Thursday, May 31, 2012

Pluggin away


" The Way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."
Dolly Parton.

My brain is fried. I have spent the morning writing and editing. So ready to pick up a hook here and enjoy. But I must do the nuts and bolts part of this too. Without the pattern writing I wouldn't have much to offer people. So here I sit trying to make what I do make sense to others. Not always an easy task.
Almost done with this one though. I am debating though whether to continue on and finish it or take a break and work on my skirt.
Oh I will probably be a good girl and finish it up. It will be nice to have this behind me. It is the last thing that needed written up for my latest book.
All I will have to do next week is proof everything and It will all be ready to go. Well in time for it's deadline.

I have no new pictures so I went back and found a few that I haven't posted yet.
Hopefully this weekend we will find something worth while to take photos of.  But we have to go so far to find decent hiking this time of year. I miss our winter weather already. And we haven't even got into the real heat yet.

Well if we aren't able to go hiking I will have lots of time to crochet. Have to look at the bright side here.


On this hot day this is where I am wishing to be. But alas I must be good and get this writing done.

The 4 peaks at twilight. For purple mountains majesty? What do you think.

Did a quarter turn and there was the Weavers Needle.

This was my Palo Verde tree in bloom and the potato bush behind it.
I have to remind myself we get our color at a different time of year around here.





Tuesday, May 29, 2012

" Take it one day at a time, but make sure to do something to move you towards your goals every day. "
Unknown

I thoroughly enjoyed my long weekend. Not that I quit working. I just took it with me. That's one of the great things about what I do. My crocheting goes everywhere with me.
True I don't crochet while hiking, But I definitely crochet getting there. Anytime I am a passenger my hook is flying.
My skirt has made great progress this weekend. Should be done within the next week.

We got my swamp cooler in my green house and moved the plants in. Still need to get the shade cloth on it. But it hasn't arrived yet. But I had to do something. Between the birds, the varmints, and the hot dry weather my plants were suffering.
Hopefully now nothing but me can reach the plants and they have nice moist air to help them deal with the hot.
We shall see. So far my luck at gardening down here hasn't been too great. I will figure it out though. I am stubborn if nothing else.

We did go hiking on Saturday. This will be our last trip to the Salt river until fall though. The main reason is the tubers. It's a popular tubing location and the people are everywhere on the river. I don't mind them so much, but I do mind what they do to the river. They leave behind quite the mess. I am a firm believer of respecting our environment. If they would not deface things and take what the bring in with them. I would say enjoy the river and have a great time. But there are some that just don't get it. So Sad and I find it hard to look at.

I have pictures of a flower that showed up on one of my succulents in a pot I have out in front of the house. When I first looked over and saw it I thought ( Now who the heck put a fake flower in my planter. ) Surprise it wasn't fake. It was beautiful.

Now isn't this just gorgeous. Who would have thought

A shot of the crowd on the river. They were definitely having a great time.
It was cool enough we tried to take Pip with us. We ended up putting on sock booties as the air might have been cooler but the ground was still pretty hot. He did fine once we protected his feet. But he wasn't as thrilled about hiking as normal. Still too dang hot for his taste.

Loved how the river just sparkles behind the shot of the flowers along the river.

Another shot of the the river and flowers.

The flowers on this tree were definitely attracting the bees. They smelled pretty good too. We had lunch close to one of these trees. They are the same as the one in my front yard. It's my favorite tree on the place.

And I will leave you with one more shot of this beautiful bloom.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Need to catch up with myself

“Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you.”
Rashi
 
Yesterday I spent the day with a friend talking crochet. That makes for a great day all it's self.
 
Today I submitted my entries for the CGOA Design contest. Wrapped them all up, Tagged them and shipped them on their way. Hopefully they will be well received. But this has taken most of my day to get done.
 
About the time I thought about settling in to do some serious crochet work the mail came.
I received my copy of magazine Crochet. I was pleased and surprised to see my Coaster and Napkin ring set in it. They named it Golden Spokes. So I am doing the happy dance here again........
 
Of course I had to take the time to share it with all of you.
 
Maybe just maybe I will get to pick up my hook when I am done here and get busy on this skirt. I really want to get it done so I have something to special to wear at the CGOA convention in Manchester. It's just over a month away so my fingers had better start flying on this.
 
I am posting pictures of the Coaster and Napkin Rings and my greenhouse floor that I did.  Also some charming birds that have decided one of my shrubs is the best restaurant in town. 
 
Here is the Coaster and Napkin Ring set that is published in Crochet Magazine.

My green house floor all done. Still need to sweep some of the sand up. But this should keep any critters from digging their way into my green house and still provide me with good drainage.

These Lesser Goldfinches are definitely enjoying themselves here.

What ever type of bush this is they are finding the seeds good eating.
They have spent the last week giving it a good going over.
 
 

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Getting done, Feeling good.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
Mahatma Gandhi
I just finished putting the latest piece on the blocking board. Pip loves it when I do a big piece and pull out the mats I use to block that sort of piece. I am right down on his level then.  Pretty soon I have a nose nudging it's way under my elbow. Had to have some attention. Once he had his pet he was willing to leave me alone and let me get the job done. But not before.
 
My greenhouse floor is all done.  Once I get my shade cloth and get it on I should be able to start moving plants into it. Oh and get the swamp cooler hooked up so I can control the temp and humidity in there. Not going to try and keep it cool. Just want to keep it from cooking the poor plants. I was in tears the other day though when I realized my baby acorn squash had shriveled up. I would have sworn I was giving them enough water. But things dry out so fast here in this heat. Thats were being able to control the humidity should help.
I also will be glad to remove temptation from the birds. I watched a cactus wren help himself to my tomatoes the other day. I knew a bird was getting them. Now I know who the culprit is.
Gardening on the edge of the desert is definitely a learning experience. But I shall prevail.
 
I am going to spend the afternoon playing with a couple ideas. Tomorrow I will be picking back up my skirt seriously. I do want it done in time for Manchester.
I decided I couldn't do a post without pictures so I decided to post pictures of the birds we saw on our last hike,
 
This bird was definitely busy having lunch.
Think he needs a napkin.

I like this shot of the Cactus Wren. He looks like he is dancing.

This pair of mallards were quite peaceful looking enjoying the river.

This little fellow kept us company on one of our breaks.

Don't know what got his attention down below but I liked this shot.

Of course our Morning Dove that tattled on the squirrel.

These two black birds were doing a courting dance.
They were so caught up in it they didn't even notice when their lady love left. 

A Red Winged Black bird.

And another Cormorant, We saw lots of them that day.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Quiet weekend

“Chase your dreams until you catch them...and then dream, catch, and dream again! ”
Dee Marie, Sons of Avalon: Merlin's Prophecy
 
We are staying home this weekend. Seems strange but nice. Settling in to watch movies and crochet. I am hoping to have this last piece done by the end of the weekend. Monday at the latest.
I do have one small project that will be jumping on my hook as soon as this is done. The idea came to me early this morning. Of course I had to jump up and sketch it out. I did a rough swatch this morning on the way to bowling. So It shouldn't take me long to do the finished piece.
Then my skirt will be my primary focus.
All my entries are done.
My floor to for the greenhouse is almost done. only 21 more pavers to put in on Monday morning. Ordered my shade cloth as that will be necessity around here. Once that is here and installed than I should be ready to start using my green house. I don't dare yet. They would cook in there with this heat. I really don't want my veggies precooked before I even get then picked.
 
Well I have a few more flower pictures for you
The blooms on this prickle pear were lovely.

I love the delicate beauty of this tiny flower.

We finally got a chance to get a good picture of Saguaro in bloom

The bees definitely love them. There was a steady drone anytime we were near one.

Another prickly pear bloom from a different angle.


And Marv's shot of the lone bush of red beauty.

And one last view of the small delicate charmer.
 

Thursday, May 17, 2012

One step closer

“Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously.”
Hunter S. Thompson
I did spend a little time working on my green house floor. Not long though, it just got way too warm to work that hard in. So I will do a bit more in the morning. I will get it done. Then I have to figure out how to put my shade cloth.
The rest of the morning I spent reworking part of piece for the book I am working on. It was okay as it was, but it's better now. I had been thinking about this and I knew I could let it go as it was. Now it's done and I feel better. I will be proud to send it off.
Now I can turn my focus to the last item for the book. Shouldn't take too long as it is well started. Will get that done and a few patterns written up then I will feel free to start back to work on my skirt.  Can hardly wait. This will be good motivation to get done here.
I have some pictures from our last hike. I told you I was behind in all my picture editing. So I Will take the next couple days and get these pictures posted.
Not sure if we will be able to go hiking this weekend. Finding someplace that isn't going to fry us may be tough. Ah well It will cool down again this fall.
We found this bush down by the river. It was the only one like we have seen. It was so beautiful. But then I think all flowers are beautiful.
We say this dove land in the tree. When we focused in on it we dismissed it as an interesting  shot until it registered on my tired brain that he wasn't alone. He and this squirrel were having a stand off of some sort. Definitely much more inter sting.


Marv caught this heron in flight. He is so much better getting this type of shot than I am .

We saw a lot of cormorant on the river that day. This one let me get a shot of him.

Cat tails against a summer sky.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

One word at a time.....

“Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it.”
Andy Rooney
 
Oh if I could just figure out how to design without the necessity of writing down my patterns. But there is no way to make the pattern available without taking the time out from my crocheting and putting it down in black and white.
If you haven't guessed. I spent the morning writing up the pattern for the shawl I just finished. I have 2 other patterns that need to be finished up this week too.
 I did scare myself and couldn't find my notes for one of my designs this morning. One of the 2 that  I still need to finish writing up. Definitely a moment of panic. My notes are pretty explicit so are a necessity for a good pattern.  I did find them finally. I had put them someplace safe. They are now in their own page protector like they should have been in the first place.
  This afternoon I finished clipping Pippie. Wanted to get him a summer clip before it gets any hotter here. I did part yesterday, but my cheap clippers cried uncle and quit on me. So I had to go buy me new clippers today. Much nicer clippers. Figured I would be money ahead in the long run this way. I should have known better than to buy a cheap set in the first place. After all the years clipping horses you would think I would know better than to try and use inferior equipment.
  Oh and I have baby acorn squash.... They are so cute right now. I need to finish the floor of the green house here soon or I will not get any tomatoes. Something is eating them as soon as they start to ripen. One of the birds from what I can tell. I feel like I need to  keep my veggie plants under lock and key here. Something wants to eat whatever I grow so far. Hopefully I will have time next week to get the floor done. I will have to work in the early mornings or I will cook out there.
Well it is time to settle in for an afternoon of crocheting. I have one design I want to rework a bit for the book. Then can concentrate on finishing up the final design. It's getting closer to being done and will not take long once I make it my primary concern. 
 Well I am going to post a few more pictures of my trip home. I promised no pictures of the family. Or they wouldn't let me take pictures. But the flowers never mind if I take their pictures.  
The lilacs were just starting to really boom. Oh the heavenly scent. These are one of my favorite spring flowers. Just glad I got to see some in bloom and enjoy them.

Flying up we flew over the Grand Canyon. Managed to get this shot. This can definitely make one feel humble.

One of the orchids in the green house.

Dwarf Bearded Iris. I am going to try growing some Iris here. I miss them so much
Part of the Japanese gardens in  Manito park. So peaceful.

The falls in the Japanese garden.

Blossoms on one of the trees.

A fuchsia in the greenhouse. One of the plant I do miss from home.

Flying home we went over Mt Rainer. Thought this was an interesting shot.
 

Monday, May 14, 2012

Home again!

“Like all magnificent things, it's very simple.”
Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting
For once I have good reason for not posting. I haven't been home the last 4 days. I went home to see my family. My mother in particular since it was Moms Day this past weekend.
Had a great trip. Got to spend time with my sisters as well as my mom. We went yard saling on Friday. Which of course was a blast. I found a few small items that had to follow me home.
Then had a fantastic dinner at Clinkerdaggers restaurant. Good food and good company, what more can you ask for.
Saturday my sister Laura went and checked out the Gardens at Manito park. That was always one of my favorite places to go as a kid. You know what it is still a great place to go. I will be posting pictures today from there.
We also went to the Campbell house. Now that house has to be what set the standards for me as far as what a home should and could be. I would still love to have a house like it someday. Not likely to happen. But we all need dreams.
Family dinner on Saturday night and then travel on Sunday.
I did take a design to work on while I as gallivanting around. I will finish it up today. If I had just done what I had originally planned it would be done by not. But it wouldn't be quite so nice either. I let my what if button go to work on this one and I must admit I am very pleased with the results. This will be one of my entries for the design contest.
As much as I enjoyed the trip I am glad to be home. Me and my hook are going to settle in for the day and keep each other company.
I will post about half of my pictures today. Too many to post all at once. Hope you enjoy.
The green house at the Park has always been filled with the most lovely blooms.
These orchids were so breathtaking. I do thank my parents for taking me there as a kid.
 It inspired my love of flowers.

This is the Campell house. It has always been on my want list.
I still love the quiet elegance of this house.

In the Japanese garden in the park these blossoms were floating in one of the fountains. How serene is this?

The mallards were enjoying the pond in the Japanese garden and I was enjoying them.

I really liked how the sunlight played with this pagoda.

And finishing up with more orchids from the green house.