Outdoor Wednesday...UCR botanical gardens style...

This is University of Riverside...known around here as UCR...it is a state university about 20 minutes south of our house. We decided to go over here this day for a walk through their botanical gardens. Botanical gardens always sound so exotic, but here in our area...they are just pieces of land set aside and preserved. In UCR's botanical gardens, there are some landscaped grounds, but those are mostly used by people who are taking wedding and engagement photos or perhaps a family picture. Don and I like to hike around all areas and as you will see it is all very different. The area is about 45 acres and we try to see as much as we can...
It is a very hilly area and rocky too. Riverside is known for having huge boulders everywhere...I like this area a lot.


This is what my neck of the woods would look like if it hadn't been developed. Of course there are lots of areas still like this. Everything I will show you is a California native. In our area, it is mostly small bushes and shrubs that grow naturally, but there are small trees too.


Succulents are everywhere here. This is a flower that is growing on one. Since we don't get much rain, Southern California is very dry...we have tons of pretty succulents.

Here's a nice uphill path Don led us on. Lots of small trees up here.

This flower was taller than me!

This is a flower coming out of a small fern in one of the shady areas by a little creek. Around here we have flowers all year long...it just depends on the season, which ones you will find.

Here's a dried flower pod...I thought it was pretty.

Leaves are starting to change at the higher elevations...it is Fall you know!

Very typical view of our area.

These big boulders are all over Riverside and they are fun to climb!

Don climbed up and showed me a pretty view...it was a bit hazy...we had a few clouds that didn't quite burn off.

Some of the shady area of the gardens...lots of small trees close together.

Here's a nice covered walkway to the exit. It takes you down many stairs...we had a great time...we worked up an appetite, so we're off to lunch!

I hope you enjoyed the tour...it gives you a better idea of the area I live in...it has cooled down a lot over the last few days...I'm hoping the heat wave is over....it's only supposed to be 90 today!

Enjoy the day!!

Go over and visit lots more outdoor spaces at Susan's Outdoor Wednesdays...

Autumn skies...

Yesterday was the hottest day of the year...it topped out at 112 in my neck of the woods. It's been hotter but this is by no means normal weather this time of year. I heard it was a record breaking day in Los Angeles , which is normally cooler than us as they are 60 or so miles west of here...anyway...i decided to go out early this morning to mow and garden to beat the heat and I found the skies above were most interesting...the picture above is a north west shot...
This is the sky directly north of my front yard...


This is the south east sky...

This is the southern sky...

And this last one is northeast...I thought it was interesting how different the sky looked just as I was facing a different direction...I was standing in the same spot on my drive way in the front, but it looks like different times of day to me ...I took all of these shots at about 8AM. It is supposed to be much cooler today..I went and checked the thermometer in my back yard and it reads 88...I can live with that...but it's a bit humid today and that's OK, because it's cooling things off.

I hope temperatures are agreeable in your neck of the woods and you have a great day!!

What happened to Autumn...

The calendar say it's Fall....the days are getting shorter...my house is even all decked out for the season...
All the signs of Autumn were about....until the weekend...where did Fall go?? The temperature today is supposed to reach 108!! The newspaper didn't say HOT outside...it read SCORCHING! Is this the pay back we get for such a mild, wonderful summer while the rest of the country roasted? Well...I don't like this one bit! I expect this sort of thing in July and August...but in a couple of days it will be October...oh well...I just keep my A/C on and sew...

Here's some of what I've been working on....yes...more bags....I need to get more made to bring to The Wool Lady this week. I didn't bring enough on my last trip, so I have been busy sewing and I'll show you some of them. I thought this was a nice Fall bag....it will look great with jeans...
if it ever cools down enough to put them on...

Here's a close up of the fabrics...I love navy and white....so clean looking....

This one is very simple, but the fabric is so beautiful that I wanted to show it off...

I just added ties to the sides out of an aqua and cream damask...it has a magnetic snap closure....

This one is Fallish too...is that a word...simple too...but great fabric...

Here's a close up of the button...it is made of wood and Don stained it to match the fabric...I have lots to do today, so I better get back to work...

Enjoy your day!!!

I've been busy....

Here's one of the new bags I made to bring down to The Wool Lady in Temecula...I've been busy sewing and now it seems I need to get busier! She wants more than I brought her...in fact...she bought one out right from me yesterday! Any way, I thought this fabric was really different and I bought more than I usually buy, just because I liked it a lot.
I wanted something for the pocket on the front, so I drew this flower that is sort of like one on the fabric, and since there were so many polka dots on the fabric...I made french knots...even the button has polka dots...there's a different but matching one for the closure.

This is a typical inside...lots of pockets.

Here's another one I just finished...I love black and white!

I thought I'd fancy it up with an embroidery too....I do love to hand stitch...

Here's the inside. I liked this vine patterned fabric and knew it would make a great lining fabric when I first spotted it. I like to put lighter fabric as lining because I find it's easier to find things in the bottom of the bag when the inside is a bit lighter.

If you don't hear from me too much next week, it's because I will be sewing...in addition to the bags I need to make to bring down to Temecula, I have 2 custom bags to make, but you won't hear me complain....I love to be busy!!

Enjoy your weekend!!

It's starting to look like Fall...

This morning I went out and gardened for a few hours...it's still quite warm here...when I came in at 11:45 it was 84 degrees. Not too bad for this time of year...we have been hotter! As I was weeding and trimming, I picked some of the veggies still growing. We have a ton of peppers, and still quite a few tomatoes. Today it was all yellow ones and just one small red one and one cherry. The tomato plants are fading, but they still have blooms on them. The tomatoes are getting smaller as the days get shorter.

Since we got out the Autumn decorations...I have been busy.

I have had this stick scarecrow for so many years now...I noticed this morning the rim of his hat is cracking! Poor guy...my neighbor got me this ear of corn for him quite a long time ago too.

This is the mat on the front porch...I got it a couple years ago at Target.

This is the top of the hutch in the kitchen eating area. I didn't do too much up there...just a wooden pumpkin bowl filled with fake pumpkins and gourds and a garland of berries.

I got this little wagon a couple years ago too. I worked for 20 years for Longs Drugs Stores as an administrative assistant and we got the best discount for these kinds of things...we only had to pay cost + 10%...that's unheard of...well, when CVS bought our company...I got laid off, so no more good buys like this! I think I only paid a couple dollars for it!

Here's a little plant poke I like a lot...I love scarecrows!

Another scarecrow...I don't have a lot of big things...I just put small things in and around.

I got this scarecrow probably 15 years ago...I still like him...He's next to the little wagon I showed earlier.

This isn't everything I have done, but I'm still tweaking things a bit, but you get the idea. I am going to try and make some pillows for the bench on my front porch and a few table runners too. Busy, busy...

Have a great day!!

I love Autumn...

The bins are down from high up in the garage....
The lids are open....

Now it's time to decorate....oh Fall how I love you!!

Actually some of these decorations will have to wait until October because I mixed my Fall and Halloween decorations together. I can't wait to get everything up!!

How do like this one...

Here's another bag I finished to bring down to the Wool Lady's store in Temecula. I have been working with wool applique lately and I thought it would be fun to incorporate more of it into a bag. This bag was so much fun to make!
Here's some closeups so you can get a better idea of the fabric. The bag fabric is actually an upholstery fabric. I like using upholstery fabric on the outsides because it is so much sturdier than regular cottons. I just get the cotton ones or cotton blends. They are fun to work with and easier to keep clean. They hold up better too.

The wool ,of course, has been washed and dried and is so much fun to work with! I added buttons for the flower centers for some dimension.

I get carried away when I am sewing and I was just going to detail a couple of the leaves, but I ended up doing all of them! It was so much fun!

I kept the inside pretty plain. It's a nice cream on cream calico print for the lining and a heavier checked cotton ducking for the pockets. The pockets go all the way around, because as I've said in the past....a girl can't have too many pockets.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my latest bag...I like showing them to you! If you are interested in getting your own custom bag...I can do that too. I have a diaper bag to create for a gal at Don's work and then a couple more to make for the Temecula store. Temecula is having an outdoor quilt show on October 2, so I want to get some more made by then.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!