The Duck Pond

A few weeks back I had a strong desire to see or photograph some animals. So I took off to my local duck pond in the middle of a neighborhood a few miles away from my apartment. It felt great to photograph them. There were lots of baby ducks and geese swimming around and I tried my best to get as close as possible to them without scaring them away. I don't own a professional camera with a telephoto lens or anything fancy. I used my small digital camera and I didn't quite get the results I was looking for. I did have a great time watching them swim around dipping their heads in the water and observing the sunlight glistening on the water. It was wonderful.

I'm reading a book right now called Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World by Rita Golden Gelman. Its about a 48 year old, newly divorced woman who travels the world by herself. She travels to Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Israel, Indonesia, and other places to meet with people and learn their culture. My favorite place so far is when she visits the Galapagos Islands. She talks of her observations of the blue-footed boobies, frigates, marine iguanas, and sleeps a hundred yards away from a sea lion colony.She even swims so close to them that they brush her with their whiskers. Reading about her adventures make me want to be a marine biologist. It sounds so exciting to travel to a place and actually study, and photograph animals with a group of people. I'm still in the middle of the book so I may have other favorite parts later. I still have not read about her travels to Indonesia, New Zealand, and Thailand. Rita Golden Gelman says, "There's more than one way to do life".

Speaking of travel, Joseph and I have decided to visit a farm in Vermont in September. It is a therapeutic work farm. It will be a short visit. It is possible that we might move there to be work crew leaders and advisors for the residents who live there. It all depends on this visit. The thought of leaving friends and family is scary but the adventure of living in a different climate and lifestyle is exciting to me. I've lived in the same place for so long it seems it may be time for a change.

Sweet Rain

I'm up really late tonight. It's hard to sleep with no air conditioner. Our air conditioner died yesterday and it won't be fixed until Tuesday. Our windows are open and it's raining outside and the sound of the rain is quite soothing and relaxing. There is a fresh breeze that blows in now and then and it feels just heavenly. Since we live about 10 feet away from a busy road we hear many vehicles driving by splashing water on the road. Occasionally there is a loud siren. Everything seems much louder at night when the birds and most people are fast asleep. Sleeping with our windows open brings back memories of childhood. Some of my relatives live in a little town called Eagle Pass right on the border of Mexico. When I was young we used to visit my dad's aunt or my mom's aunt in Eagle Pass. We would often have to share a bed at night when it was time to sleep and all the windows would be open. My mom's aunt also lived by a busy road and I remember hearing cars driving by as well. I remember it being a pleasant time just laying in bed listening to the sounds around me and the comfort of my family right next to me. There was a sense of safety with family gathered in one room. I miss those days. I sometimes get a strong mourning feeling in my chest when I reminisce about times in my life that have come and gone, like remembering a loved one who has passed away and knowing you won't see them again, at least not in the flesh. Some people can hear a song and it will bring back memories of an event but I can see an object that resembles something from childhood or have a sensory experience, like sleeping with a window open and a rush of memories and pleasant feelings of childhood will return. I'm grateful to be able to remember special memories.
The photo above is a fern with water droplets. I photographed it at the African Violet Nursery in Boerne.

Mosaic Bottle

I made this bottle a few months back. I have projects that I meant to post on my blog but never got around to it. I decided to delve into the mosaic world for a while by creating something with broken pieces of glass. I began this project by going to the thrift store to find colored vases and glassware at cheap prices. Joseph accompanied me and found some colored glass that he wanted to use to decorate his bottle as well. We then went home to find our trusty hammer. We took the glassware outside and put it in plastic bags to protect ourselves from flying glass and went to smashing. The plastic bags didn't work very well because they began to rip and tear. I think maybe a canvas bag would have done the job better. Smashing glassware was quite fun. I think it helps to let out some stress and aggression. After the smashing party, I found a clear glass bottle I wanted to decorate. I arranged the broken glass pieces on the clear glass bottle. I was very careful not to cut myself on the glass pieces. Then I glued them on with Liquid Nails (Home Depot adhesive dept). It was quite a sticky situation. :) I was going to fill the pieces with grout but decided to just leave it as is. Because I did not fill it with grout, careful handling is essential, due to broken glass edges being exposed. The bottle is meant for decorative use only. I think it turned out quite nice and colorful. I think Joseph may still be working on his. Some other time I will create something and use grout. I'd like to experience the grouting process.

Chenille Hat and Scarf

Well, I have not posted to my blog in several months so I thought I'd throw you a bone. I have been so busy with work that I have not put my creative juices to much use. These are photos of a hat and scarf I made a few years ago made with chenille yarn. And yes, that is yours truly. I got brave enough to exhibit myself on the web. I hope I don't scare anyone away. Well, back to the hat and scarf. I remember the hat took me two hours to crochet. It was the first hat I ever made. I use them every winter. It's springtime now and I need to create something for the hot Texas weather. Hmmm? Maybe something in a light airy cotton yarn will do. Till next time!

Arctic Freeze

Photographs of the huge Arctic Freeze in San Antonio.

Bunny Rabbit

This rabbit was a Christmas gift for my mother. I found a pattern on Crochet World
magazine October 2005 issue. I actually had this magazine since last year and thought about making it for my mother but I thought it was too difficult so I didn't make it last year. Well, this year I got the guts to make it. I figured that if I didn't know how to do a particular technique I could eventually figure it out and voila! I made it! Once again I changed the pattern a bit. The rabbit in the magazine has a long sleeved jacket. I shortened the sleeves on mine just to be a little different. I also made the skirt different. I changed it from an a-line skirt into a full skirt. A full skirt just looked better. I consider the rabbit to be a little girl rabbit and she needed a full skirt to hop around in. I also changed up the skirt color. I usedRed Heart Super Saver yarn in Artist Print instead of the Summer Breeze color. Soft White was used for the body, Buff for the jacket, and Frosty Green for the shoes, and book bag. I also wanted to use pretty buttons instead of the plain yellow round buttons. I shopped around for some buttons and found some pretty purple flower buttons to use.

The eyes and nose are embroidered using embroidery floss. I had some trouble with it
because I'm not very good at embroidery. It still turned out cute. My mom really loved it and she couldn't believe that I made it. She kept saying, "You, made it , Ruby?", "You, made it?". I told her I followed a pattern to make it. It feels really great to make something and have other people appreciate it so much.



Here is a detail of the book bag. I also crocheted pantaloons under the skirt. I almost wanted to keep this cute bunny for myself but I thought I could always make another one if I want to.
Hopefully soon I can create my own patterns and make more crocheted toys for children.

Pretty Poncho

Here is another gift I made for my other sister for Christmas. I crocheted this poncho using a free pattern I found at Hobby Lobby. I used yarn from the Yarn Bee company. It's called Soft Delight in a fuchsia color. This yarn was on sale on a different week at Hobby Lobby. Of course I took advantage of the sale and bought several skeins of yarn for projects. This yarn is very soft to the touch and can be dressed up with a simple black dress or casually worn with jeans. I had to unravel it several times because the collar kept twisting on me. Once in a while I would miss a shell stitch and then I would have to unravel it and start over with the row. Still I enjoyed making this poncho for my sister. It's the first poncho I have ever made. It took several hours and I relished every moment of it. There is just something about sitting with a hook and soft yarn creating a garment that brings great satisfaction to me. It's peaceful, quiet, and pleasing the senses. I read somewhere that knitting uses up 85 calories an hour, so I figured it's the same for crocheting.

Fleece Blanket

This is another Christmas gift I made for my little sister. I went to Hancock Fabrics and found some embroidered fleece material on sale 30% off. I purchased it, then went home in quite a cheerful mood. I found some matching yarn and began to sew a blanket stitch around the border of the material. It took me two days to complete the blanket stitch. It's quite difficult to stitch through fleece with yarn. I certainly had a workout pulling that long yarn way out and then back through the material. After I completed the blanket stitch I began to crochet an edging around the blanket. I used a pattern in the Crochet Today Magazine Oct/Nov 'o6 issue. The pattern instructions were designed for a baby blanket but I adjusted them for an adult size blanket. I still used just four rounds but increased the number of stitches around. The yarn I used was Red Heart, Super Saver Muticolor, in Banana Berry. I thought the fleece fabric was beautiful with the embroidered flowers on it. It was very soft. I almost wanted to keep it for myself. Nevertheless, my sister is the proud owner of this warm cheery blanket.

Warm Crocheted Cowl

Now that Christmas is over I am able to post some of the gifts I made for family members. I was a little low on cash this year so I decided I would spend some time crocheting gifts for my family. I crocheted this cowl for my husband's grandmother. It's a hood and neck warmer in one. I found a pattern in a book called Cool Crocheted Hats. I found some yarn by the Yarn Bee Co., Icelandic Jewels in dark citrine for $.99 cents at Hobby Lobby, originally $5.22. The sale lasted for one week so I took this oportunity to purchase this yarn instead of the expensive mohair and wool blend that the pattern suggested to use. It does not drape as nice but it sure keeps you warm. I used Yarn Bee, ELF Eyelash Yarn in cherry red for the edging. I changed up the pattern a bit to make it a little wider on the shoulders. My husband's grandmother loved it and she wore it the whole time we were in Louisiana for Christmas.
It looks like a rectangle when layed out flat.

Knitting Obsession

This is for all you knitters out there or anyone who has a passion for being creative.

There are times when there is something inside me that keeps stirring and won't stop until I actually create something. After crocheting, drawing, painting etc., the stirring inside subsides but eventually it grows again and I find myself once again craving to make something from nothing. It's a cycle that never ends and I'm glad of it.

Radiant Hibiscus Flower

On a trip to the Hill Country African Violets and Nursery I took various photographs of the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen. This one is a photo of a Hibiscus (Rose of China) variety. The nursery is located in Boerne off of I-10 West. The minute I set foot on its colorful and most spectacular grounds I felt like I was in heaven. There was green foliage everywhere and flowers galore. The nursery has eleven green houses each with a particular type of plant. One is filled with Orchids, one has African Violets while another is filled with ferns, and more. I would recommend paying a visit to this wondrous heaven especially in the Springtime when everything is so lush and green.
I am tempted to paint this flower in pastel. Don't you just want to feel it's bright velvety petals and thank God for this simple precious little gift? John MacMurray wrote a book called The Call of Creation: Nature's Invitation to Worship. Although, I have not read the book or seen it, (but I will soon) I like his title of the book. I like that he considers creation to be an invitation to worship God. I like to think that God is calling me, inviting me to him everytime I breath in the freshness, fragrance, beauty, and green around me. I have always found his peace in nature since I was a little girl. I used to sit on the front porch and watch the ants go by and make up little stories about them. I wondered, "Where are you going little ant"? I used to just sit and listen to the music of the birds, and the wind wispering in my ear telling me secrets. Secrets about the outside world and all its grandeur and how God gave all this to me because I appreciated it deep in my heart, so much so that it made tears come to my eyes. He said to me one day , "Ruby I give you peace, I give you the wind, the trees, the birds, the flowers, the animals, and much more because I love you". Everytime I am struggling or going through some turmoil I can simply go outside and look down at a leaf and observe its' colors, its' arteries, its' stems, its' smell, its' freshness and somehow God says, "Ruby everything is going to be fine, this problem, this turmoil is only a speck of sand in the great wide ocean of life." Again I weep, and go on. Thank you Lord for this gift of nature. Thank you for showing your beautiful self through the flowers and streams of water teeming with life.

Olly the Octopus

Here is the infamous octopus I've been telling everyone about. I found a free pattern on roxycraft.com. The pattern was for MoMo the octopus but I named mine Olly. I was following the pattern for the head but somehow Olly's head is a little bigger than the pattern suggested it would be. When I began to make the eight legs they ended up a little smaller than the body so I modified the pattern and made more rows with increases and decreases. The legs are not all exactly the same size because I forgot to write down the changes that I made on the pattern. Oh well, it is the first three dimensional crochet sculpture that I have ever made. The head took about 12 hours straight to finish. As Joseph's grandmother would say I was hell bent on getting it finished. The legs I made whenever I had some time during that same week. I used Red Heart worsted weight yarn in Skipper Blue instead of the Jiffy yarn the pattern said to use.

Olly likes sitting in his little underwater cave watching the colorful fish swim by and the seaweed swaying in the water. He is all blue but not because he is sad, he can't help that, he was born that way. Sometimes he stays in his little cave because he feels he is not perfect. You see his tentacles are not all the same size and he fears he will not measure up to all the other octopuses that live in the sea. Little does he know that he is capable of so much more and the love he feels for others is so deep and strong inside of him. He is waiting patiently for Christmas time when he will find his new and rightful home in the arms of a particular child.

Succulent 1 Pastel Painting

I have decided to create this blog to reflect me, my thoughts, creations and whatever I might be doing in my life. This is a place where I can post creations, ideas, practice projects, and you name it. These projects may be paintings, drawings, crochet, sewing projects, photographs, plants, poetry, pottery and the list goes on.

The painting above was painted using soft and hard pastels. The photo is not a good one but it's the only one I had at the time. It's actually a little darker than it appears in the photo. I can't seem to stop working on it. Every time I look at it I want to fix something. I desire for it to look more realistic and I think that is why I keep working on it. I have placed several layers of pastel pigment and fixative and I don't want to over do it.
When Joseph (my husband) and I were living downtown there was this lonely little succulent growing at the edge of the wooden fence in the back yard. I took a photo of it and decided to paint it. We live in an apartment now and I have a small patio filled with plants. I have spent many hours on that patio painting this picture. While the world around me is buzzing around like a frenzied bee I enjoy my quiet hours out on my patio with my plants and pastels. Somehow I find God there sitting and talking to me like an old friend. There is a peace that comes over me and I feel tremendous joy. I named this painting Succulent 1 because I plan to paint more succulents in the future. Perhaps I will get better the more I paint.