Doing it all again

I'd like to blame it all on the eagles...you know, the Decorah eagles...those eagles that I watch every chance I get...

The eagle viewing lead to the stuffed bird making. If only it were true..then I could point to the source and say "this is why I am compelled to make birds." But it's not true.

  I found a pattern in my sewing room for a little loon Christmas ornament. The pattern is dated 1982...I made multiples for gifts that year.  1982! I was making birds 30 years ago!  What does this say about creative growth?  Or the lack of it...

Anyway, there was one lone loon cut out but not assembled..Here it is. 2011.



21st century loon



a pink ladybird

And I made this little pink bird last week.

And I made an owl today

just the body





legs and eyes, no wings or ear tufts



feet



ready to take off

My bird frenzy continues,,,30 more years?

thou shalt not covet thy neighbors flannel

Birds. I feel the need to make birds. Do not question why. I know not why.  I am just following creative instincts. There is no plan. Resistance is futile. I am obsessed with making birds. No, that is not accurate..I am obsessed with the  idea of making birds....the actual construction is yet to be seen...I have made a few...but I am constantly thinking about it....perhaps I need an intervention.

a peep

a peep, a wren and a concrete goldfinch



Yesterday Betty was doing some ironing at the shop...she irons for people...earns a little cash and she loves to iron..( maybe Betty needs an intervention)  She was working on getting the wrinkles out of this lovely, heavy cotton flannel men's shirt.....I was eying the shirt with birds in mind...Oh,,,,a 2X, lots of usable fabric, nice dark red.....it was all I could do to resist....Luckily, Betty told me NO in a firm voice and I backed away from the ironing board.



back of the owl



owl sitting on a coffee cup

Resisting the urge to cut up the shirt, I went home a dug up some bits of flannel from my stash and made this owl.  Not my best work, but it's a start...He is sitting on a coffee cup because his little wobbly legs won't support the weight of his body...hmmm............. sounds familiar.......

Easter in photos

we set the table

 the two youngest guests

egg hunt begins

whose are these?

up high

the creek

bubbles

water fascinates

Clay naps

lovely day

Falling in love again

Oh, I have been so crabby lately! Without intervention, my natural tendencies have me viewing the whole world with a nasty eye.  Negative, distrustful. Seeing all the dark sides of every situation first.  Joy and hopefulness are there, but hiding behind mountains of bad juju...

What to do about this?  Every day I try to remind myself of a good thing before I go back to the dark side... even a small thing... and the good stuff is all around me. My mood has me focusing on the negative, but my world has not changed (that much). All the things that are there when I am happy are still there....for example....

I am falling in love again!  With an inanimate object...a set of knitting needles!

These beauties are made from carbon fiber, incredibly strong. Smoother than silk, so very light, perfect points, and they even have my name engraved on them!  Where did I find these little gems?  I got them from my friend Linda P. (affectionately known as "Box Linda")....
  Linda's husband, Robert, made these needles. And some equally wonderful circulars...Linda and Robert plan to manufacture these needles and sell them at my shop! Available very soon, but not yet. Soon. 

I have fallen in love, I tell you! Even the name of this line of knitting needles makes me swoon.... "Ravens" 

Is it possible to be ever so crabby and "in love" simultaneously?

Not what was expected,

It just goes to show, you never know....

Our first trip north to the cabin was planned for this last Saturday. The weather was predicted to be cold, but that fit into our plans with cleaning the cabin the only thing on the agenda. Spring comes late in the northwoods, and in April there is not even a hint of green anywhere. Outside activities don't start in earnest until June..Still, before we left home on Saturday afternoon, we phoned our neighbor up north to ask about the weather, and he reported  flurries, but the snow was melting away immediately.
  Imagine our surprise when arrived at our destination and found 4-5 inches of fresh new snow everywhere! AND it was cold! 24 degrees at 8 pm.And dark, not surprising, but it explains the poor quality of the photo.

In the morning we awoke to a winter wonderland. On April 17th. Ugh.

 

Pretty, yes, but it remained cold all day and the snow stayed all Sunday. Ice covered the lake...

Later that morning we heard from some local folks that last Sunday they had some exciting weather in the form of tornadoes.  The neighboring community of Armstrong Creek was struck by a F1 tornado, just a week before. Cleanup efforts were continuing as we drove around in the affected area.

To read more about the damage, follow this link.

As the newspaper says, tornadoes are unusual in this area, luckily no one was seriously injured.

Seeing snow covering recent tornado destruction is also kinda strange.

The snow remained on the ground when we headed for home this morning, with 6 more inches predicted for tomorrow night.

I am glad to be home. I hope the weather is better the next time we go north, but you never know.

Single, and staying that way

After almost a two month absence from blog land....I am returning! 
Wait, slow up, we better not rush into this...a subject matter not too exciting, I don't want to explode upon reentry.
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Upon reflection, there really is nothing too exciting happening in my life that would stir things up at all. And I like it that way..

 Today I tidied up my craft room. "Tidied up" is a euphemism for "clearing a path through all the junk".. My craft room is where all the stuff that doesn't have a specific home gets deposited. Or where I dump stuff when I want to "tidy up" the more public areas of our house. Kinda like a room sized version of the "junk drawer" in the kitchen.  The clean-up has been a long time coming..today was the day...
I found lots of things that fit into these categories:

Don't need this.

What is this ?

Why did I keep this?

I've been looking for this!

and my favorite

I forgot I had this!

Among the things that fit in that last category are 4 single hand knit socks.

 

None of these socks has a mate, and the prospects are not good..

I do NOT intend to make the second sock. Why? Because I don't want to.

Bored...

Anyone have an idea what to do with these single socks?

I also found three other socks that were almost finished, those got ripped out and will be made into something someday...or not.

Among the singletons, this pair was lurking...I made these socks at least ten years ago...and just a few seasons ago, they developed a hole, and they were banished to the craft room. Today..I darned them and tonight they are keeping my feet warm against the cold and rain.

So my return to blog land is secure, socks are definitely not an exciting subject. Who knows what I will find next?