Backyard Harvest Part II

Summer

Fiber Camp

This past week at the Yarnery I taught my annual Kids Camp.
Even though it's called Knit and Crochet Camp, we do lots of different fiber projects.
We dye yarn with Kool-aid,
and make needle tops of Sculpey.
This student exceeded my expectations with Mermaid and Merman toppers complete with trident.
We cover journals with pieces of felted sweaters
We make signs on felt rectangles to hang on bedroom doorsAnd make barrettes inspired by these at Angry Chicken

We also did a little knitting and crochet, and a couple of girls decided to teach themselves how to needle felt 3 dimensional objects.
I was so inspired by this group of creative ladies!
I think I will add in the needle felting as an official project next time.
All in all a most successful week of crafty energy.

Out on a date with the Hug-a-Bugs

Last night I did it up right and took the kids on a date.
We went to see Up. I don't think I have cried like that at a cartoon for some time.
Then we had dinner at Punch pizza. Super yum, and the kids did the restaurant thing very well.
Then we went out for ice cream at Izzy's. They had chocolate, and I had the lemon sorbet with an orange sorbet Izzy scoop, but I wish it had been the other way because the orange was the best sorbet I have ever tasted.
The best part of the evening was watching and listening to them as they told stories and were generally fascinating.

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I am teaching a kids fiber camp at the Yarnery all this week.
It's just me, 6 girls and a mountain of yarn, roving and felted sweaters until Friday.
This is the third year that we have held this camp and I always enjoy planning out the activities for the ladies.
We have already dyed yarn with Kool-Aid, made needle toppers with Sculpey, covered notebooks with pieces of felted sweaters, and one girl taught herself to needle felt in 3 dimensions.
I will bring my camera along today to document these wonderful projects, be prepared to be dazzled.

To digress, last night was T-Ball night, and I got to go see my Elder Hug-a-Bug play.
As we were leaving to go to the field the weather sirens started blaring.
So, everybody back in the house, check the weather websites, only a thunderstorm.There wasn't any lightning or much thunder so I thought we could still make it to T-Ball.
It rained for about 15 minutes, but by game time it had stopped.



The crowd of players was thinned by the bad weather, but we still had enough Red Sox to cover the bases and I think everyone had a ton of fun.
By the time we were leaving the storm had totally passed by and we had actual blue sky for sunset.

Saint Paul Photo Walk

The Saint Paul Photo Walk was today and I don't think I got one great shot.
I got some o.k. ones, but nothing spectacular.
I don't know what was going on with me.
boring stuff, I blame the person (me) who planned the route.
Certainly I will not be in contention for the grand prize which is amazing, $11,000 worth of photography equipment including a new dslr and tripod and lens and, and, and...
Oh well, I had fun anyway.
And I got to meet some other local photographers, including the parents of a former co-worker 'cause that's how small Saint Paul is.

Saint Paul PhotoWalk

Tomorrow is the day for the World Wide Photo Walk.
There are 900 of them going on around the world tomorrow, July 18th.
Many of the walks are at capacity, but I would visit the Worldwide Photo Walk website to see if you can still sign up for one in your neighborhood.
I am leading the Saint Paul walk, and there are still 3 spots.
From the website:

Q. What is a Photo Walk?

A. It’s a social photography event where photographers get together, usually in a downtown area or trendy section of town, to walk around, shoot photos, and generally have fun with other photographers.

It sounds like a lot of fun, and I am excited to participate tomorrow.

(I am going to leave this post ironically photo-less)

Backyard Harvest

Morning Ride

I woke with the sun this morning.
I had enough time before the husband left for work to squeeze in a bike ride.
I rode about 7 miles, and felt pretty fantastic for the most part.
We live on a bluff over the Mississippi River, and there is a lovely trail along the river that is just my speed; pretty flat, nice views lotsa trees.
I brought along my camera but I was enjoying the ride so much I didn't take many pictures.
I did take this one of Harriet Island toward the end of my ride.

The way back, however, is a little hairy.
As I said, I live up on the bluff, so there is a very steep and winding road back to my street.
I found myself unequal to the task of riding up the hill, and when I looked over and saw these

I thought, I could probably carry my bike up those stairs.

Well, I thought again, and instead, I pushed my bike up the side of the hill alongside the stairs.

So I got in some great exercise and a little mountain-climbing adventure thrown in to boot.

Have a good morning out there yourselves!

Score!

I was driving home from work last night and I found a sweet little desk on the side of the road.
It's just the right size for coloring and there is a compartment underneath which holds the Elder's favorite markers and coloring book.

There was no chair, but I went to my favorite antique mall this morning before work and found the perfect chair.
It was a little on the expensive side, and I didn't feel I had the budget for the matching chair, but as the desk was a freebie I went ahead and got it.
The top of the desk needs a little love, there are stickers and drawing and a big water mark from something on it, so I might sand it down and paint it.
But, then again, I kind of like the sense of history, of the children who have written and learned on this desk.

We shall see...

catching up

We have been busy this last week!
Beach trips
Walking in the woods (that's the Younger Hug-a-Bug far off down the trail)
Knitting -
O.K. this last stuff has just been me.
I am working on another project for the librarian who commissioned the Love, From Wooly project last year.

This book is called "A Fox Got My Socks"

The captions read:

The bear gave a snort "This sweater's too short"
My scarf made me laugh wrapped around a giraffe.
A cat got my hat.
A fox got my socksI really enjoy these kinds of projects.
I get to figure out how to make the small knitted thing and then I get to dress up little stuffed animals and puppets.
Total fun.

Have a beautiful Thursday,
Jess

Hey Thanks!

Thanks for the lovely birthday wishes and the book suggestions!
I just finished A Room with a View today and now I have a great list to choose from for my next book!

33

Good morning.
I was just sitting here on the morning of my birthday drinking my homemade chamomile tea
(I highly recommend growing Chamomile.
It smells nice in the garden and has pretty white flowers and, after you harvest about 50 flowers you can make a delicious cup of tea.)

and perusing blogs.
I don't feel particularly old, but I must look it.
On Tuesday I went to scope out the restaurant that we're going to tonight to make sure they had dairy-free options, and my Elder Hug-a-Bug told the chef "It's my Mom's Birthday on Thursday!"
He looked at me and said "29?" with his eyebrows raised.

wow.

That's the kind of thing I say to 65-year-old ladies at the store.

hmph.

Oh well, if nothing else, my experience will help me stop making comments like that.

I woke up to a lovely surprise from my dear parents, they left a beautiful card on the front door for me.

Now, I would like a present from you the reader.

I would like to get to 33 comments today, so let me know what you're reading this summer, would ya?

I am reading A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
It is as funny as I remembered it to be.
I read it in High School, but it's clearly been a while since I've been in high school.

Have a great morning,
Jess