Saturday, April 9, 2011

ruby






















my friends baby turned two today
ruby is very much a girly girl and loves to dress up
so i made her a skirt and bag to match.

it was so much fun
i forgot how much i love to sew for babies
and now i want to make a hundred more!

happy birthday dear ruby.
xxx

Friday, April 8, 2011

new loves

meet olive

a small package was sitting on my doorstep yesterday. inside was wee olive. her passage to california paid by a mysterious benefactor. olive loves adventure and is afraid of spiders. i love her. we are already bff's.
visit yoborobo for more softie goodness.  

*happy* 

























finishing my simple noro shawl
made me a little sad
this is the kind of meditative knit
that is nice to have on the needles.
no thinking or counting or where was i?
just peaceful, soothing,
needles moving in harmony with wool, again, again...

but wanting to wear it got the better of me
and so it's done
first i asked my husband to take some photos
and then i wore it out to breakfast
with my friends.

.: simple yet effective shawl :.
raverly link here
modification, for my knitter friends, i used noro silk garden ( a worsted weight)
 instead of noro kureyon sock, and size six needles. it seemed to work. i totally lost count how many skeins it took. buying only a couple at a time made it more affordable. i am guessing twelve or thirteen.
gulp. it's good i really love it.

xoxo lori

p.s. thank you cheryl for the crush cakes photos and thank you kj for olive  :)

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

when a lake feels like an ocean

recently my hours at work were reduced to half leaving me with lots more free time (crossing fingers here things return to normal soon, so it won't turn into worry time!)  monday morning, i went with my husband to work, to glimmering cachuma lake, set amidst acres of wilderness flanked by the picturesque santa ynez and san rafael mountains.

his assignment, was to map distances and length of time, on the lake, in a kayak. this information is needed because effective friday april 15th, kayaking and canoeing will now be allowed at cachuma lake since the bradbury dam was built in 1953.

we paddled for four hours, stopping to bird watch, and to take photos. i understand why entire articles have been written on how to do this from a kayak. it's definitely a technique that takes practice. i am lucky to still have my camera and lenses.

paddling back, the wind picked up and i learned exactly how a lake can feel like an ocean. here are some photos of our day, and of the lake still behaving like a lake...


 




























we were the first people to kayak on this lake! well, actually the first and third, chuck had been out once before with another person. so i was the third. i don't think i've ever been first at something (or first three anyway). if your planning on going, the new kayaking rules and regulations are here.





afterwards, we looked all around for the acorn woodpecker. finding not only one, but many. it was a woodpecker party at the lake. hee hee. and another successful day at the office.

for more on cachuma lake go here and to see what we're planning on booking soon go here (so excited!)

xoxo lori

Sunday, April 3, 2011

common and widespread












here are some images of the west coast, and east coast, u.s.a.
of california, and new york city. my home, and  my youngest daughters home.
 my heart longs for both places.

i found a fun website that puts an effect on photos, it's fun and easy to do. it's called tilt shift maker. find it here, if you'd like to enhance your heart places too.






and the house finch winged it's way into my yard! he finally came low enough and sat still long enough for a photo! although my bird book calls them common and widespread, i think they are brilliant and am always happy to see one.  his song is sweet and varied too.

Friday, April 1, 2011

april




spring is everywhere!
birds singing, bee's buzzing
farmer's market yummyness
new colorful wool and cotton (for dishcloths).

it's been a lovely last couple days
with perfect springy temperatures.
and then mother nature decided today would be summer,
the high was eighty eight degrees!
really hot for man and beast.
although owen the little wonder dog seems to be in his usual good spirits,
i am hoping the heat wave passes soon!

*
a few links i like, from this week:

-this family is amazing. the photos are real!
-buy this and one hundred percent of the proceeds goes to the japanese red cross society
-i can't stop watching this 
-wouldn't this make a beautiful gift?
-so cute!
-LOVE this (attention artists!)
-this is so good. i've almost finished it, and i'd like to pass it on. if you'd like it, please let me know in the comments and i'll draw a name next week.

happy weekend everyone  (yay! it's friday!)
 :)