Category Archives: creative

cottage garden, photos Leave a comment

Visitors to the Front Garden

Monarch butterfly

This evening, after my daily 15 minutes of weeding, I sat down in my front garden to enjoy the flowers and flying things.

I saw a female hummingbird last week, so I was only moderately surprised (but still super thrilled) to see a male ruby-throated hummingbird stopping to enjoy nearly every single milkweed bloom, sharing space with the giant fuzzy bumblebee that was also enjoying the buffet.

What DID surprise me was the monarch butterfly flitting overhead. It didn’t stop to taste any of the flowers — it just fluttered in loops and figure-eights above the garden.

When it finally lit on a tree branch, I stood and slowly crept up to it with my cameraphone snapping away.

Butterfly camera roll

It let me get within a couple inches of it, and didn’t fly away until my phone and I had backed off.

Enjoy the milkweed, Your Majesty.

sewing Leave a comment

Post-Pincushion Project #1

After my successful pincushion project, my next venture was a pillowcase for my son’s travel-sized pillow  I’d gotten some cartoon fabric remnants at a good price on eBay, so I used one that I knew Connor would like, but that wouldn’t kill me if I ruined it: Mickey Mouse.

Luckily, The Seasoned Homemaker’s tutorial on making an envelope pillow with French seams was well-worded with helpful photos, so I only messed up a couple of times (and those were minor and easily hidden).

Mickey pillowcase

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Sewist in the Making

Yesterday, after four long weeks, I finally got my sewing machine back from the shop. It got a long-needed tune-up, plus a few new parts and a new foot pedal. My Singer 476 is now working as good as new (I assume — it was a wedding present to my late mother-in-law in the early 1970’s).

Since I know I need some remedial sewing skills before I can make anything remotely fancy, I’ve set myself some basic projects to teach myself the easy stuff first. Today’s project: a pillow-style pincushion.

Pincushion process

Things I learned today:

  • How to thread my machine: mainly, to make sure it’s threaded properly so I can set the tension
  • Which one of the bobbins in my sewing box does not, in fact, go with my machine
  • Where the sweet spot on my new foot pedal is
  • How and when to slow down before pivoting a corner

Yeah, I know that a teeny tiny stuffed pillow isn’t much of a project… but I’m pretty damn proud of myself, anyway.

Next project: an envelope pillowcase for my son’s old toddler-sized (aka travel-sized) pillow.

Eventually, I’m hoping to be able to tailor my clothes and my son’s — within reason, like adding pockets and darts and making shirts skinnier — and make some clothing and home decor items. I have lots of ideas for things I want to learn and to try.

I feel a little silly, being so stoked about something simple like four straight-stitched lines… but everybody’s got to start somewhere.

gardening, photos Leave a comment

A Surprise Bloom

Tulip

I saw an unexpected pop of color this evening as I looked out from my sunroom. Once I threw on my slip-on Skechers and went out to investigate, at the base of the butterfly bush I found this lovely tulip.

Which I didn’t plant.

That means it’s been there under my nose for six springs and either never bloomed or never been noticed. Nothing else in that bed is that particular color, though, so I can’t imagine I would have missed that pop of coral.

Welcome to the Early Spring Border, little tulip.

depression, writing 1 Comment

Blogging of a Personal Nature

I read an article recently on kottke.org that assured me that I am not, in fact, the last personal (i.e. non-topical) blogger out there. In reading some of the blogs he referenced, I realized that I haven’t been keeping up with regular, “real” updates. Sure, every month I post a Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day post, and I’ve been getting behind on my Cookbook of the Month posts, and I’ve completely stopped posting monthly weight updates (because what’s the use), and I have several somewhat time-sensitive posts in the queue — mostly about the vacation we took last month. But the old-school life update post has become kind of a rarity lately — which is a shame, since so many minor happenings will slip past undocumented if I’m not careful. I don’t really journal longhand unless I’m trying to work through something I can’t really post online, so if it’s not here, it’s probably not anywhere to be found. Except in my brain, and that’s kind of iffy the older I get.

So, here’s one topic I’ve been meaning to bring up again: depression.

Specifically, treatment via medication.

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