busy busy busy

I am pretty sure that this is just about the longest time EVER between posts for me but I've just been completely pre-occupied by my camera.

I'm two weeks into the photography course I'm taking and I've spent this entire week taking photos. I can guarantee that I've never taken so many photos in my life!



I've squeezed in a TEENSY bit of sewing time but with all the photos I've been taking for class I haven't had time to breathe, let alone update my poor neglected blog.

I have to hand in my first assignment tomorrow night and having not sat in a classroom (as a student) for close to twenty years (wow!), I'm fretting just a little bit.

Oh, and as much as I love that photo of the pinwheels, I can't use it for my assignment, it doens't fit the "simple" criteria so I thouht I'd share it here.

Camera Strap

After my little photography field trip on Sunday it quickly became obvious that I needed a little padding on my camera strap for comfort. Last night before my class I made a cozy for my camera strap.



It's much more comfortable to wear than the plain strap. I think I'll make another one that's not so pink, but this will do for now.

Niagara Falls Aviary

I have been sewing (a little bit) and I'll try to post photos very very soon of that.

In the meantime, I spent the better part of the day today at the Niagara Falls Aviary taking some photos with a friend.

While we were waiting for the rest of the group, we snapped a few shots of the American falls.



We then met up with the rest of the group for our tour. I have never seen so many cameras, lenses, tripods, monopods and camera gear in my whole life!



I took 87 photos in all. I think I like maybe 7 of them.



One of the gentlemen there was helping out my friend. They had the same camera and he had a backpack full of lenses he was letting her try. When I saw his face I knew I recognized him. I asked his name and quickly remembered that he was a student at the school I worked at before this one. His only comment was "you had blonde hair then". It was funny and I felt old.



It was a fun time. If nothing else it made me realize just how much I have to learn.

orange and strawberry

I made two more batches of soap this weekend.

A small 1-lb batch of orange dreamsicle soap.



And a larger, 3-lb batch of strawberry soap.



I wish I had made a large batch of the orange dreamsicle soap because it smells so good! The strawberry scent is not-so-good yet. I'm hoping it improves with time.

I'm completely excited today. I signed up for a 10 week SLR photography course at a kind-of local community college. My first class is tonight!

Her talent does NOT run in the family

My mother, DianNe, spent the weekend at a quilting retreat. On Thursday when I asked what she was bringing with her she innocently replied "my Christmas table runner". I'm sure I made some sort of joke about the fact that she's STILL working on it. Although I did see it in it's very early stages and I remember thinking how pretty it was.

I just received an e-mail from her friend and I am completely in awe of my Mother's talent. Trust me, I will NEVER EVER attempt any quilting project of this magnitude. EVER!

Do yourself a favour and click on the photo to see the detail of the applique!



It is all ready for the applique embroidery around to be done around the edges. Then it is on to sandwiching the batting and backing and then she will free-motion quilt it. My Mother is the free-motion quilting queen. She took ONE class and has the technique perfected. I'm not kidding. At all.



To quote my Mother's friend Dianne (her name is DianNe too):

You will not be allowed to touch it; as I think there are plans for having it showcased 'under glass'! So this is your sneak peak of the runner!!!!

I'm in awe. Way to go Mom!

More Lounge Pants

I had these cut out and mostly sewn first thing this morning and then we went out and did a little geocaching.

I came home and finished them up and here they are in all their glory...more lounge pants made from a thrifted sheet.



This is part of my efforts to use what I have. This sheet has been sitting in my stash FOREVER! I'm happy to have finally used it.



Now I'm trying to decide what to sew next...hmmmmmmmm

trains and cranes

It's been far too long since I've spent any time in my craft room doing anything!

The nice weather arrived this weekend and we were out and about today doing a little geocaching and taking some pictures.

First stop was an old train.



I had a little bit of fun editing the photos and saturating the colours.





Later on in the day we stopped when we saw what we thought was a heron in a farmer's field. We snapped some photos and the owner came out to talk to us and set us straight.



It was NOT a heron, but rather a sandhill crane and this little beauty is headed to the zoo.



With any luck, my sewing machine and I will spend a little time together this week. I have so many things to sew, and so little time!