Welcome Spring, A Giveaway Winner, and Mo's 5th Birthday!

Hi! And so Spring begins! Big full moon tonight for the equinox celebration, be sure to go out to look. It has the unfortunate honor of being called the Worm Moon. Ick.

For my scrap bag giveaway I had not many takers but enough that I got out the random number generator and let it choose. The winner is JulieQ which is appropriate since she is a dedicated scrap quilt maker. Julie, email me your address? 

Tuesday was Mo's 5th birthday! He is all grown up now.

Some presents:

This is like if your gramma gives you underpants for  Christmas! Face swabs and paw wipes:

A pretty Tiffany blue enameled ID tag. [not really Tiffany,lol.]

A beautiful t-shirt, in XL. Hahaha, XL chihuahua maybe. Lots of scissoring and fitting to make it work.

We baked a cake!

For those of you who may be tempted to make a cake for your own dog, I did a  little baking test. These mixes are from Chewy.com.

Supposedly dog friendly ingredients.

I made the regular cake as cupcakes, because Mo cannot be begin to eat a whole cake. [We froze the rest to bring to big dog friends next playdate.]

The mix's how-to was, to me, surprisingly complicated, the same as making a regular cake mix, lots of ''add eggs and oil, mixer needed'' etc. Lots of effort for a doggy who would rather have a jerky skewer. But fun.

The frosting, as you can see was a bit of a fail. I cut it off and discarded it, only giving Mo the bottom plain cake. He threw up anyway, poor little man.
I actually tasted the cake which had a nice taste and crumbly texture, and a bit of the frosting that was also pretty delicious, but sweet.

The other mix makes a smaller microwaved cake, and includes a silicone pan, so I guess we'll try again in June for Mo's adoption day celebration.

I hope you all enjoy lovely warm springs. No snow, no floods, no pollen, good luck!

''Summer makes me drowsy.

          Autumn makes me sing.

          Winter's pretty lousy, 

          but I hate Spring.''                - Dorothy Parker.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach...

other springs, below

My Boro Sweater, June Full Moon, and Other Random Thoughts for Friday

 Hi! First of all we must look at the  June full moon. This moon is called the Strawberry Moon, and as it's so close to the Summer Solstice, shining for our few brief hours of spring darkness, it's a wonderfully magical and mysterious moon. There is an interesting post on Woman with Wings , a lovely , mindful, spiritual blog: with permission, quoting,
"We have a full moon rising this Friday -- I hope to wrap up more herbal bundles and write my gratitude list during the day...that night I'll set out a jar filled with lemon balm leaves and water to be infused by the full moon and other cosmic energies. I like leaving this water out the following day as well to be infused by the sun, after which I strain it. Lemon balm water helps us to be centered in the midst of chaos, also helps meditation.''

However. Yes it is still chilly here, verging on cold.

For my evening walks with Mo I must wear layers, including a wool turtleneck sweater, hat and scarf, fleece or windproof jacket. I usually wear an old lavender cashmere I've had for years. It was one of the last gifts my mom gave me; she disliked lavender color but she sent it because it was my choice. I  love it because it's from her, and also it's one of Lands End's old cashmeres from when they made thick cozy turtleneck sweaters that are also machine washable, with a bit of care. Anyway, it went from best sweater, to everyday sweater, to dog walking sweater over the years; I wear it all the time. So imagine my distress when it sprung an elbow hole.

Backtracking I've been interested in the Japanese art of ''boro'', a form of patchwork and make do.  I believe that, in Japanese, boro means ''rags''. [I'll put a couple links about boro at the end of the post.] Since I can't find my Japanese ikats and indigos I decided I would practice boro patchwork/ stitching on my beloved sweater.

Two pretty fabrics from my scraps, lined in flannel, sewed with a lavender silk twist cord. Perfect again! I love it.
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Yesterday was Mo's adoption day anniversary. It is just three years since the tiny mite was so brave and flew here all alone from California. Seems like he's been here forever, doesn't it.

I got him a pizza shaped cooky.

A bagel chew.

And a baby splash pool, in case it ever gets hot again. Poor Mo, he  may HATE it. I'll start with ice cubes in it, as Mel suggests. LOL. If it get really hot, heck, I may sit in it myself!

Then I'm working on my deck spruce up. New chairs!

I also ordered new screen disks for the windscreen portholes but Gorilla Glue wouldn't stick. I'll try the F6000 glue next, otherwise Mo will get his head stuck in the porthole.
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Lavender looks good. Two kinds. Pretty and the bees love it

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I'm making reusable grocery bags, six for me, six for my friend L. But then I have to go buy plastic bags for Mo cleanup, so I'm a little miffed. These are linen/ cotton drapery remnants from my stash. Washable, I hope.

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And the best! look what Mel is making!

She is an expert crocheter and she made this amazing wrap bracelet for me. I love it! ---If / when summer comes I plan to wear it everyday.

Aaaand, look what the bracelets were wrapped in. So cool. What a find. Mel has a great eye, thanks so much!

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This came in the mail. I live in the red part.

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Something for the weekend--- here's a yummy sounding recipe from Kelley to try: here .
And this week's wine is Flowers Sonoma Coast Rose` 2016   here



That's it for now. Mo and I hope to do some on-deck sewing this weekend. Fall Festival is so neglected.
Have a good weekend.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach

Boro:  My Pinterest board Boro

            French General Boro tote kit : here

            Interesting post about the History of boro: here

 NOTE for ETSY SHOP: From now, June 10 thru Fourth of July week I am having Dollar Days/ Sidewalk Sale days here in my etsy shop. When I was growing up in a small town in Illinois, the summer night sidewalk sales---many items just a $1.oo!---were always so fun, so I am recreating that here. I have marked down almost everything in my shop to just ONE DOLLAR, plus shipping. Find a treasure or two/ stock up for gift giving!
Folk art items that are not marked down [dolls, quilts, treasures from the sea] are available for reasonable offers, just PM me. All offers cheerfully considered. Be aware that items may have sold privately or thru my blog, things go fast! I'll let you know. Hopefully you'll find something you like and you'll come back soon for my Summer Lavender Hearts in Seaglass and White and Summer Blues. I hope you have fun. Happy Summer! Etsy link on sidebar