bee creative

if my cat could talk

"Who me?  I just want to help." 

"If I just lay here won't I keep the blanket from slipping?"

"You don't mind if I turn the page, do you?" 

On Sunday I laid the wool blanket out across the table so that I could work on it off and on through out the day.  Hazel was soooo much help. 

I like the idea of doing a circle a day, but suspect that won't happen.  Tonight it would be a small and tired dot. 

And yes, Hazel does turn the pages of books if I leave them open.  It amazes me how much Hazel looks like this cat. 

orange and green are the colors of the day

This is a hull-less pumpkin my mother grew.  I opened it up today so that I could harvest the seeds.  I had read that it was a good idea to smash the pumpkin rather than cut it open and risk cutting up seeds.  After two or three bounces on the deck (I really didn't think it would open, but just had to try it!), I got the knife.  I think I would have had to find some cement to get the pumpkin to crack.  Maybe next time.

 

The middle of a watermelon might be considered the heart, but the middle of a pumpkin is definitely the guts of the squash.

I baked the seeds with a little olive oil and salt.  Yum!

A bit more orange and green. 

a few pieces of the day

The last tomatoes from the garden.  At 7 AM this morning they were slightly tart and cold. 

The only sunflower I managed to grow this year.  I picked it today, before the birds could get into it.  Normally I leave the sunflowers for whatever wants to help themselves in the garden.  This year I want to try storing some of the seeds so I picked it and will dry it the rest of the way indoors.  

Found a spot to sit in the sun and knit.  In front of the fire.  I gave in and turned the heat on.  It's cold in the house, supposed to get down to 30 degrees Fahrenheit tonight.  I lost my momentum for knitting one row a day on my sweater, but I'm almost to the point where I'll start working on the sleeves and yoke.   Maybe by next weekend....

changing seasons

"Something told the wild geese it was time to fly, summer sun was on their wings, winter in their cry."

Rachel Field

Yesterday morning as I was walking to work I looked up to see a flock of about 20 geese flying by.   I'll be planting garlic this weekend.  It's the last dry couple of days in the forecast for awhile. 

felting circles

It's worked out very well that I tied the two blankets together and bound the edges for this blanket; I can use it while I felt circles.  I think one of the best uses will be snuggling up on the couch I've been redoing for the front porch and watching the moon rise, counting stars, and keeping an eye out for the northern lights.  The couch is wicker and fabric.  I painted some of the fabric (originally off white) with fabric paint and have covered the rest with fabric I found at a thrift store. 

"I saw Eternity the other night, like a great ring of pure and endless light, all calm, as it was bright; and round beneath it, time in hours, days, years, driven by the spheres like a vast shadow moved; in which the world and all her train were hurled."    From "The World" by Henry Vaughan (1621-1695). 

This may or may not be a "great ring" but it made me think of the poem....

felting the blanket

Needle felting wool roving is like capturing mist.   

Or maybe holding fast to strands of sunset.

Softer than the peeling bark of the apple tree stump, but just as feathery. 

What if...what if I covered my blanket with circles upon circles of felted wool?  Maybe it will become an Appaloosa blanket?

from the garden

Spent most of today at a studio tour of local artists.  Mostly metal work, glass, and a few mixed media.  A little puttering in the garden.  Kept a very close eye on this while I picked the quince:

 

When the wasps are gone (I actually think they are now, where do they go?) I want to take this down and save it.

A bottle of white vinegar, rosemary, lavender and rose petals.  Occasionally I use vinegar with a bit of essential oil as a hair rinse.  I've steeped herbs in vinegar for cooking.  Why not for other uses?  

I'm also soaking a bit of wool and herbs in a bundle.  Planning on unwrapping it in a couple days. 

Working on finishing up the wool blanket enough to put on the bed.  Might give in and turn the heat on tonight.  First frost (36 degrees F) was this morning, a present from the full moon.... 

going into October

It's a little wetter than this today, but still blooming.  Cecil Brunner, the "sweetheart rose." I've found buds on this rose in December.  This particular bush is a descendant from one that one of my great-grandmothers grew. 

 
The autumn clematis is a sea, or maybe a carpet, of starry blooms.

Scattered hearts (wool and red bud) not quite sure what they are going to become.