Saturday Digest

►Maybe it's time to take down these numbers?!?!

What can I say?  I liked them there!  Plus, I just accommodate to things and forget they are there...except when they cast a really cool shadow!

►Do you read Suzan's blog?  I wanted to make sure that no one missed these hangers that she used for her sweet dresses.  Tooooo perfect!  Sticks right out of her yard she says.

►Do you remember my Junkle Bells project?  Well, there has been a new thread at the Junk Revolution issuing a Junkle Bells Challenge...sounds like fun!

►A corner of the tank garden with one of my favorite plants the Hyacinth Bean Vine.

Have a great Labor Day Weekend!!

It Was Time.

One week ago I moved my son to college. 

I should probably say that I went along to see his dorm room and carry a box.  Because moving him compared to moving my two oldest girls to college was quite a different experience.

You could say that he had less "stuff"!

This is the sun setting on the day he moved to college.  We were on the top of the parking garage driving off for me to let him off at his dorm and I had to stop to take this picture.

I'm pretty sure I have nothing to add to what many of you already know about how it is with your kids leaving home.  Lots of mixed emotions.

I will say though, that it was time and that really eased the experience. He is so ready for this next part of his life.  I will miss our daily conversations (he's not too much for the phone) but he's not far away so we will get to see him fairly often.

I took some of his senior pictures and we used a couple of them for his announcements.

I didn't set out to take visual metaphors of his life at this point;  it just kind of happened.  :)

We really had fun taking his pictures!  (I have more...)

I knew he was enjoying himself that spring day of picture taking when he pointed out a set of old springs by the creek where we were and he didn't complain when I pulled them out of the dirt and brought them home!!

Of course he was dressed up so he didn't have to help me pull the little trees out of the springs.

I haven't found a use for them yet.  

In time.

You Can Trust the Light

I recently figured out how to get my phone photos on to my computer.  (I know, it wasn't rocket science.)

Anyway, I've rediscovered some pictures I'm happy I have and can now easily view and edit them.

This photo is one of those pictures.

Old Windows :: Charm :: Character

Learning to trust Him more is a daily quest and is completely tied to knowing I am dependent on His mercy.

I textured the picture with one of Kim Klassen's  latest free textures, Culligan and am linking up with her post: Texture Tuesday.

Delicious Hot Corn Dip Recipe

My daughter had an internship this summer at a botanical garden. (!!!) Too bad I didn't get to visit while she was there.  At the end of her time there, they had Corn Festival Days and this recipe was one that the gardens had samples of for the attendees to try.

She brought home the recipe and told me she thought we'd like it.

She was right!!  It's delicious!

It's perfect with tortilla chips. But, I also think it would be really good to scoop into a taco too.

We are pretty much out of fresh corn or I would want to can some too.

Here's the recipe:

I modified it in that I used fresh corn cut off the cob and fresh tomatoes from the garden, yum!

I really like cilantro and I think that is what really makes the dip good.

All the kids are back in school today including the college ones so maybe I'll be back to a more regular schedule here.  

Have a great day!

A Low Light Impromptu Photo Shoot

My oldest daughter and granddaughter were here for two days last week.  Right after the baby was buckled up in the car, I remembered that I wanted a picture of me with the kids.

I gave the camera to my husband who began shooting while we were "lining up".

It was getting dark outside so the pictures were a bit grainy and blurry.  I actually kind of like them that way.  

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Ta-da!

Can you tell one of my daughters is the "take charge" one for pictures?! 

Our weather has been gorgeous!  I hope the same for all of you!

Another Monday. Another Mosaic

I've been laughing to myself this past week.  Tongue is cheek laughing mind you.

I've read around the internet where some bloggers take the "August Break" and ONLY post one picture a day with just a few to no words.

I'm shaking my head; to me, that is not a break.  Sounds more like a big commitment.

But, blog breaks happen. Just not always planned, as my husband's pancreatitis and hospitalization were not planned last week and certainly weren't expected.

He's home and doing pretty well now, but there will be more testing to see what's what.  Our insides can certainly be a puzzle!

The kids go back to school this week too.  I have mixed feelings about that.  It's good to get them back to the structure, but summer is a good time and I'm not sure I'm ready for my son to go off to college!

~Have a good day~

Mosaic Monday

My son called me down to the barn a few weeks ago when he spotted this curious fella.

Anyone know what kind of bug it is, besides a really neat one?

Maybe it's just a bug with a lot of offspring so it's developed the proverbial "eyes in the back of my head" needed!

Saturday Digest

This Praying Mantis was on our porch railing a couple of days ago.

►Creative videos are so addicting to watch! Here's a good one: Alma Stoller: 101 mixed media techniques

►I mentioned that I enjoy taking dining room or kitchen table photographs.  Here are some links for vintage dining room pictures: I'd love to have a collection of these on my wall!  I have a few and am on the look out for more.

Photo    Photo    Photo    Photo

►I think my grand daughter would be so cute in these crocheted shoes!  And, am I too old to wear slippers with bows?   I remember having a pair of these granny square slippers when I was little.  I think my sister may have made them for me. 

I think I interrupted his prayer time.

(oops...photo was a little overexposed...)

I hope you enjoy your weekend!

A Braided Fabric Bowl from Vintage Scraps

One of my daughters 4-H projects was going to be a fabric bowl.  Well, I ended up making one along side of her. 

The first step is to choose your fabrics.  Keep in mind that color matters more than the pattern.

After you choose your fabrics, tear them into about 1" strips.  

The length doesn't really matter.

I was playing in my scraps while my daughter started working on her braid.  She said I should just make a bowl too.  I welcomed the idea!

Choose three strips and pin them together.

Begin braiding.  The way we did this made it easy to move the chairs as the braid grew.  Plus the chair was heavy enough to pull on while braiding without tipping over.

Her braid stretched out.  We made about 6 feet of braid or so for a small bowl.  

This goes pretty quickly.

When a strip runs out, connect another and continue on.

Line up the two slits you cut in both pieces.

This is definitely a scrappy project!

Braid on.

I began coiling my braid and hand stitched it together.

As I went along and the bowl grew, I tried to shape it and stitch it into a bowl. 

That worked to a degree.  But, it was still a bit flat.  Quite a bit. So I soaked the whole thing in water.

And shaped it over a custard cup and let it air dry.  This took a couple of days to dry completely. I think you could speed it along in the oven if you wished.  It worked and the bowl form held. 

It's perfect to hold small treasures!!

My daughter's bowl ended up a little wonky and she didn't want to take it to the fair.   That's fine, it's all a learning process.

And that learning process will include trying to perfect the shaping and stitching so it doesn't need to be soaked, shaped, and dried.  Any thoughts on this from anyone?

I looked at quite a few links and projects over the web trying to find how to do this, but none just stood out as a "go to" site to make your own fabric bowl so I"m not referencing them here. 

This is really a fun project, especially to use up scraps!