloise from A to Zbook near “Garden”) and it’s always done the job.

How do you take care of your garden?

One Day Sewing Frenzy

Saw this great tutorial at The Purl Bee on Friday night and made it the next day:

Took a break to make some treats for Lion’s Club volunteers working on a project:

Then whipped up a messenger bag that had been requested a few weeks ago – I am not a fan of these fabric choices but the girl who wanted them is thrilled:

Thanks to mmmcrafts for her how-to.

Lining fabric:

and cargo-pants pockets for the reverse – I think it would have been cuter if these were more square… but I will work on that for the next time:

I was going to add velcro or snaps to the pocket flap, but since they are so long, decided not to – nothing’s going to fall out of these!

I think there will be many, many more messenger bags in my future.

An Ideal Vacation

Trees in my yard right now; eerie yellow light caused by a storm during twilight.

 

EtsyBloggers Question: “1) It's summertime, a time to get away from it all. Do you have a dream vacation? Share details of your perfect getaway. 2) Expanding on the vacation theme, are there any special (or not-so-special) traditions that you and your family do while away on trips? ”

Carnival of answers to be hosted by Athena at her blog next week.

A dream vacation for me would be going somewhere and getting to really relax.  Like going to an all-inclusive resort and not having to carry a wallet.  Or being on a cruise ship where driving to sightsee is not an option.  Just resting, reading, knitting, swimming, walking, etc. etc.  Not worrying about finding a restaurant with menu items to suit everyone’s tastes.  Forget even about dress clothes, just casual and comfy.

Of course - there are parts of the world that I’d like to visit and tour, experience different cultures, and see historical sights and view really ancient architecture.  But right now, at this moment my dream vacation would be to lie back and relax.  Which leads to question #2.  Let’s just say car trips to-date with my now-teen children have been filled with much unpleasantness.   Can you call “stopping to clean up puke” a tradition?  If it happened 10 out of 10 times in the years before age 10, the answer is “Yes!”  Things have shifted in recent years.. less stops for clean-up, but there’s more bickering and whining; frankly, I’d rather stay home than travel to anywhere! 

Sitting on my deck, surrounded by trees has been really nice.  Maybe I will think of it as my little getaway when I step outside tomorrow.

Artful Thursday – I’ll Be Back!

I’ve missed a few Thursdays – summertime is hectic for me!  I haven’t had time to focus on these weekly projects, but have been thinking about them.  I was hoping for some rainy days to keep me inside and crafting, but the weather just won’t cooperate. 

I even miss blogging.  This is a safe space for me.  Makes me happy to have a place to talk about, post pictures and share the crafts that I do.   Sometimes I’m busy with family things, sometimes I’m too miserable to create or write.  (Those I won’t write about here.  Maybe one day I’ll create some “darker” art for those times.)  I’ll be back.  Tomorrow, in fact.  There’s an EtsyBloggers blog carnival question coming up and I will tackle it!

Lots of you who comment here have blogs, I love to read your posts and see the things that you create.  I think I stay focused here on crafting (although that can seem pretty scatterbrained at times).  Is your website a special place for you & how do you approach writing posts for it?

Crochet Wedding Cake Zero Calories

The wedding was in May… but I finally made a little wedding cake for the bride.  I started out much larger with a heavier weight yarn, but this looked so much more charming.

Cardstock box directions here. 

Now I need to think of engagement ideas for a special cousin.  Any suggestions?

Wordless Wednesday

Crocheting on the Deck

Relaxing during a few afternoons and getting some projects completed:

Also…

I was an EtsyBloggers Mini Monday feature!! Check it out.

See my fireworks bouquet here:

Summer is full-on in the North East U.S. – temps in the 90’s before noon!  Staying cool here by watering the garden early in the morning and staying still when I’m outside, crocheting a lot.  I’m so glad I learned this new craft! What have you been up to?

Raspberry – Rhubarb Bread

Mr. Tamdoll said this was the best bread I’ve made in years.  Too bad I: didn’t follow the recipe; eyeball-measured everything; didn’t use a bread machine as directed and forgot to time how long I kneaded it or let it rise… so duplicating this one will be fun….

Original recipe from one of my favorite sources – the King Arthur Flour website.

Do you ever make something, want to duplicate it and not always remember how you did it in the first place?

Artful Thursday – Need to Plan Better Next time!

On Wednesday I was determined to finish crocheting so I could move onto the next step for Artful Thursday.  I’ve been working on this piece for a few days, it’s 6x11” now.

It will be a crochet hook case cover, from the book  Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts Lacy Crochet*.  I know, it’s a little wonky on top – probably added too many of the picot stitch because I wasn’t really paying attention as I did them.  My plan was to use Kool-Aid to dye the crochet fabric and to block the lopsidedness out of it.  Then I was going to layer it over a piece of wool or linen for the case.  Well… Wednesday night I looked up Kool-Aid dyeing to print out the directions so I could start early on Thursday.  And guess what?  Kool-Aid works on animal fibers, not cotton.  So, the project went down the drain. I wasn’t in the mood to paint the fabric, so I’ll finish the project with a contrasting color beneath.  But I didn’t do it yet.  Dentist appointments, running errands and kids kept me busy all day.

Here’s a picture of a previous week’s finished project – completed with a red spray-painted handle.  When I peeled off all the painter’s tape, I was glad to see all the hardware still working and the label of the case says “Forecast”:

That’s all I’ve got for now.

Happy Artful Thursday.

 

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