I was doing the dishes the other day and looked over as I was finishing up, the colors caught my eye. It was all unplanned or staged. I thought you know, everyone even if you do it now, should work at finding beauty and goodness around them. If you do it now, work at not letting that slip, forgotten. Everyday there is something to be grateful for. And to think doing dishes did that for me…ha, those dirty dishes, which by the way was once my most dreaded chore, has been inspiration to me more than once…whodathunk.

The evenings are getting really cold here. So when it was still warm at dusk, we couldn’t help but stay outside enjoying it. The kids running around, rolling down the hill, weaving in and out of the apple trees, climbing. I couldn’t resist this beautiful scene as the kids played on the hill. Beautiful to me.

I officially vote Philly to be one of the friendliest cities that I have yet to visit.

Even the parking manager at the Hotel where we stayed was a total joy to sit and talk with while we waited for the car. Megan and Erin of Art Star are simply sweet hearts. And several of the vendors that I meet were just as happy and cheerful. The long drive home (arriving at 3:30 am) was well worth it. Thank you who ever you were that passed out the free energy drinks. I needed it about 1:30 in the morning.
I definitely want to go back for a pleasure visit to Philadelphia and have time to walk (not drive) and browse the shops and quaint little restaurants that they have packed into those streets.
While I would have loved to come home with an arm load of new treasure, I settled for a couple of my favorites. The hot air balloon card made by Melaine Linder. Love it! Love it! Ever since seeing this post I have sort of a mild obsession with them. And I’m longing for this print too.
Wooden book marker will get a lot of use from me. Bookworm is saying it mildly.  A beautiful photo taken by Emmy Ludwig. Not sure where I’m going to put it just yet. I tend to buy what I like and think of a place later. And a fabric pin that matched the one I was wearing from Melissa. She shared a booth beside us with her friend who makes wonderful jewelery.

OK..off to celebrate a few birthdays. Hope your having a great day.

Thank you Anna for letting me know about my blog being set on members only. I don’t want anyone to think I’ve gone into hiding with only a handful of friends.  How it happened I’m not sure but I’m so glad it’s fixed. Well, I think it’s fixed. I unchecked the members only option??? If your having any problems please email me and let me know.

Watching This. Seen it quite some time ago on Amanda’s blog but it’s worth revisiting.   Sparked my creative inner child. Making want to play and so I did…. The above picture is a self portrait. I’m a day dreamer. I’ll save what the kids are working on for another post.

Inspired by my kitchen chairs.

Inspired by watching a little bird pick seeds from the flowers weeds in my yard.

Hand sewing, well some hand sewing. My machine is still on a lame leg. I borrowed one from a sweet family member. It’s sews just fine but doesn’t handle quilting to well. Just when you think it’s doing great, the tension does this little crazy thing. So quilt tops sit undone. I was hoping I’d be able to take them to the craft show this weekend. So I’m trying not to get myself worked up about that and just have fun. And stick to small quilts. That’s where the hand sewing comes in. Along with the altered pouch. I’m finding myself liking it a lot more than I expected. There is something special in those little works of art.

Embracing Life…….

And Stay Silly…..

Does your kids ever do the knock, knock jokes? Ever since my youngest one heard them, she repeats them over and over.  Well, repeats one joke over and over. I try to act like it’s funny but seriously after so many times well..even a fake laugh is hard to muster up. I’m sure you’ve heard this one….

Em:Knock, knock

Me: who’s there?

Em: Orange

Me: Orange who?

Em: Orange you glad to see me!

The quilt I’m working on was inspired by of course orange. I’m really liking the colors. The freshness of the white, orange and a little touch of green. It speaks to me like sunny days. The large orange blocks are made out of a vintage fabric. I’m excited to use it finally and feel good about the outcome of it. It’s always such a bummer to use vintage fabric and not be pleased with the end result.  Feels like a sad lose. A betrayal to the fabric print itself. And you can’t run to the store and pick up a couple more yards. It’s gone. This is not one of those times. This quilt is made with the requested measurements of my husband. He’s pretty tall so when laying on the couch after a long day he sometimes likes to cover up with a blanket. Throws are way to small. Cold Feet. Large blankets usually get drug into the living room. Then left in large heaps at the foot of the couch. On really cold days, a large quilt is a comfort. To snuggle up under the heavy weigh of someone hand work but not every day. So this one is made to cover you while you lay on the couch without all the extra bulk. I’m feeling pretty orangy or peachy today. Lame but had to say it.  

Orange less intense red. Yes!  Orange curtains? I did that a while back but after seeing this print and this one. They look so blah! They were made out of the same print as the small orange blocks in the quilt picture above. I’m wanting a bold new textiles and huge pops of color in the house. What I got now sort has me feeling the grape in sun effect. Not good! I’d love to have this peacock illustration in fabric. Can’t really tell if it’s red or orange? But I can see it as curtains. That would definitely add a little conversation in a room. Helen does some of the cutest illustrations and I just love her blog. I think my favorite part is how she embellishes the pictures. They can be quite comical.

This print. Found it on Etsy. Orange and blue always a nice combo.

I so so so love the smell of me or anyone near me peeling an orange. I think that might be one of my favorite things.    Yes, today I agree.

OK…I’m sounding like my daughter. Repeating. Wonder how many times I said Orange.

Working on……

A space of my own is working out as I had hoped. I can work a little, take a break, work a little more without having to clear it off to eat supper or when family and friends are coming over. I just can just leave it and come back, all there as I left it. Quite nice!  The only dilemma I’m having now is that I want to do so much all at once. I think I have 5 separate projects going. All left in their little piles waiting to be completely finished. No more out of site, out of mind with these. Things are getting done around here.

And then we have this. Not the first time and I’m sure it won’t be the last.   A fresh plowed garden, 2 soaking days of rain, one dry late afternoon, kids unsupervised for 10 minutes while mom folds a load of laundry. I guess this is what I get for bring home a book called I love dirt. Who can resist the feel of mud squishing between your toes?  That’s the next best thing to warm sand.

Oh camera, I’m so glad you were with me yesterday. It was one of those days. I woke with an ache in my head that only grew stronger as the day went on. I sort of walked around with a Duh look and a Duh feel to me.  I was thinking that not much was done or accomplished until looking back.  I truly see now why so many people journal their days in pictures.  It’s not just nice to have, memories to keep but something to really see. What I thought was a painful and not much happening day was something quite perfect despite the throb.                                                                                                                                          It started out with us dropping my husbands lunch off and then running over to feed our friends dog while they are away on spring break.  A little eye candy while we were there..the beautiful garage door.

On the way back we took the country roads. I felt drained from the pound between my eyes and didn’t feel like driving at normal speeds. The kids thought it was great because they assumed we were lost. Causally snaking along the back roads I would stop when ever something eye catching was spotted and let the kids jump out and take pictures of them. I guess through the kid’s eyes we were on a photography assignment in the wild yonder.  A cow gave us quite a show. He would take a step back and a step forward. Moving his head in a funny way. We sat and watched him for a while narrowing down ideas of what was wrong with him. Maybe mad cow or stuck on something. One of the kids even chimed in that he was dancing to the car radio that was on. That’s when we saw the stick that was leaning near the ground and he had stepped over top of.  We couldn’t see it until we zoomed up with the camera. Cow giving himself a good ’Ole itch it was. The moment was funny and entertaining while it lasted.

We headed home and I took a nap. A much needed nap. Then it was on to prepared the barn for chickens. Pulled out all of stuff that hasn’t been used in a few years. The kids worked at that. You would have thought they were redecorating their own rooms because of how much enthusiasm they had. My son even made a pulley contraption that opens and closes a small door for the chickens. That way we don’t have to go all the way into the barn and into the coup each morning and night to let them in and out. Plus they can go straight from their coup to the outside grass. No hens wondering around inside the barn making a mess.

 A bit of canoeing. Testing if an oar or a shovel works better.  Results: Shovels moves you faster but  a serious work out on the muscles, oar takes you where you want to go and it’s a whole lot easier.

A bit of bubble blowing. It wasn’t the best day as the wind took the bubbles away so fast we just got a peeks at them before they were gone.

Finding nature as it is.  Beautiful and harsh all in one. A pile of fur or more specific a bunny tail and a could have been robin.

And to think I would have passed this day up as not much of day. Sad really, to think I would have overlooked all this. Yeah..my camera, I’m so glad it was with me yesterday.

Did a little photography experimenting with those trinkets. I was thinking of all the the amazing pictures I really enjoy and the talent out there is jaw dropping. So, I thought I’d share some that I love, these and here are some nice ones. Here is some more inspiration and photos I love, here, here and she alwayshas amazing photos from all over.  I’m also fascinated by Lomography. I noticed flickr is going to be a part of Analogue Lounge display and here is a groupthat pretty much explains it all. Fun huh? It’s amazing what photos they get. I think investing in a photo editing program is a good idea. I have absolutely nothing at the present time. There are some amazing things people do by altering their digital photos. Does anyone recommend one? I was thinking photoshop. It seem to be a very popular one but I’ve heard it can be a little confusing and takes awhile to understand, that is until you know your way around the program. I should probably head over to this site and see what they say. This website is full of great info.

Ok, I leave you with one more photo link that I think is simply adorable.

Have a great weekend.