Bluetts in a Pie Plate

 

I have been trying for weeks to think of something 'different' to post on this blog.  As you know, my forward momentum came to a stop at the end of November and I am still having difficulty focusing on what I need to do...such as posting.  In fact, I've been unable to post, sew or any number of things that I would normally spend time doing.  I'm working on it getting better...guess I'm just a slow poke at the moment....and hope before long I will, at the least, come up with something pretty for you to see and while doing that, maybe I'll perk myself up at the same time.

 

I have a huge fondness for Bluetts.  In our yards, they are weeds, but in all the "out and about places" they are one of Arkansas's most beautiful wildflowers.  Strictly my own opinion of course.  I have plenty of them on my two acres here  and enjoy searching for them.  I say searching because they are teeny tiny little things and hard for me to see....but search I do and find them all over the place.  The other day, in honor of my friend, Sherry, who also loves Bluetts, I ventured forth into the backyard and photographed and picked some of them.  This post is for you,  Sherry!

 

I put them in a child's doll glass from a little vintage set I have had for a long time.... it's about an inch and a half tall...so you can see the flowers really are teeny tiny.  I thought you might get an idea of their size if I held the point of a ball point pen next to one.  See, I'm not kidding about their smallness, although to me (and Sherry!), they are 'biggies' on the list of wildflowers. 

  

When taking the photos, I decided it would be interesting to place the tiny glass on one of my recent flea market finds...this gorgeous pie plate.  And, isn't it though?  Gorgeous,  I mean.  This pie plate just made my heart flutter about so.  And, along with the Bluetts, makes me feel really good just to be able to see these beautiful things!

 

 Thought you might want to see the back of the pie plate too.  Even it is beautiful!!! 

 

 Another close-up of the flowers flowers.  These stayed 'pretty' for about four days in this tiny glass and I enjoyed having them in my kitchen.

 

Another photo of the pie plate.  It was love at first sight!!  Makes me want to go and embroider roses and other flowers...something that is difficult for me to do right now....but soon, I hope to be able to stitch again....it's a vision thing, not a state of mind thing.  I think I need to find a plate stand so I can put this in the kitchen and enjoy it all the time!!

  

Another part of the pie plate.  I just can't seem to get enough of looking at it.....so beautiful!  I can see stitching some Roses, Forget-Me-Knots, tiny leaves and of course....French Knots if I used this for inspiration.

 

 I need some fabrics in all these colors.....and some silk ribbon, some perle cotton, oh my!

  

This may be only time I would say not to cover up a pie plate with actual pie!!

 

 Another view of the back....I can tell you, if I ever found another one...I'd buy it too!

 And, don't you love pieces like this with the crazed finish.....Be Still My Heart!!!

 

If you are interested in Arkansas Wildflowers...here is a book I really enjoy.  And, this is how I learned about Bluetts.  I'm pretty sure it would still be in print although I have had this one for quite a long time.

 

Page 214.  All about Bluetts.  Maybe they grow where you are...I just don't know, but if you are out hiking somewhere (or have weeds in your yard as I do) then maybe you might run across some.  Look closely...and if you find them, you will look each time you go out walking as they are a reward for looking at your surroundings closely.  I hope you enjoyed seeing them here on my blog too. 

Well, now I feel better.  Maybe I can find something else around here to show you very soon.....I know I need to spend some time trying anyway...because if you feel better, then I know I will feel better too!!!

I came across the work of a young artist a few days ago.  Her work is so happy and cheerful, I wanted to share it with you.  You can see it at www.katiedaisy.com.  This is what one of her pieces has to say:

"My soul is made of meadow flowers"

Yes, indeedy, Katie!!!!  Y'all take care out there, pat

A Little Bit of Everything

 

Well, the "Williams Girls" (me, my sister Debbie, and our niece, Tessa) had a weird visit last week.  They arrived late afternoon last Sunday to a big, nasty, "Thunder Sleet" occurrence.  I don't think I've ever seen anything like it.  We were iced in until Thursday morning.  And, although we managed to enjoy our time together...well, it would have been even more fun if we could have gotten 'out and about.'  They left yesterday morning, undoubtedly happy to be going back home.  I sure did enjoy seeing them though!    Today I went to the Neighborhood market and brought home these beautiful tulips.  Pretty....and about as opposite "Thunder Sleet" as you could get.    I thought you might enjoy seeing them too!  (Thank you, sweet girls, for coming to visit!!)

 

Love this pretty pink color....and love the weeping tulips no matter what their color.   I wanted to say that I actually crocheted that tablecloth one summer when my kids were small...five and six.  It took me six weeks....and there has not been another.  I'm proud of it.  And, you know what, it seems like yesterday!

 

 A close-up of one of the tulips.  Don't you think pink and yellow look just great together?  I love roses sharing those colors also. 

Tessa just graduated from college recently...degrees in ceramics and photography.  She made this bottle and I treasure it.  Hoping she finds a job and gets to do what she loves....I wish that for everyone, don't you?    I found this 6" x 6" canvas at the flea market...recently.  It's parked here until I figure out where I really want it.  The greens in these items just made it really stand out.   And, the sentiment, given past history at my house, made this piece extra meaningful to me. 

 

This is a Kelly Rae Roberts print....I have shown my little collection on the blog before.  My daughter has given me several pieces of Kelly Rae's work.  (Funny that my daughter's name is Kelly also!)  I may show you those again pretty soon...and this one may join the others OR be placed somewhere else in my home or studio...who knows...as you know....my mind changes often.  However, I will love this piece where ever it lands here.  Remember to breathe deeply....and enjoy the little (and very big) things of life while you are doing it.  You never appreciate them until you don't have them any more.  By the way, you can visit Kelly Rae and read her blog if you click here. 

 

My daughter and her husband were eating chips with a sandwich week before last.  She reached in the bag and pulled this potato chip out.  Crazy, huh?  Rick said, "Call your mother!"  So, they saved it for me.  I guess you can find a heart shaped thing just about anywhere!

 

No kidding...I think it's pretty neat.

  

One more little thing.....bought this big old spoon at the flea with the intention of doing this very thing....using it as a 'dipper' for a bowl of buttons.   This bowl is ten or twelve inches across.  Lots of buttons.  One of my biggest pleasures...finding them any and everywhere.  Wanted some color in the bowl, so added the Christmas red Cardinal salt and pepper shakers I bought at WallyWorld for the holidays.  Pretty cute, I do believe.  The spoon is extra big...almost like a shovel!

 

So, there is what I call "a little bit of everything."  From flowers, to buttons, to artwork, to potato chips.  Never know what you might find at my place!  Y'all stay warm, safe, and have some fun.  See you soon.  Big hugs, pat

PS.  Are you as annoyed by the time change as I am?

Playing around with furniture

 

Hi out there!  I hope you are warm.  Seems this winter has been especially hard on all of us and I will certainly be glad to see Spring.  My little blackboard by the front door says "Spring ?"  As in, is there going to be one?  Right now we have rain and it could turn into something else, they say...so hoping they are wrong.  My sister is on her way here from Texas....sure would like her to arrive without mishap.  She is bringing my niece, Tessa, my youngest brother's daughter.  Haven't seen her in several years, so I am looking forward to having them here for the better part of a week.  Three "Williams Girls" as we call ourselves.    I wanted to post something, anything, today as it will probably at least another week before I have the time to do it.  Plan on enjoying the girls as much as possible.  So, I thought I'd show you the result of playing with furniture around here.  Seems I have been trying to  busy myself with some of the things I used to do before the old navy man became ill.  I rather enjoyed puttering around with some of my 'old stuff' as he called it.  So, I hope you enjoy it too!  (When I would go to the flea market, he would always say "What are you dragging in here now?" Smiling.  After he had been ill for quite a while...he would say..."Don't you want to go to the flea?"

Before he passed, he told me to KEEP going to the flea, it would be good for me.  He was DEAR!)

 

There are two alcove like places when you enter my front door...one left, one right.  A total waste of space if you ask me, but being a junky person, I have to put something in them.  I change them every great once in a while and yesterday I decided they needed a change.  The old navy man thought it was work I didn't need to do (smiling, of course) and I think it is fun, so enjoyed the little bit it took to put all my stuff in it.  He gave me the antique writing desk long ago.  It's been in just about every room in the house except this alcove and so far, I like it here.  (Remember, I just moved it yesterday.)  I found that old typewriter for $15...it works fine...and on that enamel tray is my collection of dipping pens and inks.    One of the things I love to do and haven't done in a long time is writing with those pens.  I hope to get back into doing some of the things I always loved to do.    

  

When he bought this writing desk for me as a birthday gift, it did not have a chair, but he didn't give up...years later, he found this one....really 'goes' with it!  It has a leather embossed seat which I love!  I don't think this desk has ever been closed since it came to live with me.  It now houses my sketchbooks, old ink bottles in a wooden box, all kinds of papery things,colored pencils, a little watercolor set, some books.

 

Over top is a watercolor, my friend Jim painted for me long ago.  I love it and it, too, has moved around my house.  And, then, there is that old screen door.  You may remember that I have an old screen door going into my laundry room/pantry.  Both were given to me by my son-in-law and are two of my favorite things ever.  This one has been on the front porch for a good while, but yesterday, I decided to move it inside (on a whim) to become a sort of bulletin board next to the desk.  I know my family thinks I am nuts.  Fortunately, that has no effect on me at all...I just keep doing "Pat things."  I like it here and had fun gathering all the 'stuff' held in place by clothes pins.  I have an assortment of really aged pins, but didn't want to look them up at the time, I set this up, so some are brand new and I'd rather they look old and dirty.  When I am through with this post, I'll be taking more old ones  from the Nest into the house to replace the new ones.  Silly, isn't it?

 

Not a very good photo, as I was hurrying, but you get the idea.  Sketches, postcards, photos.  Love it all.

 

I guess there is no telling how much fun I could have if I just let myself  'go' with playing around with furniture and odd stuff.  Now that I am living in a house, empty except for myself,  I guess I've no limits with how silly I can get.....and that's ok, I suppose.

 

 Oh, here is a little booklet about Camp Polk, Louisiana.  Found it one day at the flea market.  It caught my eye because it is the only thing I've ever seen in print about Camp Polk...that is where I was born.  When I opened up the little book, I was amazed to find it was printed in 1944, complete with the calendar for that year.  The year I WAS BORN....isn't that just crazy?

 

  

Close ups of some of the 'stuff.'  Notice the postcard of San Francisco...love that city!!!

  

OLD postcards, a couple of photos Jim gave me, and some of my doodling around.

  

And, here we are, back to the beginning.  It's a small space, but plenty big enough for me.  I will enjoy it until the urge to play with furniture hits me again!  Hope you enjoyed it.  I will post again, when the Williams girls have gone home.  So looking forward to having them here for the next week.  Hope you have a good week too, a safe and warm one.  Thanks, always for stopping by...love hearing from you.   Big Hugs, pat

A Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Wishing you all a very Happy Valentine's Day!!  Seriously...have a really good one.  I am okay, going to spend the evening watching the young folks do miraculous things at the Olympics,  and smile as I remember Valentine's Days past.  It's a good day....Big Heart Hugs to you!  Stay warm!  pat

One of My Favorite Embroideries

 

Thought I'd slip out into the Nest this afternoon and try to post something...I haven't been heating the Nest because with the lousy weather the last two whole months....I've not been coming out here...so it's COLD in here.  I was thinking this would only take me a bit of time, so would hurry through the posting and get back into the house.  We are supposed to get more snowy/icy stuff later and I'm not coming back out here if the deck and patio are frozen over as they have been.  Spring?  Do you think we are going to have one?  Anyway, I chose some photos that have been shown before, but at least this way...you know I thought of you and wanted to say hi.

 

This pillow is one I made several years ago...looks like new though...don't think anyone has touched it but me.  I copied it from a small pillow purchased from the flea market.  It was falling apart and I decided to reproduce it...more or less, and this is the result.  I LOVED stitching it!!!  I'll let it speak for itself...to me, one of the best pieces I have ever made.

 

 

It's stitched on a piece of vintage fabric with a mixture of beads in a pearl color and a kind of bronze color as well.  It's all hand stitched and the beads were added one at a time.   The ribbon was stitched on with my favorite French Knots.  Great Fun!!!

Hope you are all safe and warm!  Just know I was thinking of you and hope to post real soon with a bit of warmer weather.  Take care, pat

Finding My Way Back

 

Yes, I am here, finally, trying to find my way back.  The last eight weeks have been short and long, stressful and restful, sad and happy, filled with tears and surprisingly, some laughter.  Finding your way into a 'new' life after becoming a widow is a test.  I'm not sure how I'm doing on the test, but I'm still working on it....so that seems ok for now.  Some interesting things have taken place over the last weeks....lots of paperwork, lots of surprising reactions from people who think they know what you should do with your life, lots of memories popping up from out of nowhere, lots of decisions to make, and lots of hours to fill with something meaningful.  

I think I'm dealing with it fairly well.  I haven't run down the street screaming yet and have managed to complete most of the tasks that fall to a person in my situation.  I have always been the kind of person who likes to keep busy, which helps, and I also am a complete 'homebody' so being alone isn't that difficult for me.  Now, I would love to have the company of the old navy man....miss it dreadfully, to tell the truth, but that's not going to happen, so I am learning how to cope with that.  A 'rest of my lifetime job,' I do believe.  It isn't easy.  I have good friends and helpful children, so, slowly but surely,  I'll adjust.  And, I also have YOU... thank you all so much for the lovely messages of condolence, the emails asking how I'm doing, a gift or two coming my way....all thoughtful and all from such nice people who stop to take the time to read my blog~

Now, about the blog...amongst all I have thought about the last several weeks, whether or not to continue the blog was definitely one of the questions running through my mind.   I have decided to continue....but want to make it a stress free thing, so you may find me just rambling on about the silliest things when you visit here.  OR, you may find no words at all, just some photos I find interesting, or some new/old thing from the flea markets.  I'd like to include more of the actual things I have made (or will be making) as being a 'maker' is something I've always been and the old navy man encouraged me to keep that up.  At this point, I don't know what you will find here...but I hope you will continue to visit me.  Reading your comments is always fun...just the fact that you take the time to make a comment is amazing to me....and I do look forward to them.  I hope you will continue those too.  And, if you just want to drop in for a look-see, that's okay too.  I hope to have some giveaways from time to time as I used to do and will give those some thought right away.  

So, thank you for sticking with me, if you choose to do so, and I hope we all have a better year in 2014.  

 

Now, a few words about the work you see here.  It's one of those pesky UFO's we all have, begun a couple or three years ago and left to sit in a drawer while I was doing more important things.  It surfaced again recently as something I could just dive right into both to keep busy and also to take my mind off my troubles.  I know you understand that.   This is just a small part of the project.  One day, hopefully, in the not-so-distant future, you will see it finished.  A vow I've made to myself and am now saying 'out loud.'  I hope you enjoy seeing this little bit of embroidery....a lot of French Knots...as you know, one of my favorite things to make!!!

And, yes, there are some of those teeny tiny little hearts I love to make....right here and then - there...where you can't see at the moment.  You will see more and more of it though, until I can show you the final completed  project.

I will post again very soon.....maybe with another peek at this piece...maybe not, but do expect something as these winter days bring us closer together via the 'internet machine' (as someone I think a lot of always calls it...humorously, of course!)

And now, here are two quotes on my mind a lot during the last few weeks....both from Dr. Seuss....who knew?  They have inspired this old person to face the music, pick myself up and keep on going, just like my hero, the old navy man, would want me to do:

"Don't cry because it's over...smile because it happened." 

 and then,


"You have brains in your head
  You have feet in your shoes,
  You can steer yourself any direction you choose."

The second one is embroidered on a small pillow, given to me by my friend, Brenda, several years ago.  Who would have known it would mean so much to me NOW.

Y'all stay warm and take care out there....big hugs and much love, pat

The Old Navy Man

 

Richard Eaton

(The Old Navy Man) 

August 4, 1941 - November 29, 2013

After a long illness, Richard passed peacefully in our home on Friday morning.  As you all know, he was my hero for now and always.  Our children were all here and we are currently bent, but not broken....we have a lifetime of lovely memories.

I will be taking the month of December to rest and remember,  then look forward to 2014.  Please join me in January with hopes for a better and a happier New Year.  Thank you so much for 'being there' with  me since beginning this blog in 2008.

 

I just had to post this photo - one fine day, he came into the Nest with this little backyard bouquet and I snapped this photo of his precious hands...and this is the second one, after his Navy photo, that I knew I would post today.  This photo explains everything I would try to describe best about him and I think you 'get' it. Til January....big hugs, pat