The wonderful wheel of color…

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Three of my friends at C&T (Lynn Koolish, Kerry Graham, and Mary Wruck have written a book about color, and the ‘Wonderful Wheel Of Color’ for kids and I’ve gotta say that I am impressed! (FYI, you’ll find this book on my site here.)

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First, the color information is written for kids but it is not dumbed down. The language is clear and written in a way that kids will relate to. Elanor is already looking forward to getting her hands on this book :-).

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There are plenty of activities. Some are what you would expect in a book about a color wheel with color wheel patterns to paint, collages to make, and designs to color. But there is even more! There are projects perfect for kids, and maybe adults!

Elanor’s BFF, Lola, is coming to visit for 2 weeks this summer. They’ll be spending quite a bit of time at our house and I can see t-shirts…

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…and paper flowers…

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…and hand-sewn stuffies in our future!

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This book is only $12.95! You can find it at pieceocake.com here.

I’ll follow you anywhere…

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You’ve heard that phrase before, right? Blow in my ear and I’ll follow you anywhere…

I don’t watch basketball, but if all games had moments like this I might be tempted to tune in :-).

Signs by the road…

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Also seen while walking:

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This sign is obviously there for drivers but I came upon it while on foot. I could not help but imagine it being there for blind walkers (which makes no sense at all, but there you go). With that thought in my head, I couldn’t help but think that the lovely cactus at the base of the sign was seriously out of place:

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I’ve fallen into cactus before when I was in 2nd grade, so I often have a prickly, tactile response to cactus. I love succulents but I’m staying away from most of the pointy ones.

 

Perspective…

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While walking, I came upon this scene…

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The way those striped things* are placed, each one farther away than the one before, so that your eye is drawn along them—into the distance. I liked the placement, and their orange stripey-ness, and the orange cones in the street. I took more than one picture.

In the next photo, because of where I am standing, those things* are lined up more precisely. You can put yourself where I am, looking down them.

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This vantage point keeps the viewer on the left side of the image. It’s subtle, and it’s interesting. Scroll up to the first photo and you’ll see what I mean.

Why is this so? It’s because the line of those striped things* curves just a bit to the right in the first photo, which leads your eye toward the center of the frame. In the second photo, they are in a straighter line and the endpoint stays on the left side of the frame.

Most quilts, mine as well as those make by others, are designed in such a way as to keep the viewer centered. This makes me want to design a quilt (or quilts) that puts the viewer in a different place.

*What are those things called?!

 

And there were flowers!

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Succulents don’t flower a lot but when they do, the flowers are lovely. Here are a few, seen at the Ruth Bancroft Garden last week:

The yellow flowers on this little barrel cactus were practically translucent…

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Another tall cactus wore what appeared to be a corsage, albeit not one I would want to wear :-).

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There was a lovely stand of poppies, taller than me! I kept thinking of the poppies that put Dorothy, et al, to sleep in the Wizard of Oz…

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These little purple flowers were all over a small hump of what looked a little like grass but was instead pretty spikey. You wouldn’t want to walk on it…

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There were several flower that could have been designed by Dr. Seuss…

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And a personal favorite, the ones that look like spikey fireworks!

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Hummingbird mom-to-be…

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While walking through the Ruth Bancroft Garden, we passed this eucalyptus:

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It’s a nice plant but I didn’t stop. Amy did. She spotted a hummingbird, sitting on a nest! It took me a very long time to see the bird/nest and by the time I saw her, we had irritated the poor bird so much that she flew away. When we walked back by later, she was sitting on her nest.

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We very carefully took pictures and it wasn’t easy. She was so well hidden that it was hard to figure out where to point the camera. It made me wish for my big camera, the one with viewfinder that you look through rather than a digital screen.

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I realized as I was admiring this bird and her nest, that I had not ever thought about where the hummingbirds that frequent my yard build their nests. I’m going to have to be a little more observant and maybe I’ll spot one!

If you want to read more about hummingbird nests, click here, and here, and/or google it.