I have done beadwork for over 25 years and got so interested in jewelry design that I took two metalwork classes at Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee from wonderful teachers Deborah Lynn Gold and Marjorie Simon. I can't choose a favorite medium. I love sculptural work and adore forming and fabricating metals, but three-dimensional beadwork is more colorful.
I sew a lot! Lately I've been making lots of purses and wallets as well as upcycling used clothing into new items.
Lately I've gone back to sewing and refashioning cast-off clothing–mostly men's shirts, into girls' clothing. I also enjoy making handbags and wallets. They are really fun to put together–like a puzzle.
I’m going dairy-free. At least I’m trying. This will be my first day. I’ve already given up regular milk by using almond milk, but cheese will be my problem. I love cheese. Pizza is one of my favorites. I have a couple of great recipes for pizza crust that is gluten-free and I love a lot of cheese on top. Any suggestions for a replacement or workaround that leaves it out?
I also like to put a bit of evaporated milk in my oatmeal. I’m sure I can find a replacement for it, but I’m not eating oatmeal just now since I’m on a diet plan that includes a protein shake for breakfast. Maybe an almond milk alternative.
I also eat a lot of yogurt. Vanilla honey Greek yogurt is my favorite. I’ll probably replace it with chia pudding, which I love too. I can’t get the grandkids to eat it. I’ve found that some cinnamon and vanilla liquid stevia makes it just right.
Blue moon, you saw me sewing alone! Sorry for the cheesy stuff. (Not really sorry. That’s just me.) It reminds me of the mice on Babe. I love those little critters.
I’ve been busy. I’m also feeling much better. We were in the ER last Friday, but not for me, because Husband dislocated three toes. He forgot to put the kickstand down on his motorcycle and it fell on his left foot. Got his three littler toes. It hasn’t slowed him down very much though.
In the meantime, I’m doing a lot more since I can actually breathe now. I got a dress and 3 pairs of shorts made for the grandkids who are going to Hawaii later this month. Lucky kids!
This is the Piper dress from Violette Field Threads. I have to admit that I saw this made in this fabric on Facebook and then bought the same fabric to make it, but isn’t it perfect? It’s Sleeping Porch Wild Flowers on Pink by Heather Ross for Windham Fabrics.
Our girly girl will love it. My only concern is how much the fabric wrinkles, but I guess perfection even has some wrinkles, right?
These shorts were made using a girl’s shorts pattern. I had to take quite a bit off the sides and probably should have taken more. Then, after they were finished, I decided they were too short for a boy and had to add length. I think they turned out pretty well considering.
The ones on top have fish on them and the bottom ones have trains. I added length on the trains shorts by adding some engineer’s cap fabric. The boy is train-crazy. I know he’ll love these.
And these little ones were made from a thrift store knit shirt. Love these. I can just see him running up and down the sand in these. He’s our little blur. The only time he slows down is to build something or ride in his little car with sister pushing. Sometimes, though, he acts like a little old man. Now and then he answers questions with hands in pockets and a drawn out, “Yeaaaaaaah.”
I feel that Spring has finally, really arrived here in East Tennessee. I have been wearing my sandals and flipflops. It’s been cold and warm, cold and warm here lately. I’ve had a lot of breathing problems, especially since I caught a Spring cold and got a sinus infection to go along with it. And, again, I coughed until I got laryngitis. I feel like my life just now is only doctors, medicines and staying inside the house.
Oh, I long to spend hours outside watching the flowers and birds and squirrels. We are blessed to have our couple of acres back onto a field and about 200 acres of woods. We have so many wonderful animals here. We have a flock of wild turkeys that occasionally come into the yard to forage and regularly see deer in our patch of woods. All sorts of birds, year-round residents and migrators. There are chipmunks, frogs, toads, lizards, snakes, foxes, coyotes, an occasional bobcat and many, many others.
Wild Turkeys
My husband keeps the lake access area across the road from us clear of kudzu as best he can. If you stand still long enough here, kudzu will cover you. It is a scourge. So he fights it every year. It isn’t his job, but he is a little hyper and loves doing it–”cleaning out.”
He found some small plants that he couldn’t identify. He drove me down there as we were starting to town to pick up my new nebulizer and I used the little app called Picture This on my phone to find out what it was. From the way he had described it I thought it might be Squawroot, but no, it was Virginia Pennywort. So cute! Sort of like a blooming pinecone but much softer. They were scattered all through the leaf carpet. And across the parking space were several yellow trilliums.
Virginia Pennywort
Meanwhile, my dendrobium aggregatum is going wild. All the blossoms are open and it is glorious.
I hope you can go outside and see the glories of Spring. Let me know how your adventures go.
