Walk in the Garden

It hasn't rained here since Tuesday or Wednesday of last week, and no rain is in the extended forecast. I'm sure that I'll be wishing for rain before long, but right now after a looooong wet spring that seemed to never end, the warm sunshine is a refreshing change for people and gardens alike. So, I took the opportunity to snap some photos yesterday of some of our happy flowers....
Starting in the backyard along the back garden wall, we have a rose bush of an unusual lavender color. Don't remember the name and right now I'm too tired (from my extended morning walk and the heat) to go out an check the tag... My daughter loves this color and I promised I'd give her this bush next year for their new home. It's very lovely and fragrant........

Below is a scrub jay who's been hanging around lately. The scrub jay is native to this area and is related to the blue jay. The males always have a blue chest, but their heads are more brown. As they age, their heads get more blue, so you can see this is a more mature bird. And let me tell you, he is defintely the alpha male jay around here - he even squawks at my cats when they're IN the house looking out the window at him (watching "cat TV", LOL)

Here are some of my irises along the garden wall bed:
We bought the rhizomes about 3-4 years ago at the Iris Society's annual sale (can't wait to get more in August!). We got a lot of unusual hybrids and they seem to bloom at different times (which is partly due to their location in the garden). At any rate, several are already done blooming, some are blooming now, and a couple more are almost ready. Still more won't bloom this year because I divided them last year and passed them out to my neighbors.

This rose loves the south-facing perennial bed anchored by the apricot tree in our backyard. The buds are actually BLACK, and then they open to this deep crimson, velvety rose. I've never seen a rose as thick and plush as this tea rose. They dry black, too. Naturally, the picture does not do it justice.

Finally, we have another rose - a grandiflora, called Melody Parfume on the sideyard (not the only one there, but the only one I photographed this time around). Again, it's an unusual purple-pink (lacking more technical terms) and fragrant.
The old saying for perennials (and, I believe it holds for roses, too) is that the first year they Sleep, the second year they Creep, and the third year they Leap. This rose is 3 years old!

Peacock Block for Susan

Last week I finished up my portion of Susan's block for our Peacock Round Robin on Crazy Quilting International. I was the final person to work on the block, so the picture shows the completed block, which is now on its way back to Susan.
My contributions were the peacock in the upper left corner, several seams, and this feather motif which mimicked the printed fabric beneath. I used a vintage millinery "leaf" as the eye. Then, with clear thread, I stitched the rest of the feather using furry yarn (don't remember what it's called!). What do you think???
I hope Susan likes her block! I think it turned out wonderfully.

The Last Week ... A Blur

WHAT!?!? It's been a WEEK since I posted?!?!? What happened to the last 7 days???

Oh yeah..... I started work at the kids camp at Wheeler Farm.......

We counselors use nicknames, and I am Boomer. I'm old enough to be mother to every single one of the other counselors (all girls except two guys). They're all college students and cute, thin, bouncy (well, the guys are more, uh, "cool"). And they're all GREAT with the kids. But I kept up with all of them!!!

Those sweet kids (ages 6-12) sure have the knack of draining the energy out of you!! Let's just say that I can't play Dodgeball, Keepaway, sit cross-legged for 45 minutes during a reptile show, and talk with six kids at once LIKE I USED TO. LOL. I was dead tired after Monday. Tuesday was short, so better. Wednesday was looking up and Thursday and Friday, well, I cruised.

And I can't wait to start again on Monday! I think maybe some of their youth rubbed off on me!

Purse Contest - I Won !!

Wooo-hooo!! I'm doing the Happy Dance!!. My purse entry "Deco Diva" won first place in the Crazy Quilting International 2008 Purse Competition. There were 23 people who signed up and 13 actual purses in the competition. Voting was by secret ballot for first (5 pts), second (3 pts) and third (1 pt) places. When points were totaled, the winners were announced. I'm so excited because there was stiff competition and some absolutely breathtaking purses!!

Here, then are some pictures of my winning entry:

Here is a close-up of the detail on the right side of the purse front. The lace is hand-dyed with potassium permanganate, the jeweled trim is "recovered" from a vintage dress, and the diva has a feather in her cap.
Below is a picture of a stumpwork purse on the upper left of the purse front.

The interior is lined in silk with a moire pocket (ran out of the silk, LOL). I fused some lightweight fleece to the back of the lining to add body and strength to the purse and strength for the magnetic snap closure. The back isn't very exciting. I made it purposefully simple. Again, the laces are hand-dyed. I think I'll probably sell this purse when I get my Etsy shop running.......

Swift Water & CPR Training

Next week I start my summer job as a morning Kids Camp Counselor at Wheeler Historic Farm, the Salt Lake County-run working farm about a block from my house.

Today we had lessons conducted by the American Heart Association on First Aid & CPR, as well as learning to use an AED (defibrillator). I am officially certified!

Also, because of all the snow we had this winter and the rain this spring, our creeks and rivers are running at very high levels. So we had some gentlemen from the County conduct a Swift Water program for us. After the slide show, which gave us general infomation (hypothermia, water facts and the like), we were taken to specific hazard spots on the farm where there are low head dams or churning rapids. The picture shows one area that will be potentially accessible to the public (if they ignore the caution tape that's been strung up). This picture was taken over a month ago, and the water is faster and deeper and the creek much wider now. We learned proper rescue procedures. Although it was raining throughout our lesson, we all put on life jackets and practiced tossing out rope bags to the "victim" (a floating life jacket moving downstream). I tossed three times and each time was able to reach the victim. Don't know if I'd keep such a cool head in a real emergency, but I feel much better able to handle emergencies!

Black Jewels Block Finished

This 6" block is for Jo from our Crazy Quilting International (Yahoo) group. In our round robin, we each decorate an entire block pieced by Jo in NZ (every participant pieces six blocks and sends them around for embellishment). When she gets all six back, she'll have enough to make a wall hanging or whatever. I completed this block last night, and it is now winging its way to Debbie in Oregon.

The theme of this RR is Jewels on Black, and I have no trouble working with rich, bright jewel-toned colors. That's a Swarovski crystal near the center, and a vintage millinery leaf (blue) in the bottom left. I even added bullion stitches inside the wings of the silk ribbon butterflies. I'm proud that I tried several new things this time... I hope Jo enjoys it!

Poppies & Roses

Things are finally sprouting here in the garden. Everything is so much later than usual due to our long, cold winter and long, wet spring. But finally the poppies have popped! They're usually ahead of the irises, but not this year. This plant is in our east sideyard bed. To the left of the poppies you can see some spent irises, and to the right of it, some red roses just beginning their show. The blooming groundcover is creeping Jenny.




The roses to the left are in the backyard. I believe they are floribundas - we inherited them when we bought the house 5 years ago, so I'm not sure what their names are. I personally prefer grandifloras or tea roses, but I also have rose trees and mini (dwarf) roses. Any rose is a good rose! At any rate, they'll go mad with blossoms! They line the walkway down to the
basement's exterior door.







And finally, to the left, we have the grape arbor. As of two weeks ago, it was pretty "nakey", but the warmer weather has really helped it take off. In another month or two, you'll hardly be able to see the trellis. It provides us with shade on the patio (the other side of the trellis) in the afternoons. These get so laden with fruit that we have to support some of the lattice and branches. Last year one of the trellises broke so we had to replace it this spring. I'll probably plant some annuals in the front of the grapes for color.