Poppies and Milk

october :: early autumn goodness

drying these seeds.  saving some for next spring, leaving some for the birds...

inchworm-tiedye-camouflage 

this sage smells AMAZING...

harvesting some in hopes of figuring out how to carry this scent into candles or an essential oil.  (anyone have any good suggestions on how to do this?)

indian summer waterslide

"jewels" from the apricot tree

about half of the tree harvest

the late bloomers... 

reminds me of old timey outdoor downtown christmas lights... (perhaps the influence of boardwalk empire...)

making use of the 90mm macro...

in love with this shallow depth of field.

pushing the limits of the season- new squash starts. we shall see...

i'm pretty sure this is where the garden fairies live...

ripening.

the original fixie

abandoned for some fort play...

the tiny chamomile harvest (and some marigolds).  my chamomile plant took off when we went to kauai and i neglected to harvest the 5000 flowers that were blooming when we came back... this was all that remained when i got around to it.  trying again. 

a great day of fall arts with friends! 

leaf rubbings, wax dipped leaves and little wooly ghost making with my best girl kerri and "the other mary".  we had SUCH a great time with kerri, mary and sweet little fern.  i think i may have to arrange a marriage for my boy with that cutie. ha! seriously, though... i was so busy and caught in the mix of the day that i literally only took these 3 photos!  and while i was cleaning up a bit, mary just "whipped me up" the best apple crumble pie i have EVER had!  she is magical... 

sticks for ghosts...

there are more where this one came from... 

october :: felted flute case & other fancy fibers...

Finally!  I am posting photos of this great little felted flute bag!  a modification of shelley's felted flute/recorder bag. 

i doubled the width to accommodate her pentatonic & soprano combination recorder.  

i love how it came out!  it is a perfect fit and the colors look so much better together than i had expected!  thanks again, shelley! 

yarn :: malabrigo merino worsted in velvet grapes and amoroso

ravelry link 

joining in the yarn along with ginny today, i could not stop knitting this weekend!  i completed about half of this sweater for my boy and am waiting on the rest of the yarn (under-ordered again...) to finish it up.  i am making another placket neck pullover  with raglan sleeves from last minute knitted gifts for elijah but in a much larger size than his first.  it may actually be too big for him to wear for a while as i played with gauge again and think i over-estimated some modifications... oh well, he will be doing nothing but growing, right?  I am doing the body in this charcoal color and the sleeves will be plum and light grey striped.  cross fingers on the striping... 

and this book!  wow.  makes me grateful, sad and thoughtful all at once.  i cant explain the feeling of reading a book written in the voice of a hopeful, matter-of-fact child who is living through a life of grit and hardcore day to day reality.  it makes my heart ache and i keep almost needing to stop reading it, but i cant seem to.  i just take breaks.  i think i am particularly sensitive to anything related to children being affected by their parent's dysfunctionality (if that is even a word).  i am about halfway through.  let's see if i make it all the way...

 some soft goodness arrived in the mail this week.  i love this osprey yarn, but these heathers colors are SO nice!  here are kumlien's gull & sabine.

 and iceland.  i think i like it more because Pam at Quince & Co. is just SO sweet! (and of course the fact that it comes all the way from Maine.  sigh...) 

 trying out some Hemp for Knitting AllHemp6 100% hemp yarn in charcoal and deep sea.  planning on making some dishcloths that are resistant to mildew (unlike the cotton ones that i have knit in the past).  wonder if anyone out there has tried this yarn for this purpose before? cant wait to see if it works... 

 more malabrigo rasta in zarzamora... 

 some malabrigo merino worsted in saphire green.  eden plans to be medusa for halloween so we are going to finger knit and felt some snakes for her hair... wish us luck! 

 and one of the better discoveries of this month:  madelinetosh chunky.  this color is tern. 

the sweet goodness of summer...

even though we have been having rain storms here and there is a little bit of chill in the air (just enough for us to know that summer has closed up shop for the year) and it is dark in the morning when it used to be light enough to see without the bike light... i am not ready to let go.  ok, maybe i should rephrase that. i am ready to move forward (always) but would still like to linger a bit in these sweet moments which i have yet to share here in this space... 

saw elizabeth mitchell play at the library!

for the first few minutes, elijah was pretty star-struck... then the dancing ensued.

fourth of july down south. 

the OPA parade...

with the cousins...

trading candy from the parade.

crystal cove with my fearless nephew.

beach sculpture... 

on nana and papa's boat

a few minutes later, the ocean rocked her to sleep... 

works every time...

two birthday wishes came true for eden: to see nicole and to go horseback riding!

in pt. reyes... 

me knitting away my fear of horses...

him fueling up for his solo ride when the girls returned...

i was very close behind.

above.

the birthday gathering for eden and kurt! 

sisters.

pretty sure they got their fair share of the monster face genes.

yep.

e was seriously so happy they could spend some time together... 

all that glitters... 

and glimmers...

mamaroots came through for us with a last minute request thanks to cindy!

the inevitable family soccer game.  

it is a standing tradition every time we gather. 

tiny painted toes...

this guy...

some backyard tie-dye happened.

i always forget how much work it all is..

but so worth it in the end!

and then, the big exhale of the season... north shore kauai.

one of the results from tie dye day... 

she noted now much she matched the plumeria.

and then blew away with the south pacific winds...

barefoot ::  every. single. day. 

this little guy...

and those colors.  i can actually feel that air again...

those morning colors were like honey...

this pretty much sums up how we all felt.

a lot of "firsts" for this one.

such a stellar kayaker.  he helped paddle all the way down river to the beach!

 

 

the view from inside... 

goodness in abundance...

him. trying not to smile with me.

this handmade boat...

dont worry, we will be back... oh, yes.  we will.