Typical Day

Here was my set-up for spinning yesterday-

my e-spinner has a cord that plugs into the car charger so I can spin on the go!

 My view was so pretty ,

the temperatures were just right and it was dry after all the rain of the last two days! (8") 

 I was able to ply both bobbins into yarn; 

 Jjst in time to pick up to go!

 And when we finished with the lunch and nap routine, 

I painted the bottom of the basin and the pedestal of the birdbath.

 When I laid down the old birdbath to paint it,

I discovered why it was always crooked;

this portion of the basin was chipped away in portions

and so I did a fill of concrete to level the portions out.

 Once this area was slightly set, I painted this, too.

Oh, yes, this is better!

I am working on the mosaic for this basin, 

stay tuned! 

 When I was finished with all the painting, 

napper was finished so we took a golf cart ride!

This is what all that rain does for the pond!

Filled past its banks!

(and we have a little 'gator in residence again....)

Sitting

When I take the boys to the center to visit their mom,

I have three hours to sit and

spin, knit, read.....

One of these days I will get brave 

and bring my art supplies and paint plein air!

Fixes

 When I got ready to sew the blocks together, I noted an error in the layout.

 I did rip the block partially apart to fix the offending section

 and then sewed it all back together and 

in place!

  It would've driven me crazy!

 And then I did do a bit of piecing on the new quilt top!

I couldn't resist.

It goes together much more quickly then the Winding Ways top

with blocks of 9" since the pieces are much larger making the 12" block.

I'm glad for the break!

 This stepping stone is done

though I will not use white pieces with white grout again-

what was I thinking?

Oh, well, it will serve its purpose!

 I have the two halves drawn out for the next birdbath

and the tiles came in the mail so I can start work on that!

It rained all day yesterday and it is forecast for today also!

Rain, thunder, lightening and rain!

Bill will have to brave the downpour to drain some of the rain from the pool!

We have hit the level of the sides!

(which means I might get to do some more sewing!)

Cutting it Up!

 I finished laying out all the blocks and border for the Winding Ways quilt.

 I am more than halfway through making the blocks and it comes off without a hitch most of the time!

 I also got out the Accuquilt for a new block I purchased...

 The Flowering Snowball die with 9 patch blocks in between.  

I can't wait to cut out another lap quilt size using the reverse of the background 

and the colored portions!

Because I wonder what would happen!

 Bill has been working with a friend to haul all the scrap metal out of the back-back yard.

I am thrilled with the reduction of the junk pile!

Bill has had to use the welding equipment to cut the larger pieces down in size so they could be loaded onto the trailer to go!

  Good riddance junk! 

 The money for the scrap  metal is just  a bonus.

Amaryllis

April brings to bloom the amaryllis,

such large and grand flowers!

This would make a lovely painting, don't you think?!

And So the Season Begins....

 Poolside knitting Season!!!

And boy wonder swims forever!

Sunny Face

 Look at the cheery face that greeted me this sunny morning!

There was a stalk of  five buds but the frost took all but the bottom one.

 This King Orchid is from a plant that I thinned two years ago

and it did not take well to the transplanting!

It has forgiven my tampering and given a bloom!

I've gotten a lot of boring stuff done

 (bills paid, tax papers sorted, house cleaned, boys chased!)

but I did finish two of the Garter Twist Dishcloths!

Falling In Love

I saw this clearance quilt kit 

and knew I was in trouble.

I waited several days 

and I still kept it in mind.

 It came in the mail

 and I have stroked the fabric

 and made plans for cutting

 and  I will keep the blocks 

in order and organized

like so many of my quilting blog friends!

I promise.....

Another Dishcloth and Stuff

Another dishcloth alllured me to a simple knit-

it is the Garter Twist Dishcloth

from KnitPicks.

I finished the grout on the birdbath!

I am so excited.

I want to paint the rest of the surfaces; 

I will have to visit the paint store to find just the right color!

The repairs have been done to the old birdbath and I even sanded the pedestal

so when I do get some paint,

everything is ready!

Since I had all the supplies out for mosaics,

I made one of the three stepping stones I had planned 

a while ago.

I break up old yard sale saucers for the pieces.

Look at the beautiful sunset!

(I forgot to post this this morning-

and so it goes!)

Simple Pleasures

A nice flat dishcloth

in a new-to-me pattern

called Fisherman's Simple Rib.

 The contact paper peeled off without a hiitch

and the design laid nice and flat and firm!

A victory and an exciting beginning to this project.

On to grout later today!

 The LeMoyne Star quilt is all sewn together.

It looks a bit like a mosaic from this angle!

Right now the top is 63" x 81"

I have plans for the borders because I want to end up 

with a queen sized quilt which will mean borders

that total 10" on each side.

It looks good on paper now but I need a trip to the fabric store 

to pick up several colors to complement the scraps!

A Home Day!

 How sweet it is to have a day to be home!

I took advantage of the morning and set the tile adhesive on the birdbath.

Other than the awkwardness of setting the contact paper/tiles in place,

it was a piece of cake!

 I probably used too much adhesive because it squished up between the tiles in a few places

but I will let you know tomorrow how it worked out 

removing the contact paper after the adhesive sets!

 During E's nap, I did some piecing on the 

Winding Ways blocks.

A much better piecing order emerged with the hour of work 

so I won't ignore this design on the wall anymore!

I also pieced all the rows of the LeMoyne Stars.

I hope to sew all the rows together to have a top done soon!

I still have to figure out how I want the borders on this

but that is joy for another day!

Detection

The boys and I have been doing some metal detecting

around the yard.

We have found quite a bit of scrap metal 

but some is very interesting!
The more decorative pieces I will add to the others
and make a plaque of the interesting shapes!

This bottle is pretty and still has its lid.

This one is an older bottle because it pre-dates the screw on cap.

We admire the beauty of the objects 

and the boys love getting dirty and digging holes!
And so do I!

This is a large (8") disc of heavy metal.
It sure made the detector go crazy.
It will go to Bill's scrap metal pile.
Another day, another beep....

Full Week Already

 I've had to say so long for now to my parents-

here they posed for pics with great grands, 

my youngest sons two children.

 Mom and I sat and knitted while it rained outside the car;

we even played some cards!

All while waiting to pick up the boys after a visit.

I've never seen a 'cruise' ship in the St Johns River ;

we decided that it was an older model now in private use.

Wouldn't it be fun to have our own knitting cruise!?

 The Fringe Tree is in full bloom-

it always goes like this in a few days after being bare all winter.

 A sure sign that it is nearing the time for my parents to leave.

Bittersweet goodbyes but

the flowers are so sweet and fragrant.

 Will had his cast removed!  He was a bit apprehensive but he did fine!

 And he is adjusting to his new brace which he will wear for the next month!

And we refreshed ourselves at the beach-still has a bit of a chill in the wind but the sunshine was beautiful.  The boys played in the bit of surge on the shoreline-the wind was still strong and the rip currents were at their worst.  We had a very sweet time at the beach and had a hard time leaving!

And a new child's sweater is cast on for Eli,

who is pictured above.

I started it on the ride to the beach and knit on the way home, too.

I love how a top down sweater really moves along,

like beginning a shawl!

(I knit the first sweater for his sister so I bought some more of the same 

yarn to knit him a matching sweater.)

The pattern is Felix's Cardigan

by Jacki Kelly.