Perennial Grace

Wondering what I'm up to?

2007-02-12T06:07:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday To Me!

2007-01-21T12:37:00.000-05:00

Recently I received this card from my friend Trish. I hadn't been expecting anything from her and so I was suprised. I was even more suprised when I opened it and read that she was wishing me a Happy Birthday. My birthday is in July!

I thought she'd gotten my birthday mixed up with someone else's until I continued reading what she wrote. She did know that it was very early or very late... LOL

How many times have I found the perfect card for someone, set it aside till their birthday and then completely forgotten about it, only to find it long after their birthday has passed?

I have to say.... I like this idea.. Find the perfect card for someone... just send it! When my birthday comes along, I will remember that a good friend thought enough of me to be sure that she didn't miss wishing me a Happy Birthday. Isn't that sweet?

A Life Overflowing

2007-01-21T10:58:00.000-05:00

I glitch in Blogger switching from old to new version has made it impossible for me to post updates on the 'A Life Overflowing' blog and so I'm posting my updates here.

In this group we are paired up with another person, round robin style. Partners are to pray for each other, keep in touch and since this exchange has a coffee/tea/drink theme, we are to gift our partner with items we believe they will enjoy based on info they've supplied.

The most recent request or assignment is to post photos of our favorite cups.

Here are some of mine ....

A gift from daughter Tina, porcelain with ming style cobalt design, comfortable to hold, nice and big.

A gift from friend Lynn L. If I'm reading, counting stitches, whatever and someone starts talking to me while the cup is close by.. I only need to lift it or point to it and they understand to give me a second to finish counting or reading.

I think there needs to be cups that say. Shhhh.. I'm thinking... or maybe just Shhh I'm _________ and then one can fill in the blank .

A gift to myself... note the little dragonfly and garden theme. A nice stoneware cup for maintaining the temperature of the drink it holds.

A gift from Sis. Just before she gave me this, someone had greeted me saying Feliz Navidad!

Spanish was my first language, but I grew up in the states and so English is my main language now. Sometimes I'll hear an English word or phrase and not understand it cause I'm listening in Spanish ... and the same with Spanish phrases.... does that make sense? *G*

When this person greeted me.. I thought.. what did they say about fleeces? Duh! And then I realized they were wishing me a Merry Christmas.

I live with a pack of Lhasa Apsos and this Lhasa puppy print caught my eye, bought it for my den. Later a friend gave me this cup. When I got the cup I thought, this looks familiar. It wasn't till I set it on my desk one day that I realized why it looked familiar.. *G*

Yes, I know, it's not a cup. But you have to have a creamer right? This cute little staffordshire creamer caught my eye because it has dahlias on it and Mom loved Dahlias.

Mom, known to family members as Mamita, also loved roses.

Before she passed she told me she wanted me to have her china cabinet. I spent many hours as a child making sure things in there were dusted. Along with the cabinet I brought home some pieces with roses. The cup on the far left was a gift from Lynn L and it just fits right in.

The tiny little cup in front was one I gave Mamita as a gift. She like miniature things. The saucer says. "I love you, Mom".

Also in that cabinet are some of Mamita's art deco cups.. I don't dare use them for fear they'll be damaged.

Packed in a box are my grandmother Catatlina's tiny cups. I didn't have a place to display them safely and had packed them away and only just remembered that I had them. Now I can put them in the cabinet with the others.

Catching up....

2007-01-14T08:36:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it is January 14th already... my days just seem to be zipping by.. I'm getting in some studio time whenever I can, not always easy to do with family, friends, dogs and local activities. I'll be posting some new things on my studio blog and website as I work on them.

A new year means new projects. My first project completed was a pocket bag. I saw the project in Spindlicity and decided to try it. I made a few changes to the pattern, but used the technique for added the second yarn and second needle in order to work the inside and outside pockets at the same time. I would not recommend this project to a beginner knitter, but I enjoyed making the bag.

The first bag was made from using Serenity Farms (Hi Cary!) Corriedale wool from a sheep named Eve and a blue wool blend, but I gave away the first bag before I took a photo of it. Sorry Cary, maybe that person will take a photo of it for us, or I'll get it another time.

Anyway, I liked it so much that I've since made another for myself and did remember to take a photo a photo at the beginning and end, but still forgot to take a photo before fulling... the color in the photo is off and I didn't feel like fussing with it.. it is mostly shades of garnet red, crimson, gold, black etc.

In these photos both needles being used can be seen.

The finished bag ....

A peek inside, pockets barely visible in the photo but very handy. The blue is a lace project in progress, using one of my laceweight yarns. I love this pattern and yarn and will post more about it soon.

The last project completed in 2006 other than a pair of socks were two hats, one for Connor and then because his mom liked it so much, one for her. I dyed worsted weight merino for something that would go well with denim and they turned out well.

Speaking of Connor... grampa bought him new slippers and Connor likes them very much. Here he is wearing his slippers. When he saw the camera, he came over for a close up... funny boy.

He stomped around in his slippers so much that he wore himself out quickly.. By the time he had lunch he could barely keep his eyes open.

In this photo, he was struggling to keep his eyes open ... but he likes to eat and was determined to finish his veggies.

Unable to stay awake and no longer able to complain if I took his food away, off to bed he went for a 3 hour nap!

A New Year's Prayer...

2007-01-03T09:56:00.000-05:00

You are ushering in another year, untouched and freshly new,

So here I am to ask You, God, if You'll renew me, too.

But, Father, I am well aware I can't make it on my own.

So take my hand and hold it tight,

For I can't walk alone

- Helen Steiner Rice

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T08:21:00.001-05:00

Felicidades!

My New Year wish for everyone is that they be showered with Blessings.

For Dale...

2006-12-27T06:42:00.000-05:00

Here are the photos you couldn't see in my email. You can see the edges of the tree skirts made from round tablecloths. So check out those after Christmas sales!

The cute puppy under the tree is Tara as a pup and then as a young adult. She is 6 years old now and generally known as Tara the twirp or Tara the terror. She works hard to live up to those names. I should have known such serious eyes on a puppy meant trouble. *G*

For some reason known only to her, yesterday Tara's half and older sister Krystal aka 'Diva' aka 'The Princess' decided after all these years to see if the crocheted skirt tasted good. I caught her before she did a lot of damage...... grrrrrrrrrrr!

How did this go from being about tree skirts to griping about dogs?

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas ....

2006-12-25T06:51:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas!

I enjoyed reading Pamela's blog post where she shows some of her ornaments and memories attached to them. I felt as if I'd stopped in for a visit even though she lives 'across the pond'.

This is our tree this year. We placed it where it could be seen from both sides of the house and I like it there. I can enjoy it all day long. The second photo was taken this morning when I was the only one up and enjoying a cup of coffee at the kitchen island. The photo is a bit blurry, but you get the idea of how it looks with just the tree lights on.

Normally we put old toys under the tree instead of gifts, things like trucks, baby dolls, etc. Most of these toys aren't safe for very young children and with 2 grandchildren under the age of 2, we decided to leave the toys out this year and the gifts in place so the kids couldn't easily reach all the ornaments.

Our Tree Topper.. We've had this for quite some time and every year it's getting harder to keep her upright, but I like having both a star and angel at the top of the tree.

Another angel, this one from when I collected porcelain dolls and learned how to make them. A couple of older and smaller angels can be seen, one a beaded angel and another made of porcelain. And a jointed teddy for all of Eve's Bears made for more than 20 years. Hubby likes Norman Rockwell things and so there is an ornament behind the teddy with an Rockwell theme.

When the children were little we made ornaments every year. One year we made the folk style Santas from aluminum foil, paper clips, papier mache and paint. Another year we made lots of peppermint candy. The drummer boy in the photo is part of an older Avon metal 12 days of Christmas ornament set. The kids like to look for each one of the ornaments on the tree.

Tina made this ornament in grade school and you can see another peppermint ornament.

The little stork ornament was given to Tina as a baby and the ballet bear was from her ballet days

For the year Tina performed in the Nutcracker. As you may have guessed, she like ornaments more than the other kids.

Mom has been gone 11 years now, but on my tree hangs a little doll made from one of her hankies. It reminds me of how much she loved flowers.

A spider because I like buggy stuff and because I like the story of the Christmas Spider

Another just because I like it.

Each year I like to add a new ornament to replace one that has broken, been given away or become so fragile that it can't go up on the tree. Last year I was given this one.

And this year's new ornament from Pamela, a Cicada bug tiny bag.. adorable!

Since trees in our house have been known to be wiped out by kids or dogs getting just a little too frisky, we keep our very favorite and fragile decorations in a curio cabinet and not on the tree..

A gift from a friend... a carved santa holding an Eve's Bear.

Tree decorated with glass beads Tina made. Blown glass ornaments made by family membersat a local studio. Mr snowman there now has a girlfriend and living happily ever after.

And little snowbabies made by a local doll maker. Connor has been checking these out and trying to figure out how to open the cabinet... uh oh.. There remind of playing in the snow, something we may get to do soon as snow is predicted for tonight.

Labor Of Love

2006-12-24T09:33:00.000-05:00

This year I refused to work on last minute handmade Christmas gifts. I wanted to spend more time enjoying the moments and less being stressed about getting things done. Instead I worked on projects throughout the year and gave them as birthday gifts or saved them till Christmas.

So, why did I find myself spending most of yesterday helping daughter Tina with a gift for her mother-in-law? *G*

Here is the completed project, a quilt. This is Tina's first large quilt and I think she did very well picking out the fabric. She chose some because the print tells something about Miki and others because of the colors.

Not all the fabrics are new. When Tina was 8 years old, we worked on a quilt together, a pinwheel quilt that she still has. I'd saved the extra fabric in case of repairs and simply because I don't throw things away if I have a place to store them for later use. The fabric in the lower left hand corner is one of those fabrics, little pink flowers on light background. Tina and I hand pieced every single bit of her quilt and so it was definitely a labor of love. Now with some of the same fabric, she has created a labor a love for Miki.

Hustle and bustle of the season

2006-12-21T14:15:00.000-05:00

While many are running around shopping and trying to finish last minutes projects.... I am walking around...

We have been blessed with unseasonably warm and sunny days for December (we won't talk about the nights..brrrr) and so my old walking buddy (Hi Pat!) and I have started walking as we used to.

Recently we walked in a nearby park that was once a local amusement park and I took some photos. As you can see we are surrounded by hills, one of the things I like about living here, no matter where you are, you can see a hill in the distance.

There are lots of Canadian Geese in this pond and one of them is a one legged goose. It seems to get around just fine, a little awkward on land, but very graceful in the water and air.

Some shots of the carousel building that is being restored. You can see the pond in the reflection on the glass.

I read somewhere that this carousel was the largest and fastest in the world, don't know if it is fact or fiction, but I do know that it is beautiful and being lovingly restored. Unfortunately the buildings that housed the other amusement rides have been removed. Maybe someday those rides will be back!

In the mail...

2006-12-07T10:54:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I received two pkgs.. one was a trade pkg... a book titled The Knitted Rug. It has lots of nice patterns and ideas for rugs.

The other pkg was my Feet To Prayers pkg from Cary. Inside was a Helen Steiner Rice calendar. I love the quotes and nature scenes. My family will be pleased to see a calendar with something other than a dog theme. *G*

There was also my sock and pattern. Cary mentioned that the colors were not what she asked for when she ordered the yarn, but I really like the colors. I like greens in shades of celery, fern, sage, etc and this has quite a few in there with some soft earthy browns. A perfect match for my chartreuse cabled turtleneck top that for some reason hubby doesn't like but I do. *ggg* The sock and yarn came in a little bag painted by Cary's mom... I took the bag to the knitting group last night and the ladies wanted to know where they could get one. It is now my sock knitting bag.

There were a few other things, but I want to point out the card with the photo of pumpkins on it. That card was made by Theresa who will be selling her cards soon. She takes beautiful shots and I look forward to being able to purchase cards from her. I'm framing this one... just gorgeous! Thank you for everything Cary!

A shot of my dining room table. Does anyone else have a table that doesn't get used for dining? At the moment this table has a little gold wire tree surrounded by little gifts I've received, cards, and all sorts of goodies and we keep adding more each day. I don't know where I'm going to put this all when we have to use the table for dining.

Little Boy

2006-12-01T13:21:00.000-05:00

I mentioned a while back that grandson Connor got his first haircut. Since then several people have asked for photos of what he looks like now. So while he was here yesterday and playing in the yard, I snapped some photos. The haircut seems to have transformed him from a baby to a little boy.

An earlier photo of Connor showing how I'd hoped he'd have his hair cut. And then a more recent one showing how long it gotten, actually it was a bit longer than this and getting a little wild.

And now the little boy, cute even with a banged up face, all boy at 17 months. His hair is just barely long enough to curl on top a little, but I bet it will grow quickly. Connor is not at all happy with the baby swing, does not want to use it, but seems to think the glider is kind of cool!

I need more hours in a day....

2006-11-29T13:10:00.000-05:00

It seems that 24 hours just isn't enough time for family, chores, studio, fibery stuff, gardening and sleeping. At the moment gardening is taking a back seat to everything else. I've yet to properly put the garden to bed for winter.

I'm managing a little studio time each week, but not as much as I'd like. I've got some dye projects and blending projects in progress and I work on them as I can.

I'm managing to sneak in about at least an hour of spinning most days. I'm working on some larger spinning projects such as this mohair/wool blend. I just finished this skein. It is nicely balanced worsted weight with beautiful sheen. The roving had just a little bit of vm still in it, but it all popped out easily as I spun the yarn. I don't know what I'll be using it for yet, have a few patterns in mind.

Another large project is some purple cashgora.. yum! The fiber is so light and short that it isn't the easiest fiber to spin, but I'm enjoying it. By the time I finish it all, I'm sure it will tell me what it wants to be.

And just for fun... I don't know if I like this or not... hmmm

I'm also getting in some knitting time... mainly in the evening. I finished the sock for my Feet To Prayers partner, Pamela and send it off to the UK in a pkg with other things. I used sock yarn for the sock once I decided what color to go with and wrote my own version of a mock cable sock pattern as I knit the sock. And I finished a pair that are a gift to the shop owner where the knitting group meets. Vicki, the owner started the knitting group and we really can be a noisy bunch every Monday. I know she's been wanting socks and so I made her a pair using my mock cable sock pattern and my denim days fingering yarn. Note my fancy sock blockers.. made from coat hangers.

I really like the way both yarns worked for the socks and it was all I could do (Sis is probably tsk tsking as she reads this) to not keep the socks for myself. *ggg*

In the mail...

2006-11-21T13:32:00.000-05:00

Another pkg from Cary, my Feet To Prayer partner. I opened it to find all these garden and dragonfly related goodies and carefully packed into wonderfully soft Alpaca fiber. Thank you Cary!

This is a round robin type of swap and so the person I had to send something to is someone other than Cary. She should be getting her pkg soon. I hope she likes it !

A day filled with Goodies!

2006-11-19T11:04:00.000-05:00

The ladies in the spinning group that meets at my house came bearing all kind of goodies yesterday, banana bread, orange cranberry muffins, blueberry muffins ... When I started this group I had no idea that teaching others all about spinning would come with yummy rewards! *G*

And then my friend Lynn gave me this.... She knows I like dragonfly things, but she didn't know that I like marcasite and enameled jewelry. I love it!

And then my hubby Ruben gave me this... I like tiny enameled trinket boxes covered with crystals and while he was out, he found one he was sure I would like... and I do. Wasn't that sweet of him? The photos do not show how pretty they really are.

A photo showing the other two I have. The first one I found ... a dragonfly of course! And the
one that is my favorite of the 3... a tiny frog. One thing I like about these is how they are pretty from every angle. Also a look inside of one filled with stitch markers. I really like that they pretty, but also serve a purpose. No hunting for tiny objects.

And on the subject of little goodies.... grandson Connor got his first big boy haircut! He looks adorable, but not like a baby anymore... sigh....

2006-11-07T10:31:00.000-05:00

Here I am!

It's been a while since I've sat down to post any blog updates on my blogs ... It's just a busy time of the year with a garden to put to bed for winter, studio work, etc.

This Saturday a group of 6 spinners (including myself) or wannabe spinners met at my house for the first time. We met for 3 hours and we didn't cover any particular topic this time, mostly just getting to know each other, what we know and want to learn. I had mulled cider in the crockpot, Sue brought some shortbread bars and Vicki brought some brownies. I showed the spinners how I spin on a Great Wheel and using a quill attachment on an my Ashford Elizabeth wheel, Lynn showed them how to use hand cards and spinning on a Louet. We tweaked wheels and talked about various fibers, techniques, etc. Before everyone left, I gave them a quick studio tour. The 3 hours went very quickly. We plan to do this on a regular basis... And maybe I'll remember to get photos next time.

Monday is when the knitting group meets at Sweet Read coffee shop/book store (Eat a book today!). I took a sock to work on and also my Louet wheel. We had a great turnout with everyone working on various projects. One of the ladies came in wearing political campaign buttons which almost sent me running in the other direction *G* I've been bombarded with calls, mail and solicitors lately... enough! I will be glad when today (election day) is over so my phone stops ringing at all hours.

When I got back from the knitting, I received a large envelope in the mail from Cary, my Feet To Prayers sock swap partner. Inside was a pattern for toe up socks. Cary made socks using this pattern with one of my yarns and I really liked it. Will I be able to resist trying the pattern before I finish the sock I'm working on?

Also inside was a pattern for a dog sweater. Now.. I'm not big on dog sweaters. I think very few dogs actually need them. And when a customer contacts me to ask if I can spin yarn from their dog's hair, to make them a sweater, I have to shake my head. Wouldn't it just be easier to leave the dog's hair longer? But, it has happened that occasionally I've needed to sweater a dog, usually for a medical reason. And since my dogs have such thick coats, they get overheated wearing anything but light weight cotton. In the past my solution has been to buy a baby onesie in the appropriate size and then put it on them backwards so that their tail can poke out where the onesie snaps at the bottom. *G* Hey.. it works! But, if you forget to unsnap and roll up the onesie when they go out to potty, it is a problem. LOL
So Cary, I thank you and the Lhasas thank you... woof!

My pkg for my FTP swap partner should be in the mail soon. I wanted to include something special that I will be making tomorrow and then it will go in the mail.

2006-10-22T07:03:00.000-04:00

Why a new blog?

I needed an easy way to connect a personal blog, a studio and my website. Blogger allows me to login and choose which blog I choose to update easily. And it lets family and friends peek at my studio blog to see what I'm working on, without my having to post 'for sale' items on a personal blog. I'll be adding a link to my studio page, website and other sites of interest.

You can visit my old blog here Garden Of Eve