A Sunday Afternoon

This week has been about shifting gears. Swine Flu is taking it's toll at the school and I have been subbing four days in a row. Wednesday night I was out babysitting for a small group in Hockessin. Saturday I was running to catch up. Sunday is as it should be ... much more laid back.




Kim Kelley brought me the beautiful mums from Cow Town. Thanks Kim! The eggplant is still growing in the garden though it is a little late in the season .... and there are peppers.






The Kelley's are out this afternoon too. Kim, Larry & their granddaughter Riley enjoying yard work. Two steps forward, one step back .... make a leaf pile and jump in. You may recognize Riley from the etsy portrait on the right.

Monsoon

This is our fourth day of rain, damp & chill ..... the cats and dogs won't go outside unless I go with them. I've given up jogging for my trampoline. Jonathan, however, ran through three hours of track in his track shorts. The Amish at the Farmers Market were giving buggy rides .... black carriages and chocolate brown cart horses and I heard about one sorry bride who got married in a tent for her outdoor wedding. Next week it's supposed to be 70 degrees!
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Thursday I subbed at our school for the art teacher who had sprained her ankle. Enjoyed it very much. The kids are responsive and teachable. Dave suggested that I give watercolor classes to interested students on Saturdays .... I think a drawing class might be useful as well. The main art teacher at the school majors in sculpture so my classes would support and enhance the existing curriculum. We'll see if it gets off the ground.
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Today Dave is painting interior walls with Caelen for Caelen & Samantha's new place. It the first floor of a stone house in the Brandywine area. I've seen pictures but am looking forward to visiting soon. They will move November 1.

The Nut House

We have a rather large oak tree in the front yard. It functions as a high rise for a good many squirrels. The acorns sound like large drops of rain as they drop .... you can hear them if you are sitting in the front yard on a quiet morning.
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Besides acorns the squirrels like to dig in my flower pots looking for eats. One Christmas I had set a basket of bright green Granny Smith Apples tied with a holiday bow on the front stoop. Every day I would come home and see the basket tipped and one more apple gone. I really didn't mind until the following year when the same squirrels figured my fall pumpkin was lunch! Some days there are so many squirrels in my front yard they look like a flock of sheep grazing there. And I don't care what they say .... we have yet to find a squirrel proof bird feeder.

Christopher Columbus & Honey Do

Dave and Jon are off from school today and so it was a day to catch up on yard work, homework and a few other things. Dave is out tonight moonlighting at his evening job at Wilmington College where he teaches speech classes 1-2 nights a week.



David fixed my table today. The dogs got in a tussle and knocked it over breaking off a large piece of the fluted edge. Trouser felt really bad about it. He stood looking on helplessly until I told him it was all right and to go on with his day.



I cut down the basil last week and made pesto. There is still a good bit of parsley in the herb garden so I bought a package of sardines for making pesto with parsley. I will have to hurry since I've spotted some caterpillars noshing on the leaves this afternoon.
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There is still some rosemary, sage, chives & lemon thyme .... rosemary is so lovely with beef or an earthy pot of mushroom soup .... chives and buttered peas of course .... and lemon thyme in a meatloaf. Perhaps I will dig them up and place them in a pot on the side porch.

Midwest Modern Classic Amy Butler

I promised you a picture of the quilt pattern that would be the inspiration for the t-shirt quilt that I am working on. Amy Butler is a designer that has significantly influenced the direction of fabric design in the last few years. The above quilt is made up predominantly of her fabrics.
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I have also shown the back side of the quilt which is pieced as well. This quilt is in Jon's room which is meant to feel like a mountain top or beach vacation. The colors in his room are bottle glass blue and green with a dash of magenta.
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Most of the art work in Jon's room are original silk screens or block prints mostly by my Uncle Edward Kimball Kellogg and one painting by my Aunt Deborah Kellogg Kropp. One of these prints reflects the colors of the room and is called, Midmorning.






I stitched this quilt in sections using about four different patterns. It reminds me of tiles. As I mentioned before Jesse liked this quilt too and so he and Gabrielle have one very similar to this.