June 13, 2008

• I see the last time I posted was a week ago, Tues.  It seems longer.  I’ll get back into the swing of this in another couple paragraphs, which should be small since I’m feeling so fragmented. 

  My youngest is in town until the 15th, so I’ve seen a lot of the girls this week.  The oldest brought her puppy over, and we laid out on the deck while they trounced around my forest.  The sun was finally out here and we got some, but our bath was interrupted.  The two dogs had discovered the rotting remains of what the cat must have killed days ago.  They were taking turns rolling in it.  My dog needed a bath anyway but she had just bathed hers.  No matter, we all had fun playing with the hose.

  I made the mistake of spending three hours at the library the other day, soaking up inspiration.  I went straight to the grocery store to buy ingredients for all the great recipes Id seen.  Next stop was the nursery to create my own magic with overstuffed pots.  I now have seven large pots spilling over with all manner of annuals.  My favorite was the most boring to plant, and at the time I wished Id gotten a third choice.  But it is the most vibrant, maybe because it has the fewest colors and each is a gradation away from the other.  I used blue and yellow pansies.  One looked great with blue and white lobelia and one had a purple hue to it so I used the solid blue lobelia to match.  Plus I found just the right shade of petunia. 

  Oh, and I did one in just white.  For the center I used three cosmos and for the trailing I used lobelia and alyssum.  I can’t remember what the mid-sized plants were.  I think white petunias. 

  My second favorite had white alyssum, let’s call it “midnight magenta” petunias, white petunias, mixed dianthus, you know those little versions of sweet William and some snapdragon for the center which pulled together all the shades of pink, plus a little yellow.  Busy but bright. 

  It got worse.  I went to the farmer’s market and found two scented azalea bushes, one the golden yellow I’ve always wanted, which looks great with the orange and yellow snapdragons and the nasturtium plants that should be the right hues.  The other is pink, slightly salmon, with hints of yellow and white in the center which looks great with lemon yellow snapdragons and the annual begonias I like to use as ground cover.  I will have to dig out a portion of yard to add to an existing bed so for now I just grouped the plants in the driveway until I get to it.  It’s been miserable weather up until yesterday.

  Quite by accident I spent another three hours pouring over patterns and then material.  I needed buttons and popped into JoAnn’s.  That’s when I remembered the high school reunion and the dress I would need for the luau.  It was like old times.  I used to spend Friday nights doing this very thing.  Henry would come back from whatever state he’d been in and I would go look at material and then catch a late movie.  I didn’t have any single girlfriends or married ones who could get the night off in those days so I just hung out by myself. I made most of my clothes then because we didn’t have the money  to buy what I was used to wearing so I figured out how to make it.  I made some pretty cool stuff if I do say so myself. 

  The last time I made a dress was probably ten years ago.  It’s a shift I wear when it’s hot.  It’s got an empire waist and square neck and  is loose enough I can pull it over my head.  Up until recently it’s looked too short but now short’s back in.

  I’m also trying to come up with some great clothes to wear to the blues festival this year without spending a ton of money.  I bought some practice material, which I like in case it turns out.  The oldest said it looked African.  She said I should use it to recover the antique chaise the dog sleeps on.   It would look good on a chair.  But it will look good on me, too, as long as this pattern works out.  But you never know.

  • 1:11 am
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