made in Nebraska

With Yizhi's family coming next week I wanted to have some gifts to give. I found some Husker shirts at Target which I hope they like. When I looked at the labels I was not surprised to find they were made in China, Vietnam & Honduras. So I am also giving something made by me. I sewed up another "Lola bag" for her aunt. Used some fabric from my stash & think it turned out ok. It's a fabulous pattern & I could sew it up with barely looking at the directions, I've made it so often. You can find the pattern here.

water

It was a mild, cloudy day here. A bit of welcome rain during the night too. Awhile ago I asked for some photo suggestions for my blog. Later, my cousin, Dianne, told me she would have suggested "water" as a theme. So with her suggestion in mind, I went to Holmes Lake, which is not far from my home. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed some of the photos I took. I may need to visit more lakes over the summer.

hand puppets

My son & his wife don't read my blog, I'm sure, so it is safe to say here that I am ready to be a grandparent. But I know I don't get to decide such things. In the meantime I am practicing making some stuff for future possible grandbabies. Today I am going to a baby shower for a coworker. I had happened upon a puppet pattern that I thought was simple. Renae was doing some zoo like theme for the baby's room & I thought I could make a giraffe puppet. My first try at the pattern is the blue dog. He turned out ok but not well enough to give to anyone. His ears aren't sewn in quite right & he still doesn't have a nose. I used polar fleece for this pattern even though the directions say to use felted wool which is too much work for me. I found a giraffe in a children's book I used as a model & I am happy with how it turned out. I hope Renae enjoys it with her new baby too. If you are interested in making your own puppet the pattern is here.

clean up

I took these photos of my daughter-in-law, Yizhi, when we visited her & Austin in April. She was clearing the table in their apartment after they'd made hot pot for us. An every day event I was glad to get a snapshot of.

Flag Day

Today is Flag Day. Last night I put flags out on our street for my neighbor, Hobie. People know him as the 9/11 guy. He keeps an American flag hanging in his front yard & another flag that tells us "Never Forget" (9/11). The least I can do is put the flags out for him. A day to remember how fortunate we are to be free.

the prairie

My cousin,Cheryl, sent me this video this week. Someone took David Bouchard's poem & put it to music & photos. A really nice poem. It reminded me that when we lived in Arkansas I would occasionally feel claustrophobic because there were so many trees I could never see the horizon. We do know "flat" here in Nebraska. Enjoy!

June 2nd

My aunt, Elaine, weaves rugs. I have several. Unfortunately they don't last forever & do tend to come apart with age. Instead of throwing an old one away I unraveled it & rolled up the strips of fabric into balls to maybe be made into another rug. These balls of fabric seemed interesting enough to photograph before returning them to Elaine.

June 1st