Yesterday was a long overdo pattern writing day.

I spread my notes & pages over the dining room table. . .

. . . & while one of my views is out to the backyard 

(now blooming like crazy with our summer rains). . .

 this was my 'other' view. . .

Bailey. . . my trusty assistant, hanging out on his 'perch'.

(In the living room, he has claimed the back of one of the chairs, as his 'lookout.

From there he can see out to the front of the house, as well as the backyard.

. . . He is, after all,  a 'guard' dog, don't-ya-know.)

I actually spent several hours writing & made some good progress. . .

All the while supported by my 'assistant', as well as some 'necessary fuel'. . . 

(the secrets of long term writing sessions. . .)

. . . yum. . . coffee & dark chocolate chips. Ahhh, sustenance.

. . . After a a few hours though. . . my little assistant made it clear that he was a bit weary (so-to-speak) & getting rather bored of being patient.

. . . so it was off to play a game of tennis-ball fetch in the backyard.

(. . . & for this little guy, that means about 4-6 throws & fetches. . . & then he wants back into the air conditioned house!) lol!

. . . love this little guy!

♥ Bren

… an *Instagram* day-in-the-life

morning . . .

 . . . a simple breakfast (my current favorite. . . Grape-Nut Flakes).

(. . . & yes, I eat them dry. . . no milk.)

. . . patterns (that I spent the previous day packing), all ready for shipping. . .

mid-day - afternoon . . .

 . . . a wonderful summer rain. 

(We've been having a wonderful monsoon season. . . we really need the rain!)

 . . . the start of an appliqué project I've wanted to make for quite a long while. 

I have finally started working on the 'Phebe' quilt.

A friend & I are both making one. . . & we are both so excited to get started!

. . . My plan is to stitch on it all afternoon to the wonderful sound of the rain.

evening . . .

. . . my progress by the end of the evening. 

(I kept stitching even after the rain stopped. . . I couldn't help myself.)

All-in-all, a sweet weekend day.

♥ Bren

… some summer favorites

This summer I have been craving the funniest things. . .

When the temperature rarely goes below 90° (F), 

& is on track to possibly set a record for 'days over 100°'. . .

I seem to not want 'creamy' things (even ice cream!) as much,

& this is what hits the spot. . .

. . . Yep. J-e-l-l-o.

For me, it's sugar free & the cherry & lemon flavors seem to be what I am making the most.

They truly hit the spot.

The other thing that has been a constant in the refrigerator are these. . .

 I have always liked radishes. . . in salads & for snacking. . .

but this summer, it's as if there is no such thing as 'too many radishes'.

I even found new ways of preparing them. 

Country Living magazine just did a little 'radish feature' & I found this & this (yum!).

What's funny is that since I've been keeping radishes in stock in the fridge, Dad has been craving them too! 

(read: we are going through bunches & bunches of radishes. . . & jello!)

What an odd combo. . . but what can you do.

When a craving hits, a craving hits.

Happy summer days!

♥ Bren

… a little (wonderful) rain

. . . or for us . . . not so little!

Yesterday, in one hour, our area got a wee bit over 3" in one hour!

(Which is amazing, because as we live at the base of some mountains. . . sometimes the rain goes all around us. . . but skips over our area.)

. . . not yesterday!

It was a wonderful steady, but never torrential rain. . . enough to fill the washes & make the gutters along the rooflines work a little overtime. . . & to give us the coolest 4th of July we've ever had. (Our high temp was 74°(F)!)

Ahhhh!

It was all I could do not to run out in it! 

Wait . . . actually I did! I opened up the garage door & pulled my car out into the driveway so that my car could get a nice little bath. . . & get all the 'dusties' washed away.

. . . & the little dash back into the garage got me wonderfully 'sprinkled'! 

So today, everything is nicely washed off. . . the trees & bushes look a lot greener. . .  (& my car is a lot shinier!), & all the flowering plants even seem to look a lot happier.

I know we all were.

There's nothing like a welcome summer rain.

It slows us down a little bit. . .

. . . makes up look outside at the wonder of a simple rain.

(here in Arizona. . . we love our rainy days!)

. . . & now we look forward to the next one.

(. . . hopefully this weekend.)

Hope you have a wonderful day.

♥ Bren

… time for a change

With the hot temps of summer. . . I've been getting any errands that need to be done as early as possible in the day. Then the rest of the day can be spent indoors, in the studio.

The other day, as I met the UPS at the front door, my shoulder lightly brushed against the dried rose & hydrangea wreath that hangs next to the front door. Let's just say that my next move was to get the dust boom & dustpan to gather all the little bits that were scattered all over the floor.

I love this little wreath, but I know that it's time is pretty much done. I got it from Pottery Barn, with a gift card that I had received, & I've loved it for a little over 6 years now. When I went to the Pottery Barn website to see what they now had to offer. . . perhaps to replace it, I read that the life span of the wreath was intended to be about a year or so. (!)  So. . . I guess I've gotten my money's worth!

I decided though, that instead of replacing it with a new one. . . 

I would replace it with this. . .

It's the wreath design from Barb & Alma's (Blackbird Designs) book 'Weekend'.

When I first saw their quilt (that has four wreaths) in their booth last fall at Quilt Market, I fell in love with it. The space that I have (next to the front door) is much smaller, so I took the layout ( for a single wreath) & reduced it by about 1/3 & will be making a little mini quilt to replace my beloved little dried floral wreath.

My plan is to make one for each season. . . & this one (using Blueberry Crumb Cake) will be for the summer months. I also want to make one that is for autumn, winter & spring.

(Then. . . if my shoulder brushes against these. . . no messes!)

The other thing that is going on in the studio are some of these little cuties. . . I got the appliqué fused down & for some of the other blocks I'm using embroidery. 

Such a wonderful way to spend time indoors. . . trying to stay cool!

Hope you are keeping cool!

♥ Bren