Friday, July 30, 2010

Fishing, Fabric & Fun

FISHING



FABRIC

FUN




Usually when I don't blog, it is because I have spun off the reel and someone needs to check up on me. But that has not really been the case recently.
Not that I haven't spun off a couple time and found myself tangled up.
However, I have been keeping myself busy.
I spun out briefly when my husband was first sent to work out of town. Then I got myself adjusted and dove into a few projects.
Caps For Bill

So, the first project I jumped into was to make a few hats for Bill. He was starting to run low due to general wear and tear and the added assault from our to demon dogs.
Welding caps are a necessity for him... to work.


This is one of the the caps...




They need to be washed to break them in. Then they should fit like a glove.

I was VERY sloppy with the sewing. I wanted to get them finished quickly to take with him when he left to go back out of town to work.


A Skirt for ME



Then I made some skirts. I made 2 for me and 2 for my daughter. Yes, they are the same... but I won't ask my girl to be twinsies...


My mom did that to me... when I was a teen ager... I didn't appreciate it at the time.
I was
"Too Cool" or at least I thought I was...

she made some dresses for me and my little sister...

and PINK to boot!

Oh, man... teens can be such butt-heads.



To the North



To the South




Not a soul in sight...

We had the beach all to ourselves.

This is our "Secret Spot"

and it is a secret for a reason!



Woo HOO!!!



Now, that is a BIG Drum! No "Puppy" here!

And I am no small cheeka...

This guy was sooo... big we had to throw him back!

It is very unusually to catch Puppy Drum this time of year.

And we were catching them all day long.




Another Day at the Beach



Yeah, I know island life is ruff...







Sea Oats








A Shirt for ME!






A Green Gourd Creation


Now THIS is really rare. I typically am making things for "Green Gourd Creations" to sell or gifts and for my family....
but never me.
NEVER say NEVER!
The skirts started a trend... and hopefully it will continue.
I have conceded to the fact that this summer has been not much for "Work". Don't get me wrong there has been plenty of work done this summer. Just not in the way I had imagined.
I have been doing a lot of prep work... and organizational type stuff along with simply enjoying the summer with Mary.
I made the decision at the end of the school year to weed a few things from my obligation list. Not because I no longer found them important or that I didn't enjoy them any longer. But because I realized that I needed to put myself on the priority list.
My health, my family, my sanity...
and
my creativity!


So... this summer has been good for re-prioritizing.
As much as I think I need to build up my inventory...
and put my inventory on my online shop...
and should, should, should...
"never pick a gourd a for it's time... or it'll witch ye sure"
SUMMER won't last forever...
school will be back in before we know it, and I will have plenty of time to get back to
"work"


Never to Late to Start Seeds


While Bill was gone, I put up some wire flower baskets on the south porch that use to be on the outdoor bathroom. Then planted some flower seeds that I had.
It is about time to thin... ya think?



Finally Got Around To It


I can't believe these guys hung on for as long as they have. I finally got around to planting these guys as well as some sweet potato vines that have been sitting out on my potting table for at least a month or more. I transplanted a lot of plants into flower boxes and hanging baskets.



Second Wind



Most of my tomatoes took a beating this summer. Blite, hornworms, extreme heat
and drought almost completely wiped out my maters.
But, with a little TLC and...
extra watering's, a few have managed to come back to life.
"Gourd-jus"
After adding some more compost and fertilizer, my gourds started to pick back up. They too were looking rather
pitiful!
My "Tea Dipper"

I use this dipper gourd to fertilize my plants. I make a tea with chicken manure and/or fish emulsion... then feed away.


Seedlings for Fall



Again, time to thin...
Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, more peppers.


A Trip to the Library

Inspiration comes from the Dare County Regional Library too.

Summer Reading

So, I recently finished ...
dare I admit...
Breaking Dawn
Yep...
I am a fan!!!
Team Jacob all the way.
So, I started Eat, Pray and Love... can't get into it... I LOVE her humor... but, I just can't catch the wave...
I will try again later.
My girl, Robin just finished her book
The Poisonwood Bible
and passed it on to me. So I will give it a whirl. The other book, Savvy is my daughter's. She is finishing up Rapunzel's Revenge now and will be starting Savvy soon.
Mary Elizabeth Farley Talley

This is a picture of my mother...
pregnant with my little sister and VERY OVERDUE.
A friend of the family had been offering to give her a ride in his Snow Cat for some time.
She decided that MAYBE it would be a great time to take him up on his offer.
Much to my mother's disappointment...
Labor continued to remain sleeping.
We will be celebrating the Life of our mother, wife, aunt, sister and friend tomorrow at my brothers home in Virginia at the
Mountain Style
Farley Fest


I can not wait ...
Good people
Good music
Good eats

&
Good Times

I LOVE YOU MOM!
You are my HERO!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Summertime




Dune Daisy


This was my mother's favorite flower. And I have to say that I am rather partial to the simplistic Shasta myself.




YIKES!






Shew... everything in my veggie patch is looking a bit ruff.



After taking this photo, I decided my poor gourds needed a little TLC.



So, gave them a new ground covering of compost.







While in the garden making an inspection and harvesting some of my goodies... I was surprised by an unexpected visitor.




I had already taken the camera back to the front porch.



Good thing...



cuz I probably would have dropped it.



The visitor was between my gourd "raised bed" and my beans


half hidden under the straw.













Surprise!!!!



Unfortunately...





he was no longer living. He had gotten tangled up in the bird netting that I had used to cover my beans. I put the mesh over the bed to keep the chickens from digging up the seeds and eating the seedlings. I was getting ready to remove the netting when I found him.



My daughter was warning me that she thought he was playing "dead". I was pretty sure he wasn't



"playing".



However... I have to give her credit...



this 2 foot long fella happens to be a Southern Hognose Snake



and guess what they are known for...



YEP...



Playing Dead!



See Mr. Potter... some of your kids do pay attention in class.










Even though this guy made my heart beat a few extra pumps...



these are some beautiful markings.



I feel terribly that he died because of something I put in my garden. But, I suppose that the toads are probably relieved and I am glad to see the toads keep up their good work in the garden.



RIP



Mr. Hognose






Woo Hoo



This is the first year in a very long time that I have been able to actually harvest cucumbers.




Shastas & Zinnias



















Time to Iron



Folks who have known me for practically forever...


should be SHOCKED to see that I even own an iron.


This was the first brand new store bought iron I have ever owned. I don't mean that in the sense that I used some old fashioned, place on the wood-stove and pressed items kind of iron.

For those who have know me ...


know that "ironing" is not exactly one of my domestic abilities.


If a piece of clothing made it's way into my wardrobe that needed to be pressed... I can say without doubt that it was not picked out by me.


I have to admit that not too much has changed over the years....


I still prefer the crinkled look.


My sole purpose for even buying an iron was for sewing and quilting.
All my irons prior to this one was either passed down to me or picked up

up at a thrif store or yard sale.




Pressing Pockets









Almost Finished




All the pockets are ironed, pinned and sewn on now. All I have left to do to finish this chart, is to put the chore labels on

and make the chore tabs which I will probably make with my daughter with dowel rods and beads or clay.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

LONG WEEKEND

2nd Saturdays With Sarah




After my daughter cleaned up in more that one way




from her


"Toy Yard Sale"


What an awesome motivator for a deep cleaning of her room!




We spent the rest of our Saturday in Manteo with our good friend Sarah at the History Center.




After watching the documentary film




"Rescue Men": The Story of the Pea Island Lifesavers




we spent some extra special time with Sarah in the History Center checking out interesting books, artifacts, documents, photos to back up some of the Outer Banks notorious history, legends and other "Local Lore".




We really enjoyed ourselves!




If anyone would like more information on the men of Station #17, The Outer Banks History Center or 2nd Saturdays check out the links below.

















Taking A Dip









Ok, so we spent Sunday afternoon with Sarah too. Mary LOVES hanging out at the pool with


Sarah and Chopper!








Monday Rolls Around





So ... I figured it was about time to actually get back to "WORK"




You have to start somewhere!













How many Dremel batteries does it take to get to the center of 9 kettle gourds?




Duno... I gave up after 2!









It didn't help that these guys were SO... thick I couldn't use my cutting tool to break all the way through the shell.


Wow!


I had to come back with a deep engraving tip to finish the job.












Kettle Gourds

aka

Martin House Gourds





These guys will eventually end up being birdhouses and bird feeders.





Bird Feeders











Dirty Job



I hear that these lowly squash made it to the show


"Dirty Jobs"

Hmmmm... I can't imagine why???


I haven't seen the episode but I am sure I will as soon as it makes it to Hulu or Netflix.


Bold These gourds were actually some of the easier gourds to clean.



Birdhouses







It will be time to decorate and dye as soon as I get them completely cleaned out and touched up.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

A Picture is worth a Thousand Words

Sometimes Even More







I wish it had a date ...


I love how my Meema taped the note that came with this gift to the back of the frame.
I made this for my grand mother when I was in either 3rd or 4th grade.







My grandmother had a bookshelf in her bedroom where she kept many family photos, mostly of her 4 children and 13 grandchildren.


It is funny how your perception of things change over the years.


When I was young I wondered why there weren't really any pictures of me on her shelves. As I grew older I noticed that there still were not many photos of me but there was this Mouse.

It wasn't till I was much older that I began to appreciate the fact that she kept this instead of a photograph of me.


It means even so much more now that she is gone and it has a home in my creative workspace.





Let's Get Busy









All Tucked Away



Just slapped this curtain together to hide some of the more unsightly office supplies that are stored under my work table.

It helps me feel like things are not quite so cluttered.



Afternoon Shade


Using some of the same material as the cubby curtain, I made this longer version for the door. In the late afternoon it can get a bit warm and the sun can be a tad over-saturating. So I made this to block some of that late day glare.


Let the Sunshine In



However one of the things that I LOVE most about my studio is how much light it gets. Even though it is small, it feels very open and bright. I cut out enough fabric to make two panels, however I think I like it better with only the one and the tie back.




Patchwork Pocket




This is one of the "Done " pockets for a chore chart that I am making.



Daily & Weekly Chores



These pockets are two more of the "Done" pockets for the chore chart.


It is almost finished.






Mia's & Felicity's Mattress




I used an old set of my daughter's twin sheets to make this mattress for Mary's dolls bed.



Just finished stuffing... unfortunately I cannot say that this is organic or even all natural. However, I can say that I used recycled poly-fill and re-purposed fabric.





Pillows





Time for a Snooze




Comfort Zone


Looks comfy huh?