The Clouds of October - 12

Sky Blanket

The Clouds of October - 11

Feeling playful

The Clouds of October - 10

Above the clouds, blue sky prevails 

Harvest Time

Yesterday I harvested my little pumpkins!

I have 22 gourds altogether in 5 different colorways. I think some of those green pumpkins may have turned more orange if they'd had more time on the vine. I turned that round one toward the center of the photo upside down to show how the color changed.

But, you know, I planted late in the season, mid-July, and I wanted to harvest them by Halloween. They're "curing" in the back yard for a couple days.

The largest is a bit smaller than a cantaloupe. The tiny one is smaller than my thumb.

They're all so sweet. I adore that I got so many varieties from my small patch.

These will all be used for decoration.

I'll save the seeds at the end of the season. I'm fairly confident that I'll grow some again next year -- but get an earlier start in the planting.

Throwback Thursday: Pumpkins!

I've come to love chubby li'l pumpkins.

So I've crafted a lot of them over the years. In cross-stitch and embroidery

With florals

In puffy crochet versions

Painted

With glue and beads and decoupage and velvet and straw and sequins and even googly eyes

Now and then, I even eat some

#throwbackthursday

The Clouds of October - 9

 Towering over our neighborhood wetlands

The Clouds of October - 8

 A vibrant afternoon at the neighborhood park

The Clouds of October - 7

Still Water Reflection

on Sorrel Pond

The Clouds of October - 6

 A storm rolled in 

Mexican Flair

When I'm feeling punky, I often turn to putting jigsaw puzzles together. Earlier this week I binge-watched Love on Netflix while constructing these two small puzzles.

This is called Sugar Skull

These double puzzles are small enough and have just the right amount of difficulty for a slow-moving brain. I love how colorful they are.

This is called Colorful Mexican Ukuleles.

The show was ... ok. Quite different from the 30 Something of my day, though the characters are about the same age. The puzzles were a nice diversion.

Throwback Thursday: Bookmarks

Years back I made a ton of bookmarks. I made 12 one year for a literacy program. I made a bookmark for each member of my quilt group - about 25. I made a bookmark for each member of my high school girl group - 8 or 9. I made bookmarks for each of my daughters. I made bookmarks to try out new embroidery techniques. 

I even made a few bookmarks for myself.

Here's a smattering of some of my finishes:

Pretty Fall Leaves - for a quilting friend

Bunny Butts

Examples of "pattern darning"

Two layers of felt with a window for the stitchery - for Easter. The bunny is done in petit point.

Two layers of ultrasuede with a window

Pretty hearts in a repeating pattern stitched on Ribband

A dragon for my eldest, Jeanne

Bright sunflowers

Embroidery on paper with metallic threads

Heraldic Rose - from a kit. This was fairly expensive for a bookmark, but the quality is great. I kept this for myself.

Train - for a children's hospital

Tonal bird - for one of my gal pals

My favorite giraffe - I kept for myself and use regularly

#throwbackthursday

Kindness Rocks

While Dale and I were visiting a park today, we each found a kindness rock. You can watch a video about the project on the Kindness Rocks website.

The creator of the project wrote:

One message at just the right time can change

your entire day ... outlook ... life!

These two rocks were created by someone in the Linn County Rocks group on Facebook. When you find a rock, you are encouraged to go to that group and post a photo of the rock so that the person that painted it knows it's being appreciated. 

Once found, you're free to keep it or re-hide it for another painted rockhound to find. I'll be re-hiding these eventually.

It's time for me to get back to painting some rocks ... if only my creativity would flow easily again.

 

Garden Birds

My sweet sister Janet sent me a surprise a couple weeks ago.

She gave me an early birthday gift of three 500-piece Ravensburger jigsaw puzzles! She knows this is my favorite puzzle brand because the quality is excellent. The subjects were thoughtfully chosen. This first is called Garden Birds. I love the saturated colors.

It's an excellent illustration for a jigsaw puzzle because of the unique sections of each bird, filled in with colorful foliage.

Growing up, Janet and I often shared birthday celebrations because our birthdays are just three days apart at the end of November. Some years we even combined birthdays with Thanksgiving.

I put this puzzle together while watching the 9th congressional hearing of the January 6th Committee. It's good for me to keep my hands busy while watching the world fall apart - much like Madame Defarge in A Tale of Two Cities.

The Clouds of October - 5

 Looking southwest

The Clouds of October - 4

Over Fern Ridge Lake. A smattering of clouds among the geese.