Thursday, August 7, 2025

I Like Thursday # 463 skies, books, hula hoops!

 

blue skies over the driving range

it's summer y'all... in case the 100 F. temps didn't convey that.... Summer in Colorado is hot hot hot. 

the fields are full of wild growth creating vistas

we are at a higher altitude than Denver even, and the sun takes full advantage of thin altitude. 

the lawn ornaments might melt


some might have given up!

Found: sneakers (at last)

I think I have finally found sneakers that feel fairly good (although not a lot of arch support)
legs may appear larger than in real life!
These are RYKA brand, cushy from the first wearing with room for toes

 Audio books turned into movies on hallmark

I love Jude Devereaux and now this trilogy is turned into movies on Hallmark. 

Across time, love continues through many lifetimes

Our conversation starter this week

are you able to  hula hoop? as a child, did you or a friend have one and learn to use it?  What do you remember about them? 


I had one like most people my age, but never mastered it. Along with walk the dog using a yo-yo, LOL


I tried, and practiced and never got the balance.... Mine was bright pink, maybe even made a shoop-shoop sound, and was frustrated that my friends could do it. I actually still wish I could do it! 



Me (saying to my first poodle Cole) "let's play jump through the hoop!"

Cole's response  "what fresh hell is this?"

as always, I love creating with fabric, example
the color of the month at rainbow scrap challenge is aqua to turquoise/teal and I notice things along my walks in that color.... eeeeeeeek! 
unfortunately I think it was dead, but it was a brilliant blue
this tree reminded me of the apple tree in Wizard of Oz
trees have a hard life in Colorado

classified notice: 

still seeking a poodle to love
(talked to a standard poodle fostering to adoption this week... but the poodle is over 80 lbs, and yanks people off their pins on walks... reactive to other dogs and prey to the point I'd be injured if yanked by her sideways) I'm open.... appreciate your wishes for me to find a non shedding dog to adopt

watching on video

how do you like a swimming pool? 

can't show video here, go to youtube via link to see the bears in swimming pool, sorry

this much?  (link to that video)

or this much?

https://youtube.com/shorts/lkGDCHBfWHM?si=9MAzdNlOicD8rtGz 

now check out these fine folk to see if they hula hoop and what they liked this week

(let me know if you wrote a like post to include in our list)

https://wordweaverart.blogspot.com/

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Saturday, August 2, 2025

creatively speaking.... this week was Aqua-full

 

The color of the month for Rainbow Scrap challenge is Aqua....  LOVE!! One of my very favorite colors if you include aqua (more pastel) all the way to dark turquoise. 

I like contrast mostly so I usually include all values of a color when I make something

Above I showed some of the prepped hexies on their way to this month's block

started with looking through the turquoise scrap bin and choosing these fabrics

7 of one color, and 6 of the rest, all cut about 2.5" to baste around the templates for hand sewing

It's laid out, and I'll stitch it this week and show the finished block of 36 hexies next time hopefully

I looked at these projects squirreled away in the turquoise box of scraps
this needs to be continued... I LOVE seeing purple and turquoise together... 
I see that half flower appliqued somewhere, and hand embroidery on it. Speaking of which I put all the beads on Butterfly house this week while chatting to my friend Cindy.... pics of the placement on last week's post

I pulled out the small scraps and put them in stacks to use to make these...
and after a while, these
they look fresh up on the design wall!! next to the purple from last week. Gosh, where am I going with this? I thought I'd circle the center with one fabric and build out but that didn't always happen. They take a length of fabric that I always think could be used somewhere else. 

I am loving the pops of color in the fabric prints

they are like chips so I'll make more...

when I'm not knitting at night of course
aqua socks for summer in cool yarn


aren't these pots pretty along a neighbor's driveway???

as I was poking around my scraps I came across these bits, put a fern print from scraps behind them and 
wowza!! I want to make this one 

you don't have to anguish over applique, raw edges are pretty, and you can put dots of glue on to temporarily hold them while you free motion over them,... then add beads, and embroidery threads...
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Thursday, July 31, 2025

I Like Thursday # 462 putting greens, summers off, crackers

pretty poppies in our yard

here we are again, remembering the small things this week that made us smile. 

we walk daily and live on a golf course, 650 homes on and around the course, so our walks often take us past views like this of the creek with ducks, or geese on the putting green


looking a lot like the humans staring at their golf balls on the  same putting green

the same creek in morning light 

or the sky before rain,  over the putting green
we see lawn ornaments



the owner came out to see what I was looking at, and we ended up having a rousing conversation ! A Pop-Up conversation that went from her daughter moved and didn't want this so she took it, to rescuing dogs to life with dogs and how her latest rescue not only became the care taker of her blind and deaf pug, but when I commented on his eyebrows, she said her daughter said he looks just like Dad! 
She made us promise to return when we got a new dog to love. 

then there are these black smears on sidewalks, and some are in recognizable shapes... like a guitar
AmIright?


I love these crackers on salads or soup. 
We made lemon Greek chicken rice soup this weekend, it's so good, and had three lunches from it! 

TV is okay with Big Brother and all the finding love shows. 


this made me laugh

OMG so funny.... still laughing

https://youtube.com/shorts/3AyywPdkbPQ?si=TLYObOGfro4Aq77p

Our conversation starter this week: 
remember summer breaks when you were a kid? How did it feel to have so much free time or
did you help the family business when you were a kid, or take on summer jubs? As you got into high school and college did you have summer jobs or take special trips?  Did you take special courses in summer (example, typing, drivers ed, space camp, courses in crafts at the YWCA? )

as an elementary aged kid, I thought summers were magical.... no schedules or going to bed early on a school night, play when I wanted to. I felt so free to spend the day going from Barbies, to art projects like oil painting outside, to riding bikes . 
As I got older I took classes at the YWCA in pottery or embroidery.... then by high school I had little summer jobs like working at a place who did mass mailings working machinery and batching ads
In high school we often trained to march in the band... learning how many steps to a yardline, how to play my clarinet while marching, how to do maneuvers with my squad to make the formations... It was bleeding hot in Florida in August too!
One year I took drivers Ed to get my license, another year I learned to type which is a great thing now in the day of computers.... what about you? 

Please visit these folk to see what they liked this week, let me know if you wrote a post I could include

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Saturday, July 26, 2025

creatively speaking, this week Challenge met! The butterfly house

 

I finished the Table Scraps challenge for this month, to use purple scraps and interpret the word blossoms (English country garden)   I call it the butterfly house!
I went to the Denver Botanical Gardens butterfly house one year and it's magical! 

It started like most of my scraps color of the month pieces start, take out the smallest scraps and start sewing them to each other. This time I started with that dragonfly fabric and had 3 scraps. I had no plan. 

As I sewed I was thinking floral strips, pretty fabrics, I sewed 3 60 deg triangles together that Pat gave me in her bag of scraps, and when I layed them onto the rest, it looked like a roof.... and from there it just grew

I layered it with peltex stiff stabilizer and backing, chose metallic threads to quilt it
as I said before, no project is too small to dither over the choices... fabrics, colors, size, borders or not...
as I walked this week, I made note of purple things, and loved these flowers

quilting lines are a mix of free motion and walking foot
so I used pretty flower fabric scraps, and ones that go with the others. The binding is a purple dotted scrap that kind of reminds me of all the little bugs that swirl around in summer, or lightening bugs back east
Not being able to leave well enough alone, I pulled out some beads & sequins that might look good
I just love that fabric on the left border!
some crystal half bugle beads, some silver bugle beads...

lime green half bugle beads or sequins? 


it fits on the entry way table's easel and looks fresh and summery


I sewed the other purple scrappy piece together but now am wondering if I want a border on it... these are being auditioned. 

the fabric on the right is so pretty but reads dark... the purple swirls is so pretty but I have barely enough of it 

always a decision to make when building a quilt. Always endless projects to work on.

enjoy these videos

box corners 


https://youtube.com/shorts/LLw_qlRdvQQ?si=NpFL064sN0nnZuJX 


need to try this simple pattern, the blocks are 18" so it should go fast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo5x1bi0lLI

linking with 

Joy's challenge:





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Thursday, July 24, 2025

I Like Thursday # 461 gardens, colors, summer dinners

 

time for another list of small likes, starting with these colorful pots seen at our community garden

I've been walking a lot, early morning, and late afternoons, to strengthen my back, I saw this lovely lavender along the way

and more shots of the community garden in a minute

Sewing
I finished my challenge piece this  week, for Joy's Table Scraps, and will share photos Saturday. It's called butterfly house... 

shared this project last Saturday... hand sewn hexies
no response on my inquiry about this rescue dog, a 9 lb poodle
I am ready to love again and praying for the right pup to join our family
want to do a jigsaw puzzle with me? I like this site: jigsaw planet
https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=348e1d82ccb5

conversation starter this week: 

do you like particular foods for summer dinners? do you use a recipe or combine whatever ingredients you have on hand? 

yum, nectarines are delish even if we did order peaches! 

We tend to eat more BIG salads for dinner when it's so hot.... I'm not a fan of cooking in general, but do like to eat. 


I love fresh fruit and vegetables available in summer, like melons. 

Love the sounds of a donkey enjoying watermelon...


Watermelon! I cut it up, put it in a fridge container to snack on no mess. 

I've been known to drink a watermelon martini... or two...

Our kitchen is directly below our bedroom and heat rises so with it hovering around 100 F we bake much less dinners than we would like.

 Speaking of food, we took a walk by our neighborhood community garden this week 

there are about 20 plots, that rent for $150 a year. They have water

benches
composting area
each person decorates their plot differently and have very lush plants growing





love a colorful leggo wall divider
and my OWN backyard wildflowers are finally blooming! 
and my rose bush is finally rose-ing
they are knock out roses and lovely shades of orange but small

On TV


Watching Love Island, hunt for love, Love abroad, 90 day fiance, and bachelor in Paradise
the summer of love? Oh, not quite, watching Big Brother too! 

Listening to audio books, and reading a Molly Murphy book

 Watching on video

I liked this set of videos, the guy will purchase an old photo and then research who it is, and their lives, and I find them very interesting, and a history lesson. I've watched several and like the guy who does it, and learned some about how to do historical research from him...

 


that's it, stay cool, speak your truth, be kind to others, (thank you for visiting) 
please visit these folk to see their list of likes this week, and remember to tell me what foods you like in the summer months


now please visit these folk to see what they liked this week, and how would you answer the prompt?




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