Friday Finish!

 

With the holiday, I was too busy on the weekend to do any crafting and then cleaning up and catching up, after the holiday. I cannot stand just sitting and watching tv at night, I have to have something to keep my. hands busy, so I worked up a simple project.

The design is from Kelley Belfast's sunflower and cat design, that I did before, but I separated and made two small pieces for lavender pillows. I have to store a lot of things, so I can always use them in my stash to keep it fresh smelling.

The holiday also means, 4 birthdays. The kids took Bill out for his night and then we took them all to Newport, to enjoy a day at the park. The boys flew kites and explored the ruins from an old mansion, as well as some time on the small beach area.

Afterwards we headed to Fort Adams and walked along the path by the water, to the forts.

For Memorial Day, they had Boots on the Ground and free admission to the fort. 

This is the main area, with each surrounding state, represented. 

Another area was just for Rhode Island and we visited Bill's Second Cousin who died during a flood. It was a wonderful day with the family and a wonderful way to honor those who gave up their lives to protect us.

I hope you all had a nice week and fun plans for the weekend. 

Friday Finish!

 

This has been quite a week. We had the solar put in, so they were here on 4 different days to install equipment and today the panels went up, so it is finally done. When I had a few quiet days, I worked on a project and watched tv, it was nice to make something new and not hear banging all day.

This design is by Julie Porter and offered on Facebook as part of a free chicken series.  You can find the group page at Primitive Quilts .....

It is a stitchery and I decided to do the large chicken in applique. I also made the mistake of trying to add red marker to enhance the red and forgot it was still wet, so I messed up the comb on the large chicken. Luckily I was able to take out the original stitching and enlarge the comb to cover my mistake.

Last weekend we had the boys for the day and since I didn't have the pool set up, we got a better slip and slide with sprinklers, for them. They had a ball and I enjoyed watching them play. I also had them tonight, while my son took Ivy and Bill out for dinner, for their birthday. This weekend I will have a party for the boys to give them their gifts, lots of birthdays in one weekend.

Lots of activity this week, more babies are coming out and one hummingbird is coming to the feeder. She is the only one for now, and I hope I get to see more later on.

And ones I rather not see, they tend to demolish the food, a Common Grackle.

And today the yard was full of birds, the majority of them were crows and a lot of Starlings. The young were hungry and wanted to be fed. It got to the point where I had to chase more away, they were eating all the suet and attacking the regulars who come to visit. 

I hope everyone had a good week and enjoy the long weekend. 

Friday Finish!

 

This week I have been slowly working on my sea piece, and need to cut the rest of the pieces and hopefully finish it by next week. I am in a patriotic mood, so I have put out my summer decorations and seeing areas that could use some new things. The first thing I made was a rag wreath.

I had a wire frame in stock and plenty of fabric, so a no cost project. I saw one that had the red, white and blue to represent the flag, so I made something similar. I also added a star to the side. I rip my strips so they are more raggy, but easier than cutting so many.

One afternoon we headed to the bike path to see the baby owls. Of course they were not in their usual spot when we got there and I couldn't find them anywhere. I did see quite a lot of different birds, these are the ones I was able to catch.

And a Great Blue Heron flew overhead and we spotted him in a tree further down.

After we went over to another area to see the Osprey. She was sitting on her nest and he was looking for their next meal.

We also spent time at the beach. We had a rainy day so once the rain stopped, we headed to the beach. The skies looked ominous, but the waters were calm.

 And I was able to find some nice pieces floating in the water and further up the beach. I think more people are finding this beach and I am finding less on the beach.

I hope everyone had a good week and enjoy the weekend ahead. We are getting higher temperatures, so I will be avoiding the crowded beaches. 

Friday Finish!

 

Another week came and went by too fast. I was able to finish a new project, a design by Kathy Schmitz. It  was the perfect design for a hot pad and I had fun with bright colors. The pattern was wonky with the lines, so of course, it came out more wonky with my bad cutting, but still fun.

Last weekend was windy, so we took a drive and checked out a state beach that also has a campground. It is more like a giant parking lot, but nice since you are on the breakway and an ocean beach. I tried to get a few shots, but hard with the wind blowing me.

We also hit the new beach on the island. I love going there, rarely anyone around and great views. The area is getting busy again so we won't be able to use it, since it is a private beach.

And even with the tide higher up and coming in, we found some nice treasures.

Today I spent the day cleaning and cooking, then we headed to the beach for a few hours. Came home and got dinner heated up, had the boys dropped off, and they just left, so quite a busy day. I should sleep good tonight. The fog was heavy today and the tide was coming in, but it always throws in some nice pieces and Bill found an old rooster head. I found a Purple Sea Urchin that had washed up.

At home I have enjoyed birding. A few of my regular visitors. The Red Belly Woodpecker is twice the size of the Downy Woodpecker. 

I was in the yard and spied the resident of the new birdhouse, a House Wren and a shy Catbird. It looks like the heat is coming in this weekend, so the beaches will be crowded and too hot to hike, so not sure what we will be up to. After today, maybe sleep in, lol. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Friday Finish!

 Another week went by too fast and a project I started, still needs to be finished. Tomorrow is Nick's first communion and since I am not vaccinated, I still wear a mask when I am around people. I started out wanting to wear a blue and white skirt, but realized I only have black shoes and purse and not in the mood to buy more, so I am going with a black and white skirt. I made up a couple of masks to go with it and these came out better than the last, so more comfortable. They look more bold in the photo, but the colors blend into the black, so good for church. I made a blue, just in case I need one and also good for doc visits, if I ever go to one, lol.

Spending time outside is what makes me happy and we get out, every chance that we can. Saturday we spend at a bird Sanctuary. Beautiful place to walk and beautiful views at the end points.

We saw a lot of birds, most were flying off, but I was able to grab a few shots. A Northern Cardinal, Yellow Warbler, Yellow Rumbed Warbler and a Swamp Sparrow.

They cleared a section on a point, so we were able to walk out and discover a hidden Osprey nest. She was looking down at me and not too happy that I had spotted her. The other nest is on the opposite side and further away.

We also met a few critters along the way, spotting three deer, hidden in the bush and a few snakes who were out on the paths, enjoying some sun.

On Sunday we took the boys out in the afternoon. They were all in for going to our new beach. They had fun exploring and Nick found quite a few good pieces this time.

And Grandma found her own good haul. A beautiful, large lavender and marbles.

Another day this week we found less and then checked another spot, we had heard about. Not a lot, but I found a few nice treasures. We also got to watch, as they put a few boats into the water.

Another day we went and the tide was out most of the way. I was able to walk up the beach, lots of homes but most are vacant till summer. While hunting, I just take my phone, easier to carry and I can snap shots on the go. 

My finds of the day. It seems the marbles always end up in the same area. I almost threw that black piece back, it really looks like a funny shaped rock, but I stuck it in my pocket and forgot, till I got home.

Well, good thing I did. I put it on a flashlight and this is what I saw. What a great find, but a shame that you can't see the color without a bright light. I definitely need to come up with a lighted shadow box for my dark treasures.

Today we went for a short visit, but I found some really large pieces of green bottle stems. The weekend is going to be cold and windy, so I doubt we will be beaching. I hope you all had a wonderful week and enjoy the week ahead. It looks like warm weather is heading our way, and hopefully in yours.

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.