Welcome to this week's list of likes! I liked finding these solar lanterns in the garage,they are pretty in the daylight, but sadly they didn't work after all this time... still they feel festive!
My little angel also came out of the garage, joining the pretty shade lovers. I like a porch, and the new outdoor rug makes the sitting area feel cozy.
I even found a little purple blossom on the bean plant yesterday, so I'm on my way to vegetables.
I like Milo having friends and play dates. If I could set one up each day I would. I enjoy chatting with the humans while the pups play. This week he met the cutest 9 month old black lab and we walked together. I liked having a walking mate for a day.
I liked going to the retiree's weekly group and knowing most of the people.
I loved my art quilt group meeting yesterday. It is a small but mighty group, very talented funny and nice. It was nice to get feedback on my two latest quilts, Orange lady, and the painted birds.
I like painting every morning to start the day. I'm enjoying so many teachers on youtube and am currently obsessed with Shayda Campbell and her lessons. This is one of her drawing and painting a planner for June 2019
I have learned to draw people, flowers, leaves and do more graphic work from her.
I like historical fiction, and this was a great page of the most popular historical fiction in the last few years... https://www.goodreads.com/blog/
So much to read, isn't there?
I liked going to a local quilt show and chatting with other quilters. Want to see a couple of the quilts?
a cow caught my eye of course
pretty aqua background on the double wedding ring pattern
love hexies and bright colors with applique!
Milo's Moment
I like playing "chase me" with Daddy at night around the coffee table! I am always faster! I cut back and forth, then change it up by running thru the chairs (he's too big, so I get away!) I like my whimzee chewies every night at 8. I just don't understand why I only get one... I do all the work around here. I have to entertain the pawrents, guard the yard from walkers and cars, chew up paper, walk those two several times a day... I should get two whimzees. Right? Am I right?
I liked one of our neighbors who said I really lost weight... I did! I lost at least two small poodles worth of hair on Sunday's grooming caper, heh heh.
Please visit Mama's friends keeping their lists of likes for the week too!
sunny with clouds, turning to rain and hail, then sunny but colder
Welcome to this week's Happy Homemaker post! Looking out on another day...
The weather in Aurora
Somehow mother nature has been kinder, gentler than usual... I'm sure the heat is coming this way but for the middle of June this year, we had temperate 70's and 80's during the day, and 50's and 60's at night. Nice. My garden thanks you. Oh, and rain, we do get rain here on what's called the steppes of the front range.In fact today will be mostly overcast here. 1 mile away may be different!
Wearing
I default to capris and t-shirts or shorts and cute t's but have a lot of summer dresses I hope to wear this year. It's hard to dress up when it's just you at home. I admit to seldom putting on make up these days. First of all, my deep set eyes tend to rub off eyeliner that I love. I am wearing sunscreen but I'm already tan from the intense sun.
To-Do
Well, Mama got out the flamingo pot this weekend, and put down a pretty outdoor rug. Guess it's about tie for the three of us to start porch sitting when Dad comes home!
Now that the poodle is bathed and groomed, and two small dogs worth of hair cut away, all I need to do it pluck his ears and trim his nails. He looks so pretty when just groomed!
I need to mop the floors again, and all the daily maintenance things.
I want to find laminating film to make bookmarks from one of my paintings
I decided to finish the orange petal woman as art not a big quilt of ladies, so I would like to finish it.
I have an art quilt group meeting this week, and the neighborhood coffee group.
Watch the flowers and vegetables grow which is very soothing and satisfying. I now must water them every morning though, another little chore on the list.
I'd love to clear off the horizontal surfaces of the house, but that's just crazy talk
eating
what's easy and quick?
reading
I'm so slow... I'm finished with God and the afterlife, my porch read (alone) A medical doctor documented all the death back to life stories. Pretty much all the same despite cultures or religions. God is love. We are meant to express love on earth, love for ourselves, each other and the earth. In each circumstance, the people report God as unconditional love, not vengeful or judging.
Seems like we're here to experience and learn, to support others, not to judge them.
DH and I are reading the forgotten garden aloud and he's working later so I may have to read it alone.
Still slogging thru my cake on a hot tin roof mystery at night... kind of slow read.
Magazines... home dec I'll never do... celebrities who are a hot mess...
view from water's edge
gardening
I got some more annuals as I want to surround us in colors this summer. That means more pots as the soil is not supportive here, and there are just so many rocks. I loved finding an Oxalis who's leaves look like shamrocks and the flowers are delicate little ballerinas. Also my fuchias are so pretty in the porch shade. Vegetables are hanging on, but not thriving. I hope to see flowers soon on those, with the hope of food to come.
There was so much rain, we didn't turn out sprinklers on til last week, when they promptly broke. Oy.
I had just met a neighbor who mentioned a lawn guy who worked on them, and we called and he came out next morning to fix them. We called one company who said they'd be there in a month (!!!)
Found out an Ash tree in our front yard has borers killing it. The developer put these in, knowing they had not treated the ground for them, and one by one owners have to replace them. We were told by a neighbor to use bio-advanced tree and shrub, protect and feed. He said it killed the borers and saved his tree. They are costly to remove and replace!
made by Janet Finely quilted by Myerhoff
Outings
I went to a small local quilt guild show last Friday. It was nice to see a show, but I'm missing the national shows on the East coast. I'd say 90% of the quilts were from patterns or kits... I look for originality... but I met a really nice woman who will hopefully become a friend! That was worth the trip.
watching
We are still enjoying Agatha Raisin on ACORN. So clever, quirky and funny.
I now like chopped chef junior on Family channel.
Enjoying Songland where new writers pitch their music to known stars. So you think you can dance is back, yea! (I danced for so many years, ballet, tap, ballroom, cajun jitterbug) Amazing race is so good too. Project runway ended as expected, but it will be missed.
I loved this youtube video on painting/sketching fanciful tulips. I think anyone could do it!
It's just for fun, as a daily moment before you jump into the fray.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHZvikbX9h8
my interpretation... I must remember that no first attempt will look as good as the teachers... we learn by watching, then doing sometimes over and over
making
I paint something daily now to start the day.
I need to quilt more this week too.
back in the studio this week... to make blue flowering snowball blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Color of the month is blue, and I'm assuming dark and medium blues as there will be light blue as a monthly color later.
No surprise, I have a lot of blue scraps, so it was good to use some of them.
I really like using this template and the effect. When you lay them all out, it's fairly quick to sew.
I made 12 blocks, and it took a few hours while watching a rerun of Gilmore Girls. I do use a variety of tone on tone white and beige blocks but it doesn't show here. I worry the whites are too similar and boring.
Just like with people, it's the variations in our looks, experiences, and personalities that keep life interesting.
Speaking of people, I quilted my orange petal woman, my orange Mona Lisa, and now am kind of stuck...
Do I keep this as a one-off piece, or do a series of stand alone flower ladies? I painted five other ladies as possibilities
It's a decision to be made before I finish the background quilting. If they go together I need to leave a margin for joining. Do I want a big quilt with people staring at me? Or ones I could hang alone each month.... endless choices to make!
How entertaining it is to make original work. I went to a small local quilt show yesterday and 90% of the quilts were made from patterns or kits. The original quilts stood out. I am making the flowering snowball blocks from a traditional block so I do enjoy working from the quilters who came before me, but... mostly it's more fun to create something from my heart.
It's more satisfying and exciting to me.
It's more restful to make something from traditional sources so that has it's place, but whether I'm writing, painting, beading, cooking, or quilt making it's better to express myself.
Know what I mean?
Hi y'all! Welcome to this week's list of likes! I like cows and wind sculptures that are cows.
I like grouping flowers in a pot, then watching them fill out and grow. I also like the colors here, purple pot with lime green creeping jenny, and red celosia.
I've enjoyed seeing the vegetables recovering from being put in the raised beds. I have high hopes for their producing before first snow! I'll learn what can survive here.
I moved my easter eggs to the back yard for the turquoise color, and put one in the crab plant holder on the table
He looks kind of cross, no?
It's so nice to see summer after a winter of snow, and a spring of rain. I love flowers, and last weekend I found these 12 roses at the grocery store for $8. What a deal!
And they are healthy! Look at the pretty mix of color!
I like that my neighbor shared a raspberry lemonade mix with me, to make me drink more water! And she also told me she found out Johnson's baby oil cream repels mosquitoes. You can bet I'm going to try that!
I loved finding big ceramic pots and hanging baskets on sale at the grocery.
I like Amazing Race, Project Runway, Master Chef, and chopped Junior on TV.
I like watching the bachelorette, but the current one is such a mess I spend the hour yelling at the tv.
I'm enjoying my novels for summer reading, (especially forgotten garden) and quilting again. It's hard to go up to the studio in summer, with all that sunlight calling me outside. I liked going for a walk yesterday and meeting a neighbor who has formed a haven in her back yard.
She took me on a tour of her flowers, and I loved her rustic birdhouse, fence and bush. She grew up in PA and her Dad made this. It's so nice to meet new people who share an interest with you!!
She had this plastic guard around her tomatoes to keep tomato worms off...
I love my art supplies. I have a great assortment now, paints, pencils, markers, brushes. I'm enjoying printing quotes to put on my pictures too. I still quilt and bead, but I'm having a love affair with paint on paper at the moment.
Making this art is influencing my writing, how I look at objects and my quilt making.
I noticed this shadow on a walk, and loved the gradation of light to dark as well as the organic image.
Last week, Shannon put some pretty pics of her trip to Scotland on her I Like post, and I painted one of them... fun!
Diann at little penguins shared a hike picture on her I Like post, and I had to paint it too!
If you missed their original photos, check their blogs for last Thursday.
Milo's moment
I LIKE BELLY RUBS
I love my neighbors! Tonight while Daddy was trying to get the sprinklers to work, I ran off next door to play with the boys.
Hey! I'm a boy! I brought my ring toy, to make them jealous and want it.
At one point all three boys held hands pulling together to get the toy away from me but I won the tug of war!It was hilarious, you should have been there!
I like my ring toy. First you gotta bite off all the fuzzy covering, then it's just great to carry around.
Even human puppies like it!
visit mama's friends also keeping lists of things they liked this week! Gotta keep paw-sitive!
Another colorful week ahead! Welcome to this week's Happy Homemaker post!
Weather in Aurora CO this week
It rained and hailed Saturday, which brought it cooler weather (70s during the days, 40's at night)
We've noticed it rains daily here.
beans and eggplant, holding on for life
My vegetables have not been happy with the sudden cooler nights but I like to sleep cool so I'm happy about it.
To Do
always laundry
always mopping and dishes and straightening up
I really must put down the paints and go back to sewing this week.
Reading Cake on a hot tin roof which I want to like but is slightly slow and tedious to actually read although reading it a night puts me to sleep. score! God and the afterlife reading on the back porch. A doctor writes from his experienced research Forgotten Garden reading together aloud in the evenings on the porch, when there's time
pile of magazines, which I enjoy but don't like to recycle so they pile up
writing
the sunday story this time came out well I think. It's really short but used 11/12 prompt words
link: courage!
Watching
we found out about Agatha Raisin from an I Like Thursday (here on Thursdays) poster, a fun romp of a show, mysteries and quirky characters.
project runway ends this week, what a fun ride full of creativity this has been. I actually agree with the judges so far, but we'll see how the finale goes.
Amazing Race is awesome this time, I missed it on haitus!
Youtube tutorials on painting which leads to midieval and vintage clothing videos lol
I laughed at this woman's show on dressing in 1920
I painted her face because the woman in this entertaining video (how to dress like it's 1920) was so interesting to look at...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCxx-ffyExM
what I learned doing that: the woman is much prettier. I see now, from this still shot, that her eyebrows are longer, and more hair shows, but when I painted her it was while watching the video. Movement, the way a person handles themselves, the smiles and tilts of the head, all contribute to how they look in life. When taking a photo, or painting a portrait you get one shot at it. It's hard to capture the essence of a personality in a picture.
When I see a publicity photo of a movie star, then see them moving and talking in a movie, I often think they are much prettier/handsome in the movie.
eating
way, way too much sugar. We got some sour cream cake donuts from the grocery, because I was there. DH shops from a list and will not veer from it. He loves a list, loves to check things off. Unfortunately I see grocery shopping like another creative exercise... what can I combine to make something fun to eat? Then money flows from our account like water.
wearing
pj's! hopefully that will change soon, although I never quite know how to dress here. The temps today are in the 70's but multiplied by the sun factor may feel like 90, then walking into the shade like 60, and when the wind picks up like 50. It's a constant putting on, peeling off sort of dressing here.
Learning
Do not ever, EVER, have a yard sale. I am not a good yard sale doer. Nope. I saved stuff from the move (where we purged half or more of our belongings before leaving Maryland) that I decided should not have been moved, and put it out, and people were not feeling it. I made $5. Total.
My neighbors put out sofas, freezers, dive suits, even a standing scale (yikes!) and made moola from it.
Now I must pack it to give away, hoping someone will want the dresses with tags that look awful stretched across my lumpy frame. One woman picked up some nearly new hiking boots, asked about the price, I said $2. She threw (!) them down and turned away in disgust!
What did she want?
Inspiration
my watercolor version of iris
I have been inspired to paint from my friend's blog entries. I saw this quote somewhere along the way, and did a freeform (not drawn first) iris to go with. I also painted two others from inspiring photos shared on the I Like Thursday posts... I'll show them on Paint Party Friday later on.
I sure appreciate my friend's putting great photos on their blogs! And the friend's too!
Today's Sunday story comes from The Sunday Whirl (creativity prompts whether painting, writing or quilting challenges all make us more creative)
There was no magic way to talk herself out of this situation this time. Nope.
Lean into the truth, her soul advised her. Have courage!
Why is it a struggle to be vulnerable? Isn't it human nature to be vulnerable? To be real even though it's messy?
Be-real-be-real-be-real, the words repeating in her mind like a mantra. It will be okay, he'll understand, you'll handle it together, he loves you, words to accompany the mantra like condiments.
She didn't like the tendency she had to worry, life was to be lived
in the moment right? No worries of the future. Just trust the universe
to support you if you're striving to live the right way.
Still, as she walked, she made up a story in her mind of what might
have happened... there could be enough truth in it to carry the moment
right? wrong... she was never happy stretching the truth, it was wrong
and she knew it, and it never helped a situation to lie.
Nope, nothing to do but admit that she lost the phone again. The
expensive phone that she begged her Dad for, the one with pink crystals
on it. He didn't want to buy her one, and said she was too irresponsible
for, even said she'd probably lose it. Oooo, she hated to admit he was
right. Nothing to do but tell him now, just pull her courage around her
like a coat.
"Dad? Can we talk?"
"Sure, but first, look what I found under the cushion on the sofa...
it was lost and hungry, I heard it beeping at me... what's say we feed
it while we chat? Now what did you want to tell me?"
I like a fresh flower bouquet and loved the mix of purple Iris and yellow carnations.
The Iris are in bloom at the botanic gardens right now. So many gorgeous colors.
I liked that my friend Pat sent pics of her iris and then I painted them. Fun! It's challenging to capture the essence of a flower especially white sections. The painting colors are more delicate in person.
I liked getting the orange flower girl ready to be quilted, so she will be done soon. I painted some flower girls in all the scrap colors so I hope to make them in fabric soon. Pics tomorrow!
I Love the book The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. One of our library staff recommended it. The story line is intriguing and the writing lyrical.
I like the sun. It has rained daily for weeks here, not all day but sometime during the day.
I like finally being able to plant the vegetables... I think, I HOPE there is no more snow this summer!
We got these raised bed boxes from Lowes... they have a platform in them, and you add water via the tube and it wicks up to keep the vege hydrated. This box holds a white eggplant, a ichiban eggplant, lima beans and bush beans. I like the red wire trellis thaat folds around three sides of the box. The beans are already holding onto it. We also planted a zucchini (in the pot there) and in the other box, a tomato, basil, parsley, and bell pepper. We'll see how it goes.
I like fresh vegetables!
And the little individual servings of tapioca pudding, for dessert.
a different black and white cow!
I like cows... contestants on the Amazing Race this week had to decorate a real cow with flowers and lead her along a path.
lucky them!
I like sharing a book with my husband, reading aloud on the back porch after work.
Milo's Moments
what!
Mama is calling me a first responder lately. I have to be first. First on a walk, first to get to a friend's house, first one to catch the toy, first one to respond when another dog barks, first one always.
That's what I want.... but lately Mama is making me wait. Wait to go outside, wait til she wrenches my toy out of my mouth, wait to get my leash on.
I hate wait.
I am a first responder why can't she get that ?
Now sit! Stay! visit Mama's friends keeping it paw-sitive this week!
