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Archive for the ‘Landscaping’ Category

Wandering in the Wilderness

Friday, June 12th, 2009

It has been so long since I have been in my studio that I wonder if I can remember how to do anything. My house is in dire need of a spring housecleaning. I really miss Maryama. I hate doing that dirty work. Having Scooter in and out has only added to the messiness. Here is the thing. I love a clean house; I just don’t want to do it. Anyway, I am spending way too much time diddling on the computer, playing games and reading QA and FB posts. I missed another show deadline that I was really hoping to make this year as the show is near my hometown back in NYS.

I need to get back on a schedule and get off the computer. I have used up all my excuses — new puppy, resting up from the conference, its raining, the sun is shining, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

OK that is off my chest.

Yesterday, I had M & M here because their Mom is in San Francisco doing a photo shoot for friend and hanging out with her sister. After breakfast, we took Scooter to the groomer’s for a summer hair cut. He is so cute. We can see his big brown eyes now. And a bonus, he does not slobber as much water and track in as much dirt and stuff.

icanseeicansee

scooterthebeautiful

Back at the house, Mia asked if she could use my sewing machine. Miles became very intriged by it. She very proudly showed him how it works and let him push the button to select the stitches.

mmhowwedoit

mmsew

They went home with their Dad last night and he took the day off to spend with them.

Mr C and Mark are making great progress on the steps to my garden.

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gardenstepsprogress2

Today, I went to WW ( lost!) and then took the dogs for a long walk. It was a pretty nice day. Basically, I vegged out for the rest of the day. Well, I cleaned up from the mayhem of having two children around and took Scooter for a walk in the Rhodie Garden. I really have to shake this “being in limbo” attitude I have. Somebody light a fire under me!!

What is Bubbling in the Front Yard?

Thursday, April 17th, 2008

Mr C is making great progress with our bubbling fountain for the front yard, adjacent to the garage. Mark helped us buy the pots when he was here last month. the black plastic will get cut back. There will be larger rocks surrounding the pots. The water will filter and become clearer. Here is a close-up

While I was out in the front yard, I saw a big fat bumble bee getting nectar from these flowers, but the bee would not stay still long enough for me, but I did get a nice close up of the flowers, which also attract hummingbirds.

Annie and her dad, our next door neighbors, came by to check out the fountain. I had to get a photo of her shoes and socks — tres cool!

I managed to send some goodies off to Kristin and Diane, today. I also sent in my entry for the APQN show in August. Some snow and cold weather is forecast for the next few days. Will spring ever come to stay?

Good Things

Friday, August 17th, 2007

Yesterday, I weighed in for the first time since my vacation and I lost .6 pounds. I am so happy with that. It was great to know that I can be in control of my eating, even when I am eating all of my meals out. Even better, is the way my clothes are fitting. I have a few things left from the last time I lost 10 pounds, but once I get to the next ten pounds – look out – ’cause I am going shopping!!

On my way home from WW, I stopped at Mill Ends to buy fabric for curtains for the bedroom because Mr C was anxious to get started with the painting. Here is what I picked out. Isn’t this a cool and modern print?

bedroomcurtainfabric.jpg

Yesterday, he finished painting my chairs. If only I had time to sit out there and read!

greenchairs.jpg

In the afternoon, Steph, M & M and I went to IKEA. It is a little overwhelming to take everything in, but the cool Swedish design is just wonderful. Suits my aesthetic to a tee. Miles helped me find ice cream dishes. He wanted the tall sundae dishes, but I opted for something smaller and more simple. Mia was getting a kick out of the Swedish names for things. I was excited to fnd these bag clips which is what I was using in my shibori class last month.

bagclips.jpg

After a trip to the Farmer’s Market, I came home with lots of wonderful fresh and organic fruits and veggies and these zinneas.

zinneas.jpg

Under the zinneas are my new kitchen placemats from Target. They are a knock-off of the much more pricey Chilewich mats that I have been coveting. Plus, the color is perfect for my kitchen color scheme.

Another good thing is this little saying that I find in the cap of my Sobe Green Tea at lunch.

catwalkcap.jpg

Last night I panicked when I realized that there were two quilt show deadlines in the next two days. I scratched one of them, since A Thin Place is going to IQF and it was the only fit that I had. Today, I managed to get organized and e-mail and entry to Art Quilts XII, Current. I love it when I don’t have to deal with slides and Fedexing an entry.

This morning was the monthly STASH meeting at Beth’s home. Before Reva picked me up, I had to run to the paint store with Mr C to pick out the paint. We have cocoa brown for the curtain wall and something called reflection which is the bluegreen in the fabric. And sand for the woodwork. I had to make a decision on the fabric, but I don’t think there will be any curtains made for awhile!! Fortunately there are fabric shades there for now.

It wasn’t ideal weather, but we did enjoy sitting in Beth’s beautiful backyard. Click on an image to see it larger.

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bethsbirdhouse.jpg bethsgardenbluepot.jpg

She had challenged us all to get something finished to bring for show and tell. I was too enthralled to take pictures, sorry!! She served us a great lunch of sesame noodles, veggies from her garden and blueberry tartlets. Yumm!

I got some paper work done this afternoon and had hoped to get some studio work done. Tomorrow morning is critique with June and Terry — always a great time.

Moonraking and Mole Wrangling

Tuesday, August 14th, 2007

I finally got my little butt down in the studio today and started work on a piece that has been percolating since I took the indigo shibori class. The fabric is all linen. I bought some red linen which I really like with the indigo. I have started doing some stitching with red perle cotton. I am going to leave the linen pieces with raw edges. The working title is Indigo Moons.

linenindigomoons.jpg

Here is a closeup.

linenmoonscloseup.jpg

My friend, Dee, called our mole escapade, mole wrangling. We have had some success. Kelly, the mole lady, came by today and we have one less mole to contend with. She thinks it may be the only one. It seemed unbelievable to us that one mole could make the mess in our yard. She says that they eat their weight in worms and grubs every day so they have to cover a lot of territory.

Tomorrow, after I do my post vacation weigh in at Weight Watchers, Steph and M & M and I are going to check out the new IKEA. I have a shopping list ready.

Activity on the Home Front

Monday, August 13th, 2007

What have I been doing since I got home? — not much on the creative side.

  1. Did lots of laundry.
  2. Stocked up on groceries.
  3. Went to Target and Fabric Depot and bought some great goodies.
  4. Made a family dinner for Steph, Jack and M & M when they got home from camping yesterday. It was so good to spend time with them.
  5. Got caught up on lots of work on the SDA website.
  6. Set up my Mac Calendar to signal me when I have approaching deadlines. I have so many coming up that I am afraid, I will forget something.

Today, we had to call this woman to come and help us out.

molelady.jpg

This is Kelly, the mole lady. We have a really bad infestation of moles in our yard.

moledamage.jpg

First, we tried one of the electronic gizmos that is supposed to send out a vibrating sound that annoys them. Ha!! They were dancing to that tune. When we got back from our vacation, there were mole trails throughout all of our landscaping. So, Mr C bought poison pellets and put them in all the tunnels. Every time we turned around, there were more tunnels. They are immune to the stuff.

This morning, I consulted my landscaping guru, my son Mark. He says, Mom, you have to call a mole trapper; you can’t do it on your own. So, Kelly showed up an hour after we called her. She set about 7 traps in the front and back yard. She puts these buckets over them to prevent an inadvertent dog, child or adult foot from getting snared.

moletraps.jpg

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She will be back in a week to check her traps. We have to pay her $25 for each mole she traps — that could be pricey, but worth it.

This afternoon, I went to the paint store with Mr C. The couple who bought our house from the estate of the previous owner, ripped out the molding in much of the house and put in molding that does not match the rest of the house and is the wrong style. You can not buy it as stock now, so we had some milled for our bedroom. Mr C needed to get primer for it and I went along to pick out paint for my Adirondack chairs. Isn’t this purty?

greenchair.jpg

I get so excited when I see a wall of paint chips. Last week, I found some great fabric for curtains in the bedroom so I picked out some paint chips to go with the fabric — turquoise and brown are involved.

I now have to give my attention to my weekly guilty pleasure — Big Love.