Thursday, August 28, 2025

I Like Thursday #466 amusement parks, flowers, bunnies and cookies

 

welcome to this week's list of likes starting with a flower parade! This clump of sunny golden yellow flowers caught my eye on a walk this week

the temps were a bit more moderate but the humidity was higher than I've ever known it to be in Colorado

making morning walks uncomfortable in the intense sunshine but, I LIKE to walk and be outside. Come with me won't you? another neighbor has a gorgeous floral covered yard, and this is not a bouquet....


It's one stem of flowers!!! My roses are pathetic. Small, pale, few petals, fewer actual blossoms. 

gosh, is this a sign of Fall a'comin'? I sure hope so...
we've had a bumper crop of bunnies this summer!
looks like this bunny is on a walkabout too...
this one is waiting for the mail carrier 

I liked this floral decal on a neighbor's car... do you?
we walked to the community garden again last weekend, and it's a showcase most of the time
Lucky for me, an extrovert who loves to chat with people, I saw a mother/daughter duo in their plot. 
I asked how they decided to purchase a plot instead of trying in their own yard, and they said the soil is better here. I learned a lot from them, like melons and pumpkins actually thrive in our area
see? 

and they grow their own loofah's! I thought loofahs were sponges that grew in water but no. Easy to grow they said, then harvest slice and you have an unlimited supply! The daughter had some peppers in her pocket she allowed me to photo
so fun

she said they are mild and grow well here

anyway.... my pots are finally blooming and pretty, so pretty shades of orange I painted my nails that shade


and wore an orange shirt ! 
I tried a Polish cookie recipe called Kolaczki cookies, and they taste a bit like rugalach. Want to see them so you feel better at how your food looks? 
they taste great! and this is a half recipe
source the daily bake with Barb
I didn't have apricot jam so I subbed raspberry jam

dragonflies for a quilt....I love fabric




Our conversation starter this week is: do you like amusement parks? which one is your favorite? Do you like rides or shows better?
I DO like amusement parks, just not roller coasters. Disney World is my fave, along with EPCOT Center. I love Disney and the mix of shows and rides. Disney combines rides with animation shows,  like Tiki hut, haunted house, it's a small world.... then you sing that song the rest of the day. I first saw it at age 8 at the NY World's fair. 
world's Fair in NY


I grew up going to Busch Gardens that used to be free, and gave out a free beer to adults after touring the brewery. They had great animals, and shows and shopping. 


.
That's it for this week, I'm talking to poodle breeders to see if they have an adult poodle to rehome here
Please visit these folks to see what they liked this week


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Saturday, August 23, 2025

creatively speaking this week, dragonfly blocks a bike and yet another hexie project

 

here we are again, to chat about living the creative life, and share a love for color! 

This week I've been using AQUA (and all it's tones) scraps to make dragonflies!! 

I have them on top of a batik on the design wall but do not know for sure what I want to do with them
I made 3 --12" blocks, and 6  ---- 6" blocks. The pattern is a free one from Moda. 

pattern source: MODA
I believe ironing the batks was what caused all my migraines. Oh I prewash all batiks 3 times in hot water, but... some of them still outgas when pressed. It's one of the reasons I do not teach since so many people brought unwashed batiks to class.... this developed over the years and now limits me a lot. 

anyway....we won't dwell on all the ways I have to cope these days, LOL

Here are some close-ups of the little ones, ( the block is a fast one to make) that finish at 6 inches

I like all these fabrics! 


it was fun to choose pairs of prints




my design wall is so pretty right now
I finished the center of my improv piece and wanted to make a lime green Piping strip but I still only have my Janome Gem and can't move the needle position on it. 
OY
I think I'll finish it somehow next week, and put a flange of lime next to the chosen border ready to go, and stuff the flange after sewing. I plan to enter it in Joy's challenge "hot flash"

not to waste any fabric, I made these wee pinwheel blocks with scraps cut off the dragonflies

I try to notice AQUA in everyday life when on my walks... Loved this vintage bike at a neighbor's house
loved this birdhouse at a neighbor's
I have a placemat in those shades

I also finished a sock this week, and just started a few hexies in turquoise sceaps to make a journal cover or mug rug
and noticed my little bin (from container store) is also aqua!
and the spool of thread I'm using too
so this week held no finishes except one sock of a pair, but it was full of creativity and that's a worthy goal. There is a painting workshop coming up next week, and one on drawing/sketchbook work to do daily.... so.... that should keep me busy... what are you doing this week?

linking with
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Thursday, August 21, 2025

I Like Thursday # 465 Colors, stunning skies, ice cream treats, and more

 

Welcome to this week's list of likes starting with this pretty bird house in the RSC color of the month

AQUA

I make note of anything in that month's color as I go on walks.... 

speaking of birds, we came out for a walk, looked to the left at the street light post and I saw a bird on it

Okay, kind of cool like a finial
then before I could get a second pic I thought it disappeared but saw this on my camera after
Wow, love this take off
saw a t-shirt with this on it this week... yep...


uh oh.... no rain in the forecast but we saw this....

then this

the weather here is so mercurial forecasts are seldom correct. We could get 8 drops or storm with hail the size of golf balls. Temps could drop 60 deg in an afternoon, or go up 20 deg in 15 minutes. 

it got sunny near the end of our walk, making this grass glow with sunshine at 7 pm

Nothing much to note... no dog for us yet, all the possibles were just taken.... 
It's horribly hot, dh is still coughing from throat irritation (likely wildfires burning in Colorado), not much on TV 

But on video....

heart toast  small things mean a lot


I'd like to go here, women's only chateau retreat

Our Prompt this week.... did you grow up going to Dairy Queen and what was your favorite treat to get? Do you still go there? 




I was the latecomer to the family both sisters married off by the time I was (5   and 7  ) so we went to the walk up ice cream place often enough. . I always wanted a butterscotch dipped cone with the swirl on top. 
Biting that butterscotch fragile coating and the melted swirl in it, was a pure pleasure. 

Then as I lived in Tampa Florida, it began to melt immediately and drip and get all over me, the cone becoming a leathery sopping mess in my little hands. 

some times I got a dilly bar, a flat ice cream disc coated in milk chocolate. 
I haven't been since I was an older teen but have fond memories. 
One time (only) I got a banana split.... three swirls of vanilla ice cream with different toppings on top of a split banana in a little flimsy plastic boat. I hated it actually, it all ran together into glop, and I mostly ate the whipped cream and cherry on top. 

Later I found out why I was always sick after... allergy to corn (and corn syrup) 

I have been sewing this week, and knitting... and those weekly creativity posts are on Saturdays
dragonflies in the studio


Wish me luck in finding a slightly older non shedding dog to join our family





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Saturday, August 16, 2025

creatively speaking this week colorful blocks and painting

 

It's got Aqua scraps, and one of my signature flower pins

creatively speaking this week, I overcame 4 migraines and a chiro appt to sew this hat,  some dragonflies in two sizes, my second color block of the month for RSC and onto my ongoing purple and green strip piece. 

AND

painted a watercolor again too. 

(I ran into a fellow poodle lover too, and she's looking for us to have a new love in our lives) 

on with the show

On a daily long walk I look for the color of the month, and this time found these two daisy sculptures in AQUA... making the house look like it was looking at ME  heh heh

little owl sculpture between them

I did the scrap strip block in aqua to teal shades for this month, I mean, 4 blocks 



you choose two strips, sew them together... here are the four of them on my table, ready to cross cut...

resew, then cut again and resew as these blocks

so fast and easy, a bit of matching... the hard part will be when I put all the blocks together into a top!!

my friend Cindy sent the jellyfish fabric to me for my B-day in May and I'm using it! each fabric chosen for this block is fun to see.  one is the Jenny Beyer fabric for a shop hop in Md/.VA one year, one is from a challenge, the others were in scraps 

worked on this one and thought Maybe long stems to the print at the top looks like growing gardens??
the dragonflies will be for next week, I'm loving making them with turquoise scraps

the painting...
was another color study using inktense inks.... wet paper, drop colors, spread with brush sideways to create some horizontal movement
I didn't like it, but then looked closer and saw a face in shadows,,,, yep, lips, neck, cheek.... I rushed to sketch in the face
oy! the light was different downstairs than in the studio, but I sort of saw it.... 
husband's comment? : "I liked it better with the abstract colors, they were just calming" 

well, I gotta go with what I see.... 

I also see a heart in that sun color back there.... 
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