i feel alright

 

we saw steve earle and the dukes last night at prescott park in portsmouth, nh. such a beautiful, perfect summer night with good friends and great music!  they didn't play "i feel alright", one of my favorites, but they  did play this song during one of two encores and totally rocked it!

and in craft news:

#11!

have a great weekend!

well coordinated thrifting!

i thrifted three new/vintage aqua glasses this weekend.  perfect for the camper!

hideously humid again...oh well, not for long!

happy tuesday!

purple moon

well, i think i am a day late on my full moon post. according to my moon phase calendar, the august full moon is tonight, august 21.  however, everything i have read seems to say that the 20th was the full moon, so while i would think a MOON PHASE CALENDAR would have the right date, i'm thinkin' they're wrong!

this moon is called a "blue moon", which most people think means the second full moon in one month.  HOWEVER, you may have noticed that there are NOT two full moons in august!  hmmm, very mysterious!  actually, a blue moon refers to the third full moon in a season with four full moons. there was a misinterpretation of the traditional meaning of the term published in a 1946 issue of  "sky and telescope" magazine, and that's what people have believed.  read more here!

the august full moon is also referred to as the "red" moon as it sometimes looks red rising on a hazy horizon. hence, i am calling it a "purple" moon! (thanks rosie!)

this photo is of some DEEEEEE-licious peach jelly that my friend jessie made.  so, so good!

happy hump day!!!!!

ten

i love making these blocks!

english 101

a dollar i got the other day. :)

garden gone wild!

oh, my garden!! what a big chaotic mess! basically this is because i do  n-o-t-h-i-n-g  in the garden.....i started off great guns here years ago, but i just made the garden too big, and i have to admit i'd much rather sew or knit than work in the garden...very very bad gardener!!

but, there are still some pretty flowers out there. the tough ones. the taker-over-ers. i love those japanese anemones, the little pink fairy flowers. so dainty and airy. and then there's the TALL,  INVASIVE heliopsis(although someone told me they aren't heliopsis, so i don't know). if you ever have a spot you want to fill up fast, plant those! i pull that out by the handfuls in the spring and still it's everywhere!

i hope you're enjoying this beautiful august weekend. such perfect summer weather lately! happy sunday!

x and + update

 blocks 3,4 and 5! i have made great strides on my SECRET PROJECT, so now i can make more of  these x and + squares. i am getting over the "clown quilt" worry and am enjoying the arbitrariness of this project. just no rhyme or reason to these squares. so fun! 

there is a very cool breeze coming in the window. i need a little sweater!! yay!! my favorite weather!!

happy hump day!

 

kelly's studio and a good yard sale!

i went over to my friends' kelly and roger's house this weekend. they have the most wonderful place, GORGEOUS gardens, amazing collections of flea market finds, chickens, dogs. they should charge admission!

kelly is a very talented artist, using all sorts of found objects to create mobiles, sculptures and collages. here are a few shots of his very eclectic studio! fascinating objects everywhere you look!

because it was right around noon time, my shots of the garden were not very good, but we did see this little guy. hi mr. mantis!

kelly is like the praying mantis whisperer!

earlier in the day i went to a big yard sale and got some great treasures:

 

 

a cute chick-a-dee picture in a nice old frame!!!

a big stangl platter(sorry for the drying-in-the-dish-rack picture...) i used to collect stangl, and this was a great deal at $1.00!!!!!!

and another really bad photo, but this cool chair, really really cheap! i have a thing for chairs. whenever i see a good chair for cheap, i have to buy it. then when it falls apart i have plenty of spares. you know, with the two of us you just need to have enough chairs for an army...

a fun weekend! lots of sewing and knitting coming up soon!

over the bridge

going over the bridge yesterday on a drizzly morning.

i loved the front page photo in the paper thursday of "slim the cat" who had been crossing the bridge regularly! now he's back in  business.  (i know, must've been a slow news day. :) )

birthdays and bridges

there's brian preparing his own birthday cheeseburger...he makes them SO much better than i do! we've been having the best corn-on-the-cob! i want it every night, and the chickens LOOOOOVE the cobs. they go nuts! i think i'll buy them their own ears next time, so they have whole kernels to pick at.

the new memorial bridge connecting kittery, maine and portsmouth, nh opened today! we've been anticipating the opening for quite some time, and i got to drive over it! i didn't think they had opened the bridge to cars yet(people were saying just bikes and pedestrians), so i took the next bridge up, looked over and saw cars, and looped around and drove over the new bridge! it's so beautiful (unfortunately i didn't have my camera). the guys who worked on that bridge ate at the bakery where i work a lot, and we got to know them. they even brought us flowers one day! they were working 7 days a week for a long time and in the worst weather conditions. congratulations to them for finishing up such a monumental project almost on time!!! they must be happy to be done!

and happy thursday to you!

the BIG flea market

yesterday we went to the BIG flea market, in rowley, mass. at todd farm. usually when we go to the flea market, we go to arundel, maine which is much closer, but also much smaller. so rowley was fun and PACKED with vendors and buyers!

i basically love every single item in that first photo, but i also basically HAVE every single item on that table in some color, shape or size. that's my favorite stuff right there! had to use restraint!! lots of good dog-watching at the flea market, but i really don't know how much the dogs enjoy the crowds and the heat...they're sure cute, though!

i did find some pretty good treasures:

i got this sweet old cuckoo clock! it doesn't work, but i  love it anyway! i made the little string of pinecones to hang from the bottom. i would hang a string of pinecones on just about everything if i could! i loooove the bird on the top, and inside is a little bluebird! it's probably just as well that it doesn't work, because i remember my grandmother had a cuckoo clock and it kind of made you crazy when you stayed overnight!

 ka-pow!! love this-handpainted by "marie".

a successful day!

saturday and zucchini cake!

busy day yesterday! did some early morning sewing and am closing in on my secret project! yay!

i did a fun fabric trade with a woman i met on flickr(where you can find me at yellowhouse72.)

then we drove up to colby college in waterville, maine to the colby art museum to see their new wing. i really loved the  duane hanson sculpture.  

do you have more zucchini than you can shake a stick at?? i have a DELICIOUS zucchini cake recipe for you! here it is:

CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI CAKE

combine:

1 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. vegetable oil
5 T. cocoa powder
2 eggs
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. cloves
1/2 c. milk soured with vinegar(1/2 T.)

add and mix:

1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda

then add:

2 1/2 c. flour

stir in:

2 c. grated zucchini

spread in a greased 13 x 9 pan and sprinkle with semi-sweet chocolate morsels. the small ones are especially good if you have them!

bake at 325 degrees, 45 min. to 1 hour.

make it, eat it, use up that zucchini!!!