Life imitating art...

My evening job is "soccer/ rugby mom".  Weeknights and most weekend days will find me at one of 2 local parks as my son practices. I realize the luxury of participating in outdoor sports on a year round basis {the upside to our 115* summers} but the extensive time commitment on recent cold, dark winter evenings was wearing me down. I began my resolutions early and figured gaflumping around the perimeter of the park would count as exercise. My payoff is a regular sighting of a juvenile Great Horned Owl perched on the fence along the walking trail. This is urban wildlife at its finest ~ he stares unblinking at the field rife with tasty morsels [though perhaps the regurgitation of dirty cleats is slowing his roll] while semis roar by behind him on I-10, the major east west truck route through Phoenix. I am impressed by his adaptibility, and repeat "you're not his food of choice" as I scurry along. Because I fear this would be the last thing to touch me, hard~ upside my noggin.....

Sonoran Desert Great Horned Owl


 

"Witches Nine" from Primitive Needle

I enjoy birds of prey, and respect their command of the environment. Can you spot my unintentionally camoflauged one? I am stitching Lisa Roswell's pattern on 40 count Cauldron from Colorscapes (a design choice courtesy of my daughter).  We substituted Crescent Colours for the Weeks Dye Works and I made a few adjustments due to the darker mottled background. Has anyone else had issues with chart discrepancies? The symbols listed don't seem to jibe with the finished picture, and searching for "corrections" has turned up nil since not many bloggers seem to have  worked this piece.
I do so love her designs and hope to begin Cape Cod's Girls next. It will be a companion to "Good Things". And I am desperate to track down a copy of "Annie Hyssop's Harvest Moon".
Have an excellent day, and hope your New Year's resolutions are rewarding in their own way!
Ruth

"Good Things" Birds of a Feather cross stitch

Six months gone by should equal a really awesome story...world travel, first novel completion or successful battle against obscure disease. Hmmm ~ does this count?

 

 

 

Birds of a Feather "Good Things"

         

   My daughter helped me with the color subsitution using Crescent Colours threads.   I stitched this as an homage to my maternal grandparents,  Louis and Alice Folger Wilcox. My grandfather was the dedicated caretaker of a private estate in Wareham, Massachusetts for 46 years.  My mother had the privilege to be raised there on Codman Point on Buzzards Bay.  My brother and I spent a lot of happy hours on this special island and many important values were established under their guidance. 

                                                  

                This is my grandfather in his rowboat with his faithful dog, Eldredge.  He provided the most delicious bounty from the sea~ fresh cod, quahogs, little neck clams and mussels to complement the abundance from his garden.                            

 

   

 

I imagined the freedom of a soaring seagull. It looked like the life!

 

 

 

 

My grandmother was serene and regal, teaching me words like "piazza" and how to play War. She took us swimming every day and made us homemade gingerbread.

 

 

 

 

 

My grandmother made the best New England fish chowder.

 

 

 

Every time I smell a ripe tomato I am transported back to the gardens my grandfather kept.

 

This will be framed and go on the wall next to the aerial photo of Codman Point on my wall.

Joy in rememberance! I try to live the values my grandparents taught me by example and hopefully instill them in my own children. Their idyllic exsistence on "The Point" fell victim to progress, but lives forever in my and my brother's heart    (and the tireless stories I tell my family ~ "It's a good story, and you tell it so well!")

 

 

Now that it's done *sigh* I am thinking the bottem where the words are needs to be filled in and the words restitched in Hydrangea from CC? Thoughts? Looks bare....

 

Another 6 months unaccounted for.

 

Flower Power

This gorgeous work of art bloomed overnight! I was keeping an eye on it throughout a scorching Arizona day and the bud seemed to ripen, but hadn't opened by nightfall.  5am was magic hour!

Which explains the light....by noon the flower was fading.

                                          
                                     No subtlety here. Ostentatious is the order of the day.

These  bloom overnight and wilt by noon.

                           It is a treasure hunt each morning to capture nature's fleeting beauty.

Delicate pink seashells....

     Hedgies are some of my favorite variety of cactus. Their first year and they bloomed!!

Hedgehog cluster throwing out some color




This barrel cactus  is a rescue. My husband found him overturned and left to wither  in the Arizona sun.

This morning's thanks offering.

This is an Arizona Queen of the Night. They are difficult to spot in the wild as they resemble dried out cholla and they need the protection of other plants. This one acclimated to our yard, but has not flowered yet.  There is a photo gallery of them in their natural habitat and a rare picture of the flower.  

Can you discern the new growth?? Maybe it's a bud!!

Cholla grow like evil weeds here. But, even chollas need love!

'

      

           I can take no credit for our gorgeous yard. My husband tirelessly maintains it.
   He has turned out to be quite the "cactus whisperer". Despite their ability to grow in conditions that resemble Hades, they can be very temperamental. Each variety has their particular set of needs. Orchids would be a cakewalk after this!!
The weather has been brutal already, but promises to cool down to the 80's for the weekend!!
Trying to stay hydrated......Ruth

175 days and counting.....

Collections happen. It is the moment of internal dialogue that brings it all home....
"Yes, but THIS one is [fill in the blank justification]" as you add another "must have" to your growing hoard. Everyone collects something, admitted or not. I did the happy dance yesterday when Brightneedle's "Ghoulies and Ghosties" arrived (how do!?). It was the verse ~ a Cornish prayer from the 16th century, that got me. The funky lizard wasn't bad either.

Brightneedle "Ghoulies and Ghosties"

I purchased "Darcy and Elizabeth at the Zombie Ball" ostensibly for my son. He is ready for the zombie apocalypse and is routinely distressed at my failure to prepare. This {of course} required a visit to Brickarms so the couple is fully equipped with a bloody cricket bat and machete (very British!). 

The Sampler Girl "Darcy and Elizabeth at the Zombie Ball"

 

 This chart is for my husband (generousity is becoming). Each block o' the month features a corresponding complaint. Though my darling husband is exceedingly patient and tolerant {no sniggering, people} it seemed fitting.  And, once again....Zombies sealed the deal.

Raise the Roof "Crabby all Year"

 This I purchased just for me because it seemed morbid as a "gift". "When I am dead and buried and all my bones are rotten".... Who doesn't love that sentiment?  Snakes and rats amongst the skeleton ~ yum.

Birds of a Feather "Remember me on Halloween"

So...to get in the mood for my favorite holiday I kitted up "All Hallow's Eve" from The Goode Huswife. Small enough to complete this year and practice my finishing skills on.

Perhaps, once the invasion I will be safe.

Garden of Earthly Delights

                 I am not blessed with natural creativity, though I get an A for effort. I still vividly recall my mother's consternation as I labored over yet another variation of my signature Crayola "house with tree and sun".  I was not familar with the concept of artistic series yet or I would have employed that reasoning when encouraged to try something different since I seemed to have mastered that motif?  Since then, I have come to realize artists are able to translate inspiration that surrounds us all. A case in point........this lovely elusory flower. After much tending from my husband, our cactus are blooming.

Paddle Cactus

 I see similar design elements in this vintage fabric from The Design Studios of David and Dash. The pattern is Trafalgar, and dates from the 1960's. The Design Center at Philadelphia University curates a collection that includes their textiles and they can be viewed at thedesigncenter.tumblr.com.

Trafalgar

Now, all I have to do is make a lovely set of pillows for my couch. That's creative, no?

Rumor has it....

I am excite.......

NOoooo...Come back!!

Hedgehog cactus flower

The quail visited last evening until chased away by paparazzi style photo tactics. Chumming the yard with copious seed ensured another visit this morning. I am hoping for a nesting pair!
 Cacti bloom in spectacular fashion, in part because it is so brief.  This is one variety of hedgehog cactus in our yard.
The heat is on.....at the grocery store the fight is never for the closest parking spot, but the one in the shade (and shade is a relative term in the desert).  
More cacti blooms tomorrow..
                               

"Jonathan Livingston Seagull, I presume?"

Birds of a Feather "Good Things"

     "Good Things" from Birds of a Feather. Why are they no longer designing cross stitch patterns for me? I was a loyal consumer. Though not as "good" as I could have been since I am missing a few of their out of print, highly desirable early charts. If only..... *sigh*
This mermaid sampler is an experiment in thread conversion rather than another cheap excuse to collect vast quantities of fiber. How dare you! I am reconfiguring the recommended WDW into Crescent Colours from nearby Tucson (shop local, people). How could I not purchase a skein called "Lobster Claw" and find a place to use it?
My question for you regarding the 2 fisheys left of the F: should they remain the already stitched Fancy Nancy Green (see what I mean?) or frog them out and make them purple, as demonstrated? And do you like my homage to the Gorton's fisherman?
We Phoenicians are tasked with breaking records today. Can we do it? The rest of the country already wallowed in high spring temps. Our turn now...103 yesterday and headed for 105. "Like seven inches from the noon day sun".