I'm still working on the shawl I shared with you last week, but I took a pause to come back to a project I started last year.

See, we have this tree just outside our backyard. It's called a blue jacaranda.

And it has the most beautiful bluish purple flowers.

They grow in clusters and fall to the ground to make carpets fit for royalty.

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to get to live beneath her branches! Except for all the ants that live in there, too, who occasionally invade the house...

But I'll deal with the ants because this tree is magical.

It's the only one in the neighborhood and it's one of the oldest trees here on our little hill, too. The trunk is too big for me to put my arms around and she generously offers some much needed shade during the summer.

She also offers me endless joy and inspiration.

Last spring I gathered together an armful of purple fiber from my stash, much of it from an old Phat Fiber box.

I arranged it all out into a sort of fade and delighted in every part of the process of spinning it.

By the time I had finished, the purple carpets were gone.

And I... well, I guess I just really wanted pictures of the finished yarn on one of those purple flower carpets that inspired me to spin it!

So she sat and waited. For an entire year.

Until the blue jacaranda tree began to bloom again.

And last week? That's when we got a new carpet of flowers adorning the grass!

So I waited impatiently for the right opportunity of sunlight in the morning (when the carpets are freshest) without too much dew or rain on the ground, so that I could finally, at long last get pictures of this super special skein of handspun yarn.

Next begins the race to finish the crocheting before the carpets fade again!

I don't think there will be enough time to finish the tapestry and order the right size wood panel for mounting it. But then I'll be ready for when the flowers fall again next year!

Good luck talking me into selling this one, y'all. It's going to hold so many memories! And lots of patience, ha ha. What a treasure it will be. 💜

If you could turn a flower into a piece of art to hang on your wall or your next favorite accessory, what would it be?

-Connie

P.S. I'm writing up this month's postcards to send out to paying members over on Patreon. Here are the winning flowers!

P.P.S. Ms. Mabel's new baby chick didn't survive its first night out of the nest. I think the poor little thing might have been blind because there was a silvery sheen to its eyes. It was especially sad to watch her call for it off and on the next day. It sure was a cute little thing, too. It would have been such a delight to watch it grow up. Though we do have Mabel's first two who still come around, plus Dipper's two who have also struck out on their own (sneaky old bird is sitting on another nest already, too). We don't really need any more feral chickens running around! But they're so stinkin' cute when they're babies. And they've been entertaining to have around as adults, too. I'll miss all these crazy wild(ish) chickens when we move next year!