This and That

It's been a dreary day here in Michigan - overcast and cool - very Fall like weather and wayyyyyy to early for us. So I've been catching up on projects. WARNING - one is not for the faint of heart...

You may remember Daisy from an earlier posting. She went to a very good home via a Silent Auction. However, her new owner (a proud Grandmother) decided the eyes need to be changed so that Daisy was "baby safe". The only solution - surgery (log off now if you are squeamish!). And so it had to be done. It took me awhile to decide what to do, but searching the Internet helped - amazing the things you can find! Unfortunately, I copied and pasted the instructions I found into Word and failed to keep a link to the blog (so I can't give credit). Anyway, I like the added eye lashes....
So now Daisy has her sight back and can return home... Another project - well there is nothing like a deadline to get you motivated. My niece will be celebrating her birthday next weekend and I have been remiss in finding her something. So I made the following

I hope she likes it! (Kate, if you're reading this - don't tell Syd - will be in the post Monday). Now on to ATCs for September 8th when our Guild starts up again - where DID the summer go!

Ode to Owls

I like owls – not sure why. We have one fellow who has lived in our back tree lot for some time now. I have never seen him but we certainly hear him on a regular basis. The other morning (5 am) he was loud and clear with his “Tu whit, tu whit, tu whooing”
Maybe I like owls because of my days as a Brownie. Leaders were known as Brown Owl or Tawny Owl or Snowy Owl.
Or maybe it was my fascination growing up with Grey Owl – a man who rescued beavers and made quite a name for himself as an early conservationist though it turned out he was not a North American native after all , but an Englishman who immigrated to Canada. It really is an interesting story. And it has nothing to do with the fact that Pierce Bronson played him in a not so great movie (but who cares with that kind of eye candy - he's a real slurpie, if ya know what I mean)... I don’t think it was Harry Potter – but owls certainly play a role in his story which made perfect sense to me when reading the books. I don’t understand why Rowlings had to knock off Hedwig (oops, should have included a Spoiler Alert – sorry)…
It could have been this cookie jar that my brother gave my Mum many years ago. It sat in her kitchen until she finally gave it to me. Whatever the reason, I like owls and over the years I seem to have amassed a small collection. Besides the aforementioned cookie jar, there are the following:
A lovely t-towel from 1987.



I love the “retro” looking owls.
A couple of owl vases. And the flowers came from the Farmers Market on Saturday - aren't they gorgeous!This lovely corsage I got from Elisabeth over at Words and Whimsies (I’m a big fan of her pin cushions to).
And most recently, my blogging peep Beth sent me this darling pin…

Whatever the reason, I like owls – what about you?

How Sweet is That!

Okay, here's the thing. Every year about this time I have an annual eye appointment where my pupils get dilated - I really look like something from a horrour movie. And they give you these really ugly pieces of plastic to fill in as sunglasses until you get home (I know no one is watching but I still feel like such a dweeeb wearring them). Anyway, that really has nothing to do with the next part of my posting - but it does explain why I am at home in the middle of the afternoon and not "workin hard for the money". I can barely see the screen so if there typos you will know why (I'm really looking forward to reading this blog with normal vision ;->). You may remember awhile back my "baby" aka Sewing Machine went MIA for a few weeks (now I know how separation anixiety feels fro poor Master Gryphon). I asked my readers to figure out what had gone missing from my Fun Room and Lovely Leslie was the first to guess it right. Well, her "award" was a nice piece of redwork I found thrifting and look what she did with it! Way to go!

When she sent me the photos, Leslie shared the following: "Look what I did, that is my daughter and I. I changed out a wall hanging in my sewing room in exchange for the wonderful red work piece that you gave me. I just love it and will enjoy it each time I walk by it. It really is the sweetest piece of red work and thank you again very much. "
I'm very happy LL enjoyed my "find" (you just never know if folks like what they get, but in this case I seemed to have made a good match!)- I did confess to her the multiple $$$ I spent on it (NOT!). I only have one question though LL, what happened to the Smarties????? LOL

Born to Shop

Really, I blame it on my parents. After all, look what I did on my first birthday!

I went shopping. And I'm no dinosaur (yes, I know you can do the math on that date stamp), but when WERE Rice Krispies invented? So we've established I was introduced to the shopping bug quite early - but what about thrifting?


I can only attribute that to my father, a real "thrifty" Scotsman if you ever met one (you should check out his garage - my siblings and I have nightmares about the day we get to clean it out).

Which is also the only possible reason I can think of for those plaid pants

;->...

Favorite Illustrators

Growing up I was fortunate enough to receive books from British relatives. Some of my favorite were by Lucie Attwell (you may have noticed my reference to her in my side bar). I don’t have many books, and the ones I do have are pretty well worn.
But look at the pictures – how sweet! I love the colours and the images.
I have even taken one of her pictures and used it for some Bluework embroidery with a matching retro fabric.
My mother in law (Agnes), was kind enough to let me have a picture she had hanging in her kitchen (it is in mine now).
She also brought back an old Attwell postcard from one of her trips to England.
There are many great female illustrators - another I like is Jessie Willcox Smith.

Whose your favorite?

Garden Visitors

Sunday was unusually hot – 90 + and very humid. I had to do some “damage control” in my poor garden that was hit hard by the recent rain storms. I couldn’t help but notice some interesting visitors (besides the slugs and earwigs). A “gang” of salamanders have taken up residence on my front porch – they seem to like my little red wagon – I lifted a pot out of it and three of them went scurrying for cover.

Lots of dragonflies. I also heard the summer crickets and saw a couple of small frogs. We have toads to – I’m sure because we live in a woodlot and have some ponds nearby.

Later this month our grass will “come alive” with lots of baby frogs jumping up and down – its something to watch G&G figure out what the heck is going on! Frankly, I always feel bad about having lawn service this time of year ( Oh the humanity!)
And last but not least a hummingbird moth. The first time I ever saw one was at our cottage and I could not for the life of me figure out what it was. The power of the internet educated me, so when I had today’s sighting I knew exactly what I was looking at! Unfortunately I can’t lay claim to these photos as my fella was too quick for me - but he looked a lot like the second pic. I know many of you have gardens – have you had any interesting visitors lately?

Me and Julia

Well maybe not "me"...but Last night hubby and I went to see Julie and Julia (what’s not to like about a movie with the name Julie in the title? ;->). We had actually heard Julie Powell's story on NPR over a year ago. She decides to cook every recipe in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 365 days. Meryl Streep plays Julia Child and is just wonderful (I’ve always liked her). Almost makes me want to cook more! Though I just cringe every time I think about all the butter used! If you get a chance, go see this “chick flick” even a hubby can enjoy…

And the winner is...

Gwendoline: We are happy to announce that Carson's Mum won the draw.

Gryphon: And it had nothing to do with her blatant bribes - though they sounded very nice - I especially like vanilla ice cream..lucky Carson!

Gwendonline: Yes it was all very "official" - Mum put numbers in a hat and we "drew" - so all above board. Gryphon: Too scientific for me...We hope you like your treats and your collage! It will go in the post shortly. And Thanks to BJ and Carol to - we love to read your comments! Cheers and Licks, G&G...