Inspiring Me Today

Pickles!



When I was gifted a 20# box of just picked cucumbers from Jennifer and Temple via their CSA Tecolote Farms, well, canning happens.
With my Dad's really old canning kettle and tongs,
two recipes from Ashley English's book Canning and Preserving ,http://www.smallmeasure.com/
and dim recollections of the many jars I put up in the past, I set to work.
 The rhythm of wash, sterilize, pack, process came back easily.
It was a fun 2 days.
Inspiring to take a break from sewing up my stash for fall/winter art shows.
Reading yellowed index cars written in my Dad's  small, precise handwriting.
His own canning experiments recorded.
 Wondering what he was thinking when he preserved salsas, jalapenos, German dill pickles.
He was not one to share his thoughts. I think life as he experienced it drained the sharing and caring out of him.
 Infinitely sad for us who knew him, but so much sadder for him.
So I think about him as I use his canner, pausing frequently to look out the row of kitchen windows at the meadow and trees out back.
Wishing things had been better for him.
Letting the unhappy times go.
Keeping the good memories.
Canning with his kettle.

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.

And Then There Were Five

These pictures give me hope for the world.
They are the best of us.
The next generation.
Part of a strong thread of family.
Lovingly taking the best of us and building on it.
Respectfully rejecting that which does not make the world a better place.
Being shown by their parents the power of love. The responsibility and strength of family.
I can see the love here shining from their faces. That is always the start of something great, right?
I am proud to be the mother of six children and now five grandchildren.
I like being part of this. Very grounding. Joyously uplifting.
Because despite squabbles (rare), busy, busy schedules (constant), the minutia of day to day life (never ending) we find time to gather, we stay connected, we will drop everything to help each other.
I consciously think about each of these folks every day. Usually during a dawn  walk down the country road out here or while stitching.It takes a while. Down the list I go.Five daughters. A lovely adopted son via marriage to his equally nice Dad.Five grandchildren.
Sending them good thoughts. Wondering what they are doing. Staying connected.

Apples and Such

We are very pleased to have apples for the second time ever!
Patience rewarded as the tree we planted is now six years old now and thwarted by a draughty summer and possibly neglectful watering on my part.

However, persist it did. Plants must display some degree of toughness to bear fruit in south central Texas. Lovely.

The newish hens are getting to peck the windfall apples.
I am tossing them into the coop, trying not to hit anyone.
Not my fault that the hens move so quickly!
Our annoyed looking Golden Laced Wyandotte does not approve.

I love this view of the garden fence near the chicken coop, prayer flags fluttering in the breeze.
It looks like a massive amount of weeding is in order. The frothy mass is a stand of 20+ year old asparagus

 Sam the chocolate lab (outside the garden yard) likes to look at the chickens while I garden. She does not mind the weeds. Good dog. So pretty.

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!

Add caption

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!