Fair

As the last of our garden winds down we have been traveling to the fairs. The Common Ground Fair was last weekend and ended up being one of the best times I have had there. The drive wasn't bad and the exhibits and learning booths were perfect for Eliot. He tried his hand at playing the spoons, making fire from a bow and how to make felt balls. I talked to a bunch of rabbit folks to try and decide if I want to make the plunge and get a couple of Angoras.

Jess the Model

So - I decided to model my Alabama Chanin shirts that I finished. This sort of picture feels a little goofy when I see them of myself but I wanted to do an experiment with my lights to see if I could overpower bright sunlight in the way I wanted to. I tend to use strait on flash to fill in scenes vs light on one side like this. So - kill two birds! So, forgive the gazing into the middle distance 'look' and check out the clothes.

This one was made using the tank top pattern and three thrifted and free tshirts. The orange lining shows through with the reverse applique. I used her stencil, too. With the lining it's a tad small. I'm glad I did this with the lining as a precursor to the dress I am going to start. I plan to size up with the dress.

This is the tunic length top and is unlined. This has applique with lots of beading. I forgot to take a detail shot but trust me it is sparkly. If you click on the picture you can see it a little better. The hand beading took a long time but in the end it was worth it. I get a lot of complements on it when I wear it out.

Mushroom Hunting

A sure sign of fall around here are the plethora of mushrooms appearing. I visited the woods yesterday for a few minutes alone and wound up taking more than 50 pictures. Every where I turned a new color or type would appear. There were several I had never seen before. Truly amazing colors and saturation. My knees were certainly dirty and a lot of twigs in my hair after this trip!

This is the woods I was walking around in. I was planing to take a long walk but I didn't get more than 100 yards before finding all of these. I was crunching around so loudly I'm sure I scarred off any wildlife that might have been watching.

I have a huge backlog of pictures that I need to post. I have been photographing a lot lately and editing has taken up most of my free time. I'm working on a photography website that I will link to when I am done - probably a while!

A belated update:

The crazy garden at the peak of its wildness. Lots of herbs, beans and a tomato jungle. I got hit with powdery mildew and lost all of my pumpkins and squash but I still have one that is hanging in there. We have plans to build two more boxes and I want to move the perennial herbs into the yard if our soil tests come back OK. Not to mention the 'great honeysuckle removal project' in preparation for a spring tree planting. Just typing that out makes me hot and tired!

The carrots were really good. They were a tad short and I didn't thin them enough but they tasted, and looked, great.

Eliot likes to pretend he is a bunny and eats the veggies out of the garden. Fine with me!

The calendula I planted is still going strong. I plan to make some soap and bath sachets this winter. I had a mad rush before Irene to pick, dry and otherwise store herbs. The garden is pretty flat right now but at least the tomatoes all survived.

Here is a little craft update while I'm at it. This is the 2nd of the Alabama Chanin shirts I've made. This one is almost done now. I will post some finished products soon. This is two thrifted t-shirts sandwiched with some reverse applique. Next up will be a dress with stencils and some quilting...

Mothering Part 2

Eliot and I had a chance to make another image together for the 'Mothering' series we started. He was a little bummed he didn't get to jump off the couch again. Let me know what you think!

Off to a long weekend...