Just a little note

Watching the Olympic trials is just too stressful.  I can hardly take it.

There is altogether too much going on this weekandweekend.
I need a break.

And it is HOT.  But I am grateful to have power, as so many on the East coast do not.

Took my mother to Weston Theater to a matinee of the Hound of the Baskervilles.   She seemed distracted and about to go to sleep in the first half.  She expected the traditional story presented in the traditional way.   Instead, it was funny, irreverent, and a little out of the box.
I was beginning to think that bringing her was a mistake, but after the intermission, she suddenly perked up, and I think she was finally getting it.

The Weston theater is in a tiny rural town in Vermont, and this is the view off the back balcony.

Across the road, you will find the Vermont Country Store, with the Bryant House, a lovely restaurant.
There are rugs and looper looms from Crazy as a Loom in the VCS, so I guess you could say I have a 'presence' in Weston.

I have cupcakes in the oven, and a strawberry pie in the fridge.

And I'm toast.

(more monkeys coming in the next couple of days)

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Bore-ing

See, you can never trust those 'weaving weekend' students........when you're not looking, they are taking pictures of you in compromising situations.
It's just not right.
Or maybe it was payback for all those candid shots I took of them......hmm.

Old looms.   You gotta love them.  But they often have issues.

And issues need to be fixed.

We are busy getting ready for a big order.  But the lawn has the indecency to keep growing, and I have no one this week to mow it.

So..........

The front lawn, the back lawn, the side lawn, the lawn around the labyrinth..........there is altogether too much lawn here.

 And it was hot, I was drenched in no time.

Just another summer day in paradise, guys.

That's it.

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Travel Sewing Kit

Yesterday was the monthly get-together of our girls' sewing group. The company and food are the highlights, but we also usually try to engage in a bit of hand sewing. Two hours before it was time to leave, I decided to make a sewing kit to carry my supplies in. My overachieving self though for sure I could finish in time. That didn't happen, and my sewing traveled in a handy but not-cute zip lock bag. But today I put the finishing touches on a Travel Sewing Kit.

I wanted a vintage look, so I used a piece of Vintage Modern for the outside.

The inside is made of some of my favorite "sewing" fabrics ~ Sew Stitchy and Half Moon Modern.

The kit is really cool. The left side has a pocket, a strap for holding thread and a felt needle-book.

There's also a pocket for your scissors and 2 pockets on the right.

So, I've started a little EPP project.

More on that to come!  . . . Cindy

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Lunch break.

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood.  

A good friend served lunch on her deck.

A little Caesar salad, with warm artisan bread.  It was so good.

And who is this???
Do you remember Also/Lucy/Smokey???  She was just one of the many strays who landed at the studio.
Well, Smokey is happy and settled in her new home.  She is one lucky girl.

She goes outside, but stays close to her 'mom', and her 'house'.  And she never stays out alone.
She's happy with that.

    It is good to take time out to reconnect with the people you care about. Feel the breeze, enjoy the view.
I don't do enough of it.

 My friend has a nature walk  that winds its way over 10 acres of wildflowers.

 Dessert was a lovely, chilled, strawberry pie.

Lunch with friends, and a sunny afternoon.
Doesn't get much better.

Well, actually, click on the link below.........it might actually get better.....certainly FUNNIER.
Enjoy.  And pass it on.




Margaret and Helen

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Nary a cat in sight.

I think that Tuesdays should be designated 'no cat day' on this blog.

Is that possible?

Yesterday, I drove my mother north to the town I grew up in, so she could stay with a friend for a few days.

What?

What did you say?

Why, no, of course I'm not dancing.

What made you think that??

For heaven's sake.

It rained periodically, but it was a nice ride, especially the 'quiet' ride back.

Roy and I were digging it.
Right, Roy?  Roy

Today, back at the studio, it was work as usual, getting looms ready for a BIG order.
I'm not complaining.......school taxes are coming up too fast.

Number one daughter popped in while we were warping the Toika.

 We are putting on a mixed white warp, because I love a mixed white warp.

Unfortunately, using up all your small rolls, and we had a ton of them, requires patience.

This container was full to the brim when we started, so it does feel pretty good that we have made us of all those partial spools.
(omg, I just noticed a cat butt in that picture, see her....out in the hall.  I knew that Tuesday cat free thing wasn't gonna work)

When it stops raining, I am going to take Roy Boy for his walk, but I really can't wait for dinner.
I made this last night, and think I will have it again.
DH will do some MEAT thing.

It was simple, and delicious.
I find that if I precook a big bowl of brown rice, then I can have dinner for my vegetarian self, ready in no time.
I sauteed onions, zucchini, mushrooms in a large pan, cooked the broccoli (not too much) in another pan, added some Bragg and a small can of diced tomatoes to the veggies, and threw in the rice.

Whatever you call it, it satisfied.
Oh, yeah, I had a cold Corona with it.
I'm bad, I'm bad, so bad.
And it was SO good.

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I really love my stash...

I've had some visitors in my sewing room recently and there are always comments about my stash. So many sewers feel very guilty about having a big fabric stash. I always think of it as a palette, just as a painter would have a palette of colors to work with. When you're working on a project, don't you feel you need just the right fabric immediately? And as long as your family has food on the table ~ it's okay to buy some fabric to stash.

I recently cleaned up, organized, and weeded out some fabrics. Many charitable organizations love donations - I've got a box for our local Quilts of Valor group.

Thought you might like a little tour of the stash ~ while it's in some order. My solids are folded in skinny rectangles and piled by color.

I have several designers' fabrics that I keep together because I'll probably use them together. Bonnie and Camille...

Including lots of these scalloped stripes. Love them for bindings. You can see I may have bought the gray twice - whoops!

Amy Butler...

Anna Maria Horner...

The rest of my fabrics are sorted by color and folded using Jeni's method from In Color Order. Here's one bin of multi-colored prints.

My daughter was looking for some yellows for a project and we found them quickly because they're all folded neatly in one bin.

My goal is to keep the amount limited to the bin space. I'm having a problem with gray lately ~ doesn't seem to fit!

I seldom buy whole collections. New additions are usually favorite prints in my favorite colors. Then it's a game of mixing and matching trying to find the perfect combination!

Yes, I do love my stash  . . . Cindy

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Cat Tails/Tales

I love it when the porch is clean and bright and ready for summer.

Having a weaving weekend involves cleaning and getting ready, so it got done.

We have always had cats coming up on the porch.  We have fed stray cats since I bought the house.
So there is always a dish of food.
Usually, they eat and run.
Call it bad manners.

Next and Enough were that way in the beginning.  They got an attitude when they were trapped and whisked off to the vet to be neutered.
Then after a while, they both got over it, and came back to the certainty of a meal and a kind word.

Next has been increasingly friendly over the past several months, until his present state of embarrassingly over the top neediness, while Enough has shown up periodically, when he was hungry.

Lately, though, we've been seeing a lot more of Enough, and last week, when Tammy was over, he crossed the line.

He is much taller than Next, and here he decided that getting petted was kind of nice.
Seems like he was saying to Next......"hmm, so THIS is what you were talking about."

Tammy.....pointing out these yummy treats.

yum,yum

All it took was some love, and some kitty treats.

 Since then, he has not left the porch, or the yard.  He jumps on your lap if you sit in one of the rockers.

He even let me put flea and tick medicine on him.
Looks like the cat census is up to SIX.

Inside, Sydney has a question.
Do you think I'm too big?
Or could you get bigger stools?

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