Pillow-Talk

Here are the pillows that I made yesterday! Three of these had old, funky coverings on them. I just cut off the old coverings and used the inside forms. I thought of adding piping, but I really wanted to get them done and I knew that I'd be sabotaging my efforts if I did anything besides simple, simple, simple!! Usually, I would make it an envelope opening or add a zipper, but, again, I wanted them Done. So, I made them so the coverings can't come off, without scissors. :) I don't think the insides would stand up to machine washing, but I figured the fabric was on sale.... if I really need to wash them, I can open up the opening and take the forms out. I did hand-sew the opening together; that took longer than all the rest of it!

This couch is so deep and cushionless on the back of it, that you need to have these pillows there to even sit on it. When I sit on this couch, which is rarely, I feel like Ruth Buzzy in that skit that she used to do on "Laugh-In", where she sat in that huge rocking chair, to make her look like a little girl. If I sat straight up on this couch, my legs would stick straight out, in mid-air. So, anyway, the pillows are a necessity for this couch!


But, they do go nicely with the blue couch, too. So, yay...something in this living room goes together!



And, these, having nothing to do with the living room, are on the dining room table. Probably the last of the flowers from my own garden for this year. These sunflowers are, believe it or not, Mammoths, that I got planted late. Poor, little, sad, stunted things. I was going to make a Sunflower House, which I threaten to do every year! At least I got further with it this year... I have hope for next year! So, anyway, these sunnies got about four feet tall and, much to my surprise, they actually bloomed! But, by the time they bloomed, the sun had moved further south....well, okay, we tilted so that it seems the sun moved further south.... and these little sunshiny faces followed the sun. Which is away from the garden. No one but the bunny, Jack, could enjoy them. So, I figured they'd be better off and would probably enjoy a longer life, in a vase, in the house.

Happy Autumn! Enjoy the day!

~ Teri



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Keio, at her tie-dying party that we had for her, for her 18th birthday! She's never celebrated her birthday before, due to religious constraints. She doesn't live with her mother, anymore, so we had a birthday party for her! And, threw in some tie-dying because she'd never done that before, either.
It was lots of fun! She even had her own party-hat!!

I made her favorite dinner of mine, Manicotti. Then, we finished the evening off with Aunt Betty's Chocolate Cake (my great-aunt Betty) and ice-cream.

These are some of the bandanas, after being washed. The top-left one is mine. I don't like to wear tie-dyed things, except to bed, but I love doing them!!

Some of the tie-dye party participants, having fun.

OK....gotta get ready to go to dinner in Salem. We're taking her out to dinner, too. :)

Enjoy the day!

~ Teri

The Hobbit Hole at The Oregon Garden

Here's the Hobbit Hole that's at The Oregon Garden! It's built up, over a culvert. Has beautiful plantings on both sides of it, around the doors. Such fun! I want to have one of these!

Enjoy the day!

~Teri

Is this beautiful or what??? This is the kind of thing I've been longing to do for some time now. And, it's my lucky day that I happened to go check out one of my favorite websites, The Feathered Nest, only to find out that she has her tutorials on such things at half-price! (Her link is down below, over at the right, in my "favorite blogs/websites" list.)

So, jump on over to her website and check out her sale! She gives you a PDF file and you print it all out. All the gorgeous images, full-color detailed instructions, etc..... The sale has already been going on a day or two and ends on the 7th.... so you only have a day left!

There's an interesting story behind this, actually, too. Just before I actually met my friend, Angela, in person, (we'd been communicating online before she moved to my town) I came across The Feathered Nest and loved it. Well, then, I went over to Angela's house and what do I find up on her living room wall?? This nest assemblage, or one very much like it! I asked her where she got it and she couldn't quite remember. I asked her if it was from The Feathered Nest and, yes, that was it! She loved that site, too. A kindred spirit, as Anne Shirley would say. :) And, such a small, small world.

I hope you're having a beautiful day!

~Teri

The Bittersweetness of Fall

Ah, the harvest......the sweet, juiciness of a vine-ripened tomato....there's just nothing like it. But, for me, it comes with a bittersweetness. It means that Summer is coming to a close. Which is, again, met with bittersweetness....I love the Fall here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, but I know that once it's upon us, there's no turning back. We're in for the long-haul, no matter how long that might be!

I have to remind myself, though, that the Earth starts to shift, again, right after the first of the year. It's really not long after that that you might see crocus' poking their little greens up... and they'll even bloom their adorable little purple, orange or white blossoms right in the snow! That is a sight to behold! One that always gives me hope that the Life that's been lying dormant is renewed...the Light is growing stronger... and longer, warmer days will be upon us.

We used to have some crocus but they were crowded out by crabgrass. I'm vowing to plant some new ones under my Dogwood and Cherry trees, out front, this year. That way, when I'm at my wit's end, with the coolness and/or wetness (or both!!), and I see one of those, I can be reminded of life's sweetness. And that Spring is just around the corner!

But, for now, Fall is just around the corner. Bittersweetness and all.

Enjoy your day!

~ Teri

So, here's the quilt. My niece, Anna, loved it and I'm sure the baby will, too!

I'm going to post some of the steps that I took in cutting and piecing it together, so you can make your own!

But, for now, I have to go meet Wayne down at the coffee shop.

Enjoy the day!

~ Teri

Hannah's Artwork

My daughter, Hannah, gets to put her artwork up on "the wall" at our favorite hang-out, Cornerstone Coffee, for the month of August! So, I've been matting and framing like a mad-woman the past three weeks!

It was sort of a fluke that she got in for the entire month. They are usually booked a year in advance! We're having our second annual Beatles Night on August 29th and we had originally wanted to have some of her Beatles work up over that weekend. Then, we got word that, for some reason, that month hadn't been booked and it was available!! It's so cool... we're so excited! And, I'm DONE with all the matting and framing!!! There are 32 pieces ready to go!! A few of them I didn't actually have to mat because they'd been done at The Art Conspiracy and this JL one we had done at the frame shop, but, most of them I did. These are all original works and she isn't going to sell originals right now, so now we need to figure out what to charge for prints!

Here is a sample of some of her work. This first piece is of John Lennon, all in words. That's right.... look closely... every bit of shading is done in words. Part his biography, part Hannah's thoughts about him. It's amazing. It took her many hours to complete... I don't even think she knows how many!!

The last one is a CD cover that she painted for her dad, to go along with the CD that she burned for him. (Sssshhh! Don't tell anyone about that!)

Enjoy the day!

~ Teri