Sunday Best

One of my favorite photos.

This is one of my very first macro studio shots. I took this photo in 2007 even before I had a proper macro filter or lens. I did it by holding a magnifying glass in front of my Canon PowerShot point-n-shoot camera's lens.

I had a great learning experience that day. It took lots of concentrated effort and many fails. I was in flow and getting this final shot of a peppercorn was completely satisfying.

Doily Purses

These are the three crochet purses I made in June that I'll donate to Bags of Love on Monday. This month I tried two different patterns. Both appear to have a doily-like pattern that's used as the purse flap.

I got the first pattern by following a video on YouTube. I watched the video, then wrote out the directions. But the directions were somewhat lacking. There's a chance the pattern was from somewhere other than the United States. The vocabulary of crochet is slightly different from country to country.

This is the purse I made while learning the pattern. I started with the purple, making the flap first. Then I moved on to making the body.

I was using up some skeins of yarn, so when I ran out of purple, I moved on to white yarn of equal weight to finish the purse body.

I added some purple back into the handle to help tie the colors/design together. The yarn was hefty enough that this purse didn't seem to require a lining.

For my second attempt with this pattern, I used a lighter weight yarn. The base is a "confetti" yarn. I made the flap in pink and added pink to the side seams. I made the handle out of the confetti yarn, too. 

Again, the directions for that doily were badly written, and I struggled with it. So to cover up some of the problems with the flap, and to further tie the doily flap to the body of the purse, I added a frill of confetti yarn to the edge of the doily. I'm quite pleased with that result. 

Since this yarn is lighter, I decided to line the purse with pink gingham fabric.

After that, I gave up on the poorly written directions and found a similar purse design. These directions were easy to follow.

Instead if making a half doily for the flap, the pattern calls for making a whole doily. Then you sew half of the doily to the back of the purse body. This was so much simpler!

After attaching the doily to the purse body, I added the pink frill to the front flap. For the handle, I doubled the yarn with one strand of confetti and one strand of pink. That made for a more sturdy handle.

I lined this purse with pink gingham fabric, too.

I may make one or more purses with this pattern again since I enjoyed it so much. Or I'll move on to a new pattern in July. I've found so many cute little girl crochet purse patterns to try, that I want to try them all!

Throwback Thursday: Rose

 It looks like this bug has a heart on her back!

From our front yard in Post Falls, Idaho in June 2017.

"digitally re-mastered" in 2024.

Bookmarks Galore

I have over 50 more bookmarks ready to sew for Bags of Love. 

I spent four hours this morning cutting fabric and ribbons and pinning them together. 

I hope to finish them up tomorrow if I can string a few more hours together before my date with my granddaughter.

Then I can turn them in at the end of the month along with the three crochet purses I finished earlier. I may not have shared those yet on the blog. 

Note to self: take pictures of the doily purses.

Lilies

It's lily time of year in my neighborhood. There are many beautiful colors dotted throughout the streets. Here are a few I saw on my daily walk:

Summer Solstice Sunset

Welcome, Summer!

Strawberry Season

Oh, look! A basketful of strawberries

So juicy and sweet -- like rock candy

Or, like rocks anyway.

I saw a video that claims that if you paint rocks to look like strawberries, then set them among your strawberry plants, the animals will be fooled by the "ripe" strawberries, find out they're no good, and leave your ripening strawberries alone. 

I don't know if it will actually work, but it was fun to spend time in my Studio painting rocks again.

I put them out in my strawberry patch this morning. There's a few scattered on the ground.

Others are hidden among the plants

beneath the growing berries.

Cute, aren't they!

I didn't get many strawberries last year, and some were bug-eaten by the time they were ripe. I've already eaten two fresh berries this year. My plants survived last winter's ice storm and sent out runners so that I could plant a 5th barrel. So far, they're looking lush and the harvest is promising.

Keep it Simple

At the Owen Rose Garden

#flowersforfriday

Throwback Thursday: Taking a Break

From 2021:

Dale was in the same position this morning, except out on the patio instead of in the living room. Pretty much wearing (newer versions of) the same clothes, too.

June 20th must be a good day for resting.

A Seasonal Stitch

I started a new cross-stitch project today. This one's for Independence Day. It's called Flag of Stars by designer Bent Creek. But do you see? It even has a heart dancing among the stars!

It came as a kit with linen fabric and perle coton threads. I enjoy stitching with this thread instead of 6-strand floss as a change of pace. I seem to be stitching much faster since I don't have to divide and recombine strands. The perle coton makes for nice full chunky stitches. 

The limited color pallet of two blues, two reds, and white is another reason this should be a quick stitch.

My plan is to sew this into a small pillow cover. Who knows? I may even finish it in the next couple weeks in time for the holiday!

Another Small Step

This morning I was bemoaning how I set so many goals for myself in a wide variety of interests that I have difficulty seeing myself make progress. I have a hard time paring down my desires to a reasonable amount.

So today I picked one small goal on my 2024 list, and decided to do it: install my digital microscope program onto my new computer and get reacquainted with the software. I don't adapt to new equipment easily. Adding software myself instead of reeling Dale in to do it for me is more of a challenge than it ought to be. But I managed it.

Software installed. Equipment set up. Test photos taken. These are some enameled earrings I acquired in my giraffe-gathering years. Now that my ears are pierced again, I can wear them when I'm feeling quirky.

What do you think? My new profile picture?

It's nice to be able to cross this little goal off the list. It only took ten months -- and one hour.

Eastgate Woodlands

I love the sweeping lines of the Willie Knickerbocker bridge.

Dale and I passed beneath it on our walk with Jodie and Abby a few weeks back. 

The Willamette River was running swiftly that Sunday.

Jodie says Eastgate Woodlands is now her favorite park in Springfield. It's not too far from her home, so  it's a short trip to take Abby out into nature while riding in her stroller.

It's great to walk the paths along the river and take in the wildflowers. Make way for those on bicycles!

Flowers for Friday: Bleeding Heart

So delicate.

On Eastgate Woodlands Trail in Springfield, OR

#flowersforfriday

Throwback Thursday: Respite

I took this photo in late Spring of 2008. 

Looking at the photo returns me to the place and feelings of that day.

Nine months earlier I received a diagnosis of my mental condition. I was doing all the things to try and get better, and it was working. Part of that regimen was daily exercise.

Walking through my neighborhood, I spotted this tree across the street. I'd been reminiscing about an old friend, wondering how they were doing. I imagined how nice it would be to sit under that beautiful blooming tree and have a deep, long conversation.

I took a picture. I finished my walk. I went on with my day.

Now I absorb this image and can still feel the tug on my heart.

That's a big part of what I love about photography. An image captures not only the moment, but can be a time machine that returns me to all the senses.

My Piece of the Sky

 Yes, please.

From the Picnic Table

I like this view

and this one

and this one!

For #tuesdaytravels today, Dale and I visited two Eugene parks. The first, Crest Heights, is an undeveloped open space on a hilltop behind an elementary school. It will make for a nice park one day.

The second is Lafferty Park. It's a small neighborhood park on a hill. For the kids, there's a climbing structure, swings, and a merry-go-round. Nearby are some large picnic tables situated under a much larger tree. And there's a giant open lawn great for games of tag or rolling down the hill. 

We picked up some lunch at a bagel shop, then had an impromptu picnic on this take-the-convertible-for-a-spin Oregon-perfect-weather day.

I like the quotation by Margaret Atwood on this park sign:

In the spring at the end of the day,

you should smell like dirt.

Celebri Cats

Puzzle time again. This one's a little different.

It's called Celebri Cats because each cat pictured is dressed as a celebrity. Unusual.

The puzzle is by the company Ginger Fox. They attempt to be somewhat sustainable. For example, the puzzle pieces were packaged in a paper bag, rather than plastic. Very tidy.

It came with a nice size reference poster - the same size as the box. On the front is a clear image of what the puzzle will look like when complete. On the back it depicts who the cats are representing.

My favorite is definitely Pablo Picatso

Moggy Osbourne also tickled me.

The back of the box has a couple QR codes pointing to the Ginger Fox website and its sustainability promise.

This puzzle was a decent quality and made for a nice few hours of distraction.