OH, SO PRETTY!

My hibiscus are finally blooming again after the freezes of last winter which knocked the bush back to a stubby few sticks!  I am so glad they came back!

The second baby sweater is finished but buttonless right now.  I am heading to town on Tuesday to the dermatologist AND to pick up my sewing machine which has been fixed finally! (My Cadillac machine has been waiting for a part and is now repaired so I don't have to use my portable class machine that I have been using since June!)   While I am out and about, I will be getting buttons for it!  My friend, Mary, is going with me so we will make a day of it-doctor's, pick-up the sewing machine,  lunch, Michaels and then Hobby Lobby!  

And look how pretty my orchid is!  Bill did a good job of caring for it while I was in NY!  There are 11 flowers on this stalk!  It's stunning!

 

A DAY AT HOME

Every other morning there is a new flower blooming on the orchid!  I do love to have an orchid in my room!

My total yardage for the four skeins was just under 900 yards of superwash wool/nylon which I dyed. I'm thinking I will make a crocheted blanket since I have been enjoying that lately!  I still have 4 more skeins to add to the pile so I know I will have enough yarn for a blanket.  Or maybe I could knit some small mitered squares blanket--isn't it nice to have ideas?!

This pipe is where my 'lizard' lives--sticking his head out like a submarine periscope checking out the world. 

 I heard a flurry in the afternoon and she sat there for a bit 

but left empty handed, to my relief!  

I put out seeds for you so leave my lizard along, please!

 

MAKING MORE YARN

Another bobbin of the Superwash Merino finely spun wool.

And now there are two skeins with about 225 yards in each.  I've ordered some more of the Stroll Bare Roving so I can dye some in a solid color to match these skeins.

Oh, and look at the beautiful new orchid blooming; 

 this orchid sits on my bedroom window sill

 so it brings a smile each time I see it!  

 

JUST KEEP SMILING

I finished the two quilts at group yesterday;  it is so miserable to try and enjoy something, even something you love, when you have a pounding headache!  The meds from the doctor that knocked the headache right out of my life for the first time in years, will not be covered by my insurance.  So, I can try and get 'coupons' from the manufacturer or contest the refusal by the insurance (which is just a ton of busyness and paper work) or try something else!

  Which is what I did last night.  We will see how it goes. 

 The doctor and patient get so excited when there is a new medicine that works without side effects and the insurance won't cover it because it is new and costs them more!  I do NOT have any sympathy for them!  Sigh....

My lovely phalaenopsis is blooming again! 

 I love having one in my room because it cheers me up!

And Bill found this for me--a TALL wooden ladder that is going to be transformed into a trellis/archway for my Wisteria plants! 

 More to come!

 

HIPPOS IN THE HOUSE!

All of the tumbing blocks pieces are cut for the cute hippo quilt!  

I even managed to stitch one row to make sure it is just what I want!  It is.

Inside, there are 14 blooms on my orchid! 

 I left all the buds on the stalks and they all opened!

 It is such a piece of beauty in my bedroom window!

They are a deep salmon/rose color-just so rich!

Outside, the caliandra bush, at 10' tall, took a hit from the December bout of freezes but several of the lower branches still bloomed!  I was so happy to see them because it is a long wait for the bush to recover.  Since it is supposed to freeze this weekend , too, they will be gone soon!

 

ACHIEVING CALM

This rescue orchid I bought last Januare is flourishing and even blooming again already!  The first time it had only 4 blooms and this time 6 will be the results BUT it has a second  and third stem with buds, maybe 7 more on them!   Dee, should I cut off the other stems or wait and see what happens?

These flowers are quite large --about 3" across!

 They are a deep salmon color!

As soon as I completed the quilting on this little lap quilt, Lena claimed it.  (Once the quilt is finished , meaning washed and dried, I do not let her lay on the quilts!) 

 I have the binding cut and will sew it on today.

I did a free motion series of water-ish lines over this one.

Throughout the day, I wataercolored these free to download tags.  (tidbits-cami.com)

There are two more hats in the donation pile! 

 (tagged and pom-pommed even!)

FACETS OF A DAY

Did you have one of these in your traditions?  It is a birch log adorned with hand rolled beeswax candles with sprigs of pine branch tips in the drilled holes in the log.  

The agave flower stalk has grown another foot now

 but mostly, it has been growing flower buds..

See what I mean? 

 I can't wait to see what it will look like!  

I reworked the Tunisian block with no probles this time.

  I am ready to lay them out and crochet all twelve blocks

 into a lap blanket!  

Another hat is off the machine-it needs a label but I lost my oomph to sew it on last night!  I will make another hat and put labels on both of them today!

The cats all take turns laying under the tree-they pace around the one who's turn it is--there hasn't been any ornaments knocked down but the tree skirt does get skidded about!

 

AND THUNDER STORMS!

I woke up to both butds blooming!  Such a pretty sight in my bedroom window!

I got right to work and finished off the second table runner in no time.  Lena is watching the sky-there is thunder rumbling out there!

Sadly, the design wall and the frame are empty!  I need to get piecing and to shop for some backing fabrics for the tops already made.

I did go out and play with the newest bowl on the lathe.  I learned this new way for getting the bowls thinner by leaving the weight remaining in the center of the piece--using it to stablize the bowl.  Letting centrifugal force work for me!  

 This mess is just from the inside of the bowl!  I cleaned up from the work turning the back!

When the storms hit, I went inside, of course, and the power promptly went out.  I sat listening to a book while knitting on a sock--I'm glad I got the 'machine' work done early!

CALM

The blue socks are done-I don't know why I call them faux-cabled 

because it does have cables. 

I guess it is because you don't use a cable needle-just knit the left stitch before the right one and take them both off at the same time!  Easy!  These are  knit in Stroll Manatee Tonal.  

64 sts on #1 needles.

I played with some zentangle drawing for a bookmark. 

 It is indeed very relaxing to play with the different patterns.

Remember the replacement orchid I bought after trying to repot the three I used to have?  Well, it is blooming!  I am so proud of its efforts to be healthy again!  It was pretty pitiful when I bought it from the 1/2 off table!

It is an incredibly colored bloom!

Fixing Things

I did a bit of sewing this morning;  all of the setting triangles are sewn in and rows are being joined!

I ripped out the last two rows and made the long white posts stand up straight!

And then Bill joined me to work on the baseboard! I can't believe how it finished the room!  It matches the flooring and cupboards beautifully.  

Sigh with exhaustion--we had a bit of trouble with our 45* cuts but think we have it down now--since we have the whole house to do, we will have lots of practice!  Super was late but welcome.

 I ripped out the first start on this sweater because I realized the problems I was having with gauge was because I bought the wrong yarn!  I bought DK but needed Worsted Weight!  I love the new quicker delivery process from Webs--new yarn is here and I will start over today....

Mini Orchid

My mini orchid is in bloom.  It has taken a few years to bloom again but it has done beautifully this year!  The bloom is about 1 1/2" across.

After drilling a hole in the top of the piece of wood (the area that I will hollow out for the bowl), I mount it to the 4-jaw chuck.  

Then it's time to make the tenon on the bottom of the bowl

 and also shaping the sides.

Once the shaping is finished, it's time to sand 

and then to apply finish.

I've tried lots of them but haven't found one 

to be my go-to one yet!

The worm screw is removed from the wood and the jaws.

Then I turn the bowl around, tighten the jaws around the tenon.  I have it all ready to hollow out the center 

and that I hope to do today!

I spent the afternoon buffing up the early pieces and signed the bottom of each one!  I must  say, I am in love with this craft.  What a wonder it is to me most of all........