Back to Larkrise: Primitive rug hooking at the Country Loft

Friday, September 21, 2012

Friday at a Meditation garden in Encinitas

Posted on 5:05 PM by hill wilf

My favorite Picture of a Koi

No I haven't fallen off the side of a mountain! I haven't blogged because I was just really busy being a student again and doing my homework. Since I throw when I Knit I am slow but I am happy to say I do learn something new every time I go to my knit class.

Today Linda and I were off to a day at the Beach cities of Southern California. I wanted to go to a knit shop in Encinitas called Common threads to get more cotton yarn for my dish or face cloths I am making in Knit class. I love my knit class and have been knitting like a crazy woman with a new hobby. I also have been enjoying trips to the library and reading crazy mystery writers.My Rug Hooking is going well and I am so relieved next week the weather is suppose to cool down. This summer it's been a humid mess in Southern California.

Encinitas,Leucadia Cardiff and Solana Beach are all towns that are filled with artistic types of people . One of the prominent buildings in Encinitas is this huge building called the Self Realization Hermitage and Retreat . It's dome like buildings has a great view of the Pacific Ocean.Were talking prime property which was donated to the Yogi by one of his followers. This huge center was started by Yogi Paramahansa Yogananda.. I have always been curious what the place was like which has been there since I was a kid .The local hospital uses the stairs leading to the meditation garden as a great place to have some physical therapy and then relax walking around the gardens.When my daughter was in the hospital they would also have trips to the beach for physical therapy. I heard about the garden from Megan and she felt Linda and I would like it since we had never seen it before. The gardens were restful with benches tucked away in little corners all over the garden. Some of the buildings are closed to the public but the meditation garden is open to all. My favorite experience was seeing the colorful Koi eating.One of the men who was sweeping the paths told us that some of the Koi are over thirty years old and boy were they huge! We walked up the stairs along with seniors and all sorts of people who were enjoying the meditation garden.
The beach below is called Swami's where the Yogi when he was alive would sit cross legged meditating from his home overlooking the Pacific.I would have liked to have seen that the Yogi and the surfers both in their own worlds.I would definitely go back again to take pictures and maybe sit on the many benches and smell the salt air and meditate.After a morning of taking pictures Linda and I went to the knit shop and then had lunch at a local Mexican restaurant across from the ocean.Finally we stopped at the library and I picked up some books on knitting.So now your caught up and I almost forgot Hubby and I baby sat Little Jack and he was a hoot. For some reason he likes to stand on his head with his behind in the air.I think he gets that from the other side of the family. Just teasing

paddle boarders and surfers

There are a bunch of Koi ponds

                                                               Check out the big spider

See the surfer on the left

Dome in the distance

Surfers at Swami's

nice and quiet

munching on his food

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Friday, September 7, 2012

Putting Life in perspective

Posted on 12:21 PM by hill wilf

Life is a series of examples of people who show quiet courage in small acts to us but major steps forward. If you have dealt with anyone with a disability you realize how things you take for granted are mountains for them. Yesterday at my knit class I met a woman who showed a quiet courage that gave me a kick in the behind of what's real. This young woman had a book full of beautiful knitting stitches. As I turned the pages of the book I was so impressed. They were perfect exact examples of great knitting so I wonder why she was sitting next to me a beginner knitter. As she talked in a carefully crisp enunciation of her words she explained she had a brain injury and now had to relearn how to knit. All had been lost her memory her ability to knit and so as she struggled to learn to cast on to make a slip knit and finally her knit stitches.These were not the stitches I saw in her notebook perfect and examples of a wonderful knitter.Instead they were crooked tight bunched up stitches and you know what I saw the best knitting I have ever seen. A knitter whose life is an example of trying to keep going ahead using what God has still given you and instead of giving up walking thru those school doors sitting down and beginning again.As I saw her explain to our teacher about her injury I saw a kind teacher who was going to encourage her on her knitting journey.There was no frustration or annoyance as she repeated to us over and over how to begin to knit.We all sat helping each other yes none of us were perfect but one thing I have learned none of us knows whats going on behind our front doors. What courage were showing in our personal life what hidden sorrows we mask but know this don't take away anyones joy of creating maybe it's not perfect but you know what you might be sitting next to someone that shows a courage you may never have to use and know lucky you.Have a nice weekend and yes one of my pumpkins is going to be blue.Hugs Cheri

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Fall pumpkins

Posted on 12:38 AM by hill wilf

Well Wednesday was my first day of knit class. I was happy to say it's going to be fun and I met some friendly gals and the teacher is excellent.I went today and got some supplies. It's going to be series of learning stitches and then making a hat in the round. Maybe little Jack will get a hat from his Nana.

Here are some more pictures of the loft and I how I am doing on my next rug. That's a bear on the side of the cabin.It's a story rug in my imagination it's about a bear looking for pumpkins to eat.Or maybe it's a bear searching for Nancy in Montana's cabin. I love her wildlife photo's of Montana.All the animals are so close to her home.

There are lots of patterns at the loft

doll

This is from the Hobo quilt book

This plate is sweet

bags

Here I go again Thanks Deb

Oh I just had to include last years pumpkins

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Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Primitive Rug Hooking and Fall at the Country Loft

Posted on 4:37 PM by hill wilf

My week begins
I went to the Loft for a nice day with the ladies of Hooking. All of the ladies were showing what they all have been working on. Stephanie has been busy getting ready for a show which is so so much fun in the fall.Janice picked up a log cabin rug and started working on it again.I start knitting class tomorrow and can hardly wait.Were still having the heat wave in California so knitting seems crazy right now. The knitting class has beginners and advanced students so this is the group for me. I know I will learn something in three months and possibly get some more of my sock done.Enjoy the pictures and Happy Hooking!

Jo Ann pattern of a Cat

So cute the puzzled expressions on these dolls

Janice log cabin

Stephanie's

Cute crow

Donna pumpkin

Stephanie's cross stitch and Hooking

Michele's star

One of the classes

Love the colors of fall

and fall decorating begins

Marjorie covered this round box with wall paper

now I am done.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Waiting for a new week

Posted on 12:04 PM by hill wilf

Well this weekend has been filled with light reading relaxing and trying to decide what to work on next.I started hooking a rug and read this really funny author who has been around for a while a Dorothy Cannell. I'll have to read more of her books.I love our library system in California in the whole United States San Diego County libraries were libraries of the year.I think that's pretty neat. My library is walking distance and it's very small so it's kind of like a slice of Americana you see all the characters in your little town.

This weekend it's in the 90's and so your limited in being in the garden. I started putting up my Fall decorations a little bit at a time .I think will be a fun week ahead I am going to our rug hooking group on Tuesday and I am starting a knitting class. Remember my sock I started at sock camp well I need to finish it and my daughter has been unable to help what with little Jack being a crazy little toddler .So every Wednesday I get to take Knitting class for three months.Wish me luck.So hopefully I'll have pictures of Country Loft's fall decoration and what my talented friends have been doing . Here are some quick pictures of this and that.

A Cheri Payne quilt I made that
comes out in the fall.

A little pumpkin from a Jo Ann class.

I painted this birdhouse and put a chicken on it.

a cloth white pumpkin

A doll I made at a doll class at the loft.

           I know I need to weed but I just had to show you my tree I bought at a church
           plant sale which I had no idea what it was finally bloomed!
           See that house across the park from me
          with the tall roof it burned up so did several others in that block.It was
         18 feet from my home
          when the wildfire came thru.
          October seems like to me when the Santa Ana winds show up in southern California.

Jack has been filling up the shelves

with his trains still.Morris is hanging out every night in the

train room.

My newest rug I am working on.

funny book

Have a good week!

Posted in fall decorating, new rug, Old american flyer trains | No comments