Friday Working on!

 

Another slow week, seems there is too much to do in a day and not enough time to craft. I am sure my afternoons at the beach is eating into that time, but time well spent. I have been working on my wool piece. I have to set things down and make sure everything is straight, sew a few things on and redo things for the next ones. 

The lighthouse looks off, but there will be a building on the side, so that will get hidden. I also do not like how the rocks look on the left. That is the layout, but I am thinking, I would rather take it out and make my own rocks to put there.

Last weekend we went to the beach and walked up and down the shoreline, not a lot on this day but it was a nice walk.

On the way home, we stopped at a Land Trust area to see what it was like. We ended up walking around the base trails. It was a nice area and a lot of trails we can explore on another day. It was the site of a mill, then a Girl Scout camp.

Today Bill got home earlier, so we spent the afternoon at our favorite new beach. Rarely anyone there and it has expansive views of the Newport shoreline.

The tide was coming in and the waves were splashing up large pieces of glass. Lots of greens today and the bottle top in the left corner, was a nice find. Pieces like that will be used in a display, I just like looking at those. I have been looking at shadows boxes for the darker pieces, something I can do art in, or display with light behind them, so you can see the color.

And another fun find at that beach, a Clam worm. I shot it with my iPhone and was glad it came out, so you can see a sea critter that lives in our bay. They are also used as worms for fishing.

At home I have been enjoying the spring migration. My regulars are coming back and the hummingbird is back. I was thrilled to see the Goldfinches are back. The Osprey is a shot on the way home from a beach day, he was enjoying a fish in a tree off the road.

I hope everyone had a good week and fun plans for the weekend. I am still fighting off a cold and my son said his is still hanging on, so hopefully we are both ok for next weekend. Nick will be taking his first communion and I found my son's silver cross that I had given him on his first communion. I polished it and plan on giving it to him that day, to wear.

It's Friday!

 I didn't get anything finished this week, busy with Easter, the boys and beaching. We had a nice Easter with the kids. I kept dinner simple but nice and made my son's favorite, Delmonico Potatoes as a treat. Before Dinner we had an Easter egg hunt, which the boys loved. I put two of each item in one place so they can each take one.

After dinner, we went to the school playground to run off their energy. 

Alex loves to show off and getting too brave for his size.

Since they had the week off, they spent an afternoon with us, while their parents got things done. We took them to the new beach I found and Nick was thrilled to find so much glass. Even Alex gets in on the fun of finding pieces.

Speaking of new beaches, we went to the beach on Saturday. The plan was to spend a few hours at the beach and then come home to get ready for Easter. We hit our regular beach and then I decided to go to the diving beach to use the bathroom and see what was on the beach, and found quite a few pieces. Then as we were leaving, I wanted to try an area I thought might have a good glass beach and we hit pay dirt. There was so much that I left half of it there and just took the better pieces. We got quite the haul with 3 beaches.

And today, we went back to the new beach. The tide was just going out and I walked up and down the shoreline and picked up what was being thrown up. I even spotted some large pieces sitting in the water, glad I had on my thermal boots. We stopped at our regular beach before we went home and I found some nice blues, and some old greens. We even watched a snail as he made his way back to the water.

I guess I need to start making some things with all the glass I have found. Some things I end up putting in the junk box, I may use the large chunks of pottery in the garden. Have a wonderful weekend.

Friday finish and starts!

 

This week seemed to go by too quickly and as usual, I didn't get as much done. More time spent getting ready for Easter and getting out on nice days.

I did put a new piece together, I have had it for years and decided it was time to make it. I have most of the pieces cut out, so I could make sure I got the layout right. The design is by Crane Design, called Lighthouse Landing.

I also painted some new rocks. I enjoy doing happy pieces that make me smile and hopefully, will make others smile when they find them.

Last weekend we took a drive to Connecticut. A few nice walks at a few parks.

One park still has the old farm buildings left.

And lots of birds at the parks, but as usual, they hid or flew away when I got the camera out. I found an owl in a tree, he stayed still.

During the week we spent time at the beach, in the afternoon. The tide was always coming in, but I still found some nice treasures and got nice walks in.

Today we got out for last minute shopping and spent the rest of the day, at the beach. This is a Long Beach, so we got a nice walk in and found some nice treasures, which are in the 4th glass photo. We walked as far as we could go, which ended at a rocky barrier. Next time we will have to find a place to park and walk all the way to the lighthouse area.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend and a Blessed Easter Day. 

Friday Finish!

 

A new month means a new design by Kathy Schmitz. This year she is doing another contest where we can make at least 8 of one type of item, from new or past designs. I have decided to go with hot pads, since they are fun to make, I have a ton of Insulation-brite and I will have gifts to give to friends and family members.

The original design is a robin, in red shades, I have gone with actual colors for mine. It also had a thistle type flower on some tops, but for some reason my brain stopped working and I traced them into smaller leaves. Mine is all leaves since I colored them before I realized my mistake. It still looks nice with all the green and the robin and I have a few nieces who love birds.

Last weekend we got a day with the boys. The weather was nice, so we took them to the Umbrella Factory, which is a throw back to the 70's. The boys got to pick something out in the shop and we walked around the grounds. They have Emu's and Chickens that roam about the property. 

We stopped at a couple of beaches and the boys had fun on one beach looking for treasures.

At another they enjoyed the playground. Nick ended the day, telling me he had a good day, which always makes my day.

And we got to spend a few afternoons at the beach. I enjoy the afternoons when the tide is just right to find treasures that get thrown up with the tide.

This week I will be getting ready for Easter. I have gotten the boys a few small toys and candy eggs to hide for our Easter hunt. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Friday Finish!

 

This week I worked on a new project from Cheri Saffiote, offered on her group, as a freebie.  The group is a wonderful way to remember Cheri and keep her memory alive. This week we lost another fellow designer, Sandra Caldwell. It seems we have lost a lot of designers and good friends over the last few years.

The original design has a pieced backing, but I had some old blocks that a friend gifted me, so I used those. One block has the saying inside, so I made a separate piece and sewed that on. It was fun to make and I may make more with the original design. I am thinking I may do hot pads as gifts for my family members, with designs to fit their likes and my brother and one sister, loves chickens.

I made these for myself, so I didn't mind if they were a bit wonky.

The weather has been all over the place, but we get out when we can, even on cool days. Last weekend we visited Moonstone beach. It is a long stretch of beach so we only did the area where the pond and birding was.

I spied quite a few birds in the dunes around the pond. most are shy so I had to take quick shots. A Sony Sparrow, Greater Egret and a Kingfisher.

On the walk back, I almost walked into these guys. They blend into their surroundings, which is why the beach is closed this month. The Piping Plovers are nesting there, so they keep it protected. The bird with the shorter beak is a Sanderling and the longer beak is a Dunlin.

And lots of interesting things left on the beach, not sure if they washed up or kids left them, but someone has piled them up so the ocean doesn't wash them away.

Along the rode we go, to get there, we happened to see two swans and stopped to see what else was at the pond. That is when I noticed the nest, looks like there will be some new swans this spring. Hopefully I can be in the area when they are born.

We stopped at another beach area to see if the Ospreys were back, and they were. The male was gathering sticks to add to the nest. He would hand them to the female who would decide where it went. This nest is double in size since I last saw it, they have been busy.

It seems Sunday is always the rainy day, but we were able to get some time in, at the beach. I never get tired of the different views since it is surrounded by water on three sides. The island where the lighthouse sits was an old fort and I spent a lot of summers with my family, taking the boat across for a picnic and exploring the island.

Beach combing seems to have dwindled lately, but still fun to look and get a good walk in. I hope everyone had a good week and can enjoy the weekend. It looks like we have another rainy Sunday.