Out My Front Door

At 5:00 a.m. the birds are already up and chirping away so along with a cat escort and soft nickers from the horses my morning route is filled with some of the most beautiful music Mother Nature can provide. I have been known to dawdle out there in the early dawn.

You'll have to enlarge for a bit of detail.

 Most mornings I shoo the raccoon along her way home, or the fox has doubled back in hopes of a second handout. It is my favorite time.  No matter what happens, I have at least had these few moments of wonder and grounding to start my day.

The garden is shaping up. It has been a slow start with the cool temps and lack of sunny days for a good portion of May.

Takilma Gold

Cranesbill

The shade area is looking lush.



 On the other side of it all, some of the new rhodies that have been planted.



This tree is a test one. A Chinese Pistachio.



 It is a hot, dry disturbed area with poor soil. We've amended the soil a bit but this tree is supposed to be tough doing duty as an urban tree in sidewalks and such. This year we'll give it plenty of water and love to settle it in and then it's on it's own.

After being completely defoliated by deer last summer, this Bloodgood Maple has come back beautifully.



Scented geraniums



Raised Bed garden. We've been enjoying the lettuces and there are only a few left, but just as well, the hot summer weather has arrived. The tomato plants are finally looking to flower.



Little annual carnations I think. They smell delicious. Pungent and spicy.



This is one of three bird baths.



 It is on the deck with the solar water bubbler. The Evening Grosbeaks love the running water and flock to it in the afternoon. What a loud little tribe they are. Calling and squabbling among the trees. Taking over feeders and watering holes. Mixed in we see a few Black Headed Grosbeaks but they are completely outnumbered by the evening variety.

Parting shots: The Summer Cuts. Just in time too!

I had Smoochie professionally done. No need to suffer the heartbreak of a home haircut this year!

Marigold, almost lab like!

The Lost Wright Brother

Some of you may know that my DH has a foolish side. He loves to paraglide and a few years ago he bought a motorized set-up. Myself, I can't think of anything dumber than driving up to a mountain and  jumping off, but fair is fair and no one said having horses was safe or inexpensive either. Over the winter Gene has been working on building a trike for his paramotor.



 This week he did a spin around the driveway with it.



 I pointed out that maybe he should trade the whole rat trap in for a nice four wheeler. Can you hear the crickets? Anyway, my husband is looking forward to driving off a cliff (with the wing attached...I hope!), sometime this summer. Good grief!

In quieter pursuits with likely safer equipment, a few makes came out of the sewing closet. All summer weight items even though we had periods of wet snow last weekend.



A pair of lightweight natural linen pants,



 a tunic with a nifty modified neckline in handkerchief linen. I did this with an upper curved bodice like the cream and yellow one shown in the last post.



The silver lavender color is so pretty. Not my usual color range but a nice addition that works well with some of the neutrals nicely. The little fabric scrap of a French Bulldog was sent with one of my fabric orders from Etsy as a sample.



Too cute not to use.

 Lastly a lime green tank in a cotton voile from the sale days.



A second one in a deep salmon color was also made. I cut them at the same time. These will serve for all four seasons. I need to make one in white and black too.

Spike went in yesterday to have his teeth cleaned. He lost two small ones and had a little growth removed by one of them. Likely nothing but we're having it checked out anyway. He was a bit groggy last night,



 but is back to his usual self this morning.  He has pain meds to get him through the next two days in comfort.

Two beautiful books have been added to the library. The first one my Dad gave me. What beautiful sketches, paintings and text! Such a treat.







These pictures don't come anywhere near doing this book justice. The stock it is printed on is rich and lovely too.

The second addition is a weaving book. I like to add to the weaving library as I can.





The books go out of print so quickly most times and then become too expensive to add. I am enjoying the crackle warp on the wolf pup and would like to do more. This book will certainly help me have a better understanding of the structure itself.

Market day tomorrow and that means more fresh strawberries. YUM!

Parting shot: Afternoon naps. It's a good thing.

Under the Big Top

While I am not a circus goer, I do love a bright happy quilt. This little gem was for sale at the quilt show and depicts what I suspect is every little kids idea of the circus. Myself at a young age included.
The reality of course is much different, but that's a topic for another time. It is simply quilted although someone took the time to quilt the different areas in different ways.



I was smitten with it and it was at a very nice price.

The quilt show itself was nicely done. Many beautiful quilts. I got there early on Saturday and the place was hopping a half hour in. I snapped a few pics here and there. I got no maker information as these were just pics on the fly. Enjoy.







Bright orange Phoebe pants came out of the sewing room this past weekend. These are done in a smooth summer weight linen.



I wore them yesterday when I took my Mom to the movies. We couldn't remember the last time we had been to a movie together. I know the last movie I remember seeing at a theater was Hidalgo. So our pick yesterday was The Jungle Book and we thoroughly enjoyed it! Worlds better than the completely animated version I saw as a child.  Highly recommended for kids of all ages from 10 to 100.

I had close to 6 yards of heavy white linen left over from making the reversible coverlet and decided to use it up as a summer weight coverlet. A single layer with a deep willow green linen binding all the way around.



 It was a bugger. Doing anything king sized is, but it's done and ready for use the moment the real heat hits.

The garden did get a decent clean out last Friday. I yanked woody lavender, weeded down clover, pulled a few other things that didn't come up and planted in Black and Bloom Salvia and a couple of Hot Lips Salvia. Some red lambs ear went in too. New variety that looks nothing like the traditional fuzzy lambs ear, but I'm told the hummers love it.



After all, this garden is really done to cater to my favorite little birds anyway.

This is what the carnage looked like in process.



 We need to get our deer deterrents out. I planted 3 rhododendrons in different areas around the property. So far no deer damage. I hope they make it as I have no problem dressing up the woodland boundaries with them.

Oh and a half whiskey barrel was planted with some herbs and two cherry tomato plants Gene brought home.



The planting may be just about done, but the tending is just beginning!

Parting shot: Jail time.

Really, it is just feeding time. Everyone eats in their own crate undisturbed by a quicker eating friend.

Digging In

Today is the day I start hitting the flower beds. Gene has removed the dead salvia's. The root balls were huge and deep. We think the wet killed them more than the cold. I am going to amend the soil for the new plantings a bit. We have a lot of clay and improving drainage may help. I will be planting the new generation of Black and Blue Salvia named Black and Bloom. It is supposed to be more cold hardy but if the wet fall and winters are the culprit it will make little difference.

The veggies are planted in the raised bed.



 It's likely far too many but after all, it is an experiment. There are a lot of lettuces planted and once those go by in the heat, there will be more room. The tomatoes will get tied to a trellis Gene is going to install on the edge. The poor pot bound scented geraniums were replanted and look much better than they did in these pics.



 Three new scented geraniums were purchased too. A couple of rose scented ones and a cinnamon.



Those got the pots the bigger ones moved out of. The excitement never ends at Runamuck eh? ;-)

A little sewing in the salon. I modified the Everyday Style Esme tunic to do this color blocked linen version.



 It is such a happy yellow but yellow is hard color to wear for me.



 I tempered it with the cream. Looked great with a pair of skinny jeans and sandals and is cool and comfortable as we head for summer weather!

Yellow seems to be the color of the month. The yellow warp that I made for pup Fiona I used because I didn't really like the color and wanted to use it up. Well, it was a surprise how beautiful it is weaving up in this crackle pattern. The sunlight in the back room washed this out some.



I have gone from wanting to be rid of that rogue cone to wishing I could find another pound or two of the color to have on hand. Weaving is almost always a journey of discovery. It makes it so much fun most of the time. I'll get a better picture of this warp for the next post.

This weekend a trip up to Grants Pass to go to a quilt show, maybe a stop at the Kitchen Store and the fab growers market they have there on Saturday morning. Sunday I'm having a pajama day.

On a sad note, dear friend Mary ( who some of you may remember as buying Nick the horse from me), lost her much beloved jack Russell Terrier, Little Nick. He was probably one of the handsomest Jacks I had ever seen ( pictures here), sweet and gentlemanly. I know how much he was loved and will be terribly missed. Hugs Mary.

Parting shots: Outtakes.

 

Really Raised Beds!

Gene and I have gone round and round on a veggie garden for years. We have such nice produce available to us the cost of installing a deer proof garden was hardly worth it. I don't can. I don't need a dearth of fruits or veggies and my time is limited that could be devoted to it. Then I saw a planter in a catalogue. It solved a number of issues. Not too big, easy to maintain, deer proof since it would be on the deck and easy to put together.



 Gene built a similar one in an afternoon for about $50.00 including the heavy duty wheels. Our local Grange Co-Op actually has a planting mix for raised beds and Karen, who is a whiz with all things plant and animal, recommended a soil amendment they had been using in their test beds at the co-op. I bought some fun starts of veggie varieties we don't often see at the market and come Saturday I will plant them all in.



Nothing earth shattering here, stuff we like. Tomatoes, some different pepper plants, eggplant, squash, Bibb lettuce, beets, cucumber and shell peas from seed. We also have a half whisky barrel that was given to us. Gene put that on wheels too.

Suffice to say I have not yet gotten into the flower garden for the spring clean-up and weeding but I have to get to it soon. Sunday is slated for the work to commence assuming the weather is suitable. We have had cool, cloudy and drippy days and that's all good. The longer we hold our damp weather into late spring, the better. The fire in Alberta Canada has us all aware our fire season is just around the corner and prayers go out to all involved.

On one of the nice days recently, we got Charlotte's prayer flag hung.



 It was time to send those heartfelt prayers wherever the winds take them.



Charlotte will always stay in my heart.

The wolf pup has her warp on. It has been threaded and there is one inch still to sley before tying up and making ready to weave.



Some fun makes in the sewing salon. Two very quick Kiomi tops, one in double gauze



the other in a silly fun print I saw on sale.



I am still loving the Esme tunic and grabbed my prized Badger Colony fabric since this has now become the 2016 go to for tunics.



 Some Phoebe linen pants in a deep brown called Teak.



 I had a yard left of the fabric and it is wide, so I tried a cropped version of Tina Given's Peplone Jacket.





 I like it and it is a nice way to use up some leftovers. Done in a warmer fabric it could be a sweet bed jacket for winter or maybe some handwoven fabric?

Parting shots: Sleeping beauties. I giess my sewing is just as Zen-like for them as weaving. :-)