Milestones and Snippets

There was a family gathering.
A lovely sit down party for Ginger's 17th birthday.
At House of Taurus, the home of Chia, Javier and the just turned one Desiderio .
With 3 point sized waiters serving our every need.
 One of them blew a lot of bubbles, one frequently broke into dance, and one very small one took the job very, very seriously.
Oh I love a baby in a button shirt with collar....and naked.
I just noticed that Jessie doglet seems very interested in that chocolate ganache cake!
Check out those smiles.
Check out that beautiful table.
Five daughters with partners and children.
A beautiful setting and a beautiful family.

Back in the country we had a bunny grooming day. This is Cocoa being very sad about his turn getting his bunny nails clipped.
Slightly harrowing, even for this former nurse.
Clip too close and they screech and claw, fly, scramble, panic, out of your arms and catapult themselves into the next county!
I have never experienced this drama.
Fingers crossed.
He is a Dwarf Rex....softest bun ever.

Rainlilys! 
Dozens and dozens of creamy white beauties. They close up at night and show off their mauve and pink undersides.
Which means that we had rain!
Drop by drop keeping the drought at bay.
The aquifers and wells not completely dry.
Beautiful.

I finished my summer lap blanket! 
Stealing time from Buddha Hill sewing to finally, happily complete it.
Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino ( wool, cashmere, micro fiber)
Cashmere, people!
Unbelievable soft. Creamy white with circle in a square design.
I love it.
Lastly, the 99 cent thrifted crocheted table cover.
Peeking out my front door.
Had to rescue it.
The work is beautiful...someone spent a lot of hours of her life creating it.....wish I could tell her that it found a grateful new home.

ETSY Shop Update

Just a short post to let everyone know that I put lots of new deliciousness  up on my shop!

Oh my goodness.....

Serious cuteness everywhere you look, if I may brag a bit.

Hello, little Forest Elf

Little Cashmere Lamb

Lots more to see on ETSY.

Check them out if you need a bit of eye candy and a smile.

And thanks!

This Morning

Morning coffee at 5:30, smiling at my silly chick vase and loving the bunny vase (gift from my oldest).

Looking past them through the porch to the meadow beyond.

Getting out of the door for my morning walk , camera in hand, to capture this .

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Deer Family

Back home, a small spotted fawn very close to the back porch. His family is just out of the frame watching him closely. 

I am so glad that Sam the Lab shows no interest in chasing these little ones

 She is in her usual spot just under that same porch.

A few feet away. 

Watching, but not chasing.

The most gently natured dog we have ever had.

Sometimes when I open the  back door I hear a dull thump.

Sam's head hitting the porch floor as she leaps up.

Out she dashes and makes a just for show ,tail wagging loop around the meadow. Pretend chase.

 The deer are usually not impressed.

They look up but then just get back to munching native grasses and flowers.

I am lucky to see these scenes every day.

I pause frequently throughout the day to note how beautiful this place is.

Trying to not focus and worry about the chores and tasks to be done.

My mental list.

That list is worrisome. A weight on my daily thoughts. But also how I stay organized. Finding the balance. Making it work.



And on to work. Forest Dolls to finish up. They need vests and gathering bags.

Of course, they will need mushrooms and acorns to gather.

Forest floor treasures to stitch up. They get stuffed with the soft organic wool batting on the right. I love handling this wool, and smelling the lanolin it holds, and feeling it warm in my hands. Just lovely.

Sweet wool stuffed lambs and mouse. Sewn from thrifted cashmere sweaters.

Sold at the farm this weekend.

 One is flying across country for a new baby.

So nice to know where they end up.

Sew, Mama, Sew Challenge

Forest Cats

I just had a chance to browse through my ( signed!) copy of Reinvention ,sewing with rescued materials by Maya Donenfeld and  am inspired to get busy sewing some of the projects in the book.

 Her reuse aesthetic is inventive and practical. Why buy new if you can make something with materials on hand?

So, here is my contribution to the Sew, Mama,Sew challenge  to make something out of thrifted or repurposed fabric.

Above are 5 inch tall Forest Cats made from wool/silk thrift store suit jackets with all of the ugly bits removed and cat worthy remnants sew up with contrasting embroidered wool faces.  Vast improvement!

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GingerKats

GingerKats made from thrifted wool skirts and stuffed with wool roving.

They have movable arms attached to the body with wooden buttons saved from a different thrift store sweater

 Check out Maya's blog here 

   .http://mayamade.blogspot.com/

And for great tutorials, fabric and inspiration go here 

http://sewmamasew.com/

Happy Sewing!

Fairytale Stitching

So interesting the way creative making and stitching takes me on a path that I did not see coming.
My sewing lately has turned to dollmaking of a unique kind.

 I wanted to create a group of fairytale like creatures who might just live deep inside  a magical woodland. I am always peering under leaves, between bushes and behind meadow grasses to spot treasures for my nature table. Why not sew up some sweet little fairytale folks and woodsy friends to complete my mental picture?

The ideas flowed and the stitching followed. Really very little trial and error here. I had a clear vision of how they should look. Love when that happens.

Elf Forest Folk

First the Forest Folk- all woodsy colored felt and wool.
Lichen, moss, goldenrod, thistle, the spring green of new leaves and the deep plum of autumn .
 Stitches visible to celebrate the handmade.
Filled with warm wool roving.
Thoughtful expressions. Quiet demeaner.
 Little bear ears, deer ears and antlers, pointed green elf ears, soft rabbit ears.
Shy faces partially hidden behind hooded cloaks.

 It ideas came quickly and there are many, many steps but I must say that they are such a joy to make. Very tactile. warm and soft.

Hooded Elf Doll

Then there is the embroidery. Wool and silk, linen and cotton threads. My heart sings to use such beautiful threads.I freehand stitch without a pattern, like sketching with thread, sometimes lightly penciling an outline to keep my bearings.

Leaping Rabbit

Well, then there followed rather quickly the mice, swans, owls, foxes, forest cats, woodland ponies. Lest the Forest Folk become lonely.

Some made from luscious wool felt, others from thrifted wool or silk suits and jackets.

Mrs Mouse Dressed for Visiting



Woodland Owl  (Previously Rather Ugly Jacket)

I love to cut into a fresh piece of richly colored wool, apply thread and make it come alive as a small animal. More transforming is taking a quite ugly suit, salvaging the best bits, and refashioning it into a thing of beauty. A woodland animal who lives in the magic woods!

Happiness is a stack of prepped wool waiting upstairs in my workroom. Then the sewing hours will fly by as I get lost in the woods with my woolly family!

A Perfect Day

Gentle rain the whole day. The kind that soaks in and gives the trees and plants time to soak it up before it sinks through the dry cracks .
Just perfect.

Those of us in central Texas are still reeling (literally) from last summer's historic drought and 90+ days with temps over 100 degrees.
If that sounds like hell, well, it kind of was.
Please let there be enough to fill the lakes and aquifers and keep us green a bit longer.

But today we have rain and cool temps and happiness.

Sam the Lab

Sam the lab and I walk across a green meadow in the rain to feed and water the flock of hens that live in the garden enclosure. Dampish, fluffy, rapidly growing 5 month olds and two stately 6 year olds  flap their  wings and crowd round to vie for first choice of brown rice , strawberry tops and lettuce bits. Somewhat spoiled, those girls.

Fern the Barred Rock Plymouth impatient for snacks

I pick some cherry tomatoes that have sprung up by the coop gate, no doubt seeds from last year's chicken snacks, washed out from the hen house to grow along the perimeter. They are thriving in the rich runoff from the coop.

I love the smell of the  coop's deep hay litter in the rain. Love of farm smells runs in this family. Not everyone-there are camps for and against but count me happy to stand in the rain and breathe it all in.

Sam is waiting outside of the gate to practice walking at my side back to the house.
She knows that there is a dog treat nubbin in my pocket, like there is everyday.
Sweet dog.

And because this is a perfect day, I turn away from the scheduled chores, grab a basket of baby gnome parts, a latte, listen to the rain and stitch away while watching episode one of Downton Abbey ( I know, the last person in America to see it!)

Gnome Bits

A really good day.