Fall may be here

Today 

Yesterday was another cool day Sunday, with the Japanese maple showing signs of coloring, and a squirrel noshing wildly on it, swinging about. 

Flowers still appearing. I've been getting a lot of pleasure out of this little wild corner, with stray flowers showing up 

And just look at the beautiful structure of that bud. I've come to appreciate zinnias much more since I've been growing them.

Still bringing in a few flowers, soon I'll stop picking, in the hope they'll go to seed and reseed themselves 

Lunch was holiday fare, slices of chicken breast with roast potatoes, dash of red chili oil, dessert a piece of plummy snacking cake, fresh plums and chocolate chips.

I noticed when I came downstairs that Gary must have been here 

It's twofold: he gives me a chance at using his glass jars before recycling, and he's strongly hinting it's a long time since I made jam and he'd like some...

Today's matinee was a luscious production of Emma with excellent acting, beautiful sets, costumes, scenery, on Freevee.

The picture is dorky, but the movie is worth seeing.

Happy day, everyone, find an old movie, preferably period, with all the sets and costumes. Some of Emma's coats, pleated, kick opening, were great sewing and construction. They were worth the price of admission alone. Bill Nighy as Mr Woodhouse, had the best threads evah!

These images were fun to create, many layers, saves, 3D effects, gridding.

Maggie Rudy salutes fall with woolly bears

On other sites I'm careful to use alt text when I post images, for the benefit of  vision impaired people who need to use readers. 

It just occurred to me that I need to ask if anyone reading here would appreciate that, too. Let me know and I'll do it. I don't have the alt text function, but I can add a description to each image. 

  

Displacement activity and its uses

Yesterday, digesting the news that I am not done with the mammo place, I read some Miss Mapp,  knitted the heel of a sock, listened to a Mrs Pargeter mystery, cleared up some dead foliage, leaving the patio looking a lot better and made a quart of chocolate oatmilk.

This is just a cup of rolled oats, four cups water, drop of vanilla essence, blurt of molasses, blurt of agave syrup,  tablespoon lovely cacao, blend, strain, drink. 

I've ordered strawberries and other berries from Misfits, for next week, so I'll make more flavors of oatmilk.  

So that was a productive day, if nothing else.

The weather is now very friendly, cooler, cloudy, easy to sleep in. I did some of that, too.

Here's something I didn't know

Speaking of holiday foods

Meanwhile, the Friday knitting group -- never happened. I arrived to find they were closing the building and ushering everyone out. It was scheduled as a regular day, or so our dear leader told us last week, but it turned out to be early closing.  Quite a few puzzled people there.

So I'll roast the chicken this afternoon since I'm free anyway, good chance to do it.

Happy day and holiday weekend if you have one, Labor Day in the US, when people celebrate labor by not doing any.

Chives ahoy, stitching and rescue reminder

May 8, 1945. VE day. I was six, lived in a street like this, in a town like this,  and we had teaparties in the street like this. With tea! English kids, tea drinkers from an early age. Note the moms in their pinnies, one with her copper tea kettle, ready to do tea warm ups.

Normally women wouldn't be seen in the street in their work aprons, but when you're serving a streetful  of kids, large families then, with cake and sandwiches and tea, you need your pinny.

My mom kept reminding me it wasn't over. There was still Japan. She wasn't up for celebrating, one son lost in combat, one recovering in hospital in North Africa, one about to be in the middle East at the founding of Israel. But kids had a great time. 

Back to the present.

The chives have flowered, despite beating rain and wind

And the stitching continues. You'll see a couple of the original threads are gone. As I progressed, I decided they were out of character for what I was trying to do. They'd served their purpose to delineate sections, and I removed them, lightening up the whole thing.

Still a long way to go. I'm stitching all over at once, moving from section to section to keep the design and stitches and colors balanced. 

Now and then I look at images just to remember shapes and colors, not to copy, just look at. Here's one I've been studying today for ideas and colors

It's a lovely sight even if you don't need it as reference.

And if you need study references, here are some murine mycologists

Happy day everyone, off to walk in the warm again sun.

And remember May is the month of kittens, many born around now, shelters packed. Good time if you were thinking of adopting a kitten. Adopt don't shop!

Fountain views, sheep and making drawing sticks

Yesterday was a cleaners day as well as a busy freecycling event. So this meant I went out to the library to do some knitting, work a bit of the public puzzle, and walk around the square.

Near the fountain is a favorite spot for lunchers and there was one young Asian  woman rapidly running worry beads through her fingers. It's a meditative spot with little landscapes in the design.

 Clumps of mint growing round the rim, too.

Home again and all the biggest freecycling items were picked up, leaving me with several boxes to sort. More to go today but now I'm 

It turns out that the fireplace sealing was responsible for the extent of this large amount of winnowing chez Handsome Son.

In case they needed to access the roof, he'd cleared a space in his walk in closet because that's where the roof access is, and once started, figured he may as well keep going! Usually it's one small box now and then.

Out of this large consignment, I scored some black jeans, nearly new, which didn't fit him but do fit me, yay. And they're men's which means great pockets. So that's my fee for service.

About the rare breed sheep, here's a bit more information 

And here's an experiment I am absolutely going to try soon.

Where I live is more likely to be sandy rather than the desirable clay, but I may try a bit of digging in the tree area, because it's relatively untouched by amending, and see what I get.

This artist lives in Montana, different geology, and creates pastel sticks and watercolor from natural materials around her.  I would just like to create a couple of sticks to draw with, always love making my own materials. So we'll see.  

Meanwhile today misfits arrives and, at the local farm, a sign of spring

Happy day, everyone, have new adventures. And

Perspective reminders everywhere

 A leaf fell off the fiddle leaf fig, beautiful even as it dries.

And further away

Have you ever seen this art form? I blogged about it quite a while ago.

Current reading is this account of the friendship of Mary McLeod Bethune  and Eleanor Roosevelt, and I'm learning about Southern Democrats and their repression of the black vote and  support of Jim Crow laws. 

It's a good insight in an election year, with the parties now so different. Bethune started out a staunch Republican, but things changed for her after Hoover and Roosevelt.

 And here's yesterday's simple salmon and steamed  spinach

   there's more salmon for a couple of meals.

And it's March, kite days

Meanwhile, though I don't usually recount dreams, and don't set much store by analyzing them, I did have a totally entertaining one I was sorry to wake up from.

It was a group of men, tap dancing. On ice. On skates. In the middle of a  gallery of their paintings. What skills!  What versatility!  Best dream fun I've had in years.

Happy day,  everyone, especially those of us dealing with the pesky time change which is only an hour but throws many of us into a tizz for days.

Passementerie, dyeing and works in progress

Yesterday,  fast food from scratch. Tuna and cannellini bean fritters with steamed baby spinach, to get my energy up. Sprig of curry leaf plant which gives flavor even just resting on the hot food.

The Tuesday knitting group was great

The dye in the container is Green Shades,  shown by M, an environmentally friendly dye, this one giving that lovely shade she's working on behind there, very similar to the cotton I'm working in.

S. with her lace shawl in progress while she studies my glove pattern with future plans in mind 

Priti the librarian puts out a selection of different books each week to study and borrow. She tells us we're running at least through March, probably into summer then she'll see. I think there may be space considerations if summer programs need the space we're meeting in. We'll see. 

Talk ranged over home care for ill relatives, the local fire commission budget, the insanely warm weather, nearly 70°f this afternoon, blogging, tai chi, Eight pieces of Silk, countertops, green dyeing and more.

Then home to a pot of tea and Textiles and Tea, a great episode, about passementerie, which I vaguely knew from braid on military uniforms. 

But in the hands of  much awarded and acclaimed modern artisan, Elizabeth (Libby) Ashdown,  so much more. Weaving, dyeing, cording, all to create decorative edges for clothes and furniture. 

Elizabeth also makes wallhung art, working on many commissions at the moment. There are only four professional passementerie weavers in the UK, an endangered craft. She's by far the youngest.

She teaches and has written a book to help keep it alive, and she was a ton of fun to see, so full of verve. Her use of color is the modern vision, compared to ancient examples.

Here's a traditional use of passementerie work, on a man's Court outfit. Contrast this with her saturated, exciting colors

You can work passementerie on practically any loom, even a frame loom, though there are special looms for the purpose. She uses a floor loom as you see.

She used to run an open experimental weaving studio, seen here,  but it's in London, the building was demolished, they're still looking for affordable space in the city. She was working on this art form within five minutes' walk of where it was first introduced, centuries ago, London being the center of it.

Here's her book, first printing sold out, second due late March

She's such a great person to have on the series, generous, funny, very happy.

Happy day everyone, and I want to say this, because you can't know how important your words and encouragement are to me.