Winter Encroaching

West of us the snow is flying and the first frost has bitten off the last of the blooms here. Time to clear the deck of plants and dig in for the winter. Caught the geraniums in all their glory, but I hauled them off to lay over the winter in the garage. Makes the trip to the jeep a garden tour for awhile.
Rainy and cold last Wednesday we had travelers stop on their way to their southern retreat. For several days these Canadians roamed the empty subdivision lots across the street feasting on some mysterious treat before flying on to their spa in the south.
I've been knitting and sewing a bit. Trying to finish some projects in progress and then adding new ones too.
I'll have to post photos of anything I finish soon on here.
Stay warm and dry.

September swept by

After a cold summer an even colder fall has set in here. Today rainy and cloudy and September has snuck on by me without posting here. I've updated my Sasha website with fall outfits and finished the photos of them. Sold a few small Hitty dresses and started some fall knitting.
No colorful fall photos yet. The trees don't seem to be bursting in color yet. So I'll have to resot to taking photos of my autumn wreaths.
A busy week of work and extra seminars and the month has disappeared.
No excitement to report which can be good news. I'll share a few photos.

August Gone by

I can't believe a month has gone by since I posted last. Not a lot happening. An unusually cool summer here. If this is a Canadian summer then I am all for it.
Here are some projects I finished this week. One a gift and one for me. I cannot believe the number of free patterns in knitting and sewing available on line.
My purse is a 'Buttercup' pattern from a genrous blogger. http://madebyrae.blogspot.com/2009/02/free-buttercup-bag-sewing-pattern.html
It turned out really well I think. I used a magnet closure and this nostalgic fabric I found at a quilt store. The rest of the trimmings came from my stash.
More later.

El Paso in the summer

The 'city' promotes flower gardens are certain main corners by the parks and main intersections. These are a few of the prettiest. The Baptist church corner with the small white feeder for religious birds made the front page of the local 'squeak ' newspaper.. Big news in smallville. The year I moved here when I was 16 I groaned as I showed my Dad the front page of the paper at that time showing a sizable crack in the sidewalk downtown.... a foreboding of what EP is all about.
Cool summer here as it is all over the upper midwest and North east. Been really wet and cool for the flowers and they are loving it.
Need to take some photos of sewing projects so you will know it is not all sightseeing here in the metropolis.

Summer and Humidity all at once

A beautiful summer day here complete with Illinois's famous humidity. I've pictured my AG doll in OR scrubs. The profit goes to Relay for Life and they sold out in 8 hours. I had made 8 of them and the surgery department REALLY liked them. Took over a day and half of sewing to finish them.
Flower and even a volunteer tomato plant are doing super in this cool spring we had up till now.
sandy

Rainy and cool spring here. Peonies drooping to the ground from the weight of the flower heads and the torrential downpours of late. Here is my clematis with its first huge bloom nearly10 inches across. Various clematis plants have suffered agonizing deaths here from lawn mower encounters and other manly tortures but this tuff little plant has survived.
Also here is a photo of my favorite birthday present. A sweetgrass basket from South Carolina brought back as a gift by a close friend. I just love it. So well made. Very firm weave. The gifter also took photos of the basket maker and that makes it even more special.
I've been sewing a bit more lately. Enjoying working with the bright colors of spring and summer.
I redid this bouquet of silk flowers from last year's wreath since Todd loved purple so much. A few white roses added a pop of contrast to the arrangement
That's about all from prairie flatlands.

Almost May

It is cold here still. People shop in summer clothes as though it is not, but the house windows are closed and the furnace is on at night. The garden shops are bare, too chilly and wet to plant now. The farmers are not in the fields because of all the rain.
I've posted a photo of a double pointed needle holder I made last winter. I got a deal on the whole set of wooden short needles so needed a way to keep track of them. I saw a similar one on ebay and just used the corduroy I had in the stash. I'm thinking about a neater way to number the pockets but haven't come up with it yet. They number from 0 to 10.
My tulips have bloomed and the petals are bedraggled from all the wind and rain. I'm going to walk down the road and rescue some purple violets from the roadside before the city mower cuts them down.