dew drop inn

 We've had especially heavy dew lately, which is easily seen on abandoned webs.

It's amazing...like silvery drops of mercury.

This time of year, I see spider webs everywhere...spun in between old hosta spikes...

...or tucked away in a sheltered place.

I'm glad we've got this dew to offer some moisture, because it is so hot and dry now.  I'm sure that it's been nearly 6 weeks with no rain, and there's no rain in the forecast.  It's gotten so bad that hearing rain on a T.V. show provokes a strong and wistful reaction.  Rain (I think I understand that scene in Tolkien's The Return of the King when Frodo tells Sam that he can't recall the taste of strawberries)! Our morning glories are wilted by mid-morning...

...but somehow, the rest of the garden seems to be thriving.  I almost never water, so I'm not quite sure how this is possible!

It's still a challenge to keep the goldfinches away from some of the flowers.

Claudia is doing her part...

...but so many flowers are being completely plucked bare.  A cloud of goldfinches rises from the garden if disturbed, every day.  They can have the sunflowers, but I've started covering my zinnias with small organza bags.  Hopefully there will be enough seeds for us both!

It's been a really rough summer, between Covid isolation (we're officially a hot spot), the news cycle (grim), and seeing so many people nakedly reveal their true hearts on Facebook (people suck).  I'm losing my battle to stay positive, so I'm taking a hiatus from Facebook and all other news for a while.  And I'm surrounding myself in rainbows, cheerful rainbows!

These gloves will be done soon.  This glove needs a thumb and a mate, and it will be ready to go!

I've been very slowly working on a rainbow quilt, while babying my shoulder.  One thousand, two hundred eighty tiny 2.5" half square triangles.  

To make them with the 8-at-a-time method, you have to iron your fabric...measure...cut...sew...cut...iron...and then meticulously trim to size.  It's been a very lengthy process, but I'm nearly finished.  Just a handful of squares to go!  Then I have to decide...do I want to do a jumbled-color design?

Do I want to go in "rainbow order"?

It's not only the color juxtaposition, but also the design itself.  Do I want to be orderly, like the above photo, or do I want an interesting positioning, like the pattern calls for?

The only way to be sure is to lay everything out, over and over again, and compare.  At least I have help!

He's been VERY helpful in general during the sewing process.

I don't think I could manage it without his vocal support!

Stay sane, and have a great week!

a vole-t from the blue

Late summer...a time for relaxing, enjoying the beautiful flowers...and a little teeth-gnashing and fist-grinding as well.

They're ba-a-ack!

Every flower from this root system is infected with pernicious eriophyid mites.  See the green sprouting in the centers?  These flowers are goners and my only hope is that cutting the stem back to the ground keeps these mites from spreading. 

And speaking of pests...aphids.  Aphids!  My foxgloves are infested.

They may look like an anime character come to life...

...but they are major trouble and desiccate the plant.  I hate using chemicals, so I sprayed them with Dr. Bronner's castile soap.  They seemed dead (but still clinging) the next day, so I gave them a good shot with the hose.  It was pretty satisfying.

I probably say it every year, but I'm really looking forward to fall.  I'm trying not to look for signs yet, since we're about a month away, but I keep noticing hints.

Acorns!

Geese in formation, or very nearly...

An occasional fall-colored leaf...

...and it's the time of year for spiders to come creeping.  For a while, I cleaned our front porch of webs every morning, but they're just back again the next day.  So I let them be.

(The next couple of photos are not for the spider-averse!!)

We've got a female orb weaver in our front window, absolutely massive.  By day she huddles in the exterior window frame crevice...

...and by night, she sits in the middle of her web and waits for food.  Yesterday, I noticed two very oddly-shaped spiders near her sleep-spot.  Is it just me, or does this remind you of the position you'd take when watching Saturday morning cartoons?

It's a male and the same species as the female but much smaller.  At first I thought he was dead...maybe a post-mating snack for the female...but I gave him a little poke and he sprang startlingly to life.  Apparently this is just the male sleeping pose.  She will probably eat him pretty soon...I check every day!

There's a lot of things happening on the porch besides the mini-dramas of spiders.  Claudia has been vigilant about catching rodents.

I originally thought she'd caught a mouse, but closer inspection revealed it to be a vole.

Voles are terrible garden pests, eating bulbs and plant roots.  Claudia is earning her keep for sure!

Construction dust continues.  The pond behind our property is undergoing a major expansion, so the back fields are full of bulldozers and dump trucks.

On our property, there's constant hammering and activity.  Construction is ongoing with both the barn and house. We don't quite have a dining room yet.

It seems like our little house is just full of holes right now.  The electrician is running new lines...

...and the mud room is waiting to be walled in.

Meanwhile, I ripped the carpet from the stairs and am trying to decide how I want to finish the job. I like the look of painted stairs, but might just go with some kind of wood cladding.

I can't put my craft room fully together until our drywall guy does the finish work on a just-moved window (and, of course, I unearth the rest of my craft items from storage)...but at least the cats are getting some use out of those Kallaxes!

I did put the finishing touches on a little space in my office, though, and for an amazing price.  Have a look at my new puzzle station! 

I scored this wooden adjustable draft table at a storage unit sale for THREE DOLLARS.  I bought some felt and velcro at JoAnn's ($8?) and Todd affixed it to the surface of the table (it's removable, so I can use the table for watercolors later).  The side table is metal, with drop leaves.  I found it for $10 at the IU Surplus Store.  Spray paint was $5.  So this amazing station came together for around $30!  I have a lot of trouble with neck and shoulder pain, and the felt - which the puzzle pieces cling to - allows me to look straight ahead instead of staring down.  It's a huge work surface...nearly 4' x 3'.  The puzzle above is 2000 pieces.  Here's how a normal 1000 piece puzzle fits:

There's even room for the box lid, which naturally clings to the felt surface.  I'm very excited about this little oasis amid the chaos!  I'll upgrade the rug and chair when I have time, but for now, it's perfect.  I used to start feeling pain after about 20 minutes with a puzzle, but this completely eliminates the problem. 

We HOPE the dining room is done by next week, and then we'll tackle the flooring and painting ourselves.  We HOPE the barn is done within three weeks, and then we'll empty our 6 storage units and finally move all of our belongings and business merchandise to our property.   Then it will just be a month or so of finishing touches.  Done with everything by Christmas?  A girl can dream!

Have a great week!

cookie dough and color woe

Twice in one week is kind of a cookie record for me, since I don't bake as much any more, but I couldn't resist these no-fail pumpkin snickerdoodles.

I replaced the white chocolate with cinnamon chips (of course) and they are officially my go-to snickerdoodle now (which might sound dramatic, but I have collected over 20 recipes for snickerdoodles alone, so being able to simplify my life here is very pleasing!).  I just ordered Sally's new cookbook and think that I'll be baking cookies again this week. 

I've been sewing quite a bit.  I've started on my Farm Girl Vintage Sampler quilt and have put together four squares so far.

I continue to struggle with color choices.  I was thinking, "Bright, bright!" with gritted teeth and put together the upper left block, which has a pop of red, but wouldn't exactly be considered colorful.  I'm more pleased with the stacked bowls and chick (embroidered legs forthcoming!), but I'm going to have to toss the block on the lower right.  The pink tulips look annoyingly like leopard print from a distance, the center pinwheel doesn't "pop," and the frame around it fades into the background.  I've remade two squares three times, which might sound insane overly careful, but I really want to push myself to work with color and make squares that go together, even though a wide variety of fabrics are being used.  I spent hours this weekend tidying/organizing some "bright!  bright!" scrap fabric into mix-and-match piles...

...and hopefully it will become intuitive by the end.  I have gotten pretty good at something I used to struggle with:  fixing mistakes.

Here, a piece of fabric was probably accidentally sliced, then frayed.

I'm a perfectionist, but there's no way I was going to pull out that green piece and try to re-sew it accurately, or toss the block altogether.  I cut a piece of matching fabric, folded it, and pinned it over the mistake.

I used clear thread and whip-stitched the edges.  It took about 5 minutes to do three sides.  Then I sewed this half of the block to another one, and the "fix" basically disappears.  All you see is matching fabric.  Once this is quilted, it will be even harder to see.  Hooray for quick and easy fixes!

Other than work and sewing like a maniac, I've been enjoying the cooler weather.  We've had a resurgence of gardenias:

More beautiful fungus:

Actually, I'm not sure what that bottom one is...an insect gall, maybe?

Pretty seed pods:

Berries...

...and more abandoned webs.

I've been growing cat grass in our sunny window.  This is FIVE DAYS OF GROWTH...from seed!

Bosewichte loves it.  He sits on the kitchen rug and waits politely for me to notice and bring the pot down to his level.  It's a nice treat for him and keeps him out of my house plants.  Tabitha isn't interested, though.  She's more interested in sleeping than eating!

Have a great week!