Sunday.....and only one day left

As it begins to become morning the sun is just beginning to shine.

Such a golden sky! Still a little chilly but soon all will warm up.
Laundry is swishing and since I did not do any for a few days, another will follow. I have a few things to do in the garden today.
Yesterday Don and I went to Lowe's for irrigation supplies and for lattice to reinforce the gazebo canopy. The canvas top has stretched and was beginning to sag....not now thanks to Don. While there I did find a  few new plants and the start of my herbs

Sweet Basil and chives and a strawberry plant.....if I can keep the birds away I just may get a strawberry or two.
Glenda and I went gallivanting in the afternoon and came home with garden jewelry...

this small trellis will help keep the Red Lips Salvia from falling forward. Then the butterflies...

We would have bought more but it was all we could find! A bit of color here and there.  I also found some little ones that flutter...

This is in one of the house plants and the others will be scattered about in and out.  Whimsy for the garden and me.

Introducing.... Little Snow Flake. This print was a gift from Dianna and I finally found a plain frame to display her. I do not know who the artist is or anything about her except she is cute and a nice addition to my Southwest collection.
Well friends....I have a bit of housework to do and a few plants to settle in their new spots. It was nice to have you visit and chat. Thank you for your kind words and most of all for your friendship.

*oh my goodness, there is only one day left until you know what, I mean you know who arrives!*

A great weekend

The days seem to just be moving on with me in tow; with me trailing behind trying to keep up. I really did accomplish a few things this weekend

The Hairpin Lace scarf is finished. Another gift waiting to be mailed. So far I am getting these Christmas items ready and will be on time with my plans. Well, almost------Mr H and I went to the Litchfield Park Festival on Saturday and although we enjoyed ourselves there were 2 vendors that we usually buy from who were not there. Very disappointing. But we did find

 a new artist, Greg Kyle, and bought this beautiful watercolor print from him. It is called Hopi Roots. It depicts the Hopi women whose legs are the roots of the earth....that they are Mother Earth. I feel in love with it the minute I saw it.

Simply matted and framed it looks very nice on my Southwest Wall. I also found a little something for the special box I am making to send to someone special, so I can not show it yet. We really enjoyed seeing Tony Duncan and his beautiful family perform again. If you would like to see his 5 year old son Naiche perform the Hoop Dance, check this link out. His 3 year old daughter Tanis also performed  and they are just too wonderful.  I love his music. His beautiful wife Violet has a new book....

I now have both of her books. They are well written and illustrated.  The first book was about her growing up and now this is about Naiche learning to Hoop Dance. A beautiful family. We began to get tired and it was warm and we were hungry, so we did not satay for the entire performance this time. This week I will begin to plan and organize the Stitch at Home Challenge from SNAD, which I posted about here. The ideas have been in my head so it is time to sketch them out and begin the project. Deadline is January.  The laundry is spinning and I finished my coffee. Now I need to get to CVS for prescriptions that are ready. It is always nice to chat with you...thank you for stopping by and for your friendship and kind words. Have a great day.

Excited

Oh she has arrived, Alice that is...

I have all to do not to grab the DMC colors and linen and begin to stitch!~ No, I must finish the few projects in the works...must finish the~~~~~ give me the strength oh fairies of mine.  I ordered her through Stitches N Things and she arrive quickly. Great service and I will order from there again. My knitting is coming along, the Hawaiian block is ready for shadow quilting and the Christmas Dresden is waiting for embellishment, Alice must be patient. I will resist her calling to me. We are still having temps in the low 90's...where oh where is Autumn? I must sit outside soon. The birds are flying in and out of the Lanai this morning and chatting away. My plans for this morning really fizzled out....I only did 2 of many tasks. I would rather be knitting or stitching so that is what I am going to do. I have an appointment at 2pm which totally gets in the way of the day....
I have a new addition to my wall....

Isn't he wonderful...Native American made but do not know where it is from. The seller did not know but thought Navaho. I just love him and he is a nice addition to my collection/display.  So glad that many of you enjoyed taking the walk with Mr H and I in the Pumpkin Garden.  We have a pumpkin that is sitting out front...not carve nor painted....just there.  Still trying to convince Mr H to paint it for me. He has created some pretty great pumpkins in the past. I hear the dryer has stopped, so guess I must get the towels out and folded. Good time for another cup of coffee. Thank you for stopping by and most of all thank you for your friendship and kind words. Hope you enjoy a great day.

So lovely is she

Continuing with my festival report-----Tony Duncan's beautiful wife Violet, a former Miss Indian World title holder....isn't she pretty... a soft spoken lady, her smile feels so genuine. Her music is lovely. She is of the Cree and Taino Nations. Eyes are always drawn to her at these events. I had the pleasure to speak with her this past Sunday when I purchased her book...When We Dance which she inscribed to me -----"Follow your dreams"

The book is a beautifully illustrated sweet (short) story of a mother teaching her daughter the tribal traditions of dance. I have read it several time already! Each time I see her and watch her perform is like the first time. Special. There will be a festival in March at Litchfield Park and I hope the Yellow Bird Dancers will be there. At this time the entertainment has not been announced. Well, hope I have not bored you with this several posts on the festival....on the stitching front.... Mr H and I sat outside for a time yesterday and I finished the first page for Red Riding Hood....I will take an updated picture for my next post. I asked if anyone was interested in the directions for the Pin Ball, and will put something together to share soon. Work today so no sitting outside and no stitching. Whatever your plans are, I do hope you have a wonderful day.

More about the festival

I have posted about Yellow Bird before..... I never tire of seeing them perform and listening to their songs and stories. The Duncan family ...Tony is a marvelous hoop dancer, his wife Violet is simply beautiful and the little girls are just adorable.

Much has been written about Tony and The Yellow Bird Dancers------to see and hear them is the best. Performing along with Tony is Darrin Yazzie on guitar. Darren is from the Tabaaha and Navajo Nations, can make the guitar sooth your soul also accompanies Tony on flute.
 
Another performer with Tony is Lowery Begay of the Dine Nation (Navajo). He is wonderful to watch with the Hoop Dancing...

His dress is magnificent and he is impressive.  If you are getting the impression that I am taken with these performers...you are correct. Tomorrow I will tell you about Violet and her wonderful book. Now, if you are still with me, I will tell you that I hope to stitch today....and finish page one for Red Riding Hood. I am also hoping to get some sewing done...the magic word for today is "hope". The temps are expected to be in the low 80's, a perfect sit outside day. So much more relaxing to stitch out in the back yard...with the hummingbird hovering about and the listing to the water sounds from our small pond...yes, think it will be a good day. Glad you stopped in and hope you will have a great day.

Flowers ** Rabbits ** Festival

I was just too lazy to post yesterday...that is the truth. We have lots of activity outside in our courtyard...

I looked out the front window to see this sweet face watching me. There were 4 others playing around the area at the same time. Love when they are out playing but Mr H does not like them to eat his flowers....
On Sunday we went to the Wigwam Resort Native American Festival. This was sponsored by them and so it was a little smaller than the one that Litchfield Park hods which is just around the corner from here, but it was nice. Loved the music...

There were a few entertainers and this was a new one for me...Arvel Bird. Violins, Native American flutes and Irish whistles....yes, his sound is Celtic Native American.  His roots are Scottish (Clan Kennedy) and Native American Paiute. I did buy one of his his CD's. The combination of Celtic, Native American with a bit of folk thrown in is quite different. Also performing was my favorites, Yellow Bird with Tony Duncan and his family. More tomorrow.
 I did some stitching on Pink Lady

Her gown is almost complete. I started the Ribbon flowers...and finished  embroidering her bodice. I hope you can see the metallic stitches. Her flower ball is looking good. I added the ribs to her fan. I will be starting her bustle/train next. Thank you for the nice comments on the Pin Ball. I first learned about it from Susie Delewese (from a FB group) and she started quite the following. There are no tutorials and the directions are really simple. If anyone would like, I would gladly share them. For those of you in the current snow/ice storm paths, I wish you warmth and safety on your travels. I really do not miss any of that. Yesterday Mr H and I were sitting outside enjoying our weather and remembered the many snow storms in our past life. Ten years here has so spoiled us, we could never return to the East Coast! I am off to work today and can only hope the customers are happier. I go out of my way to thank those that are patient and pleasant with hopes it will spread. If you are out and about, remember that the people behind the counters are trying to do the best they can; we do not schedule workers, or make the sale rules or supply coupons! Hope you all have a wonderful day...

Patience is not simply the ability to wait - it's how we behave while we're waiting.

Joyce Meyer

Music and shopping

I fell asleep early last night after being awake from 1:30 AM.... only to wake early again today. This time I decided not to get up and stitch. Instead I had a hot cup of tea and curled up on the day bed in the sewing room and with some very boring TV program fell back to sleep. When I next opened my eyes, it was 6 AM. Need to be rested today so the the therapist can pull at my leg and bend it this way and that and I will be awake enough to yell. Mr H and I went to The Litchfield Artfest yesterday...the sun was hot  but the temps only around mid 80's. When we arrived Estaban was just getting ready to perform.....

love his music! He played a few tunes and one that I love, La Paloma. With him performing was Teresa Joy on violin.  Next to perform was Tony Duncan from Yellow Bird Productions. Amazing Native American music and dancing

the flute sounds were beautiful. His hoop dancing is wonderful, for which he has been world champion many times....His son and daughter performed also...

look at the beautiful children and the vibrant colors....







I did manage to shop also...Mr H picked this to hang in the sewing room

the artist is local and her metal works are lovely.... all brass and copper with different stones. This is Green Agate. Then the same artist, another local, who makes the Prayer Feathers (bought one last year) had these ornaments....

so I bought one for me and one for a gift. She uses real feathers and usually wolf or coyote fur. All in all we had a nice time and then home for football and rested my knee. Hope your Sunday was as pleasant.... and I do hope you have a great day today. Thank you for the visit and kind words.....

A bit of rain

There was thunder and lightening and just a bit of rain last night. This morning is cool and sunny bright. Hopefully we will remain in the comfortable temps from now on. No stitching yesterday...of any kind but I did get a book in the mail. More about that tomorrow. Back to Sunday and the Festival of Arts ...today let me tell you about The Yellow Bird Dancers... there clothing was so colorful and the beading magnificent. How they managed to dance and smile while the temps were around 80 dressed as they were is beyond me. The lovely smiling lady in red is Violet Duncan who was Miss Indian World 2012. She represented all Indigenous people of North America. She is married to Tony Duncan who performed the hoop dancing..

Tony Duncan is a 5 time world champion from the Apache and Arikara Nations. He also is leader of Estun-Bah, who perform beautiful music with Tony playing the flute. His dancing in and out of the hoops is amazing. Tony and his group are based here in Arizona. Then there was a man who sat quietly on the sideline. I asked if I could take his picture and with a big smile he said yes and stood for me. His clothing was beautiful and then he danced...His name ( I think) is David...He has done all the beading on his clothing and even his moccasins. Such a nice man. It was a wonderful part of my Sunday afternoon. My regret is that I did not get back to their area to purchase a CD of the beautiful music....but, since they are based/live here in Arizona, I will be sure to find them.
That is about it for today my friends, glad you stopped by to chat with me. Thank you for the kind words and emails.... have a great day.