Anticipation of heat, and garden starts

I got out walking early this morning, to get bitten in good time before the heat came on. It's high 80s, not bad but also pretty high humidity.  The biting bugs enjoyed their breakfast on me. 

At the pond turtles slid rapidly into the water, which looks really dirty, but they don't seem to mind, frogs either. Maybe it's something natural. 

After all the rain we have fungi 

This was odd, the sunshine made a spotlight for this battered looking one

Here my shoe for scale. Those are minute mushrooms.

At home the potatoes are sprouting 

And the coleus, descendant of seeds I bought years ago. Gary has quite a big plant I gave him, too.

And Chris, look, the morning glory are going with no help at all from me. I just let the seeds fall at will last year.

I think I'll have multiple blooms on the hibiscus this year, but the buds are too small to show up in a picture.

And today I set up a weaving.

See the slit there. I'm pleased with this, remembered from making tapestries. I do like to have a work going, and weaving is easier on my hands than knitting. Definitely getting my loom money's worth.

This one has a longer warp, in fact it used up all the orange thread I had. 

I'm also thinking about doing a bit of drawing and painting. I often get the urge in summer, the light being so good. So this enforced indoor time might be good. The bouquet is a nice model. And maybe early morning outside, despite bites. Despite Bites could be a travelogue title.

Happy day everyone, soldier on. It's an anxious time and I'm an anxious person anyway, so art is my liferaft.  

Finishes and finches

Early morning on the deck in June 

This is a good start to the day.

I finished the kimono sash, at least finished weaving it. Now I have to decide on the actual finishing, braiding, knotting, something. It's long enough, so that's good 

And here's why I love clasped weft.

Every pick (row) presents a new decision like a brush stroke. You see this in progress. Where should the blue thread land? 

There's nothing rote about this, and for me that's where the joy is found. It's a conversation with the threads.

This afternoon I was out just sitting, reading a bit, mainly listening to the wind in the trees. When it eventually died down, birds started up. 

I heard a lovely melody and saw small birds whipping past. I thought at first goldfinches because we have a local pair. Then I noticed a pair of house finches, the male doing the singing.

So I opened YouTube to a video of housefinch song 

And we had a duet. I think the real life male may have thought there was a male intruder in his territory, so rather than upset him, I switched off.

I've done this before with recorded sounds and real birds, but only briefly, not wishing to upset their domestic arrangements. 

Please don't come at me with that bird app, I would rather observe and detect. That's the fun of it, not having an app jump in, know-it-all, and spoil the joy. Just sayin. Some people like them, I don't.

Today I baked hobnobs, which seem to be a lot like ANZAC biscuits which I usually make for the Day, in honor of my NZ and Oz blogistas 

I sampled a couple of them on the deck between bird sightings with a pot of tea.

Happy day, eat cookies, watch birds, just generally do nothing, in honor of the Summer Solstice, whenever it comes, I usually miss the solstices by a day.

I swiped this from Barbara's blog. I like how it honors the fields of grain and Ukrainian artwork.

Frogs and bands

Today's pond walk included daylilies; all those buds of yesterday are now in flower

Jewelweed in flower

Frogs galore, you see them looking at you? And circles where they just dived under

The pond was crowded, but I only saw a couple of turtles today.

Home again, and I got going on the latest band 

It's moving quickly and I'm developing some skills at maintaining an even width. I'm liking this, and I'm also liking being at the narrowband loom again.

We recently had a discussion about the saying that if a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing badly. 

My bandweaving is a case in point. I'm not yet very good at it, but it's worth doing. The notion that a thing's only worth doing if you can do it well is a false position. Even if your best isn't yet very good, it's still worth doing. 

My hill, on which I'll die!

 

Happy day, making stuff. I may make another whistle lanyard similarly. I think I have another whistle.

 

Plans, and nature laughs

Memorial Day weekend is the start of the summer season, pools open, shore passes re-up, at least that's the idea.

However here there's a three day rainy forecast, pools not yet open, shore not looking like fun. And here was my weekend plan, maybe not yet 

My seeds complete with squirrel deterrent doings.  But the squirrel is still getting his daily apple core

I did get a walk today, to make a pinch of it, and I love all the tree-lined walkways in this development. Like this one

Curved paths are interesting to walk.

I also have indoor plans anyway, here's my thinking about a narrow band pattern based on the sweet William I'm so excited about 

And my new loom is supposed to arrive tomorrow, so my plans there are to weave a cowl or two to send to the knitting ministry. Weaving is currently easier on my hands than knitting.  

This morning a friend came over to collect the cotton plants I started from seed she'd given me. Here's her two, repotted and wilting but they'll recover 

And here are their siblings, soon to go outside when the weather's warmer

She also had a great time studying the art on the walls and took two pieces, one gold work, one with stump work animals and dyed sections and two levels, cutouts showing another work underneath.

I'm happy to see work going into good hands, in this case to an area of her house where she has stitched work including her mother's lovely embroidery. I'll be in good company.  My art giveaway is going well. All the less for Handsome Son to deal with after I'm gone.

Happy day everyone, good things going on. Happy weekend, holiday or otherwise.

Early morning and beanz and Garydemonium

Here's my view now the giant evergreen is gone. It's so much better.

Before, I could see part of the fence and the evergreen to the left. Everything else blotted out. 

And I finally, after years of not doing it, made a three bean salad. It's taken me this long to assemble the beans.

Natural art arrangement 

Now this is in the fridge ready for the 90plus degree heat we're expecting in the next couple of days. 

 I managed to get the new band mounted onto the loom. This is the hardest part, keeping the threads untwisted and under tension while wrapping them over and over the headpiece of the loom and installing it while keeping the warp threads secure at the other end, it needs three hands.

This morning I spied frogs in the pond. Here's a completely unconcerned one, studying me.

you lookin at me?

And I finished the first sock.

It was good I got all this done earlier because the afternoon which started with reading on the deck soon disintegrated into Gary's moving operations. 

A glass table I've been keeping for him being bubble wrapped by two relatives, the younger one the person I taught to make cordage, and her grandmother, old friend and future next-door neighbor. Gary provided plenty of bubble wrap..

Everybody brought their dog over, plus various other relatives carrying boxes of fragile stuff to the van.  Gary and grandson carried out the table to the truck.

Never a dull moment. They're lovely people, so I think all's well.

I seem to have a purple garden this year 

Happy day everyone! I have endless entertainment without leaving home.