turkey feathers

Happy Trails To You

Thanks everybody for the blogaversary love and the congratulatory comments.  I took them to heart and, uh, *celebrated* just a little...per your instructions.  (ha ha) Yes, I’m blaming YOU for my bad behavior here.  The Mister doesn’t help either.  He thinks we should start every morning this way. We split this giant croissant (from our favorite French pastry shop) in half as it was, but I munched on so many strawberries this week I gave myself hives.  I just can’t resist these tiny ripe ones, they’re so sweet and delicious.  The rest is safely put up in jam jars now, but I threw in the towel after the second batch because the temperature soared to 102 degrees here in the valley on Saturday!  Just too hot to be standing over a boiling pot.  Too hot to do be doing anything but floating neck deep in a pool of water, I say. 

 

But instead, we went to watch the regional horse trials (out here) yesterday.  The weather wasn’t as hot as the day before, but still, significantly warmer than usual, (about 90 degrees and humid).  Particularly uncomfortable for spectators as there was no place to sit down or duck out of the sun, which was searing through my hat.  The riders and horses seemed to be handling it beautifully, but I still felt sympathy for them all buttoned up in their riding costumes. 

Sarah, is going through a horse phase.  Horses have been on her mind and in her daydreams for some time now actually, and she's been piecing together a large wall mural with detailed drawings of scenes just like these, with riding arenas and horse ranches, and continues to expand the "facilities" so that the mural is about six feet by four feet at the moment and probably growing as we speak.  It's fantastic.  Anyway, we’d been standing and watching the competition for about an hour, when she suddenly went pale and collapsed in a dead faint into her father’s arms.  She came out of it OK, but that was the end of that.  She was done in.  Not sure if it was the excitement or the heat, or both, but we went straight back home and consumed lots of iced lemonade and strawberry sorbet.

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Got some good pictures though.  Love this one, it looks like a carousel horse!  More my speed.

 

Time to Jam

So there I was, at one of our local farms picking strawberries this morning, bent over and lost in my thoughts, when it dawned on me that (hey!) it’s my blogaversary!  The blog is never far from my mind, apparently.  Thinking back, it was exactly three years ago today that I was standing in my kitchen, hair pinned up, apron tied on, wooden spoon in hand, stirring the big jam pot like I always do, except on that day I decided to blog about it.  I should mention, my original first post entitled: Jam Kitchen, was deleted (by me), along with dozens of others for various reasons. Little did I know back then how long my interest in blogging would last, or how it would lead to hundreds of blog entries and photos to manage! 

I also didn't anticipate how many wonderful talented friends I’d make along the way either.   Two blog pals in particular, Wise Craft, and Simple Sparrow, both of whom, recently decided it was time to go in other directions.  Just like good neighbors that move away, you understand, but wish it wasn’t so. (miss you guys)

 

Back to the kitchen . . the first batch---all done.  Will cook another 2 quarts tomorrow.  I'm testing the new plastic screw down lids. So far, so good. 

The labels were fun to make.  Feel free to grab my edited image if you want.  Anthro Strawberry, compliments of Vogart #231.  Next up: breakfast for dinner.  And strawberry jam's on the menu.  Yum!

Taking It All In

It's been wonderful hearing from so many Tasha fans here in blogland.  She will surely be missed but her legacy lives on.  It's good to rejoice over a well-lived life.  To celebrate it.  And appreciate all she gave.  I'm still pausing throughout the day to look at her books; which have inspired me all over again.  Of her many interests and talents, Tasha quipped, "I'm a Jack of all trades, yet a master of none."  I beg to differ.  I love the idea of planting roses in her memory--as Suzanne reminded me; in threes, as Tasha always did. 

Speaking of roses, we were at the Oregon Garden on Sunday, and the fragrance in this rose garden was intoxicating.  It was absolutely incredible.  I lingered here quite a long time, saying hello to every single rose. 

June is a good time to go and visit, when the spring flowers are in bloom, and before it gets too hot because there's little shade and few places to sit down.  There's one tram that now runs on the half hour circling this 80-acre parcel, which is included with the price of admission, so you can get on and off as often as you like.  We wandered around for about four hours under cloudy skies before the hot sun emerged and our feet gave out.  With three camera bugs buzzing the whole time, we took over 200 hundred pictures collectively.  I love that we have the freedom to do that now.  No more worries about wasting precious film rolls with 24 exposures.  (36 if you were lucky.)  How did I ever manage to only take 24 pictures before digital? 

Anyway, we've been trying to get back out here to this garden for ages.  I think Sarah was four the last time we visited, and now she's, um, going on eleven.  Yes, it's been awhile.  The OG project had just gotten underway at that time and was still mostly funded and run by donations and volunteers.  All that's changed now, with a beautiful resort hotel nearly finished and plans for making this a destination.   It's certainly showing potential along those lines.

Our own front yard is still a work in progress, after we literally stripped most of it bare and started over again two years ago.   So far we've managed to plant a few trees and some rather pitiful lawn, but it still has a long way to go.  I dream of this (above).  Some of the grand plans we had didn't pan out, or fit the landscape, or we ran out time and enthusiasm before the rains returned, but we are still making slow and steady progress along the way.   

A water feature of some kind seems appealing.   

But sometimes it's just hard to choose a path and commit to it.  In my mind, I'm standing in the middle here, still somewhat undecided. 

~

"A garden is not made in a year; indeed it is never made in the sense of finality.

It grows, and with the labour of love should go on growing. "

~Frederick Eden

 

Farewell, Dear Tasha

 

When I heard the news that Tasha Tudor, the beloved children’s author and illustrator, had passed away peacefully last week, surrounded by family and friends, it was a bittersweet moment.  I felt as though I’d lost a dear friend even though I’d never met her.  Certainly, to me, she was a kindred spirit if ever there was one.  A touch stone; with a long career of artistic and creative accomplishments I still find astonishing. It’s been hard getting used to the idea that someone is gone, when it seems like they’ve been around forever.  At 92, I guess she had been, really. 

 

Over the years, I’ve managed to collect only a few T.T. books from the estimated one hundred titles that she either wrote or illustrated (or both), an accomplishment in itself, as many were small runs, are now long out of print, and it seems, still very much in demand.   I love them all, but I think my favorite is the one written by her daughter, Bethany Tudor, entitled, 'Drawn From New England' (1979).  It’s a sweet and sincere biography, sprinkled with family photos, sketches, and stories of her mother; a free-spirited artist whose life and work combined to create a magical world for her children and a highly individual lifestyle for herself. I picked it up and read it again over the weekend, smiling at pictures taken so long ago and remembering little details I’d forgotten.  Like how she often used her own children as models for the illustrations in her books.  How she struggled in the early days, raising her family of four children, while pursuing an art career ("to keep the wolf from the door"), while living in a century-old farmhouse without running water or central heating, and not because she had no choice, but because it was her choice. 

The life she created and shared through her own creativity influenced me so much.  I’m quite sure it led me to explore the road less traveled, to remain true to myself, and to take joy and peace in everything around me.  Her message was a gentle one, and I’ll always be grateful for her influence. Here she is with her beloved Corgi pups that never left her side.  They were often the subject of stories and a popular recurring theme in her illustrations for children. 

For example this one, and the sketch she added to the print when she signed it in 1996.  I'll cherish this forever.  And a few others.

 

I was thrilled to find this book: 'All For Love' (1984).  It's a collection of poems, songs, letters and stories "enchantingly illustrated" in classic Tasha style with old-fashioned portraits of couples, children, pets, and adorable animals wrapped in flowery frames and be-ribboned borders, with bouquets & tussie-mussies scattered about the pages.  There's a section describing the family Tudor Valentine celebrations with recipes for cake and cookies, and some craft activities to beat the band. In case you don't know, I'm talking about those famous cupcake fairs!  The directions for making the little "shops" are also included in the book. 

I'm behind on so many things and never expressed my pleasure (here) about the revival of Victoria magazine, but am finally mentioning it now, to note the beautiful feature article in the premiere issue (Nov/Dec 2007), showcasing a few of the amazing antique party dresses and ball gowns from Tasha's exquisite collection.  (These were later exhibited and sold at public auction.  I guess it was time to let them go.)   Tasha was quoted as saying, “My antique clothing is a great folly of mine…I myself feel much more at home in an old frock.  There’s no feeling of dressing up; they just feel right.”  Still, she is a vision of loveliness (above), posing in costume, about 30 years ago.  Blueberry Cottage and all sorts mentioned T.T. and shared links and a little more background.  Maybe others have done so as well.  Please leave a comment and link back to your page if you found or have something to add or share.  If you're a fan, I say we declare this Tasha Tudor week...to honor this great lady; her life, her art, her craft and of course, corgi cottage! 

Small Victories

I was in the garden, admiring the roses.  Glorious Roses!  Roses which, on their own are not that spectacular as far as roses go, but which have managed to survive the most discouraging of circumstances, and which have triumphed and climbed half-way up the tree!  I can almost see them from the second-floor bedroom window. What is so miraculous about this is, our dear friends, the deer, have usually gobbled them up long before now.  In fact, all three varieties planted here at the base of this enormous tree are thriving, and I’m feeling pretty confident that the Mister's Magic Concoction is primarily responsible.  Yesterday, there was a deer standing less than a foot away from these beauties, chomping down on the sun chokes a friend gave us (that I forgot to spray).  From the window I watched it graze and held my breath, feeling quite relieved when it moved on, never touching a single rose bud.  WooHoo! 

To recap for new readers here; this rose ordeal has been an ongoing experiment since last Spring, when I first began using a natural home-made deer repellant that I mix up in my kitchen.  The original post is here, with the recipe, if you care to try it.  It also seems to repel pesky insects as well, not all, but some. 

Something else I’ve noticed is, I haven’t had any leaf spot at all which tends to be a problem here with the damp.  It is possible that the weather could’ve been responsible, as it was dryer than normal in early spring.  But I have noticed an improvement in general with dark glossy leaves.  Since I haven’t given these any fertilizer or care at all, I have to conclude that it must be the magic concoction working its magic. 

 

In the fall, I plan to prune the rose canes back, dig them up, and move the whole lot to another location for a number of reasons.  In the meantime, I’m enjoying them twisting and climbing, dancing and displaying all over the place. 

They deserve a shining moment at long last.

Keeping House

About four years ago, I launched the PatternBee website and have managed to keep it up and running with only a few minor hiccups along the way.  However, the shop is now temporarily closed (for the first time) as I need to spruce-up my office and replace worn-out equipment.  Unfortunately, the only way I can accomplish this "house-cleaning" is to unplug and move stuff.  Not to worry though, business will resume again in a couple weeks.  In the meantime, I'll try and pop in here with updates and inspiration.

One thing that I'm really excited about is these red-stripe cotton towels from IKEA.  I'm always being asked where to find good quality towels for embroidery, and although these aren't linen, or the best quality, they're still pretty cool for only 49c each!    Perfect for beginners anyway--although I like them just fine.  The downside is, they're only available in store.  If you can find these make sure you wash them before you do any embroidery though because they shrink quite a bit.  And they wrinkle. Badly.  But all that aside, how cute is this? I used a favorite Vogart pattern (#611) and finished this towel in a few evenings while watching movies.  It's a pattern I offer as a repinted transfer, but since the website is down, I'm offering it here as a traceable pattern.  Just in case you simply cannot live without it.  I think this would be nice without all the cross-stitching as well, so if you didn't want to trace all those x's (I sure wouldn't!) you could omit them entirely and still have a beautiful motif.  Click on the design to bring it up in a new window; right-click to save it to an image file so you can adjust the size before printing it out.   The original is about 6-inches long.  The best way to transfer this to cloth:  Trace the design onto a sheet of tracing paper with a Sulky pen, and then stamp it with a hot iron.  I recommend using tracing paper for a few reasons.  First it doesn't absorb ink or bleed so it leaves a crisper image.  Secondly, you can see how much of the pattern you've traced and are not as likely to miss areas.  Also, the heat of the iron penetrates the tracing paper more quickly than heavier paper, so scorching is minimized.

BTW: Thank You for all the Birthday Wishes for Grace!  She enjoyed reading them and wanted me to mention that she appreciated every single one!   

Weekend Notes

The Mister walked in the door last week with this pretty armload of flowers to start our collective celebrations.  They're still working their charm on me this morning as I sit here gazing at them on my desk.

The weekend celebrations also included cake!  Chocolate of course, from a local bakery.

And . . there was a BIG BOX and BIG excitement!

So BIG, that it made a scaredy-cat out of Lily when she heard the big box coming, scuffling slowly down the hallway like some great lumbering beast.   Her tail puffed up like a pampas plume and she tried to hide.

But when it spoke, it was music to her ears.   

If you plant it...

At this point yesterday, after hours of work, I still had about seventeen more wheelbarrow loads to go. The Mister and I did a lot of trimming and yard clean-up over the weekend, and I'm feeling it today.  Boy, am I ever.   But at the same time, I'm feeling good about the fact that it's done.  At least that one corner back there. 

June is here!  The roses have bloomed, and the deer haven't touched them!  I need to keep on top of spraying them with the magic concoction now as it seems to be working.

Especially with these dangerous characters looming.  They'd all been lounging peacefully on the grass until they caught me hanging out of the window with my camera, trying to catch them unaware, but as you can see, those big eyes and ears miss nothing and they soon got to their feet. 

Another one decided this was a good place to take a nap.  They seem to like drinking out of this birdbath when it's full.   It always cracks me up when I see them do this.  I want to say, "Will there be anything more I can get for you, deer?  Caviar? Champagne? Dew-dipped Rosebuds perhaps?"

Another shot of the blue Iris.  So pretty.  I appreciate the tip about dividing them regularly so they don't turn purple.  I didn't know that, so thanks Jenera!   In fact, thank you all for your comments and conversations regarding these lovelies and other topics of interest.  Including my small attempts at needle-felting.  Which, incidentally, lead to the discovery of this beautiful book, and an excellent tutorial for making felted sheep toys, compliments of Kim.  (Her autographed book even comes with a free felted sheep! For which, I just put in my order.)   

I need to unplug from the blog for awhile.  Grace's 17th birthday and our 27th Anniversary are coming up (both on the same day), and there's much more to do in general, inside and outside, so my posts will be sporadic at best, with just a few words and pictures sprinkled in now and then.   Feel free to drop by here anytime though and say "Hi".  I'll be here.  Wandering around. Somewhere.