- What were you doing in 1968?

In 1968 I was an awkward twelve year old growing up in the suburbs on Long Island.  My mom was forever telling me to "put down that book and go outside for some exercise." Somehow I didn't quite appreciate going out for a walk back then the way I do now.

In addition to books, I was also into needlework ...

Patch #94: crewel wool on coarse linen
(newly dated with one strand of DMC floss)

The patch is a bit of Erica Wilson crewel embroidery from this piece (yes, I cut into it), which lived in my parents' house on Shelter Island in the frame my father painted ...

until it didn't. I took it out of the frame a few years ago after my parents had both passed away. I couldn't bring myself to let it go, but neither did I want to look at it on the wall every day. 

Making today's patch I was struck by how crunchy the cloth was and how clumsy the crewel wool. Really, I did a pretty good job considering what I had to work with. As I recall, I quickly moved on to Elsa Williams' line of crewel kits during my teens. Then to counted cross stitch and finally my own designs. But that's another story.

Still, as cutesy as the lazy daisy stitches are, they do call the blue-eyed grass to mind ...

although the prairie verbena ...

and this new-to-me wildflower are arguably closer matches with the requisite five petals ...

Of course, nothing made by hand can touch the reality of a bank of Texas bluebonnets, so I just point my camera and shoot ...

Meanwhile, the dewberry flowers are  yielding fruit ...

and the live oaks continue their pollen production ...

coating everything ...

"Not pixie dust"

So I'm back inside, enjoying the view of Don's latest (he says the largest is still a WIP) ...

Funky fish found at an antique story during the Llano Earth Art Fest

I can almost smell the salt air ...