I love the smell of casino chips in the morning!

I have not been able to post anything for awhile....

2 reasons:

Lethargy
Very busy

These are not mutually exclusive situations!

I have had to put away my ongoing projects (really, will I actually live long enough to finish all of them?!) and, excitingly, pack up some new ones for the road! (More on that later when I have something to show for myself!)

So.....
I have been here:

Yep, Las Vegas! Love this town! This is the view from our room at Caesar's Palace, Forum Tower, 18th (???) floor.... (not sure about that, as we always punched in "68" on the elevator....whatever that means!).

And here's the view one morning before my slacker husband and daughter ever rolled out of their beds to save me from being all consumed by the double draperies that covered the entire outer wall of our room:

Did you know there's such a thing as remote controlled draperies?! You know, when you're too lazy to get up and walk 2 feet and pull a drapery cord?! Mr. P was quite emboldened by this state of affairs and found it necessary to bark orders nicely ask that I "close the drapes/open the drapes/close the drapes/open the drapes" (take your choice)....always while he was less that 2 feet away from said drapes.

And did you know there are miniature television sets in your bathroom mirror?! Mr. P rightly pointed out that they are exactly in the proper position for watching whilst your face is at exactly the proper angle for shaving? Goodness, those casino folks think of everything! Either that, or I just don't get out enough!

And did you know that I spent 3 days in Vegas and never so much as put a quarter into a slot machine?!  Geesh!  I'm losing my touch--usually I can be found grudgingly heading to a Blackjack table at some point.....(I love to play Blackjack, just I hate to lose money more.) Why was that, you may ask?....

Lethargy?
Nope
Very busy!!
Yep

More to come.....

O Winter! = Snowy Evening

We had our first big snow of the winter yesterday!  It was light and powdery--Mr. P., still transfixed by the beauty of it all, (as is always the case this early in the season), said it was easy to scoop.
Sitting upstairs in our TV room, which looks out over our backyard, I noticed the snow looked so magical in the light coming from our neighbor's yard.  I just had to grab my camera....

I should have known they were there, but I didn't realize all the deer were enjoying the backyard, too, at the same time.  When cranking open the window to get a better view, I unwittingly interrupted their evening snack==our bird feeders!  Although my camera wasn't steadied yet, I snapped a couple photos.  I actually like the blurred effect; it shows their motion and indecision...  Is this a threat?  I can't leave now, I haven't cleaned out the entire feeder yet!

Once the deer left and I got my camera steadied....here's what I was talking about:

This is a volunteer Redbud tree on our patio; an offspring of a much larger Redbud further up in the yard.  To differentiate between Redbuds (and if you're not careful, you could have dozens of them--those little trees pop up like mushrooms!), this one is known as Redbuddy. (Corny, I know.) A couple years ago I hung Christmas lights on it--they've been up ever since, no matter the season. We like the ambiance!  The lights also help detract from how funny this tree looks in winter, as every year it has a "haircut" to remove the branches that are blocking our view from the upstairs windows.

And finally, here's the view out my bedroom window:

Many a time I have been asked who lives there... it's our neighbor's garage! Lovely in summer and winter:  grape vines grow on the arbor in front of the screened in porch, cardinals nest there every year, clematis vines grow along the sides. And in winter....a lovely, peaceful little cottage tucked behind the snowy rock wall. O Winter!

O Winter! ruler of the inverted year, . . . I crown thee king of intimate delights, Fireside enjoyments, home-born happiness, And all the comforts that the lowly roof Of undisturb'd Retirement, and the hours Of long uninterrupted evening, know.--William Cowper, Task (bk. IV, l. 120) English poet & translator (1731 - 1800)

Linking to:

      

Bicycle Pillow

You know when you have a whole bunch of projects to do, and it looks like you'll never, ever get it all done?... well....this may seem counterintuitive, but I've found I actually get more done if, instead of attempting to tackle the biggest project on the list, I start doing the easiest stuff first and work my way up from there.  Try it--you'll feel good about your accomplishments which in turn (ideally) will give you the motivation to work on the harder stuff!

And speaking of projects, here's one of the "easy" ones....

Bicycle Lumbar Pillow

After doing that stunt, he's probably going to need a lumbar pillow! The picture is from The Graphics Fairy, part of a series of circus acrobats and performers.

Here's a closer look:

I used an iron-on transfer for the design--you'll notice that the original has him facing the other way around.  Oops!  Forgot to flip-flop the image before transferring it.  Oh well, does it really matter which way he's facing?! The red material is faky faux suede material.  It was the strangest stuff to cut out; it kept wanting to "stick" onto my cutting board.  The braiding was purchased awhile back at Michael's clearance aisle--one of those happy coincidences, as it happened to match just right!

I originally had the corners squared, but the pillow insert didn't seem firm enough to fill it out. So... I decided to gather the corners.

If you've never done this before, it's actually very easy:

Working on the inside, just gather the corner together between your fingers and tie dental floss around it!

Your corners will then look like this. And if I change my mind, or get a better pillow insert, I can always have it back to square corners.

The back is simply a slip cover style; the idea of trying to sew in a zipper with this fabric did not fall into the category of "easy"!

Cross that one off the list.... on to the next (easiest) thing!

Thanks for looking!

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You can see my project & lots of other cool stuff here: