Hummingbirds, Sunrises, and Sunflowers

I’ve been very busy this week with a lot of unplanned things going on. Mostly I’ve spent my days helping clean out the apartment of one of my aunts. By the time I got home every day I was too tired to do much else. I was able to work on the Vacation Snowflake 2020 pattern, though I didn’t finish it until this morning. But it’s done! If you would like it, please email me and I’ll send it to you.

Vac snowflake 2020 pattern done on wandasknottythoughts
Vacation snowflake 2020 pattern done

Busy or not, I have been taking time every morning to go out to see the dawn. It is lovely that time of day, mostly quiet except for the sounds of birds and insects. For all that it is awful about the fires in the western states, all the smoke in the sky from them makes for beautiful sunrises.

Kansas sunrise in August on wandasknottythoughts
Kansas sunrise in August
Kansas Sunrise in September on wandasknottythoughts
Sunrise in September

September is time for the hummingbirds to start their migrations to the south. We’ve had at least five or six of them around our place this year. I only started putting out feeders last year, so I’m very excited to see them around. They start coming to the feeders before sunrise and before most of the other birds start getting around. Then they come back off and on all day. They are so fun to watch, they keep me distracted. My cheap entertainment LOL.

Hummingbird on a hook on wandasknottythoughts
Hummingbird on a hook
Two hummingbirds at the feeder on wandasknottythoughts
Two hummingbirds at the feeder

Down the road from us, there is a place called Kansas Maze. Some years they do a corn maze and a pumpkin patch. This year they are doing a Sunflower patch. They even have props and a raised platform to give you cute picture opportunities. They were supposed to have a Sunflower Market craft show a couple of weeks ago but we had so much rain the night before/morning of, they had to postpone until this last weekend. Unfortunately, it did cost them several vendors but they still had enough to make it a worthwhile trip. I had planned to go to it with my sister, but with the date change that didn’t work out so I went by myself. I’m glad I did.

Homegrown sunflower on wandasknottythoughts
Homegrown sunflower

This sunflower is from our yard. It’s much smaller than the sunflowers they are raising as a crop at Kansas Maze. We have quite a few, though nothing compared to the Maze.

School of sunflowers on wandasknottythoughts
School of sunflowers
Flight of the bumblebee with a sunflower on wandasknottythoughts
Flight of the bumblebee with a sunflower

Farmers around here are harvesting their corn right now. Between all the dust they are raising doing that and the smoke in the air, my allergies are giving me fits! Thank goodness for allergy mediation! The only problem with them is if I sit down very long I get sleepy. Good thing I haven’t had time to sit still very long. I have a long list of things to do, and that doesn’t count the tatting I have planned.

Has your summer been going as planned?

“Wherever life plants you, bloom with Grace.” Old French proverb

August Split Ring Cross

I’ve been working on the runner but it is not a take-along type project. I don’t want to get it dirty or make mistakes due to inattention. Instead, when I’m out and about or don’t have much time to tat I’ve been working on the cross pattern I recently made.

Tatting while waiting on wandasknottythoughts
Tatting while waiting

I took our truck in for service recently. It was going to take long enough I got a loaner car to drive while it was in the shop. While I had the loaner I also had to do a little waiting in a parking lot. This was an opportunity to work on the cross. This time I was tatting it in a thread of a single shade instead of a variegated one. I like this much better for being able to see the pattern than I did the other thread.

August Split Ring Cross purple on wandasknottythoughts
August Split Ring Cross in purple

It came out very well. I gave it as a gift to a lady at our church. I was in such a hurry to get it to her that I forgot to take a picture of it on a plain background to use for the pattern. I like this background, but it distracts from the pattern when using it to make the cross. So I get to do another one!

That is actually a good idea. As I’m making the next cross I’m checking the pattern for mistakes. I’m finding I’ve left out quite a lot! I still have a lot of distractions.

I put out hummingbird feeders this spring and didn’t seen any until a week and a half ago. I’ve finally seen several!

hummingbird at feeder on wandasknottythoughts
Hummingbird at feeder

They are very fun to watch. And this feeder is right outside the window in front of my computer. When the birds show up it is very distracting! Anything I’m working on ends up taking longer than I thought it would.

I think I will have the pattern for the August Split Ring Cross done by next week. I have to finish tatting the cross again so I have a picture for it and fixing those pesky mistakes I keep finding!

“Art is pattern informed by sensibility.” Herbert Read