I wiped away the weeds & foam. / I fetched my sea-born treasures home... Ralph Waldo Emerson







Saturday, October 5, 2024

Starry-Eyed Jack is Back Part 2, ref Julie ~ and Garden Peeking


Hi! Starry-Eyed Jack has come out of the closet, hee hee hee. He was one of my most fun projects, made with Julierose [Blog link HERE  ].Her version is softer and more flowery, harvest not Halloween. pattern by Jan Patek.

This is my Fall project this year, not started yet. I hope it's as much fun. A Cheri Payne pattern, this version from the FB group. The maker [Vickie Stidham] kindly gave me permission to use hers as inspiration; I have the pattern downloaded from the group. . I may make only 4 Jacks? Cheri Payne OOP pattern "Trick or Treat"



Shirts/ plaids are thrifted. If anyone has a wool pennies source for me to use for eyes etc, 
or good wool scrap bag source  [not etsy!] please tell me.

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Mo and I have been enjoying the nice Fall days, just came in after sewing hour, including ice cream for Mo, his fave. I finished his Christmas present neck warmer cowl that is wide enough to also pull over his ears. 

He is somewhat appalled by the too large but adorable! fake fur pom in BunBun colorway. I got him a new red halter also, may even get him a new leash, who knows. Three month-ish till Christmas.


We've been garden peeking looking for weeds, vines, leaves, berries for journal entries.



I love the grey weathered wood fences, could not belive the local HOA wanted to make them illegal and require white plastic instead. eeew. [decision postponed]















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Recent journal---two thoughts this week 1-sometimes it is best to stop while you're ahead. 2- my just watercolor drawings are better than my pen/ ink/ wash drawings. Note the mushroom is better than the clamshell, leaf better than the bee.







And sometimes the scribble drawings, just playing--this one on a paper towel--are better than the deliberate sketches in the books.





Sweet inspiration page by UK artist illustrator Claire Fletcher. I include it here for my October post as their autumn is much earlier than mine. I adore her work.

October candles assortment. The darkness already comes so early, doesn't it.



An interesting quote from a truly awful [farfetched and crazy, cruelty] novel I am almost finished reading: And Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewett, 2018. [I'm reading backlogged books on my Kindles, sometimes books go lost.] The quote:


May, sigh. June. Yes, only only 9 more months til summer.

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Isn't this a gorgeous sky blue housedress print. Like today's sky.


Have a good weekend!


love

lizzy

gone to the beach....


Sunday, September 29, 2024

September ~ Blink and You Missed It!

 


Good morning! We've had some grey cooler nights and when I went out this morning I found a sweet chubby bumblebee sleeping in one of the larger zinnia flowers. Stuffed full of pollen and exhausted--or chilled---he woke up when I gently jiggled the stem and seemed ok. Busily working an hour later when the sun tried to peek out. Many of you kindly admired the zinnias' final glory. Especially this palest pink.

Here it is fully opened and pinkening [w damp air damage, sadly] , and then deep rose with the fully developed beehive shaped center. I want to harvest some seeds.


below ~This too is a beauty, ombre shaded from brightest coral  red to fuchsia outer petals, then small yellow center circle instead of a cone.

September has flown by this year. I wasn't ready for pumpkins and cheddar quilts, so I did a fun display of my accumulated tomato pincushion, a harvest note of sorts. 



And covered a throw pillow with a flea market found scrap of Indonesian batik. 


Finding the right bowls prompted the washing of my pumpkin and brown glazed yellow ware bowls. I love them, so pretty!




Note my dried gourds. Every year I buy and save a few. Last year was a small white pumpkin, it sat and mouldered and rotted for a whole year.

I dust of course, constantly, Mo and sand blown in make sure of that [but there it is on the lip of that newly washed bowl, eeek.] And everything gets sticky over the humid summer of salt air blowing in with fine sand everywhere, so I decided to wash collections of seaglass and shells! 


A start on Fall cleaning. No sense washing windows with the wind and fog dregs of H Helene? dampening everything. Problem is, things never fit back in as they were carefully fitted and puzzled in over the year[s]. I got all but maybe 3 of the shells back in their bowl, was quite relieved. Even the fountain got a good wash.

I am almost finished with Mo's Christmas gift neck warmer, made in reflective yarn for dark winter dinner walks. Some drivers are so uncaring. So for some late night reason I succumbed to pretty yarns on IG, and ordered a few  skeins for kiddy hats or mittens. Bright pompoms too. 

My little artist friend wants a neck warmer like Mo's, to match her unicorn hat, but that is leftover yarn plus some glow yarn--so I don't know what I was thinking. Three Birds Yarn Studio  for hats and poms.

The white pom is called Bun Bun. It is intended for Mo's scarf but it's huge, almost as big as he is. I showed it to him and he was scared, lol. I was hoping to hide my poor selvedges of the striped cowl. I'll make a wool pom, or maybe add a wool felt heart instead to cover the ugly seam. Not that Mo cares. Next I want to make him a little snood or hood.


Late summer necklace find. All summer I was wanting the love bead -ish fine African beads, below, to wear everyday with tee shirts, but never could free up buying money.

I was so happy to find this necklace during my dusting binge. The heart is from Arizona, either from my mom or other family when they lived there. I'll wear it instead for early fall. Beads source

I ordered a couple heavy weight winter pants from Old Navy, for when it's too windy for my usual chino cargoes but not cold enough for my snow pants. But the fit is very odd. The waists fit ok, a tad too big, but the rest of the pants are HUGE. enormous. Circus Tent style. And so long! I am tall, what the heck? One pair was denim cargos, I may actually keep them and tailor them to fit. They have great pockets for all my stuff and were so loose I can wear leggings or sweats underneath, depending on how I take them in. But so long, like 6" too long?


Today I may bake cookies, to warm the house and make it cheerier. From Trader Joe:

I'll make the bar cooky version and freeze them for afternoon tea time on coming cold days. Not sure about pretzels as an ingredient. Maybe need some chocolate too?


Mo is happier with the cooler weather despite the mist. We've walked down to the beach entrance almost daily, sit again on the old bench. Just like old times, though at age ten and a half  Mo can no longer jump up on the bench on his own.



Here he is shouting a puggy trademark Ah-Roooo. From his sofa back throne. 

  ''I am happy! I am the King. 
Ah-Roooo, ahrooo! Ahrooooooo!"

Have a great week. You can put your Pumpkins out now, it's okay! It is October on Tuesday. #nopumpkinstiloctober



love
lizzy
gone to the beach....