Tag: Texas: Trees

– Here comes the sun

~ Liz A ~ 5 Comments

Patch #341 Sunflower



This was intended to be a sun, but it morphed into a sunflower. As I stitched I thought of Grace’s sunflower and went seeking it on Windthread, looking first at last year. But no, it has been two years?! 
How is that possible?
In any case, as Grace was walking Tay’s paths, I was walking our trails, checking to see how the east trail in particular weathered the four inches of rain over the past four days.  Fortunately, it was mostly slow, steady rain, so there were no washouts, but the anticipated wintergrasses were well underway …

while the fall grasses were beaten down …

Rosemary was in bloom, as is its wont at this time of year …

and the cedar elms were displaying what passes for fall foliage in the Hill Country …

The bird bath was full to the brim …

and sunlight danced along the edge …

shifting in the breeze …

The sages weren’t daunted by the chill in the air …

and the yaupon promised lots of berries for Christmas decorating …

even as the four-nerve daisy put up one last bloom …

soon to be nipped by frost if the forecast holds.

– What were you doing in 1968?

~ Liz A ~ 19 Comments

In 1968 I was an awkward twelve year old growing up in the suburbs on Long Island.  My mom was forever telling me to “put down that book and go outside for some exercise.” Somehow I didn’t quite appreciate going out for a walk back then the way I do now.

In addition to books, I was also into needlework …

Patch #94: crewel wool on coarse linen
(newly dated with one strand of DMC floss)

 

The patch is a bit of Erica Wilson crewel embroidery from this piece (yes, I cut into it), which lived in my parents’ house on Shelter Island in the frame my father painted …

 

until it didn’t. I took it out of the frame a few years ago after my parents had both passed away. I couldn’t bring myself to let it go, but neither did I want to look at it on the wall every day.
Making today’s patch I was struck by how crunchy the cloth was and how clumsy the crewel wool. Really, I did a pretty good job considering what I had to work with. As I recall, I quickly moved on to Elsa Williams’ line of crewel kits during my teens. Then to counted cross stitch and finally my own designs. But that’s another story.
Still, as cutesy as the lazy daisy stitches are, they do call the blue-eyed grass to mind …

 

although the prairie verbena …
and this new-to-me wildflower are arguably closer matches with the requisite five petals …
Of course, nothing made by hand can touch the reality of a bank of Texas bluebonnets, so I just point my camera and shoot …

 
Meanwhile, the dewberry flowers are  yielding fruit …

 

and the live oaks continue their pollen production …
coating everything …
“Not pixie dust”

So I’m back inside, enjoying the view of Don’s latest (he says the largest is still a WIP) …

Funky fish found at an antique story during the Llano Earth Art Fest

 

I can almost smell the salt air …

– Use your words

~ Liz A ~ 8 Comments

I remember the first time I heard a Kindergarten teacher tell an out-of-control child to “use your words.”

My reaction was something along the lines of “well of course, what a great idea.”
Which still holds true today, as I managed to pull off an 11th hour finish to the March patches …
Patches 87-91

including a green calendar (for spring or St. Pat’s, take your pick)  …
Patch #91
I looked back on the rest of the month and realized the blank patches meant nothing to me. So I scrolled back to the original posts and thought, “You know, I could use some words.”
And really, it didn’t take all that long to do. Soon the completed month was flying in the breezeway …

Rather than show you all the additions here, I’m going to re-visit the original posts and add updated images. With thanks to Dee Mallon for this post about back-filling journals that inspired my turnaround today.

For now, I’ll leave you with these brave cactus flowers (twice the diameter of the arms that support them) …

and the hackberry that we had given up for lost only a week ago …
Hope springs eternal … and yes, I’m going back to daily patches and posts.