Weekend Activities

Another great weekend with stellar weather. When I think about what is happening in other parts of this country, I cringe every time I crow about our a-typical August temperatures and lack of humidity.  Those fires are really scary, and there seems to be no end to them this year.  I mentioned to D that it isn't far fetched to imagine the country going broke simply through trying to deal with the havoc Mother Nature is wreaking.

Saturday morning when I looked out the family room windows, this is what I saw:

"I don't care what you guys think, it's too early to get out of the nest!"

Doesn't that blue jay look grumpy!  I enjoyed the scene so much I took another shot that included the zinnias and our Vermont bird house.

Today D was out most of the day so I took advantage of his absence by making the pillowcases to go with his bonsai quilt.  Even though the color is poor, you'll recognize the ginkgo fabric from the quilt, but the fabric on either side of the ginkgo is orange (not red).  There's a bit of that fabric in the quilt, too, and other oranges to keep it company.  The black that is the body of the pillowcase is new as there wasn't enough black left over from the quilt to use here, but the theme is right.

  

I also started a small paper-pieced project which isn't far enough along to even think of sharing yet.  Paper-piecing has always been one of my favorite techniques as there is something so satisfying about the precision one achieves.  Thank you to one of my first quilting teachers, MN, for introducing me to the joys of paper-piecing early in my "career"!!!

In addition, I did some painting today on the what ME correctly identified as autumn trees.  I planned to photograph what I did, but at camera time, it was too wet to prop up.  Ah well, next time.

So instead, I'll show you the results of what kept D busy today.  In this photograph you are looking at the copse of oak trees in our front yard, and those stones are what D went up north to find.  A member of his bonsai club had gotten permission to wade in a stream that is full with slate slabs, so a number of members put on their wade-in-the-water clothes and foot gear to find the slabs they wanted.

It may sound strange but rocks like these are used as a base for some bonsai tree plantings.  One mounds some bonsai soil on the slab and if it is a big piece of slate, plants a "forest" of trees.  Such a planting is quite special and very attractive.  D likes the stone farthest away from us (the one closest to the tree trunk) and the next one down on the right.  Of course, I like the one closest to us (near the fern) with all the layers, but I guess it's not big enough for a forest, and that's what he was looking for.  

That's why he's the bonsai expert!