Off My Job Today....But Not off Work

I had to take off my reg job today as i had been summoned to the first day of jury duty orientation. I was excused but I still had to show up for the orientation.They double checked my info and then i could go back home.

WELL ..... what I had waiting on me at home was a good days work of putting the smaller summer garden area to rest and planting more on the little fall garden. I pulled up all the dead tomato plants and then chopped all the weeds out with the hoe and turned over all the dirt . It is all just SO bare and sad now. I did enjoy myself today working in the yard. I go barefoot when i can .......I love the feel of Mother Earth .Here ( pic below) is where i had some corn planted along with a cherry tomato plant. These plants sure climbed. Next year i want to get these same plants and I will put them out along the privacy fence. I had this one on the fence and it grew up it and then all down the back side of it also. Each cherry tomato plant has produced 100's of tomatoes this summer. I have radishes growing in the pots here in the smaller fall garden. Then today i put out green onion and more radish seeds in the ground. I did notice a rabbit this weekend so i am going to have to kill it .sorry.. no furry woodland creatures in the yard... I still have the really really big garden area left to do yet..... I had all the corn and white pumkins and heirloom tomatoes in that area . The pumpkin vines that were NOT planted under the corn have all died out. The cantalope and watermelons were a waste of garden space for me .wont do them next year. I will rasie more Patti Pan squash though...The squash bugs left it alone ..they killed instead the zuchini and yellow squash plants off . I did save the white pumpkins off the dead vines. I think they are big enough and can be cooked and frozen for breads and soup. That is a project for this weekend though .

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Here are 2 plants a neighbor was going to throw out. They just needed water and have perked right pack up. The pink geranuims are starting to bloom again. I should be able to winter these over inside the house .
HMMMM !!!! I am NOT sure why all of a sudden i have lines under the words I am typing ?? Oh well......... Here is lunch today. I have used patti pan squash from the garden and sauteed it with olive oil.....garlic .carrots.....red peppers .....then poured over fresh spinach and cabbage ... VERY yummy!!!!!Then i took the marigold flowers i had harvested today and added to olive oil to infuse for next few weeks. I will take the oil once i have strained it and add to shea butter for a skin rub .

Sweaters into Leg Warmers and Arm Warmers

It is that time of the year again........ When i go thru all the old sweaters people give me over the summer to repurpose. I turn them into leg warmers and arm warmers..hats and scarves even. This black and white sweater will make a set of the arm and leg warmers .....then will use the collar of it and turn into a neck cowl .........will use some eyelash yarns to crochet the edging on them. I am getting ready to barter for the yarns too :)

Repurposing Rhinestone Pins

I have a really pretty rhinestone pin but it is broken .......so ...I decided to take it apart and then repurpose into other jewelery designs . I use thin strips of faux leather and then sew the rhinestone piece to it. I fold the topof the leather strip over and sstitch so i have a small loop to use to add to necklaces or into a bracelet design .

It has been a mind numbing week and i havent had much chance to work on any jewelry designs till today . I plan on spending most of the weekend just relaxing in my craft room and nourishing my soul with my jewlery art.

New Tribal Horse Design .......

I was off work today so i decided to start my morning with a cuppa tea and the sunrise . I am back to me NOT watching the morning news....... too darn depressing.Instead i decided to be creative and went thru my box of feathers.



I put "Scooby Doo and the Witches Ghost dvd on the tv ...which sets in my free entertainment center I got Saturday afternoon .Then i took a bangle bracelet that i had that was too small and used it as the center part of my little leather horse head that i whipped up and embellished it with pheasant feathers and jasper stone chips .....turned out rather well so far. I have to finish the neck part yet. I used red agate beads and some more jasper so far........

Gotta show everyone the cute pencil sharpners i found junking too ..... too cute :) I also picked some lemon balm from the garden. I will simmer it in the crockpot for 24 hrs in lard and then i will freeze it to use for balms and soaps later on ...

Thoughts of Halloween ........

I have thoughts of new designs for Halloween jewelry running thru my head this morning. But first i needed to go thru and clean out images that i wont be using. I just have so much room to store craft stuff .sigh!!!!!!!
I have been going thru and destashing alot of halloween and witchy images that I have collected over the years for altered art and jewelry. Most of these are really unique and are from halloween kids books. They are being offered in my ebay store at ..... http://cgi.ebay.com/Halloween-Witch-Vintage-Postcard-and-Child-Book-Images-/180540926216?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a0913e908
and http://cgi.ebay.com/Witch-Vintage-and-Ephmera-Altered-Art-Collage-Supply-/180540902372?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a09138be4
and http://cgi.ebay.com/Halloween-Witch-Vintage-and-Altered-Art-Collage-Images-/180540909069?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a0913a60d

Working on blog this morning ....

I am redesigning my blog a bit today ..........decided to go back to adding links to other's Etsy stores by adding the Etsy mini features ... if you would like your Etsy mini added to my blog drop me an email and we can do an exchange of links. I just didnt have the energy to put in devolping the blog over the last year or so .But i feel much healthier with all the diet change and the exercise . I feel much more 'alive" inside lately also. Lots of creative energy sooooooooo......... i need an outlet to sell the designs I am working on also.

OOAK Tribal Horse Designs ...

I am working on new designs this week to take to a luncheon to vend.I enjoy working with pieces that have a southwest look to them. What doesnt sell will go in the ebay store and up for barter for soap making supplies. I am looking for oxides in blues and oranges and such for my Cp soap. Also fragrance oils for the soap and edible scented / flavor oils for lip balms and massa ge oils. I like to make the oils up in the colder months since i dont like to ship my oil based products in the hotter months .. HMM? I am really not happy with my camera . I am not sure why all the pics are turning out grainy and out of focus last few weeks.... may be time for a new digital camera .

You can see how much the garden has grown in over a month .......Right now i am harvesting some corn and all kinds of tomatoes. My heirlooms are quite ripe yet but the cherry and pear tomatoes are grwoing about as fast as the weeds :) The rabbits have eatne the yellow squash and all but 2 of the patti pan squash . I am borrowing a dog this weekend to play in the yard and hopefully run off the rabbits .

Yes. I have corn growing..for now :)

Seeeeee.......... corn !!!!!! and the squash bugs havent found my plants yet..

Random corn growing. I tucked corn wherever i had room. i have 32 tommato plants in...most are heirloom varieties of all kinds...

Lemon balm is really growing great this year. Here in few days i need to pick some and infuse in olive oils for my soaps....

Lapquilts in various stages

Here are the 2 I decided to try and finish up today . Spent over 4 hrs on them already... yarn tatting on them and then hand sewing the binding that I make from fabric. Least another 6 hrs work to finish them up. I havent sewn all the horses on yet......once sewn on I will be back and embroidery around the edges of them . On the full body horses I may add bridles in embbroiidery and maybe an appliqued saddle ...not sure yet ) . Both lapquilts are made with a combination of upholstery fabrics. I love the textures and patterns in the tapestry and upholstery fabrics much better than lightweight cottons...




Then here is the second one.. I still need to add more horse heads and buttons for eyes .plus the embroidery around them . I am not going for a "traditional quilt" look. Each one will be a little work of art when finished. Then will come the fun of deciding what to charge for them ......each will be least 100.00. I will get complete pics of each when i have them done

Infusing Rose and Spearmint Oils ..

I usually infuse my herbs in olive oil and let set for several weeks but I wanted to try this method using lard and the crockpot.Lard being what i had on hand and alot cheaper than olive oil. I will be using in my HP soap later on. So i harvested a batch of spearmint the neighbor had growing in her yard and some of my rose petals. I filled the crockpot with it all and then added 2 cups of lard . I plan to let this infuse on "warm" setting for several days . Alot of people infuse thier herbs only for 4 or 6 hours by crockpot but i want to be sure to get a strong infused oil. I want to try to root a few o fthe spearment plants in a pot for my herb garden later on. These may be too big to get to root . But i plan on trying :)

Soap yummy enough to eat ....

Here is some of the soap I made this weekend. This is the "rasberry chocolate swirl " with oatmeal on top.... I swear it smells yummy enough to eat.it is scented with rasberry and then the cocoa powder makes the swirl. I dont think i will sell any of this batch. I plan to keep for myself and my daughter and a few gifts....... I have enough lye left for maybe a smaller....2 lb batch later in the week....think I will make more of this :)

Weeds and more weeds.....

I am building small areas for my salad garden crops. I have chives in one and green onions in another. Then lemon balm in another . I am using scrap lumber pieces . I need to round up some more still. I decided to move where i had started the new strawberry beds. That is the areas with the bamboo frames and plastic laid out. The frames are a broken Papa San chair frame that will work just great with it .You can see the side of the 2nd one of left of the picture .

I am getting weary of chopping 100's of weeds every day so I am going back and laying newspaper down around the rows ......then I am covering the papers with mulch and dirt. Newspaper works great ....just makes a truly UGLy garden area :) All the neighbors have maple trees which means mant thousands of maple seeds that have fallen in my yard and they all spring up and have to be pulled up... I dont use poison in my yard....but this fall I am going to have to spray for poison ivy. It has taken over so much of the fence rows

Rain and More Rain ....

Little too much rain overnight. I had just planted the corn Friday.....it is in the area way in back of yard.. cant see it too good in these pics .. Hope it doesnt wash my seed away :(

I love my turquoise fox necklace I made this weekend . The red beads are a red dyed agate .

This is a babyquilt i was making for a barter . Just have to tat it up and off it goes :)

These are barettes I whipped up. I cant find nice barrettes here anywhere for work. They are all cheap plastic or for kids or big funky bows..pssfft! Micheals Craft Store carries the blank silver barrettes and then add just a little bit of hot glue and some fabric or trim ....

The wild children ...

The wild children of the world :) Just finished 3 of them today..I love to make these primitive dolls . I dont think i could make a pretty and cutesy type doll.... they would be just too boring. I see these as scruffy medeval kids ... I got alot done in the craft room today.... I had some pillowcases to sew up and then I have been working on cutting several hundred strips of wallpaper to be turned into beads .. By using the wallpaper they are quite sturdy and alot can be done with them far as adding paint for textures over the colors. My camera is acting up tonight so maybe tomorrow when I have more patience i can get some good pictures of them . I got the backyard cut . Still feeling tired ...this BP medicine sucks the life right out of me. I have 2 weeks left of it on this cutting back dose and then will be off of it . I will be SO happy believe me .....

Recyling Candles today

I enjoy nice smelling jar candles like yankee candles.....but you always end up with about 1/3 left in the jars. Sometimes i use a candle warmer for them but i really enjoy the glow from candles themselves..So i take the old ones and heat them up to melt the wax...then i use the wax to create new ones. For these i have taken glass bowls that tealights will fit in....then i pour the hot wax in the bowl to just level with the wick in the tea lights. This way i dont have to buy wicks and create new candles at the same time. In the one picture..... You can see where i have taken a rectangle glass dish that holds 4 tealights and i have just started pouring the used candle wax around them. You could be elaborate on how you swirl colors with the old wax also...

Primitive Viking Dolls.....

Before you say... gosh..what UGLy dolls.. I have created these dolls based on primitive viking figures. The dragon headed one is made to resemble a viking ship figurehead and the other is a primitive viking girl with a cloak. They arent meant to be cute :) These are to be consigned to some folk doing the Shelbyville Ren Faire this summer....

Bobbi's Article On Plantain

Interesting article on Plantain..... check it out :) http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.examiner.com%2Fx-14263-Lexington-Gardening-Examiner~y2010m4d19-The-miracles-of-Plantain&h=f3915 I use it in salves . Never tried in salads but i may toss a few leaves in my next one. I have plenty growing in the yard

Life Changes....

So many things going on in last few months...most lately involving "life changes" I did decide to "undelete" this little blog. Though i did go back and take off the last 2 years worth of stuff. Figure it was too far back and no one actually read all that part. though once i deleted it ..wish i hadnt. should have printed it all out first..I could have put it with my journal :) I am back on my diet as a life change. My body doesnt do well otherwise. Lots of yummy salads now twice a day . Eating like i was....grabbing a sandwich at McDonalds 2 times a day was NOT a good idea on my part.. Doing that for 5 or 6 weeks lead to me being not healthy. On a good note ...since i was so sick last wednesday.. i have ate really well. and even lost a bit. I can wear few more pairs of my pants i was saving . Course when i started this diet last fall... i meant to be in a sz 12 right now...not a sz 16 .. considering i was wearing a size 20 in pants and 22 /24 in a shirt back then.. i am very grateful to be in 16's now .