Reading along with my project that shall not be named

I'm joining Ginny today but I am no longer going to type the name of this project.  The pattern is from here and I will just call it "Project E" for now on. 

Every time I post something about this project, I get weird emails and comments.  I am working on "Project E" very slowly.  I've been spending a lot of time outside in the yard and working on my star quilt during the thunderstorms.

Last night, I started reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer.  Now I'll admit, I read each and every "Twilight" book but I was going to pass on this one.  A woman at the grocery store was going on and on about how good The Host is so I thought I would give it a try.  I'm not very far into it so I'll see how it goes.

In the Garden

Well, another wet week ahead which is very good for growing plants and weeds.

 Here is how my garden is growing this week.

Lilacs are open and smelling heavenly!

I absolutely love Columbine.

I planted a bunch of strawberry plants around the yard last year and they are flowering like crazy.

My azalea bush is huge. 

This statue faces my front window so I am always reminded to have some.

I love the smell of Beebalm but have been unsuccessful growing it.  I stuck the few straggly plants I had here to see what would happen and look at it grow now!!

My not so "Lil' Kim" Lilac bush.

Wet and a Wacky Whale

So it finally rained which is great because my Pocket Hose doesn't reach far enough for me to effectively water my lawn.  I prefer the old Roll-a-Hose I had but it sprung 111 tiny leaks and it became miserable to use any longer ( I couldn't find a link for the Roll-a-Hose, apparently they want you to buy Pocket Hoses and only Pocket Hoses).  Ah well.

I love the rain but it leaves all the stuff I failed to go outside and pick up all wet and gross.

Wet Chalk

Soaking Wet Coffee Drinking Chair (Backyard Edition).  That frog looks comfy though, huh??

I do love how the rain makes the plants grow almost right before your eyes.

Wet Lilacs---So pretty!

These flowers are on a tree in my backyard.  Any clue what this tree is?

Lady's Mantle-one of my favorites, especially after it rains.

Inside the house, there is one very dry but wacky rainbow whale swimming on a sea of blue roses.  He's not quite done yet, but he is so colorful he really brightens up a rainy day!

Rainbow Whale!!!

Crocheting and Reading

Joining Ginny today on this crazy, rainy day.  I overslept and that seemed to set the tone for the whole day.  I am crocheting an Enderman as requested by my 10 year old.  Lucky for me, Wolfdreamer has great free patterns for lots of popular things that kids like.  This is slow going, I think that black yarn is tough to work with.

Cloudy gloomy day=cloudy gloomy picture!!

Yesterday I finished the wonderful book, The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman.  Oh my goodness, I was bawling for like 30 pages!!  Forget the tissues, I needed a towel!!  I had to start something else right away so I picked up The Last Town on Earth  by Thomas Mullen.  I am enjoying it very much.

Can't wait to see what everyone is working on this week.

Patchwork Whales (because all whales should be patchwork)

As I wrote a few weeks ago, I asked my kids what I should make for my etsy shop and there was silence.  Then my daughter piped up with "whales".  Ok, whales it is.  I've had so much fun making these whales.

I really enjoy the process of creating.  I like planning and visualizing the final product, making the pattern, choosing the fabrics, adding the details.  For me, I get lost in it and time really flies. 

Sometimes the idea looks great in my mind, but when I finish it, it just isn't what I envisioned.  Sometimes, I have certain colors I want to use but then I can't find the right shades or patterns.

 I wanted to make a whale in shades of pink.  I wanted to maybe add some vintage embroidery (because whales should be made of vintage floral embroidery!) but I just didn't care for it.  In my mind it looked lovely, in reality it didn't.  I moved on and grabbed my bright polka dot fabric and I love the result.

Why Patchwork Whales??--because I can patchwork anything!!

Doctor Zhivago and other Russian stuff

I love anything having to do with "Mother Russia".  I like Russian art and architecture, books and movies about Russia (like Doctor Zhivago), even shows like "Russia's Toughest Prisons" get my attention.  Will I ever go to Russia?  The magic 8 ball says "outlook not so good" and I agree, however it doesn't stop me from enjoying things that are Russian-ish.

Here are a few books I've enjoyed that take place in Russia.

Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander
The Romanov Bride by Robert Alexander
Rasputin's Daughter by Robert Alexander
The City of Thieves by David Benioff

Well that's it, the end, the final letter of the alphabet!!  Grab your party bag on the way out.

 I went all out and filled it with a half eaten jar of Nutella, a whistle, a whoopee cushion, 3 super bouncy balls , a coupon for a free karate lesson, and some lollipops to rot your teeth.  It's been fun but I am glad it's over!

Yoga Pants and Yellow Wallpaper

I was all set to write today about one of my favorite short stories, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.  I was going to write about how interesting the story is, how I love the ending etc. but I changed my mind and decided to go in a different direction.

Today I ran around like any other Monday morning, making lunches, getting the kids off to school etc. but today was a little different in that I also had to carpool some kids for a field trip.  Ok, no problem except when I got in the car and was halfway to my destination, I realized I was wearing yoga pants. 

Ok, no problem again, I have a pair of black yoga pants for every day of the week.  It's my uniform (and for the record I have never done yoga)!  The problem was, I looked down and realized I was wearing my house cleaning yoga pants.

These suckers have bleach holes, some kind of grease stains, and white powdery spots.  I was pretty mortified.  My shirt wasn't long enough to pull down over the mess I was sporting.  It's one thing to wear these to clean my bathtubs, quite another to be wearing them to a school field trip.  Luckily my son assured me that no one would be looking at me anyway (awwww thanks sweetie!)

I love my yoga pants, but in the future I will be much more careful reaching into my dark closet for a pair!