Sunday, May 29, 2011

Wardrobe work!

Hello everyone.  My bathrobe has needed help for quite a while.  First I thought Replacement...but I'm so fond of it.  Then I asked myself what is its worst feature and could I fix it.  The answer...sleeves! and yes...
So...here are the sleeve ends which I cut off:


And here is the improved version:

To do this I deconstructed an old nightie that also needed help...the rest of it is going to become a summer skirt eventually, maybe soon!  Jude's classes have definitely helped me become braver about this sort of thing; my classmates have all been inspirational, particularly Deb and Grace. Thank you!

Next, sigh.  The little hummingbird from my last post has gone away...she was sitting on her beautiful little nest, but the neighborhood crow ended that happy story.  Not that there is just one crow...there are many, many.  This happened last year also...the squirrels and the crows are very dominant here.

Here is another trivet/prayer mat,  "bee star":
It's one of several prayers for the underdog, for example, that the hummingbird might evolve to not so easily attract the crow.  I just finished reading River of Doubt by Candice Millard, about Theodore Roosevelt's harrowing adventures in the Amazonian type jungle, and how life in the jungle there evolved.  So, it's easy to see how a crow can find a hummingbird nest...I wish mother nature could assist the hummingbird a little more here.  Seems like I should be able to help. 

That's all for now!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Hidden treasure

Hello everyone.  I've been a bit absent lately.  Not sure why. Just because, I guess.  Here, but not here.  Anyway, I've missed you and I want to show you a discovery from my last train trip which took me through Grand Junction, Colorado.  There is a beautiful old station there that has been partially renovated, but the work seems to have stopped...this is a view of it from the upper level of the train:

Walk around back and look through a grimy old window...(this is a reflection of me doing that):

See the little arch above the camera? That is this:
You can't see this from the outside, for some reason.  It's one of the windows in the top photo.  If only someone would buy this building and finish restoring it.  Another nice thing about Grand Junction is there is a little store there that sells interesting items.  They used to have produce, but that stopped.  One of my wishes is that Amtrak let local craft people and farmers sell good things at the stations.

Here is a backyard visitor!

and Voila!... something I've been working on...the bluebird of happiness taking a night flight...
There is an opportunity to sell things coming up, so I've been making a little collection, to see what will happen.

That's all for now!