Witch's Hat Swap

I participated in another fun swap hosted by Vivian of vivs-whimsy.blogspot.com. We were supposed to make or decorate a witch's hat and fill it with goodies. I love crafting for Halloween so I had no problem coming up with ideas and items. My partner, Lisa  has received her package, so I can show what I sent her.

I started with a paper mache hat from HL, then painted and glittered it. I gathered some crepe paper and hot glued it and various artificial pumpkins, berries and ribbon to the brim. You can't see it, but I added an orange spider to the side.

I included several handmade pieces. I have been making cross stitch ornaments lately. I thought Liza might like this little pumpkin.

  A little bottle cap pin cushion with Halloween pins:

 It's sitting on a box I covered in Graphic 45 paper and filled with German scrap, felt leaves, and other embellishments.

I also added a boo banner, several types of ribbons wound on a vintage spool, and an owl stamp.

I can't wait to get my box of goodies from Lisa. I can tell from her blog that she's a very talented crafter.

Flora and Fauna

Before the frost last week I spent some time harvesting herbs for drying. I especially like to dry thyme, dill, parsley, and oregano. I use sage during the holidays, but my plants stay green enough to harvest fresh. And my bay and rosemary plants comes inside, so I always have leaves for soups and roasts. 

I hang bundles of a single herb to dry. This usually takes about 2 weeks. Sometimes I use the food dehydrator, but this time I didn't. Then I cut off all the stems, and pack the leaves into our cute little Krupp electric mill.

 

A few seconds of processing and I have nice fine, dried herbs for use this winter. Just like so many things, herbs are better fresh or fresh-dried from the garden.

This is really parsley, I swear!

 

 And now for the fauna portion of my post. Every day we walk through the herb garden, enjoying the scents and flowers, and always on the lookout for the caterpillars that appear this time of year.
Swallowtails lay their eggs on parsley, dill and fennel, which the larvae feed on. Since we enjoy these critters, we plant enough for everyone. But this year I have only seen one or two very tiny caterpillar.  It might be because of the very dry summer.

But we have seen an abundance of these guys:

In the last week we have seen so many praying mantises in our backyard. They are everywhere! And it's weird, because we haven't seen any for many years. But after living in the country for so many years, I've learned that there is a cycle to these things. Next year, it will be something else that is abundant. I just hope it isn't earwig beetles!

I know they're "good bugs", but they are kind of creepy:)

Spring Quilt Finsihed

This quilt took longer than usual to finish. I decided to add some embroidery to the outer border. After about two sides I was wishing I hadn't! But now that it's done, I'm pretty happy the with the way it turned out. 

When I finished this quilt, I was in the mood to work on something for fall, so I made this little table mat. 

This is a free pattern from the blog  http://appleavenuequilts.blogspot.com. She has designed two blocks for each month. I loved this apple block, though I made a mistake and put the apples going in the wrong direction.  I didn't feel like picking it apart, but I'm happy to live with it as is :)

I spent last weekend getting out the fall stuff. It is such a fun season to decorate for. I'll be back with some photos soon. I have today off from work which is good because I've got a cold with a bad sore throat. Not a good thing when working with the public at a library! 

Preserving Summer

Do you remember, back in March, those 80 degree days? And then the freeze in April? I'm sure it's no surprise to anyone that the weather this spring did a number on all the fruit grown in the midwest.
This is the sum total of our summer fruit harvest, except for one bowl of strawberries, which was gone before a picture could be taken.:)

For some reason the red raspberries did OK. Maybe because they flower and set fruit later than the other fruits. We gobbled them up as they ripened and I was able to save back enough to make these jars of jelly.

I did buy some strawberries from the grocery store to make our favorite strawberry jam. But it wasn't quite as good as the homegrown strawberry jam. I'm already looking forward to next summer's fruit harvest. I just know it will be a great one!

Hummingbird Antics

Even though we have had this feeder up for a couple of years, this was the first year we have seen so much activity around it.

This feeder is hanging off the deck right near the pool. So for the last month we have spent a good part of our time in the pool just watching these little guys. They are so territorial that they spend most of their time trying to keep the other birds away from the feeder, to the point of ramming into each other. We can actually hear them bumping! I am surprised we didn't find a stunned one in the pool!

Since we live in Indiana, these are Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. The ones in these pics are females, hence no bright colors, but I'm hoping to get a pictures of a bright throat soon. I'll keep the camera close :)

Still Here

 

  Sorry I've been such a bad blogger.  This summer has been a little unusual for us. First of all, this has been the first time in 31 years that I've worked outside the home during the summer months. A little bit of an adjustment for this gardener. Add to that the heat and drought, and I just could not keep up with the things I love.

   We also had some family issues that needed a lot of attention. I won't go into details. Let's just say, parenting is not for the faint of heart. Can anyone relate? :)

We did have some very good times this summer. Lots of swimming, going to the beach, and playing with our grandson. Of course, the highlight of our summer was the marriage of our oldest son, Justin and his beautiful Lizzie. It was a wonderful wedding, perfectly reflecting their relaxed, quirky style. I will post pictures soon.   

Once we got some rain and the temps were bareable, I couldn't wait to get out and play in the dirt. I love nothing better than to get down on my hands and knees and weed. Weird, I know! But if I didn't get up close and personal, I might have missed this guy under the tomatoes:

American toad

This is my weeding set up- towel to kneel on and bucket for weeds.

The pond was a welcome spot of cool in the garden.

Graham Thomas rose.

Creme de Cassis hollyhocks.

Butterfly not seen here too often.

I love looking across the backyard in the late afternoon light.

 Of course, I've done a lot of needlework this summer. I'm finishing up the quilting on a couple of quilts. I'll show pictures when they are done. And I've been inspired by some cross stitching blogs, and have enjoyed making a couple of small items. I love the new (to me) way that people are finishing their pieces. 

Pinkeep - pattern from Just CrossStitch Halloween issue.

Since Rick and I went to Lake Michigan on Labor Day and said goodbye to the beach until next summer, I'm ready to move onto fall and all the fun decorating, baking and crafting. In fact, I'm working on a witch's hat swap hosted by the creative Vivian.  Can't wait to show the finished product! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Finishes and a Start

I have been trying to finish up some projects before starting new ones, but it's so hard. So many that I want to make.  But I did finish up the pinwheel quilt this past week. Lots of hand quilting, as usual.

I did a simple crosshatching on the border and added a red binding.

I never thought I would say this., but I am loving these bright colors. And it's the fault of all you bloggers and Pinterest!

I also started (and finished) a project from Lynette Anderson's It's Quilting Cats and Dogs book. I have gotten into making bags lately.

Isn't it cute? I have so many darker colored scraps, it was good to use up some of them. 

Now on to the "start" portion. I am still hooked on making hexagons and can't stop making them. I'm not sure what I will make with these pastel colored flowers, but I'm thinking a baby quilt.

 

On to some personal news: Our oldest son, Justin, is getting married in two weeks! We are so excited! They are having an informal wedding at a park in Chicago, followed by a reception at the same location. They are having pies instead of a wedding cake. (Family tradition for us - no birthday cake, always pie.) And Justin has asked me to make some of the pies. I'm happy to make them, since they are doing everything else. 

They are taking their honeymoon before the wedding. They are in Peru right now, hiking around Machu Pichu. (did I spell that right?) And right after the wedding they are moving to D.C. Justin got a teaching position at American University. Lots going on for those two and we couldn't be happier for them.

Have a great weekend, everyone. Here's hoping we all get some rain!