Embellishing Old Blouse For More Use

After stitch witchery

Determined to use up some bits of old white and black lace and a shiny ornament, I went into my closet to see if there was some blouse or shirt that could use some embellishment to get me to wear it again. I found a somewhat worn white and grey printed blouse that I hadn't worn for two years and thought this was a good candidate for some scraps. It turned out I had just enough bits and pieces to make a fairly pleasing square shape out of the strips of lace. I stitched them on with the machine but hand-stitched the metallic diamond shape as I might have damaged it with the presser foot.  I think it came out all right and I've worn this a few times this summer and got some use out of something I might otherwise have cut up into rags or something.

What blouse looked like before

Signs of the Times in the Neighborhood

There's all kinds of signs in the neighborhood

while the big dig is going on -- from "underpinning and foundation," "road closed," "sidewalk closed ahead," to "dead end" and "detour."  I've also gotten used to orange traffic cones, orange speed signs in the alleys and just a plain lot of orange and white striped signs.   I suppose we just have to put up with it while the work goes on.  It didn't used to look like this around here.

Lots of blooms in Bloomingdale's Crispus Attucks Park

I just had to take a walk in Crispus Attucks park the other morning to see all the flowering trees and bushes and anything blooming on the ground. The pink and white magnolias were out, as well as the little blue and white eyebrights and of course some lovely purplish hyacinths.I did spy some dog poop left behind on one of the pathways but decided not to foul up the flower pictures here with that! Although you can see that photo on twitpic via the twitter.com connection below (after the Yelp thing) or if you follow me @jeniferjs.These are not the only flowers gracing the park so you will have to go walk there yourself to see everything else.  And it will be a great walk too. And, mind the poop, or scoop your poop, as appropriate.

Perfectly Cracked Steps and Tilting Brick

There's just something about this very imperfect front yard with its tilting brick column, mismatched wood fence, cracked concrete steps, and useless leaning wrought iron gate that appeals to me. I even like the uneven mortaring of  the bricks and the slightly off-center cap on the brick column.  This "mess" is located on First Street NW and whenever I pass by I find myself enjoying this not-so-neat juxtaposition of materials.  While it's probably a hazard for pedestrians to enter this house yard as the steps are so damaged, you  have to admit there is evidence here of someone trying to make their front yard look better than just dirt and concrete.  But it looks like snow and ice and rain have done their inevitable work and heaved everything out of line. Other front yard entrances on First Street are very neat and tidy, even architectural, and that's what everyone likes and presumably wants.  However, this home-made attempt surely tells us that weather and water are more powerful than our sometimes good intentions. And, wouldn't  you agree, the palette of colors here -- reds, beige, grey, greens, white, black --  is enjoyable just on that basis alone?

Smart Cars and Pedicabs

Today I noticed some of the new vehicles you can see about in DC these days. There's these little Smart cars which look almost like toy cars and come in snazzy little designs and look very very easy to park. Turns out they are made by Daimler and originate from Europe!  Then, if you have some extra time and want to take a leisurely taxi or ride there's some pedicabs you can hire. In fact one day I took one home when I was on P Street. It was a green one, in the photo here, and the guy had breath enough to pedal away and chat with me about his new business and how it was very competitive with a couple of other pedicab companies in the area now.  I think DC is changing right before our very eyes if we only just notice the transformation.

Image by Dvorscak via Flickr

Love them Summer Roses!

While my front yard does go out of control in the rambling columbine vine department, and there are a number of other mysterious things growing there that I swear I never planted, the pot with the bright pink red roses hasn't failed once this summer. From the day I planted this rose bush two months ago to now in the sticky mid-August heat, this little bush just keeps on budding and flowering and blessing me and every passerby with its small and lovely flowers.  I forget the name of the rose plant but if they have them on sale at Home Depot or Lowe's later this month, and if they are in white or yellow, I think I'll go get a couple more. This is the kind of gardening I like! Just plant 'em and water 'em when I remember, shake a little plant food occasionally, and off they grow, sharing their little flower faces with us! What joy!