Happy Moment #33: Angel-pups!

A Friday ritual with Soulemama.  A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.  A simple, special, extraordinary, happy moment.  A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments too!

“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.”

~Omar Khayyam

日本のための多くの愛
Much love for Japan

Happy Moment #32: He Went... That Way?!!?

A Friday ritual with Soulemama.  A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.  A simple, special, extraordinary, happy moment.  A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments too!

 

“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.”

~Omar Khayyam

日本のための多くの愛
Much love for Japan

Dog Day's of Summer

What do you do when it's all hot and summery out?

How about... go for a swim?  Katie will demonstrate.

First you dip your paws in to test out the temperature like so.

Then you run back out and exclaim about how chilly the water is.

Stand back and admire the lake scenery while you get up the nerve to go back in.

Carefully tippy-toe back in.

Drink some of the water to help naturalize with the temperature.

Pretend it's not so bad by nonchalantly sniffing the local greenery.

Then take the plunge and dunk a good portion of your body into the lake...

...while blowing a few bubbles in the water.

Ah, yes.  These are the dog days of summer!

Taking in every moment!

A little bit of snorkeling and paddling around.

Back to eating some grass.

Sniffing water is always a lot of fun.

"Hey Mom, bet you can't see me now."

And, that's how it's done!

Hope you are enjoying your summer days as much as we are!

日本のための多くの愛
Much love for Japan

Simply Sewing Satisfiying Stuff!

I was able to make a lot of progress over in this neck of the woods!  Yippie!!

--ONGOING PROJECTS--

X Marks the Spot {still re-thinking the name of this one}I have sewn the whole top together. 

The piano key boarder is on. 

And this one is now ready for backing which I have yet to dream up. 

I have lots of scraps from all the prints and solids I used ... I may just randomly piece them together. 

And yes, Sammy is as much of a quilt aficionado as Katie is. 

Katie will still retains the title as my faithful Quilting Assistant... Sammy, well, she may eventually work her way up to that title, but for now I think she will rein as Princess Quilting Terror.  In her mind, quilts are just for playing/chewing on at the moment.

Happy Garden (king sized)

 

I have officially finished quilting this one with all of my organic loops.  And I'm really liking how it's shaping up.

 

The next question is the binding.  I had originally said blood red to always remember my 'incident.'  So I purchased a yard of a strong red, cut into it for the binding strips... and cut it wrong.  Like totally not paying attention, the fabric was backwards -- arggg! 

I could probably save it by joining the strips with a straight line instead of a diagonal, but in my mind I know it's not right.  So, what do you think?  Get another yard of red and try again?  Join the strips I have with the straight line? 

Here is a reminder of what red might look like as the binding.

Another thought it to instead use this strawberry fabric as the binding.  What do you think?

And here is a look at the two binding choices together for reference.  Would love to hear your thoughts. 

Either way, I am really looking forward to seeing this one finally finished, washed, and ready for snuggling!!

--STALLED--

{Insert Name Here}: Bottled Rainbows {ticker tape quilt-along}

I am looking froward to getting back to this one, but decided I needed a finish, so this one was put aside. 

Crewel Spring Flowers

Nada -- poor pretty flowers.

Katie Fiber Art

No action here.

You Can Sew-a-thon!!
Added back to the list two weeks ago.  You haven't heard of it??... check it out here or read about our first project (Strawberry Pincusion).

 

This Week's Work in Progress (WiP) Stats 

Last WiP Wednesday Total: 6
New Projects: 0 (I have been so good to try and focus on what I already have going)

Finished Projects: 0
Total WiP's: 6 (same as last time)

---Linking to W.I.P. Wednesday with Lee at Freshly Pieced---

日本のための多くの愛
Much love for Japan

Hiking, Mushrooms, and Garden Blooms

Some of our time off and away included taking advantage of the amazing sunny weather.  I say amazing, really it has rained so much this spring/summer, so when the sun is out it feels incredible!

When it rains like it has, sometimes three inches at a shot, the weather stays a little chillier and apparently it's perfect for mushrooms!  So on our latest hike I couldn't help but marvel at all the mushrooms that aren't normally there.  Some small, some huge.  Some yellow, orange, brown, or white. 

It really boggles my mind that they seem to pop out of no where.  And yes, I snuck in a slug picture.  It was as big as a twinkie.  Ok, a little smaller than a twinkie... but not a normal thing we would see on a July hike in New York.

Hiking also means time with Katie.  She loves the outdoors!  Sammy (the pup) is almost ready and cleared for hiking, but has one last round of shots to go.  This may be one of our last hikes as a family of three. 

Just look at that big grin!

We have a spot that we typically go to.  It's close, it's a decent hike at some where between six and eight miles, and it's interesting!  It also has lots of big rocks to climb on and marvel at.  Rocks that were dropped by glaciers a long long time ago.  Rocks that are fun to pose on for pictures or use as a table to eat a picnic lunch.

Did you know that rocks dropped by glaciers are called erratics?  --now you might be able to say you learned something today :)

Yes, we're goof balls.  Dontcha, love it?

And this has to be one of my new favorite snaps of Katie!  Smiling ear to ear, big pink tongue, and you can see all those leaves and moss bits in her coat.  Yup.  This is a classic Katie shot!

I also have a lot going on garden-wise! 

The bee balm has been blooming and attracting humming birds.  We have one particular male humming bird that seems to have claimed the garden as his.  I have yet to get a picture of him, but he's beautiful with a bright red spot under his chin. 

This is just one of the many bunches of the flower that I have through out the gardens.  This is my favorite one since it has all three colors... red, fuchsia, and purple.  The purple is just starting to come and only one of the flowers is open.  The fuchsia or pink are the shorter stems next to the tall bright red ones.  I really feel like it's summer when these are in full bloom!

The veggie garden is also doing really well.  We have been enjoying lettuce (romaine and simpson), the sugar snap peas are just about ready, and tomatoes are forming by the handfuls.

My surprise this morning was to see how many cucumbers have popped up!  I mean literally last weekend I had a lot of flowers, and this morning I see four cucumbers --YUM!

Rounding out the list, the strawberries are still forming and ripening, but each time I get close to having a few I think the chipmunks are getting them first.  Sigh.  Some for them, hopefully some for me! 

And that last picture on the bottom right are the jalapenos.  With the cold and rain, I didn't think the hot peppers would work out at all.  But, I have been happy to see the little plant plugging along.  It flowered and sure enough... here come lots of peppers.  I couldn't be happier!

And last, but certainly not least... a few other flowers are beginning their show.  The hosta (two top purple flowers), the yarrow (pink one), and the daisies.  I really do love this time of year!! 

日本のための多くの愛
Much love for Japan

How About Just One More?

I couldn't resist posting one more Sammy video.  Proof that dogs (or at least this dog) may also play with string.  Hope you don't mind :)


Mr. Happy... this one's for you!

日本のための多くの愛
Much love for Japan

I'm Back! And ready to dig in!

Vacations, time off, long weekends, holidays, sunshine, puppies... yes...all distractions from coming here and writing a few lines.  But, I'm back and ready to share all the cool things I've been up to.

Speaking of cool things, here is one way to beat the heat... puppy style!

Looking forward to getting back in the groove!!

日本のための多くの愛
Much love for Japan

Quick Look at the Week

Over 1500 miles traveled.  
Some late nights.
Some early mornings.
Lots of puppy kisses.
Phew.  It's been a long, long week.

Here is a quick review of the week:

Sewing-wise, I made good progress on X Marks the Spot {still thinking about the name}

I was about to sew the whole top together.

It looks really pretty with the bigger pattern.  I couldn't resist putting it on the clothesline to get an idea of how it was looking!

Next up is to work on the border.  I am going to put a piano key like design all the way around the border.  Here is the pile of all the strips.  I have started laying out what each edge will look like.  Going for random.  Enjoying the process!!

Gardening and flowers-wise... there are lots of pretty things blooming and growing...

The lily's are a bright beautiful orange!

The daisies are starting to form and open.

The yarrow is getting bigger and budding.

The apples are the size of golf balls.

And look how many there are!

So excited to make at least one apple pie from our apples this year!

The wild strawberries are so pretty this year too!

And with all this rain we have been having these wild mushrooms (in a zillion colors and shapes) popping up everywhere!

Lastly, in puppy news... Sammy is still as cute as can be!

Yup, it was a whirl-wind week, but I am so thankful to hang on to the little moments and let all that craziness slip quietly away.

Miss you!  I can't wait to catch up and see what you have been doing, but with over 800 posts in my reader it may take bit.  Talk to you soon?

日本のための多くの愛
Much love for Japan