Camelama

SQUEE!

My friend Astrid went to the Sheldon booth at San Diego Comic Con and got a sketch in the new book, just for me!

YAY! Flaco in nautical togs.  I *love* it.

Some Sheldon craftiness.

No, not Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory, but Sheldon the webcomic!

I was experimenting with different tinting techniques on flour sack dishtowels, and needed some interesting things to color and quickly embroider. So I thought of Sheldon charactures, colored from Sunday comics (M-Sat they're black-and-white). They turned out ok, so I sent them off to the Sheldon creator - hope he has fun with them, drying dishes!

There's Flaco the Lizard:

 

An Oso the Pug, saying "Hype!":

Arthur the Duck (saying "Ducks don't do dishes!"):

 

Sheldon (saying "I'll pay you to do my dishes!"):

Dante, who doesn't say anything because he's an artist and is being contemplative:

And finally, the man who creates a good life out of all their insanity and chaos, GRAMPS!  He's saying "And voila, clean dishes!"

UFF DA. MELTING.

The NOAA weather service forecast.  Oh. My. GOD.  98 today 100 tomorrow.  99.  Hey, only 90 on Friday, what a relief!

I can't even THINK I'm so hot. Even about stupid little things, like, is today trash day or not? I've only been here 11 years in this house, I should know when trash day is. I'm reduced to eating Saltines and putting my head under the faucet every hour or so.

Because of course there's no air conditioning - it's Seattle! It doesn't get hot here!

UFF. DA.

The neighbor's cat has been following the shade up and down the driveway all day:

Poor Stinky.

My cat has been like this most of the day:
Inside the dark infinitesimally cooler house, dozing in the heat, keeping an ear out for sounds of dogs or trash trucks coming down the street (the screen door is open to try to catch even more of a breeze).

The Maid - Etsy

This little gal will hold your precious items for you!

Sister Donatello - Etsy

Isn't this a great gal?

Yarn Yard Sale haul

Today I went to Not Martha's Yarn Yard sale, and brought home a great haul of fabric from a few of the tables there.

Her table was jam-packed with buyers before the yard sale even really officially opened!

My haul:

(not from notmartha) This vase fabric has some silvery sheen to it outlining the vases, and in the paisley pattern:

A trio of blues, from NotMartha and others:

Lovely bright flowers (all NotMartha):
 

And a great fat quarter (actually random sizes) pack from NotMartha (It was pictures of these packs on her blog that spurred me to show up);(That's shushi fabric on the bottom, where it says "Smelt Egg")

The place was *PACKED* even before 10am. I'm glad I got there on time! So nice to meet Not Martha and to chat with all the gals there - most folks I talked to were very friendly and the early ones were grinning at folks who started pulling up near them on the street. We all knew we were kindred spirits!

Now I'm back home and keeping cool, we're in for some 90+ weather for the next few days. The eeeevil evil sun is out and so I'm inside!  :)

Baked Cat

My insane cat has been insisting on going outside, sprawling out in the sun, and baking herself in the 90+ degree heat and blazing sun.

After an hour or so, she comes back inside ... and wants to CUDDLE.  Aieeee, hot sweaty gravel-y cat! Plastered against already-hot-and-sweaty me!  Nooooo.

Starting the roll:

Over:

Over:

Oomph - almost there!

Done!

She was then ready for a couple hours of baking in the sun.

And as I type, she has plastered herself against me, shoving her hot little sweaty furry body up against my leg.  I love you, cat, but nooooooo!

Yardwork weekend

I popped down to the parents' house this weekend and helped clean up the yard a bit.

I was busy working on one section when I turned to find Mom had set out a shallow bowl of plants - and it was as if my eyes could not focus on it, I couldn't figure out what the HECK it was that she'd put out there...

 

Turns out she was being silly, and just to tease me, had gathered up all the 'finished' lilac blossoms that I was cutting off the bush, and stuck them stem-down into the bowl. But the joke was on her because we loved how it looked, and we left it there! It's cute - and she already has had "what is that fascinating plant?" comments on it from the neighbors. I love that she gets silly like me sometimes.

Here's a closeup:

 

My favorite part of her yard is in the back where it's all shady and cool and breezy, and an old douglas fir trunk has been rotting away over the years, while shamrocks strive to cover it completely.

 

The birdbath is a silly little plastic thing she got from some rummage sale, just because we like chickadees. It sits on the stump precariously, where depends on what's fallen in lately:

Here's one more angle of the shamrock hummock, just because I love it so much:

What a lovely way to serve up olive oil

I do not *need* this dish, but oh how I want it! I love the image with the oil in the dish - and I'd love to try it with balsamic vinegar in the very smallest heart.  Or herbs etc, fun trying out new looks.

If you're a sap, this trailer will make you cry.

I tear up just thinking about it again, and it's not even really anything tear-jerking in a usual sense.

I doubt I'll try to see this in a theater - I'll wait for DVD so I can sob at home without worrying about anyone seeing me (or hearing me honk when I blow my nose!).

Admiral Baby

Have a nautical family? With a new hand on deck? Send them to sleep in a bed fit for an Admiral's baby...

I want a mixer.

I'm in the market for a good mixer/beater/whatever you call it.  Not a food processor, because I just don't cook like that, I'm talking a beater like you make cookies in.

Like the Kitchenaid mixer:

 

What mixers do you like? What to avoid?

Off I go to read forums and Consumer Reports on mixers.....

Western Messenger Bag - commissioned project

I had a sewing project commission that I finished last week, styled after one I sent to my swap partner ohsweetie (who sent me the map envelopes).

The outside was this fun brown corduroy fabric with horses and brands embroidered on it:

The interior was a fun print from Alexander Henry called "Sagebrush Sweethearts", in blue. I made one external pocket and one internal pocket:

The cat had to get in on the photoshoot somehow:

With some scraps of the lining I also whipped up a lavendar sachet and a key fob, as little extras inside the bag.

Gold Rush Ghost Towns map stationary

I received a lovely package of goodies from a swap partner, ohsweetie, today - and I just have to share the stationary she made!

ohsweetie took old maps to Gold Rush ghost towns and made envelopes out of them, added some old stamps for fun, some recycled paper for letters, and labels.

 

 Can't wait to mail these out to friends!

Summer bounty from the neighbor

My neighbor has an incredible yard, full of all sorts of wonderful flowers and shrubs and plants no one knows anything about. People give her plants, she finds them on sale places, and has even rescued some from a construction site (with permission, of course!).

Any flowers or fruit that come through our fence into my yard are my property, she insists. So over the years I've enjoyed flowers every summer, so many different kinds that bloomed from late winter to late fall! And once in a while, even a winter bloomer.

So imagine my delight when she planted blueberry bushes along the fenceline! Free fruit! It's taken a few years but yesterday I realized patience was paying off:

Woooo! Blueberry pancakes, here I come!

And a little later this summer, there will be grapes:

And on the other side of the house, my little apple tree has a gift for me...

The first rosy blush on one of the four little apples growing on my tree.  

It's a regular fruit salad in this yard right now.

Grapes of summer

No wrath here, just a bowlful of luscious sweet green seedless grapes.

 

The bowl is one of the last few pieces left from my grandmother Lola's set. I inherited the 'set' when she died - there were about 6 small plates, 2 of these bowls, and about 4 saucers. She used the saucers for her African Violet pots, so it's not like this was some cherished family china. One bowl cracked and stained inside the crack, so it's not even really good for company use now either. I like using them for pasta - and grapes!

Of course I can't pass up a close-up shot:

'Scuse me, I'm going to go eat some more grapes - got some freezing now for later, too! Yum!

Maru and the big box

And the pyrotechnics begin....

We are not amused.

Happy 4th of July!! Let the Muppets help you celebrate....

Like Cake Wrecks, I agree that this is fantastic:

I'll be hiding out from the evil sun, and spending today sewing and embroidering at home. I don't do well in heat and crowds and sun. I'll pop out to the park on the bluffs and watch the fireworks across the Sound once it's dark, and then head back home to keep the cat from freaking out entirely due to our neighbor's fireworks. Last night was bad enough, tonight I fear the house burning down if I'm not here to hose it off after each barrage the idiotic neighbors produce... Uff da. Ah, well, we're all happy to be here and to celebrate our independence!