Underwater

 

We love to snorkel. The past 3 winters we have spent 2 weeks on St. Croix. 

 

I have a great little underwater camera. Coolpix  

 

Quinoa 

 

I was struggling with Q...then it came to me when I woke up this morning. 

We have been eating lots more good grains lately. Quinoa is one of my favorites.

Made this the other night. It's a real keeper. A little labor intensive, but worth it. 

This gals food site has nice inspiration.

Roasted veggies (your choice, just clean out the fridge). Marinated Chick Peas,

Pomegranate molasses is my new favorite addition. 

Feta on top.

The cooked then roasted Quinoa is what makes it so good!

 

have a nice week end. Maybe make something yummy & healthy to eat. 

 

 

Needlepoint

One of the many things I've dabbled in over my lifetime of fiber art endeavors.

 I inherited these unfinished needlepoint canvases from my grandmother & great aunt. 

They graced our dining room chairs decades ago. 

I'm glad I saved them when I recovered the chairs. 

These large moths intrigue me.

The last one is from Mr. Finch.

His world is worth taking a look at. 

I can see some large flying creatures in my future/

 

 

 

Pods 

Since nature is my biggest inspiration I'll share my love of pods. 

 

Many of my stencils are inspired by pods. I have a Pinterest page 

dedicated to images I've saved.

My much loved lotus pod I use often.

 

 

An example of one of my pod like stencils.

 

Realized I totally missed N. Will get that out in a few. 

Spoiler alert...Needlepoint. 

 

 

Old Cars

Something about old cars...the design, the colors, the substantial feel.  

My husband is a car nut & we go to car shows often just for fun.

I can't help taking pictures of the details. 

 

Growing up in the Detroit area meant lots of our dad's were involved in the auto industry in one way or another. Back then the models were done in clay, the specs done by engineers on a draft board. That was my dad. A bygone era.
 

Murals

Starting with the oldest, biggest & best in my opinion. 

Growing up in the burbs of Detroit I went to the Detroit Institute of Arts many times growing up. I was enthralled with Diego Rivera's murals as a pre teen. 

Went back recently on a girl trip to the city. I spent a couple hours in the room with these murals and found a docent who told me so much about the history. If you are ever in Dtroit please go view this amazing piece of art. 

Detroit Murals

More current local artists are creating amazing public art. 

 

 

This is one of my favorites in my town. 

Traverse City Murals 

Discovered this gal on Instagram. NeSpoon. Love the look of the lacey murals she creates. Looks like they are a labor of love.  

 

Then there is Banksy

I love a good story & a mystery. 

 

 Of course there is an app for that. You can search for murals ANYWHERE.

 

Lemons

When life gives you lemons...

Make preserved lemons!

I have wanted to do this for some time. 

Finally bought a bag of Meyer lemons & started the process.

  All it takes is Kosher salt, lemons, & time. 

Here are mine hangin' out & doin' their thing. 

All the recipes I've saved for just this event. 

Now I can play with the results in some dishes.

What's your favorite condiment, preserve, unusual ingredient?

 

Kintsugi 

 

The repair of broken things. 

The Asian art refers to repairing broken pottery with gold. 

However I feel it has applications everywhere. 

"a metaphor for embracing your flaws and imperfections." 

As Leonard Cohen said

“There is a crack in everything.
That's how the light gets in.” 

 My husband can fix just about anything..& does 

With me it's sewing. go figure. 

 I have a stash of insignia cloth from my days as a sail maker. 

This stuff is priceless. Sticky back, peel & apply. 

Used it to repair hubby's rain jacket.

Some of my hand painted fabric was used to cover a 

hole scraped on the neck of this jacket.

 It's like new otherwise. 

Over the years I have & still do turn pants into shorts. With 2 boys growing up it was the solution to growing legs that made pants too short. 

Now it's just turning hubby's grubby pants into gardening shorts.
 

Plus he is always kneeling when doing projects & wears out the knees. 

Old jeans I save for fiber art to the rescue. 

Don't get me started on appliances & furniture...

 

 

 

Joomchi

Joomchi is the art of turning paper into a flexible cloth. 

 I did loads of paper making for several years.

 

Spent a week with Aimee Lee making so much hanji paper. Her specialty

From that point you can get it wet, throw it on a table...repeat, a lot.

 It ends up as a fabric like sheet. I still have many of the 40 sheets of mine. Cut into strips you can knit it, weave it, make baskets, or ducks in Aimee case. The group made 600 sheets over the week. It's labor intensive but satisfying. 

 Gotta go.

 

 

Insects

I know lots of you cringe when you see this title. I happen to love insects...well lots of them. I do have a problem with mosquitos & no see 'ems. 

 

All of these shots are mine. Always on the look out for something in nature I want to capture. In the park where I walk, on North Fox Island, or just outside my door.

 

In the summer North Fox Island has loads of Monarchs.

I linked one of my posts (there are many) about North Fox above. It's one of my favorite places on the planet. We are so fortunate it's just a 20 minute flight away for us.

Camping there is a frequent event in the summer for us.

 

They  hang out on the milkweed. This is one of my favorite shots ever.

 

 

  Stick bugs fascinate me. What an adaptation to avoid detection. 

                                        This guy was on the side of our home.

On the street outside our door.

In the park I walk most days. He's looking right at me!

Always looking down for something small & interesting.

I have a little clip on macro lens for my phone that works great. 

The shot above & the 2 below were a day on North Fox I walked along the runway & took tons of close ups of flowers & bugs. 

 On the beach on the Island of Vieques.