under the oaks

some times you gotta clean up areas
around the house...
this is out by the compost heap...
we had a real nice supply of worms and
a few tomato plants growing and herbs..
but we also had some chickens next door
that really really liked my worms, tomatoes
and herbs.

so i cleaned up the area and my new little
puppy chased the chickens back to their
property...



Suzanne McMinn's "Chickens in the Road"
blog had a forum on garden art and
really beautiful pieces of sculpture
made from pieces of glass, china,
pottery and pots...

i remembered my area and here are some of
my ideas to add to the mix.



this is the area i use to dump the old
and begin the new...because of the
rains during the summer you gotta get
rid of the puddles of standing water
so i turn my pots upside down and stack
them...now i arrange them cause i
like them this way!











the saucer does have some water in it
now for the birds to drink cause there
is no rain...



i believe i will clean up the glass and
weight the bottom, glue them together
maybe some colored marbles to sparkle...

Beautiful, Beautiful

It has been an amazing February/March...

We are terribly dry here in South Florida, but the weather
has been beautiful...Just enough breeze to make it
wonderful to sit outside under the oaks...
in my hammock swing!

The birds are in concert - flocks of cardinals (unafraid
to come up and eat off the porch beside us),
doves cooing in pairs,
little finches way up in the tree tops
(we call them tweety birds),
starlings,
blue jays, and even a few woodpeckers!

I am in love with fibers....my room is evidence of that
with the fabrics i have and the purchases of more
and more....I am also in love with the makers of
the same on etsy.com....and their stories...
To raise animals using their fleeces to produce
the most amazing products.
I am going to be in deep trouble if i can find a way
to use these in a new and wonderful way....

Recently became a follower of
Larkspur Funny Farm & Fiber Arts Studio...
a great article about how her life has lead her to this
point is found at her blog

www.larkspurfunnyfarm.blogspot.com

www.bigtownfarmer.com/articles/FEB09Funnyfarm.htm

....I love the silk, the colors, the raw fibers.....
the animals....

Now back to creating....

Recovery

Each new year seems a little more difficult to ease into...
routines...journeys...changes...regroup and begin again.
The last two months of every year are the most time
consuming at my job...everything has to revolve around
the difficult time schedule and the changes in eating,
sleeping and creating! My children always had the worst
Christmas season just because mom was not able to eat,
sleep and participate...it became a way to make thanksgiving
more important and i believe that was a good thing.

Getting back to creating as i enjoy is taking longer each
year...recoup time! But a new grandson this last year needing
a quilt...pushed me to this...

I love bold colors especially for children...and this grouping
really spoke to me. The fun monkeys and bugs just made
for a really nice boys drag-a-round size quilt. My biggest
thing is to build the design around tradition type styles but
i don't usually use a pattern...just an idea.

The quilts usually
go along pretty good until i have to build the final by adding
and adding to the separate groups i have created...and most
of the time that means a couple of trips back to the fabric store
to supplement the stash.


Most of the blocks were similar so i started turning them..
realizing that the quilt was not to be displayed but played
with and used from every side - there would not be a
directional quality to the quilt.



Needed to have his name and date on it so i embroidered it
simply using floss...something that would last during washings....
The quilt turned out to be exactly what i wanted...I machine
quilted from the front around the blocks...trying to keep the
areas blocked and stable...maybe should have been more
but really haven't been able to keep at it long enough
to heavily quilt.
When Kobe was born we decided to use polka dots for the
majority of his blankets, bedding, burp cloths and the
backing of the quilt kept the theme going...just used a
bit on the front to complete the panels. The edging was
just plain cotton bias from the store...in a deep brown.

The overall effect was playful and colorful...I like it and so
did Kobe and his family.