bee creative

a good book

By Tamar E. Adler.  About a third of the way through and I love this book. 

volunteer marigold in the garden

Volunteers in the garden always remind me to have faith that things will grow. 

about drawing

Quote found while reading On Becoming an Artist by Ellen Langer (a book that I really enjoyed):

"When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work.  I told her I worked at the college - my job was to teach people how to draw.  She stared back at me, incredulous, and said 'You mean they forget?'" Howard Ikemoto

 

sometimes it's about the light

For various reasons, this is the time of year when I need to post everyday to keep myself blogging.  For the next month or so I'm going to post, at the very least, one thing that delights me each day.  Delight is meant to be shared. 

Today it's Hazel resting in the morning sunlight...

water magic

One of the most beautiful things I will never get a picture of...swimming in a lake with dragon flies skimming the surface of the water around you.

Also rather magical in a practical way...

I was soaking indigo leaves in preparation to do some dyeing and didn't get there in a timely manner.   So the stems decided to root themselves.  

I'll plant a few and then recut and start over again with the leaves. 
 

favorite sounds

Sitting on the front porch knitting...

 

About 20 inches.  Originally I was going to make this poncho with hand spun but then I decided to use my yarn for a blanket and use up some alpaca yarn that I was given. 

40 more inches to go. 

this week

Record rainfall, on two days:

Two concerts, one down by the water. 

Enough time in the garden

I picked two large bowls of prunes today.  Most will be dehydrated, but there are certainly enough for a plum cake. 

And lots of weaving:

ready for summer (even if it's half over)

Yesterday I finally started the tank tops I've been meaning to make for a month or so.  Even if we don't have hot weather again, they are just as comfortable for temperatures in the 70's. 

Today I finished them.  The one with the dragonflies I'm going to name "Flight risk."  I'm on vacation this week (it wasn't a sure thing) and I've already been called twice about something. 

New posts up at bee creative cooking. 

summer storm + bag

Rain, it felt so very good after a couple weeks of hot weather...

I stitched together the bag I've been working on.  This is the bottom of the bag, the middle of the tube:

The long tube was pulled wrong side to wrong side, with the top and bottom edges together to make the top of the bag.  I then stitched the bottom of the bag together with a tapestry needle. 

I tucked the ends of the cord for the strap between the two layers and stitched it into to place. And then I stitched the two layers together along the edge at the top. 

It's reversible. 

This is the stormy side, the dark side.

Now for some feild testing.

 

summer discoveries

It was flying erratically at the bus stop.  I watched it land and start to burrow into the grass head first. 

It's a Ten-lined June beetle, otherwise known as a watermelon beetle.