Anniversary, masks and sky

Sunday was the sixth anniversary of my son and daughter-in-law's wedding. They looked great from head to toes! It seems like just yesterday that we drove from Washington to Wisconsin for the outdoor wedding on a farm. Love you guys!!!

I finished some more masks for my daughter to pass out to coworkers at Trader Joe's. I had to stop at nine because I ran out of produce bag twisties, which I use for the nose piece, and it was too hot to go out to the store for more. It's been over 100 forever.

And speaking of the weather, the monsoon storms are starting to sneak in. Here is the view from my back yard shortly before the wind, lightning, thunder and rain tore through a few days ago.

 And some sunset photos from this week,

taken from my front and back yards: 

Have you heard of subparparks.com yet? Illustrator Amber Share took actual review comments about our national parks and combined them with her art for some pretty funny posters and other paraphernalia. Here's one from Arizona's Saguaro National Park. "OK if you like cactus." Well, duh! Why would you go if you didn't like cacti?

Have a colorful day

Up again

So in my last point I was at the low point on the coronacoaster, but thanks to time, phone calls and emails with friends (thanks for all of your comments) and getting back to stitching, I'm up again.

I finished the envelopes for my "Letters From Home" quilt and now I'm connecting the blocks.

I finished embroidering a third dish towel and started on a fourth.

And I started another batch of masks to send off to the Trader Joe's in Spokane. Here are some of the prints that I selected. Hmmm, maybe I need to throw in a few blue ones.

I'm also waiting for my permanent license plate to come. It's sort of weird to be driving around with a temporary plate that says "Color" but is in black and white.

Turning to the skies, a photographer here captured the comet over Tucson! I went out last night to try to see it, but it was almost 100 degrees even though it was several hours after sunset and I couldn't take the heat. The mountains in the photo are the Catalinas, where the fire has been burning for the past month. (Yes, it's still burning.)

And this cloud was over my house a few evenings ago.

I'll leave you with this quote, which I think we all know by now after half a year of having our lives turned upside down by the virus. I'll never again take a hug or coffee with friends for granted.

Have a colorful day

Lonely

I know it's the Fourth of July and I should be celebrating, but I'm feeling very down today. I've been trying to look at the bright side of sheltering alone in a new town during Covid, but the truth is I'm very lonely.  Holidays like the Fourth that I used to spend with my husband and friends just make me feel even lonelier, and because of Covid I don't feel that I can safely travel out of state to be with friends and family.

Last night an almost full moon rose above the ridge behind my house. It was magnificent. I remind myself that I am lucky to be alive and free and in the grace of such beauty.

Namaste

Loose threads

I just have random bits and pieces for the blog today. My creative muse hasn't come back since the move, but I can follow patterns and do noncreative sewing, like more masks. These are some that I just made for my daughter's coworkers at Trader Joe's.

I've been picking up a lot of reserved books at the Oro Valley Library, and each time I drive into the parking lot I'm amazed by this giant saguaro. It is magnificent! I'm not good at estimating heights, but I'll bet its at least 30 feet tall.

This is the outside of the library, in the back. I can't wait for it to open for browsing so I can see the inside. Right now we have to reserve our books online and then pick them up outside the front door where they've set up tables. You call from outside the library to let them know you're there and give them your library card number, then they tell you which numbered table they'll put your books on. Everyone is masked up and stays at a safe distance.

I've also been enjoying the birds who visit me every day in my courtyard. This little hummer loves the pencil cactus and doesn't seem to mind that I'm sitting just a few feet away.

And the doves are getting bolder about coming into the courtyard when I'm there. All day I can hear their soft cooing and I love it.

I had my new patient physical yesterday -- mainly so I could get prescription refills -- and this masked stranger greeted patients in the lobby.

And last but not least, the clouds are gathering for the start of the summer monsoon season. It's a few weeks late because it normally runs from mid-June through September. I felt a few sprinkles a couple of times in the last few days, the humidity is creeping up out of the single-digits, and clouds are more widespread. I never thought, after living in the Northwest, that I'd look forward to rain, but we desperately need it to put out the Bighorn Fire. That's my sewing room window to the left of the giant prickly pear cactus.

Have a colorful day

Stitching, pottery and skeeters

I'm going a little stir crazy being down here by myself and mostly sheltering inside because it's so blasted hot outside! So I turned back to a couple of sewing projects.

I did more envelopes for the "Letters From Home" quilt. I'm not sure how big it will get. Maybe just one more row will do it.

And I'm embroidering some tea towels for gifts, even though it hurts the arthritic thumbs. 

I bought this set of iron-on embroidery patterns with 10 different herbs many years ago and decided its time has finally come.

You can get several transfers out of each pattern, and you simply iron for about five seconds with a hot, dry iron. Here are three towels after I transferred the patterns.

They go pretty quickly just using the backstitch and two strands of embroidery floss. Fun!

And THEN I went back to The Happy Saguaro and bought a Talavera pot! I buckled it in for the drive home ...

... and put it on the bench in my front courtyard where I can see it from the cutting table inside and when I sit outside with my morning coffee. I just love those clear, bright colors and the organic design!

Speaking of outside, every time I go out since I moved here I get a fresh crop of mosquito bites, even though I don't have any standing water on my property. So I ordered an arsenal of skeeter attacking products. I hate the idea of spreading bug spray on me, but these ones are DEET free. And the Patio Egg is a ceramic container that holds a mosquito repellant oil that's also DEET free. I put an egg on the front courtyard a few weeks ago and it seems to reduce the number of bites. I'll put the other one on the back patio.

I go out front every evening at sunset and take pictures. This one is actually facing east, so it's the setting sun reflected in clouds behind my house. That's the Pusch Ridge behind me, where the Bighorn Fire erupted 23 days ago from lightning. You can see how close it was to my house! It's still burning, having consumed over 100,000 acres now and growing bigger every day, but it's no longer near my house. There are now more than 1,100 firefighters out there day and night, with that number also steadily growing.

Everyone is waiting for the summer monsoon rains to come and help put out the fire. It sprinkled for a couple of minutes at my house yesterday, a warm rain that left the patio steaming when it stopped. 

Have a colorful day

Colors of Mexican Talavera in Tucson

Ever since I moved to Tucson, I've been wanting to get some colorful Mexican Talavera pots for my courtyard. Imagine my excitement when I googled "talavera tucson" and found a huge selection of the pots just a few minutes down the road from me at The Happy Saguaro!

And not just pots, but

BUNNIES

and kitchenware

and even sinks!

Plus it has a big selection of textiles, including bright embroidered table runners, pillows and clothing.

Here's a Wikipedia description of the pottery:

Talavera pottery is a Mexican and Spanish pottery tradition from Talavera de la Reina, in Spain. The Mexican pottery is a type of majolica or tin-glazed earthenware, with a white base glaze typical of the type. It comes from the town of San Pablo del Monte (in Tlaxcala) and the cities of Puebla, Atlixco, Cholula, and Tecali (these four latter in the state of Puebla), because of the quality of the natural clay found there and the tradition of production which goes back to the 16th century. Much of this pottery was decorated only in blue, but colors such as yellow, black, green, orange, and mauve have also been used.

Here's a closeup of one of the pieces at The Happy Saguaro. The paint is raised, creating a nice, rich textured feel.

On my walk today, I snapped this picture of a Mexican Bird of Paradise, which picks up the vibrant colors of so many of the Talavera pieces. I also want to get one of these for my yard.

So, you ask, what did I buy? Nothing -- yet. I was so overwhelmed by the selection and the heat (much of it is outside, where it was 99 degrees and rapidly rising) that I just wandered and took pictures. But the prices are very reasonable, so once I decide what size pots I want I'll go back. And I can easily see myself getting sucked into some kitchenware and maybe an embroidered blouse, and then gifts for family and friends ...

Have a colorful day