First Frost

Well, last night we had our first frost of the season.  Luckily I had already gotten most of the potted plants inside.  I moved the last of the herbs in yesterday evening.  I think everything in my yard would have been fine, though.  Since my yard is surrounded by trees and shrubs it needs to get down into the 20's before I really have any plant damage.  The roses seem just fine.  They'll bloom up until we get a hard freeze.

Busy Weekend

Had a busy weekend here.  We celebrated my Uncle's 90th birthday on Sunday, and I was asked to help put the photo boards together for the party.  So, I didn't have much time to do fun Mori things over the weekend.  I do have another outfit coord to show, though.  This was from last week.

And with the cardigan:

I think that's all for now.  I can't think of anything else to add.  I do have a couple of pieces of jewelry that I made but, I haven't gotten photos of them yet.  Hopefully I'll get them up later this week. 

 Have a great day!

I am a Mori Girl

I can't believe how long it's been since I updated this!  I really need to do better here.  Maybe if I give myself a concrete goal for posting I could keep up.  Well, this is Tuesday so, how about I update at least once a week on Tuesday.  There, I've put it in writing!  Now I can't back out and I have no excuses for not getting in a regular update.  Perhaps I should put a reminder on my phone, too.  Hmmm...probably not a bad idea since I still have to have an alarm remind me to take my allergy meds.  There!  Now that that's done on to the new blog post!

I have recently been thinking about updating my wardrobe.  It's been basically jeans and t-shirts for several years now and I'm tired of them.  Don't get me wrong I love my jeans and T's it's just that I'm ready to wear something else sometimes.  So, in looking on Pinterest for some ideas I stumbled across the Japanese street fashion movement called Mori kei.

'Mori' means 'forest' in Japanese and that's the feeling that the style tries to evoke, that of someone who lives in a forest-type setting.  Now I'm not sure which forests they're taking their inspiration from, but it certainly isn't the one I live in!  The style consists mainly of loose, flowing layers; soft neutral or pastel colors; and lots of layers.  Floral and fauna images and prints are acceptable and Scandinavian-style patterns are also popular.  The clothes also seem to have more detailing than a lot of other styles that I'm used to.  Pintucks and pleats on blouses, ruffles and lace on skirts, and peter-pan collars all add to the overall look.  However, I would never wear this style out for a ramble in my woods!  All those loose, flowing layers would get hopelessly tangled in the underbrush and briars!

I have a Pin-board of many outfits now for inspiration called 'I'd Wear This'.  I keep adding to it as I find new photos on a daily basis.  I'm trying to incorporate at least a semblance of the style into my everyday wardrobe.  I've found (due to a major closet and dresser drawer clean-out) that I already had several items that were great for the Mori style that I'm going for.  The area thrift stores also yielded a veritable treasure trove of goodies.  The problem I seem to be having is that the weather is not cooperating very well.  We are now into the third week of October (well into the fall season) and the temperatures are still in the 60s.  It's very hard to do much layering in the warmer weather.  Anyway, here is a picture I took of me in my first attempt at wearing a Mori style outfit for work.  (It ended up being way too hot!)

This was also my first time being photo-bombed. :D  I think I did ok for a first attempt.  I'll probably be wearing most all my outfits to work which means skirts are out.  I'll be wearing jeans or kahkis mostly. Shoes are also giving me a hard time.  I have wide feet and a high instep so finding shoes that fit right is becoming more and more of a problem.

Accessorizing my outfits will be a snap, though!  Since I make jewelry I figured I could just make a few things that would work.  Well, I found a line of jewelry components at Hobby Lobby that were perfect for the Mori style, and they were half off!!  WOOT!!  So, I have been crafting jewelry like mad to go with my new look.

Necklaces

Bracelets & Earrings

I've been having too much fun with this style to do much else lately.  I'll try to get some fall photos up soon.

Roses

Well, it's been a good six months since my last post (again) although not much has changed here.  We are getting more rain this year than last thank goodness.  It's overcast and dark again today.  Yesterday we got over two inches of rain in about four hours!  I think we've gotten about four inches of rain in the last two weeks.  It sure makes the grass grow fast, though.  We have had to mow once a week this spring.  The roses are growing like weeds, too.  I got out and got some pictures the day before yesterday when it was just overcast.  My hand is in some of them because it was a bit breezy out and the flowers would't hold still.

This is Abraham Darby a David Austin rose.  It has become quite overgrown this year, but it is just covered in blooms.

This one is Baron Prevost.  It's a hybrid perpetual and blooms all summer which is unusual in an antique rose.

This is Madame Hardy.  She only blooms in the spring, but she's well worth it!

This is my climber, Zephirine Drouhin.  It's a thornless rose, the only one I've ever found to be truly thorn free.  This is the first year it's really bloomed heavy like this.  It needs to be tied back up onto the gate, though.

Here is a close-up of the blooms.

This one I call Mary Nina after my grandmother.  I dug it up from her old flower garden after I was bitten by the rose bug many years ago.  It sat and did nothing for about three years after I replanted it, and I was afraid it had reverted back to the old rootstock, Dr. Huey.  Then, finally, it had two buds and I could tell that it was not a Dr. Huey!  I was so excited!!  The next year it showed me what it really could do.  It was covered in flowers, and they have the best old rose fragrance of any roses that I have.  It hasn't disappointed me since.

Here are a couple of Mom's iris.  She had so very many of them and knew all their names.  Since she's been gone I don't know what any of them are called.  They came through the drought pretty well, but are not blooming as heavily as they usually do.

Until next time (another six months?) I bid you happy gardening!

New Windows

I had to have the windows in my studio replaced this fall.  They were rotting from the outside.  When they were removed we found termite damage in the outer wall under both windows, so that had to be replaced, too.  All said I was out of my studio for a little over a week.  Can you say withdrawal??  If I'm not in front of the computer, I'm usually in the studio.  Oh well, it gave me the little push I needed to finish making the curtains and get the blind hung on the east window.  I've had several people asking me for pictures, so here they are. 

This is my work area.  It's actually pretty neat and tidy right now.  I still haven't gotten everything moved back in.

This is the storage corner.  The shelving is build-in, but I've never painted it.  It's stuffed full as you can see.

This shows one of my big south windows.  I usually have a plant stand full of plants in front of it, but that still hasn't been moved back either.  I'd like to move the TV to the living room so I can have more storage space, but I can't find a stand that I like.

This is the other south window, and the closet.  Those paired windows let in a lot of light, so my studio feels so inviting.  They look out onto my rose garden.

This is a straight on shot of my main work area.  It's under an east facing window, so I wanted a blind under the curtain to filter some of the bright light while I work.  Notice the lack of piles on the floor and around!

So, that's where I work!  I'd love to paint the paneling someday (the ceiling, too).  It has a laminate floor that I loooooooove!  It's so smooth and easy to take care of.

I woke up this morning at a ridiculous hour and couldn't go back to sleep, so I got up and did a little work in Photoshop.  I had been meaning to make a watermark for my pictures. I have a friend who has been after me to put some of my stuff on Pinterest.  I haven't done so because I wanted to be able to label my work and photos as mine.  As you can tell from these photos, I got it done this morning.  I hope it's not too distracting.

I need to get back in the studio and work on my Christmas ornaments for the swap I signed up for, so I'll have more to say later.

Have a lovely day!

Faerie Garden...Finally

I finally got my Faerie Garden planted!!  It turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself! :)

I used some terrarium plants such as ferns and baby's tears.  And a 4 pack of Creeping Jenny.

There is a bit of Corsican Mint and some pearlwort (sometimes called Irish Moss), too.  They don't like the hot weather, but since this is in full shade I'm hoping they'll do OK.

I used some pieces of flat sea-glass for a path.  I had an orphan saucer that I'd kept simply because the color was gorgeous, and it makes a fabulous pool with another piece of sea-glass and some Dragon's tears (sorry, the flat-backed marbles will always  be Dragon's Tears to me because that's how I was introduced to them at the Renaissance Festival many years ago.)

A miniature hosta 'Moonglow' finishes off the garden.  I hope the faeries like it!

End of the Weekend

Well, we weathered the severe weather just fine here. It all went north and south of us. It started out very dreary this morning, but things cleared off this afternoon. The wind is still blowing pretty hard, tho.

I started out this morning with the intention of cleaning house. I didn't get very far when the vacuum died. (Yay!!) So, an hour and a half and a hundred dollars later I have a new vacuum to be delivered at the end of the week. All this meant that I'd have to find something else to do today. (Darn!)

I ended up in my studio (surprise, surprise) and finished up a card that I had been working on. I found a tutorial on Pinterest, so I thought I'd give it a try. This is the second card I made and I tweaked the measurements on this one. This is the front.

This is with the front folded down.

And this is with the front folded up.

It took quite a lot of paper, but I think I turned out really good! It would make a great Mother's Day card.

Other than that I have not gotten much accomplished today. Oh, I did get a little bit done outside this evening. I thinned my lettuce and got enough for a little salad. My first harvest! Looks yummy!!

Well, tomorrow I'll be headed back to work. Vacation's over, but it sure was fun!