New Art And No Camera

My camera battery died just as I took this picture and my charger is in Maryland, where we are headed in a week or so to pick up my gadabout mother, so that's why I wasn't able to get a better shot of my new fabric piece. Anyway, making this reminded me of when I was really little and playing with crayons in the "64" box of Crayolas. I'd scribble patches of different colors next to each other to decide which looked best together (I also remember pretending my crayons were little people and they'd play together and have adventures and stuff - yes, I did have dolls, but crayons had ready-made names like Cornflower and Magenta and Lavender).

The artwork to the left is a pastel landscape by Vermont artist Bonnie Acker. I told her those colors made me happy - I love walking into this room and looking at my wall (especially the photos of the munchkins in the middle). --cds

Playing With Colors

That's what I've been doing yesterday and today. Just taking down fabrics in my favorite colors and putting them next to each other. These are going to be stitched up because: Purples + Aquas + Fuschias divided by Silk Threads = Happiness. Oh, Miss Mark, how I hated you and your math class, but look how I am putting your algebraic equations to use now! If only I'd known. Now of course I would demonstrate how to calculate the exact amount of fabric needed to construct a bias binding or how to make 19 set-in triangles fit into a rectangle. And I would lengthen the hems on all your slutty '60's mini-dresses - you were much too old for such short skirts. --cds

Here In Reptile World

All right, Claudia is officially freaked out by the gators now. I think the recent rainstorms have made the local reptiles all giddy and now they're going all Cretaceous thinking "Woo-hoo! The Age of Rainforests is back, baby! No more of those wrinkled wheezing humans whacking us with golf balls!"

Well, that's what I imagined on my walk this morning when I came by one of the ponds and heard this LOUD cacophony of new frog-life, and at the far end a 5-foot long alligator scrambled up onto the bank toward the road. I stopped. He stopped. He scrambled back into the water and I turned on my heel and went back the way I came.
(Everglades alligator we photographed two years ago) Freaked out, I tell you! --cds

Mystery Bird and Pie

As soon as I find my good bird book I'll look this up, but this is a new bird in the neighborhood. Looks rather nautical, I think. It soars and dips over the cow field - very pretty to watch.
And, I made pie on Sunday. Blueberry, not peach. This is the pre-bake photo because I thought it looked so pretty. I am not and have never been a good pie-baker. I have studied with the Master (Lois Louise), watched her crust making technique all my life, but have never been able to produce a decent, flakey, tender piecrust. In fact, cuss words and crust throwing usually accompany my feeble attempts. But this one turned out all right. Only all right. Not fabulous, but ok. Anyway, there is not a post-bake photo because we soon ate up the pie - just like the Three Little Kittens - only there are only two of us. Now we shall have no pie. --cds

Not One But Two

Thunderstorms, that is. A loud sparklely one centered over Lakeland late Thursday afternoon and it rolled around again about midnight.

Same story last evening, along with a nice steady rain. Finally! Hopefully this is the start of our daily rainstorms.

We have piney woods very near us and all that dry brush plus no rain frightens me. Though ice storms top my list of scarey Mother Nature events, wildfires rank a close second.

And so we have cloud pictures.

Also, it is Farmer's Market Day and I feel a cooking urge coming on. I'm thinking foccacia topped with roasted peppers. And I need pie. Maybe peach pie - I noticed that Georgia peaches were on the stands last week. Oh geez. And that means vanilla ice cream. I'm doomed. --cds

1000% Humidity

That's what it seems like out there this morning. I felt like I was walking through a miasma of moisture. It's certainly nice to be finished exercising by 6:30 a.m. because now the sun is coming up and there are - again - no clouds in the sky. Rain needed here. And why can't I remember to bring my camera along on my walks. This morning I walked by a bone-dry drainage canal and clumping slowly down the middle was a fat, black 6-foot long alligator. He either saw or heard me and he flopped down on his belly to rest. He was headed for the swampy woods, looking for water I imagine.

So I've been indoors a lot and stitching things.
This little 5x7" thingie is going to my friend with the cute bathroom who likes mermaids. I've been reading a lot about crazy quilting lately so I guess that's where this current urge to hand-stitch comes from. I'm experimenting with photo-printing onto fabric also - this mermaid was scanned from an old postcard I had.

These seashells I glued on are teeny-tiny - collected at the beach when the girls were last here. --cds

Your Morning Smoothie

So maybe I'll turn this into a food blog. Since fruits and veggies are really coming in fast and furious here in FLA, I'm back to making up various combinations of smoothies. Today's combo is some of this delicious cantaloupe, vanilla no-fat Stonyfield yoghurt, a shot of lime juice, a handful of walnuts and a few pomegranate seeds (blended up well so I don't choke to death). Oh so good. The embroidery is courtesy of Gram, Jim's grandma, one of the many dresser scarves she stitched. Walked 2 1/2 miles this morning so I am just brimming with health. Not a bad start for a Monday. --cds

There Oughta Be A Law...

...against the families of family-owned businesses performing in their own oh-so-obviously self-scripted commercials. There is a particularly painful one run here in Tampa adjacent. I think it's a family-run jewelry store, but honestly they look and behave like escapees from the cast of Hee Haw. I am forced to mute and avert my eyes.

In weather news, we received four minutes of rain last evening - just so you know, we haven't had more than four minutes of rain since late April. We walk a fine line during this time of year, hoping for a nice rainy weekend to green up the grass and fill the ponds, but praying that a three-day rain doesn't have a first name attached to it. My weekend plans include replenishing my hurricane supply box. --cds

Travel Season

Took a little break from the blogging because we wanted to drive North to New Jersey and on to Vermont. So, we re-mortgaged our house, sold all our possessions and knocked over a Brink's truck in order to pay for the gas to get us there. Seriously, WHO can afford a trip like this anymore? It's outrageous. DON'T piss off the Grandmother - a plague on the politicians and oil company executives who keep me from seeing my granddaughters whenever I want to.

That said, we spent a great week with the Vermonters - Ruthanne celebrated her first birthday with a lovely family party.
Here she is with Aunti Liz (Steph's sister): This is what kept us so busy much of the week: Grandpa and Daddy put together Ruthie's swingset with not-too-many difficulties. She loves to swing - not so thrilled with the slide just yet, which is fine by me. She has been walking on her own, 6 or 8 steps at a time, and can climb up (already!) on some of the furniture. Uh-oh. --cds