Blue Geese

A shirt on someone at my school this week inspired these colors...

...which turned into a pile of geese...

...whose spare triangles ...

... are turning into squares...

...for a quilt just for fun. 

:)

I'm reflective today. I went to the memorial of an old high school classmate this morning. Sitting with another and talking reminded me of times from school. Band and chorus, singing with a group at a Christmas concert, bus trips to football games and whatnot.

Times flies so fast. Too fast. Todd will forever be 17 in my memories.

Let me take the time today to be present in each moment. To be patient and to be thankful.

Sent from my iPhone

DIY bubbler fountain

 

Ah, what a lovely run of warm weather we've been having here on the East Coast!!   Puts me right in the mood for lazy summer days listening to my fountain, sitting on a chair in the sun.  

Here's a fountain project you can make yourself!  

 

 

Materials needed
         - large pot (this one is fiberglass)
         -fountain pump and hose
         -smaller pots for inside the fountain
         -large ceramic saucer
         -GE silicone sealant
         -drill and drill bit for ceramic

     -I also used this hanging basket form for the center of my pot

First, take the silicone sealant and completely coat the interior of the large fiberglass pot.   Get right in there and spread it around with your hands.  

 

 

-also run a bead of silicone around the bottom drain part of the pot and spread it evenly with your finger. 

-let dry

While I was at it, and messy, I added a decorative row of small ceramic tiles for color.

While waiting for the silicone to dry, use your drill and ceramic bit to put a hole in the center of the ceramic saucer.   Add water to the saucer to reduce friction and go slowly!   Don't force it, just let the drill do the work.   This was a 1/2" bit to accommodate the 1/2" plastic tubing my fountain pump called for.   (This photo shows the plastic tubing at the top of the hole in the saucer, trimmed to the height of the fountain.)

When you buy a fountain pump, you will need a larger one than you think.   This one moves 60 gallons of water an hour (if I remember correctly)  The higher the bubbling you want, the stronger the pump you'll need.

To assemble, put the pump in the bottom of the pot, I added the wire basket frame to the bottom next to protect the pump and ensure I would have good circulation for the water.   On top of the frame I stacked terra cotta pots upside-down until they were the height I was looking for.   The tubing goes through all pots, through the center of the saucer and will be trimmed to just the height of the fountain at the top of the saucer. 

A top view.   The water bubbled nicely, but wasn't as noisy as I was hoping for so I added the rocks for splash.

This year I'm going to upgrade to a larger pump and add some taller pots for more of a cascading fountain.   I'll post the update, of course.

Like this one from marthastewart.com

Whew! Made it!

What a crazy, crazy week/weekend!  The time change was not my friend either.   As much as I love spring, I really hate losing that hour of sleep, especially when I was only going to get 5 hours sleep that night anyhow.

At any rate, it's time to get working again.   This week's plans include more basketballs (senior boys this time), a few flying geese for a new quilt I've got on my mind, maybe getting the Red/White quilt ready and sandwiched, and one extra special painting thing I'm keeping under wraps right now (but it's a bigger deal than painting a toilet - both figuratively AND literally!)

  (As soon as I submit the sketches I'll give you a peek at it :)


Have a great start to the week everyone!


-d

PS - 1st 5K of the season was a big success!   Weather was 38 but sunny - perfect for a run about town.   A good 185 people ran/walked.   I was at 33:23 but took breaks to keep my shin splints under control.   Next up Mar 31st in Philly :)

abstracts

Been working on some abstracts just for fun.   Here's 2 of the larger ones.   Sure wish I had access to a studio space to take some really good photos.   The purple on the upper one just will not photograph well.

Race season! (No, not nascar)

Musical tech week, weekend UTA, and 3 shows plus the daylight savings time change.

 I'm not looking forward to my next hideously busy week!   I am looking forward to the start of my race season though.   Tomorrow afternoon is the March Madness 5K run that started the racing bug for me last year.  Forecast is good(-ish) for a March run, 41degrees and no rain.  Beats 34 and drizzling like the first one. 

I've planned a few more 5Ks, a 10K in October, and my first 10 Miler this year.   I'm thinking of some day running a half (maybe next year) because, really - when you've run 10 miles, what's 3 more, right??  

In the back of my head is the tickling thought of a full before I'm 50.   Let's see how the half goes.  I don't think the jump from 10 to 13 is too much to imagine, it's the 13 to 26.2 that can't be reasoned with.   I do know the finishing will be the accomplishment for me.   Davina and Meb may have Olympic Trial record times, I just want to finish and not break, pull, or damage anything. 

I'm hoping to get back to my R/W quilt mid month.  I've been painting a bit too.  Did you see the basketballs?

I do these just about every year for the Senior players in my school.  This one was a career high scoring total from a bit ago.   The kids like it, it's fun for me to do, and I enjoying celebrating their accomplishments after they've moved onto from the elementary school where I've know them. 


Off I go
Have a great weekend everyone :)