Just add a pinch of sunshine...

It's hot --  about 95 degrees and the wind is blowing so it makes for a good laundry drying day.  I've had jeans, shirts, jackets, bedding, kitchen towels and potholders all on the line at various times.  It seems when one load is done washing, the next is ready to come off the lines.  This basket looked so cheery to me when I brought it in, and also has some nice memories inside.  The woven potholders were made by two of my sons when they were little boys.  How do they hold up so well?  Another, the red and white mushroom (upside down), was knitted by a friend, and the denim ones I made out of old jeans when I was desperate for something heavy duty.  I love cute potholders a lot, but I tend to burn my hands through them if I don't double them up.  The denim potholders withstand a lot of abuse and heat.  I ought to try to make a cute denim potholder.

The bumble bees are thick around every flower that's blooming.  There are fewer and fewer flowers as the August heat dries out the earth.  Even though I water and water, it doesn't seem to penetrate.

I pulled up the onions a couple days ago and left them to dry on the picnic table.   The sun and hot breezes are drying them perfectly for storage.  I was quite disappointed in my onion crop this year.  I just don't get as many of them with raised beds as I used to with a field garden.  Perhaps I need to plant onions only in one section of my raised beds.  I'll try to remember that for next year.

Since it was so hot outdoors, I thought I'd do an indoor project today.   The shade on this lamp was very grungy and needed a good cover-up.  Frances at Left-handed Housewife recently recovered a lamp and I was so impressed by how hers turned out, I knew I had to try gussying up one of my old shades too.  Since my shade was pleated and hers was smooth, I had to use a different method, so I went for a twirly skirt look. 

I started by making a hole in the middle of a fat quarter, laying the lampshade upside down on the fabric and tracing the circle.  I cut it out using pinking shears, folded down the edges, and hot glued the fabric inside the top of the shade.  I had intended to pleat it all the way around and tuck the bottom edges under and hot glue, but after I pinked the bottom edge, I liked the loose-fitting twirly skirt look so much that I left it alone.  Lastly, I added brown grossgrain ribbon to the top edge and hot glued it on.  I'm really happy with my well-dressed lamp.  I have another lampshade that I want to re-do, but I have to find just the right fabric for it.

I was out browsing in the furniture store yesterday and came upon a table lamp that I fell in love with.  After checking the price tag ($150) and realizing that the lamp stand was just a cheapo piece of plastic and that the shade was a simple cylindrical shape, I decided I could create something similar myself for a lot less than retail. 

One last little project I did today was to sew a quick table runner out of this funky-fun fabric that my daughter bought me a while back.  I didn't do anything fancy, just hemmed it all around and pressed it. I added a pinch of sunshine to the table with a jar of sunflowers snipped from my yard.  I think it makes a cheery place to have meals and to linger in conversation.

One last item on my to-do list..... Tomorrow is Tasha Tudor's birthday and Clarice at Storybook Woods always hosts Tasha Tudor Day.  If you decide to do something special to celebrate the life of Tasha, you might like to post about it in her comments tomorrow.  I have a plan to celebrate, but I'll share that with you tomorrow.  I have always loved Tasha's charming children's books and I like to buy them for the special Littles in my life.... which reminds me of one more thing.....our son and his wife are having baby number 2 in January so Hazel Peach will have a brother or sister to love!  Hooray for us all!  God is good!