Old Socks Become Lace-Edged Wrist Cuff Warmers

Lace border on the "sock" sleeve extender

Used quite a long sock for the sleeve extender

I stitched up some lacy sleeve cuff extenders recently to keep my wrists warm over the winter.  These were made out of old socks that I cut the feet off from and then just quickly stitched on a lace border, stretching the sock as I sewed the border on.  There was no need to stitch the top as the sock top is sufficient.  I just wear these on my lower arms, especially when the sleeves of the sweater don't reach all the way to my wrist (as I have long arms).  And they can make a dumpy sweater look a little  more interesting!  I made a pair of these and am quite happy with this reuse of a pair of old socks and some left-over lace border! I just slip them on when I think my wrists might get chilly!

Couch Blanket Made From Airplane Blanket And Prom Dress Lace

Actually I made this couch blanket over ten years ago but am posting about it now as it helps me realize I've been into re-use and recycling for a long time. The story about this creation is that, by mistake, or should I say inadvertently, I brought home one of those airplane blankets -- I think this might have been from Delta airlines. It sat around a while and then I knew I just had to do something with the blue and pink lace yardage that I'd taken off some old 1960s prom dresses (yup, I'd kept those a long time and salvaged the lace and satin bits). So I cut these lace pieces into the shapes of various letters from the runic alphabet as they are interesting shapes with interesting meanings and something I once studied. I stitched them on directly onto the outer blanket surface, turning the edges of the rune letters as I went along. Not being perfection oriented, I just scattered the rune letter shapes in a rough design around the edge of the blanket. Then going back to the fabric scrap pile, I found an old worn sheet and taking the best bits of that and stitching them together, I created the lining or backing for this couch blanket, just overstitching it on and using some more leftover strips of the lace as a binding around the edge. Over time, this has gotten washed and so the navy  blue has gotten a bit purple in places and the pink and blue laces pieces have faded out somewhat, but I've always received quite a few compliments from visitors when they see it tossed on the back of a living room chair. And, of course, it's a comfy thing to have in the winter when there are a few draughts about.

Flowers in the Winter; It's all about Watering

Somehow we've got loads of flowers in the house during this cold winter snap in February.  Some lovely orchids are opening up.  I'll be sure not to overwater them as I killed an orchid plant before with too much! Apparently one or two ice cubes a week is all it needs. Then we have some lovely pink tulips that are bulbs sitting on a ledge in a tall vase and as long as you keep the water level up to the ledge, the tulips bloom.  We have four huge pink tulips flowering now!  Then, though they are not really flowers, I have three lovely red poinsettas. These were rescued from the church display in January. They were almost dead from lack of water but they've now resurrected, sitting on sunny window ledges and each drinking a cup of water each week! Then, there's that lovely bunch of a dozen red roses I got for Valentine's Day.  As long as I keep the stems trimmed and the water fresh, they will last a while, I'm sure  It's so wonderful to have flowers in wintertime! 

Geraniums in February!

It's no secret that I bring indoors all my porch and deck flowering plants every winter. The trick is to keep them alive with enough light and not too much water until I can put them back outside again, usually in early April, when there's no danger of snow. I usually lose at least one plant during the cold season due to not enough light or I over-water and it rots or I forgot to water and it dries out.  This year, I'm doing okay with two potted plants on the radiator in the upstairs den (hubster's man cave), the jade in the downstairs bathroom, two poinsettas in the living room window, and a petunia in the kitchen window.  Everything else is on the basement kitchen counter that has a big window where I've added some plant lights focused on them (with timers).  There's a coleus, another jade, some purple ivy that I don't know the name of and a large pot into which I crammed about three geranium plants in November when I brought them all in.  In fact, this group of pots is doing so well that the geranium which bloomed throughout summer seems to think it's in California and has been putting out lots of lovely blooms!  So, it's February and I've got the loveliest pink geraniums, so I picked some and put them on my kitchen table. Such a delight to look at when there's snow outside!

Flowers and Unleashed Dogs in #BloomingdaleDC Park

Crispus Attucks daffodils

Flowering trees

Unleashed dogs with scofflaw owners

Sign says" ALWAYS KEEP YOUR DOG ON LEASH"

On a recent walk in the local Crispus Attucks park I saw the very welcome signs of spring like flowering trees, tons of daffodils out, and some crocuses and hyacinths. I also saw someone working on the plants, cleaning out the winter debris. I also chucked out a bottle of vodka (empty!) found in the flowers.  Some local people -- scofflaws -- seem to forget that this park is NOT a dog park and were letting their dogs freely roam UNLEASHED having a great time tearing about in the "dog" portion of the park.  I guess some local residents think we all like dogs and dog poop or maybe they can't read the signs all over the park which advise users of the local rules.    

Daffodils in January in BloomingdaleDC

DAFFODILS!

It's so astounding to see daffodils in the middle of January.  There were two clumps of them blazing yellowly in the cold windy air of this unusually warm winter month over on First Street, NW in Bloomingdale. Often by now we have had snow or rain or used at least two tankfuls of oil to heat the house. But it's been so warm we've had the windows open even, during the best part of the day. And we've got daffodils sprouting and blooming. Totally amazing!

Golden Marigolds and Sun Tea in November

The past month has been warm and sunny most of the time here in DC as we've had this lovely extended autumn. In fact I can hardly believe it's December. The marigolds just kept flowering, and a few times it was warm enough to make sun tea in a jar on the porch. In fact with Winter Solstice in three days it's hard to believe that the days will in fact start getting longer again! I'm not sure what to make of this except to be glad that I'm not falling down icy front steps, or losing umbrellas in rain storms or turning up the heat in the house.

Unexpected Snowfall in October in DC

snow on marigolds

snow the rose bush

soft snow flaking down

Recently we had an unexpected snowfall and I just had to run outside and snap some photos as it came flaking down on the back porch furniture and in the front garden. Snow on the roses! Snow on the marigolds! An amazing sight! Since then the weather has been a lot warmer but I think we are returning to the colder temperatures soon. So it is just as well that I brought indoors the plants that won't survive the cold.  I've crammed the geraniums, jade and ivies into the kitchens in my house, hoping they can survive on sunny window ledges.  I've also started a red amaryllis that is supposed to flower at Christmas time. It was a giant bulb and it's now -- two weeks later -- got some bright green shoots. 

Hallelujah, It's a Bloomingdale Spring!

How could I not take my digital camera with me every day and take photos of all the flowers as I  make my way to the bus each day this past week? There's pansies on porches, tulips to toe by, daffodils to dote on, and Eastern rosebud trees to walk under as I hurry down First Street. It's spring for sure and there's just flowers everywhere and I just love to see the shoots shooting out of the ground and the bright splashes of color of the flowers that are now blooming. In the brighter light of spring, even the grass seems very green and the tree trunks seem a brighter brown after the soft mild grey tone colors we've become used to over what seems like a very long and cold winter.So, I'll probably keep snapping away either on my cell phone or my clunky digital camera throughout the season which is surely one of the best gifts from the Creator that we see each year.

Winter's Here in DC!

Wreaths on 16th Street

Snow on K Street

Well, winter came upon us in Washington, D.C. this week with cold winds and even some wet and sloppy snow today. Although I had a big coat and hat and gloves and managed to stay warm, I didn't have boots on and sure enough stepped into a puddle of cold melting snow and got my shoes and feet all freezy and squishy. Perhaps someone was trying to cheer me up later when they said that it's not really winter until the 21st of December when it's the solstice. So, I looked that up and that's the longest night and shortest day. But when I thought about that it would seem that we would then be moving toward shorter nights and longer days the next day. And this would happen until we get all the way to summer on June 21st which is really when "winter"  starts, back there when I was moaning about the heat and blogging about the fountains here in DC and right after the longest day and shortest night we'd be heading back to winter again. But today it was definitely winter and I was glad to get home to my cozy, Christmas-light festooned house and to rest and think about Advent.  

Snow on 16th St

• Winter Solstice (socyberty.com)

Franklin Square

14th Street

Winter Leaves But Wisdom Stays

On my way to work the other day I looked up and saw that there were still some maple leaves on some of the trees on the street on the way to my bus stop. With the miracle of my cell phone camera I snapped this photo as I so loved the sun shining through the yellow leaves against the dark branches and blue sky. It's at these moments that I realize how much I have been influenced by a poem I learned as a child. Here it is:
Time to Stop and Stare
What is this life if full of care
We have no time to stand and stare?
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep, or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this, if full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
--  William Henry Davies 1871 - 1940

I remember learning this at age 7 when we had to memorize some poem for some English literature study we did while being home schooled. Of course, that was back when my mind was blotting paper soaking up new things avidly, not like it is now when the Random Access Memory program occasionally fails due to the  Information Uptake plugin software being "overloaded."   Or at least, that's how it now feels when I have to learn some new text -- it's just too hard to do. But at the least, all the words I've taken in, have had an effect and have lead me to action.  So it's just as well I read the Bible then or I'd probably be a real mess by now.