4/19/16

Monday's Movements

Mondays are my most sluggish days. It seems to take me forever to get off the couch. It didn't help that I decided to do a marathon embroidery session. Sometimes it seems the more I do, the more I do, and I just kept stitching and stitching and stitching. Or maybe it was just an excuse to stay on the couch. 

It was a warm morning, and the forecast was for a relatively hot day. I decided to take a walk. Along the way, I photographed every blooming thing, although the wildflowers are beginning to wane. Before even leaving the driveway I noticed this tree. It grows wild along the side of the road, and there is another one growing in our woods. They're growing here and there wherever we go locally. I don't know what it is, but it appears to be a dogwood. The flowers are a little bigger than a dogwood. I couldn't get close enough to any of the flowers to identify it with my Like That Garden app.


A little beyond that were these lower-growing shrubs. The app identified these as Common Elderberries. When they are finished blooming, they will develop clusters of small red berries. The individual berries are about the size of BB's.


I believe this next one is called Evergreen Bugloss. It's hard to tell from the choices I was given, but it grows in wet shady areas, and that fits the bill for around here.


I didn't need the app to identify this one as Scotch Broom. It grows wild everywhere here, and is considered invasive. It's pretty when it blooms, but it is the bane of every allergy sufferer's existence. It doesn't bother me...my allergies won't catch up with me until June when the grasses start to bloom.


This one is easy...American Holly.


This is a kind of wild geranium. We get these growing in the yard. They are weeds to us; fortunately, easy to pull up.


I'm not sure about this one. It is a vine with the little tendrils that it can use to cling to a trellis, but there were so many suggestions on the app, I couldn't decide. My best guess is "Sandmats".


This one was identified as a California Blackberry, although we consider them Oregon Blackberries here.


I walked until I had accumulated 5,000 steps and then turned around. It happened to be at this place where I had a nice view of the valley.


On my walk back, I encountered some friendly horses. They approached the fence looking for a handout. Sometimes I have handouts with me, but on this day, not. Sorry horsies.


The swifts have returned, and they were soaring overhead. It's impossible to get a picture of them in flight, but I caught these guys while they rested on a wire. My advice: Never stand under a perched bird.


When I got home, I dragged my feet a little more. I needed to sandwich this table runner for quilting. Making quilt sandwiches is really the only part of quilting that I truly dislike. I think it's because the batting is such a pain to deal with. Finally, after dragging my feet for several hours, I pulled down my box of batting and found a piece that was exactly the size I needed...no cutting required. The quilting gods must have been smiling on me. 


I'm not particularly fond of this runner, but I always look on these less-than-favored projects as good opportunities for practice. I'll end up with a usable runner when I'm finished to boot. For this one, I want to outline the birds and then do a small stipple around them to make them stand out from the background. I'll also be outlining the branches and flowers. 

First, I tried doing it on my domestic machine and then moved to my mid-arm to see where I had the best control. There are a lot of little nooks and crannies to stitch around. I didn't have a scrap of the bird fabric, and so I used the pansies and watering cans to see how well I could do. As it turns out, my control is pretty much the same on both machines. I'll use the mid-arm for this.


Also, and just for grins, I experimented a little with the oval templates I purchased on Saturday. I don't have anything planned for them with this runner, but one never knows. I could go completely template wild. 


My guild meeting was last night, and it was such a beautiful night, I didn't want to leave home. Mike and I sat out on the patio late into the evening enjoying the mountain view and the sunset. I'll say I have doubts about continuing in the guild. Our membership renewal comes up soon, and I dread going to the meetings. There are things I like, and things I don't like, but the biggest obstacle is that I'm pretty much a homebody. I'd rather stay home than most anything else...except RV travel...I love RV travel. Basically, you're taking your home with you when you go on the road.

This morning I'm getting my monthly pedicure, and then heading to the grocery store. I have a number of errands to run, and so it's one of those run-around days. Hopefully, I'll have some time to do some quilting on my runner. It's going to be another warm day, and I expect we'll be eating dinner outside this evening. It's summer in April, and we are soaking it up.

14 comments:

Debbie said...

I do think that tree is a dogwood.
As for guilds.....I am very much a homebody too. I am quite content on my own. But some do need that interaction to motivate them. You don't....but you do have a lot of talent to offer. In the end, you decide and do what feels right for you.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Love all the photos today.

Lyndsey said...

Love the photos. I'm not great on joining in with others (except in blogland), I also love being at home unless I'm out with family or walking with Scamp. You are able to motivate yourself, learn new techniques from the internet if needed and generally have a good handle on the quality of what you are doing, plus have fun so really you don't need to join in with the guild. I went to one meeting of our local guild and run for home at the end. I don't think I went out for two days, far too much togetherness for me. Having said that it is good that we're all different and some people love guild meetings.

Dana Gaffney said...

If you dread going then don't, easy choice there. I would hate leaving the house at night, I'm much happier hanging with the husband who I haven't seen all day.

Cath said...

I love the view of your valley! We sit in our valley while you look down into yours....spectacular! The plants are very interesting and what you call Scotch Broom looks alot like what we call English Broom....also an invasive weed in these parts....my farmer spent 8 months, working 12 hour days, last year digging it out of our 50acre block....what a job! Hope you had a good visit with your cousin.

Jocelyn said...

I love this time of year.

WoolenSails said...

Everything looks so beautiful, wish our trees and plants would bloom, maybe this week.
I need to start practicing my quilting.

Debbie

Lynda Halliger Otvos (Lynda M O) said...

So pretty, thanks for sharing the pictures. I too would so rather be at home than anywhere else. Even tho I love to work, I love being in my home the most. We have Canadian Geese that stop in our soccer field during their migration and yes, being under them is NO place to hang out. They wander all over the field dropping slippery poo and eating all the worms and bugs. Fun to watch the little kids try to catch them. Hard to say who is funnier in those races !~!

Angie in SoCal said...

Thank you for sharing your walk. That is a nifty app. I, too, liked the Valley view - you live in a wonderful place. Likewise on sandwiching.

quiltzyx said...

Oh, sorry you didn't go to your guild meeting this month as my friend Anne was speaking. But I can understand why you would rather not go. If we were all the same, how boring would that be?
Whenever I see new blooms now, I've been reminded of you taking pics of "every blooming thing"! Mostly I'm in my car tho & am not too good taking phone pictures with one hand...

piecefulwendy said...

I'll jump in and also say I'm a homebody. I've had a difficult time feeling "at home" in my quilt guild, so this year I have decided I will go to each meeting if I possibly can. I'm hoping it will get me a little more connected with the ladies. We'll see. Some nights I'd really rather just stay home.

Natureluvr57 said...

I love the fabric-reminds me of a watercolor and the runner can show it off without chopping it up. I have a lot of fabric I'm waiting for the right pattern to come along for the same reason. I did make one into the Quilt in a Day's "Piece of Cake" pattern as the pieces are fairly large. You're just cutting a layer cake into slices instead of small pieces. But I don't want all of fabric to be that pattern. I made a wallhanging I was pleased with. All 5" squares and then I cut out black silhouettes. It was just enough to add interest to a patchwork quilt. I made a table runner out of "tumbler" shapes-all farm-ish fabrics but it seemed too plain so I cut out black cow shapes and it delighted my soul when I was finished! I'm a homebody and I might take more classes at my local quilt shop but I got tired of lugging my sewing machine around. Enjoy the day

Betty said...

As always, I enjoy your beautiful photography!
I am a member of two guilds, one for nearly 20 years. That one is becoming a chore to attend and I believe one should never dread a guild meeting. There are a few people I would miss seeing if I completely stop going, but really, there is almost no social time. It seems the business part has become more important than the fun part. The other group is newer, more casual, with a brief business segment at the beginning, then on to more interesting topics and sharing. We have our social time after the meeting is adjourned and we stay as long as we like. No rush unless we have a class scheduled and that is usually a fun time too.

Kate said...

You have such pretty scenery around where you live. I'd never get in a good walk, I'd be too busy taking pictures if I lived there!