Moon

Brian's picture of Edith

Mmmmmm. S'mores.

Butterfly Bush

Peppers

Tell me, are these peppers supposed to turn red? Because we've been eating them all in the green state and then this started happening.

For a botanists daughter, I sure am a klutz about my garden.

I probably shouldn't have done this...

Sept 17, Mornings are still dark

Morning sky

Sometimes, nothing much happens

Except you are busy doing the things you have to do and you kind of wonder if you are learning about patience.

Boxborough Agricultural Fair

A wallet for Margot and THE FRANKENBAG

Do not mock the frankenbag. He will fight back. I know, I have felt his wrath. In future, I will know, WORK FROM A PATTERN, DUMBASS. Or at least a design. You see, I did not work from either on this bag and it drove me bonkers. I had an idea. That idea was kind of blown when I cut the fabric wrong. Oops. No worries, there is always another idea. I'll make a reversible bag. Then Brian pointed out that HE'D like it better if the strips were vertically symmetric rather than radial. That would have been fine if I'd just been able to overrule him, but he was right. I considered tearing out the seam and doing it over but the seam, she is strong and I am not that patient. So I shall make a pocket to break up the aberrant symmetry. Wait the pocket is on the inside, no the outside, no the inside. Never mind the pocket, the bag isn't deep enough. Here, I'll put a strip of coordinating fabric on top. Now it needs some trim, now my sewing is all messed up so I have to...how do I attach a strap! Umph, argh, ouch, pins! So in future, a sketch at least please.

As for the wallet, actually a pattern was followed for that one, but I now think that I could make a better pattern. Also, it is lopsided. However, I think that Margot will like the corduroy and Velcro. As Brian said, "she's just going to go shwoop, schwoop, schwoop with it." By the time she is old enough to have real money in there, I will have figured out how to make a better one.

Past, present, future

A picture a day

I'm doing a picture a day. Why? Because I don't think I pay enough attention to what happens daily in my life and what I'm thinking about. I want to try to keep track for a little while. Let's call it my digital scrapbook. Today we got the digital negatives of our wedding pictures.

Classes Start

Stone Arch Bridge, Westford MA

Dahlias in bloom

A few mornings ago Brian mentioned that our dahlias were blooming. I went out to photograph them and encountered a frog.

Butterflies

Edith says I have to start posting things on this blog now, like where we go on hikes and bikes. I'll get to that soon, but first, I'll talk about some photos that I recently uploaded.

When my parents were visiting us in July, we had an empty afternoon with nothing planned, so we went to the Butterfly Place in Westford. This is a big indoor garden/greenhouse type place, and they've stocked it with hundreds of butterflies. There is a path to wander around, and there are ample opportunities to take photographs. The butterflies are reasonably cooperative -- most sit pretty still and let you get pretty close -- but in some shots I still had some problems holding the camera steady enough to minimize motion blur. Part of the problem was that it was cloudy and rainy while we were there, so there wasn't as much light as there might be on a sunny day (meaning longer exposure times), but I also took many of the shots near the 300mm end of the 75-300mm zoom lens. Maybe I will bring a tripod next time.

Anyways, here is the gallery.

Free to a good home

Anybody want a bag? This is my second attempt at a grocery bag for myself, but I'm offering it free to a good home. It was made (mostly) according to this design (but lacks the stuff sack. If you want a stuff sack for it, I can make one.) It features nice cushioned handles (long enough to go over the shoulder) and a roomy lined interior. Why, you might ask, am I parting with this bag? Well, it turns out that I find it aesthetically displeasing. It might look fine to everyone else, but since it does not fit the image in my head, I am dissatisfied. The funny thing is, I think it looks better in the picture than it does in real life. Grrr. However, as I said, it does not lack in functionality. It is a perfectly baggy bag. The handles are on nice and tight (and the padding is a really nice touch). It doesn't stand up on its own and it isn't very deep (back to front) but it is quite wide and so, I suspect, you can cram it nice and full of good stuff. Plus you would get to be the proud owner of my second bag.

UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE! I have decided that the bag is not so bad after all and will work perfectly well for sitting in my car waiting to intake groceries. So I'm not determined to give it away anymore. Although I'll still give it away if someone really wants it because I can always make another.