Photo Op...missed

Never, never, never leave home without a camera!!! And usually, I never do...but I had left it behind after downloading some pictures...and ARRAGHH! I had taken the boys to a pool party earlier this evening that was rained out (but held in the pool house anyway). There was a brief sunny break in the downpour and I said, "ooh, we ought to look for rainbows!" Darned if not just one but TWO popped up - a double rainbow!! The lower one was really intense and bright...the upper one a bit faded. Both fully arched over the lake and at one point split by a streak of lightning. What an awesome sight...and it would have been an awesome photo too. Rats....

Judy, Judy, Judy

I've been clicking through some of the other bloggers listed with 'art quilts' as one of their interests and stumbled upon Judy Perez

http://judyperez.blogspot.com/

You have GOT to check her out...her work is AMAZING!!!

I am inspired and in awe... :-)

Goodness

Oh my...one year of neglect has transformed my raspberry patch into a bountiful tangle of red-luscious goodness! Last year I pulled up our brick patio with the intention of redoing it. About half of the bricks were stacked up between the raspberries and the fence, and well, I guess I got too busy with work to re-lay the patio and in so doing also neglected to prune the vines... and VOILA! Berry vines EVERYWHERE! And boy are they loaded down with the biggest, sweetest, most delicious things. Yummmmm. I've already frozen about 5 quarts and have another 1.5 that were picked tonight. I'd guess that I'm about half way into the harvest. It's a bit amusingly treacherous getting the ones in the middle of the tangled sprawling overgrowth...I have to climb onto the pile of bricks without toppling them, all the while trying not to step onto any of the vines (don't want to crush any and definitely don't want to cut up my legs! Those thorns are wicked!). It's a bit like playing Twister with mosquitoes, but oh so worth it. There's nothing like a fresh handful on my morning cereal...and I've also found that they are especially delightful when combined with a dark chocolate espresso truffle square by Choxie..."pure dark chocolate frolics with the earthy essence of ground aromatic coffee beans creating divine espresso truffle squares." You got that right...oooh lala. And only 3 carbs each!







Life is berry, berry good...

Garden Bliss

It seems a bit strange to think that temperatures in the 80's would qualify as comfortable, but after the high 90's we've been having, last evening's reprieve was just that - comfortable - and I took advantage of it by spending some time getting my hands dirty. I had some herbs and vegetables to plant, and I also just enjoyed the quietness of my "weed" garden. You see, I'm one of those strange people who deliberately plant weeds. Even though I long for the lush gardens of Southern Living, I discovered the beauty and joy of having milkweed, and so I have LOTS of milkweed. Well, that and other field varieties of weeds that I have no idea what they are...but if it blooms, and is pretty, and attracts butterflies, then I let it live. (OK, there are some weeds in there that are obnoxious and territorial and no amount of pulling has defeated them. But I digress.) Ah, yes, the milkweed. It gets a bad rap I think. Yes, it spreads like dandelions, but it has a beautiful shape and produces the most wonderful, big, fragrant pink flowers that attract lots of interesting things...but mostly I love it for attracting Monarchs.

It has become an enduring tradition for my family to be the caretakers of each year's cycle of these beautiful creatures. They come later in the season, but in the meantime I get to watch the bumblebees bumble and other butterflies flutter. These were some of my guests last night...

When the red bugs show up then we know it's almost time. Milkweed is the nursery for Monarchs - it's the plant on which they lay their eggs and is the food source for their babies. We eagerly check the leaves each day in late summer looking for the tiny caterpillars to emerge and grow. Every year we raise a few in a bug box so we can watch the progression. Did you know that a Monarch chrysalis is marked with metallic gold dots? It's the coolest thing! And if you've never had the thrill of holding a newly hatched butterfly on your finger then you've missed out on something wonderful.

So, while it may not ever make the cover of House and Garden, my weed garden will continue on. Look for postings in September for this year's Monarch family. Meanwhile, if you want any milkweed seeds, just let me know...

Whirlwind

Wow...I've gotten really behind on posting! It always amazes me how busy things get at the end of each school year...sort of the way Christmas sneaks up on me every year...it's always the same time of year every year, but somehow I'm never ready for the flurry of activity!! And so it goes for the May/June transition. It's a flurry too. There's the planning for teacher gifts and class year end parties for my kids overlapping with baseball season and tournaments overlapping with the pool opening overlapping with work...well, you get the picture. Plus I took on coordinating two art exhibits - one small and one large - that overlapped with each other which also overlaps with my quilt guild's upcoming show. I told someone at the opening reception for the large show tonight that I just spin my head around and whatever hat is facing forward at the moment is what I am. That's about the truth...but I like to be busy and it's all fun stuff. July will come and it will be beach time - I'll catch my breath then. Maybe...

Light at the End of the Tunnel

This probably won't be big news to anyone but me, but I have been on a SERIOUS cleaning frenzy in my studio! I have long been a proponent of the theory that one should clean every 5-7 years as if one was going to move...notice I said THEORY...hmmm....sometimes theories don't always pan out in reality. I don't know, maybe I've been watching too many episodes of Clean House, but it was way, WAY past the point that even a professional procrastinator such as myself couldn't put it off any longer. It's both a sweet trip down memory lane to uncover treasures of yesteryear and a harsh slap of reality to wonder "what the heck did I keep this for?!?" And if dust was currency, I'd be RICH! Geez. It feels really good to clear out the unnecessary, and I'm even doing it in a way that doesn't feed my landfill guilt. So far I've made 2 trips to the recycling center with a van load of 'unnecessaries' and I only have about enough for 1 trip to the landfill. As long as I can balance the ratio I'm happy. I'm also either going to have a yard sale or a major haul to Goodwill.

The best part is that once this is completed I feel like I will have breathing room for fresh ideas to bloom. I can't wait to get back to creating - only from this point on I hope NOT to create such an insurmountable mess! Hmmm...I wonder what room I'll hit next.....

Retreat!

How much fun it is to go away with Bernie! Um, no Bernie is not my husband...Bernie is my Bernina sewing machine, whom I love as much, but in a different way. OK, well, maybe not quite as much, but love it I do, and off we've been on a wonderful quilting retreat in the beautiful mountians of NC. Normally my quilting time is spent on art quilts, but I also enjoy "traditional" quilting and that's what I worked on during this weekend away. The gift quilt mentioned earlier is now a top...backing is about 1/3 done, quilting to follow shortly...I have until June 1 to get it done.

I made several more blocks for the Christmas quilt I've been working on. I started this project on my last retreat. Not sure yet which Christmas it will be completed, as it requires 36 blocks and I'm only up to 15, but hey, it's still progress!

I also caught up on my 'block of the month' , which for me is 'blocks of the months'...I'm doing two different sets and I had slipped a bit behind schedule. Now I'm back on track and I can go to this month's meeting without feeling like I have to sit on the back row...wait a minute, that's where I sit anyway...

It was so much fun to be with such a large group of women who share the same passion for quilting. There were lots of stunning projects being worked on, not the least of which was LP's "Southern Album" top that she completed. And LS's "Seminole Snakes"...wow!

As they say, a good time was had by all...