Le petit chien

Help me!

 

It's no wonder I don't get anything done - not only am I being followed by a small and very cute dog pretty much 24/7, but I take pictures of him when I should be doing other things. And, as if that wasn't enough, I play with PSE, trying out effects. Sheesh! I really was just looking for the word bubble tool and when I couldn't find it (I need to find my book on PSE), I started exploring. And I really should be cleaning and doing other dull things.

Can you guess what this is for?

 

Any idea what the above is really meant for? I'm obviously using it for storing pliers (after it was checked out and okayed by a small dog).

But, it really is a chicken feeder, found at the feed store.

The idea came after I read Deryn Mentock's blog.

Pretty cool, huh?

Finally something creative

After having spent last weekend assembling new furniture and taking an old desk apart and most of the week organizing and sorting in one studio or another (yes, I have two rooms for fun stuff), I made the decision this morning to play and this is the result.
It felt so good to finally do something with enamel and hammers again (not in that order) and have it work out. My last attempts weren't quite as successful.
Heavily inspired by the last class I took from Mary Hettmansperger.

New in the shop

The above pouches have just been added to the shop.
I spent many happy hours sewing, using up scraps, trying out new things, a few months ago and couldn't quite get myself to do the rest that's necessary to upload them to the shop. It takes quite a lot of time and it's just not my favorite way to spend my time. But, I buckled down and here they are. More to come .................

Summerfield Design on etsy is open again

It's been a long, long time, I know ................
Having spent the last couple of weeks cleaning out the house and trying to re-organize my studio so I can actually work in there without tripping over things, I came across all those nice bags I had made for my etsy store. Took a deep breath this morning and started re-activating my expired listings. I'm not done yet, there's more work to be done, including a fair amount of photography, but, the store is open again.
In order to celebrate the re-opening, I am offering free shipping on all items until the end of September.
I am hoping to list more over the next few days.
Go have a look ..................
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SummerfieldDesigns?ref=pr_shop_more

It's the Olympics, slightly different

I'm sure most of us watch the Olympics, at least some of it. Have to admit, I watch these things whenever possible, and with "these things" I include Le Tour de France which I watched faithfully and religiously.
Not so thrilled with the Olympics coverage NBC provides, it starts fairly late here in the evening and all the good stuff comes after I've gone to bed - I'm not a night person. And, really, how much beach volleyball can one person watch?
But, here's something that almost makes up for the less-than-stellar coverage:

An evening with Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson came to town last night and, unlike last time, we were fast enough to get tickets. It was fun, even though it went on wayyyyy past my bedtime (and I'm not quite awake just yet). I think today will be a rest day - just like in Le Tour de France (which I have been watching religiously).
Anyway, Pegi Young and the Survivors opened for him. She's Neil Young's wife and pretty darn good, especially when you realize she's just a year younger than I am (figure that one out yourself). Spooner Oldham (Hall of Famer) played keyboard for her and  the rest of her band was on the older side, too (maybe that's where the name comes from?).
Willie came on after intermission, very low-key, looking just like himself, if a bit older, but nowhere near 79. Good, clean living, I suppose (snort). He played all my favorites, including Henry's song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5G6lNUG1NI). He's an ace guitar player (something that doesn't really come through on the albums I've heard), the voice is still strong, the tune's not always there, but who cares. The energy was amazing.
It was billed as "Willie Nelson and Family" and his son Lucas played guitar right along with him in addition to performing an excellent solo, blues, with a lot of passion and excellent guitar play.
I tried to get some pix during the show but they are all pretty much rubbish. I'll post one anyway, it shows Lucas Nelson much better than Willie - quelle dommage.
All in all, enjoyable and we might just do it again.

L's new Tshirt

On today's walk ............

 

Saw this on our morning walk and had to go back for the phone to snap away.

A class with Stephanie Lee

The alternate title for this post could easily have been "another month, another class" - but, since I haven't posted about my last class (live, with Mary Hettmansperger) yet, I'm going with the original title.
It's another online class, started yesterday and I almost missed it. I have Stephanie's book, I read her blog, but, since I've been in crochet mode lately, I haven't kept up reading the jewelry blogs I usually follow. Thankfully, I caught it just in time.
Class started yesterday (http://stephanielee.typepad.com/stephanie_lee_studios/they-say-to-keep-your-dreams-close-to-your-heart-well-take-it-literally-in-this-e-workshop-as-i-guide-you-through-the-pro.html - in case anybody else would like to join) and, for once, I'm up to date.
Here's what I've done so far:

 

Close up of my favorite. I have no idea how I got the patina/color but I like it enough not to polish it off.

This is attempt number 2, the first one got messed up when somebody scrubbed a little too vigorously.

To the sea

We used to go to the beach very regularly, but lately those trips have become less and less frequent. North Salmon just outside Bodega Bay was our favorite beach, in recent years that was replaced by Rodeo Beach on the Marin Headlands.

Last week, though, during out "staycation," we decided to go back to North Salmon and, wouldn't you know, it was foggy. Okay, not really "foggy" but there was a heavy marine layer and that didn't lift until after we left. Didn't bother us a whole lot, we came to walk and we got out nice, leisurely walk in, marine layer or not. 

There weren't a lot of people on the beach, I guess they all waited until the sun was out, so we pretty much had the beach to ourselves.

The first thing we saw, was this cool old car in the parking lot. We managed to talk to the owner after our walk and found out it's a 1941 Ford. He bought it restored and it's obviously his "surf mobile." All the stickers - and there are many, many, are surfing related and he was there to surf. He and L compared surf spots for a little while.

 

I always thought beaches were flat with lots of sand - not here. You have to get down this cliff - there are stairs for a bit and then a path, but it's fairly steep and the beach itself goes down quite a bit towards the water. Down isn't a problem, up is another story.

 Obviously, we weren't the only ones there, but as soon as you took a few steps, the marine layer swallowed anybody else.

 We had hoped for low tide - makes for better beach glass hunting - but didn't luck out there, either. During low tide, we can walk along the beach to the left of the rocks above, this time, we had to climb over and around them.

 The lone surfer at the time we were there. Waves were decent, not too big, but not choppy, either.
The seagulls didn't mind the fog - or much else, for that matter.

 

No idea what kind of bug this is, pretty big and not too happy at having his picture taken.