Wordless Wednesday

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Summer's End

Last Friday did not go as expected. Sometimes you have to do very hard things because they are the right thing to do.

I was can-watering my garden (because our daily highs are back in the 80s again) and thoroughly enjoying all the mourning glories (yes, I spell it that way intentionally; Lizard helped me plant the seeds but didn't get to see the beautiful blue flowers) and the radiant cosmos.

I noticed some birds munching on the sunflower seeds; almost all the sunflowers are expired. I've left the stalks up because the birds love the seeds, and we're not supposed to put out feeders anymore during bear season, which now lasts almost to the end of November. I don't think I've put out feeders since the winter before I retired to focus solely on caregiving.

I went inside to grab my camera, then perched beneath the pergola to wait for the birds to return. I had planned to maybe try to get up in the mountains to shoot some fall color, but I also was extremely intimidated by doing it alone for the first time in more than 21 years. I knew Lizard would want me to go, but so many firsts are just so hard to tackle. I decided birds would be just as worthy of my time, and I wouldn't have to spend any money on gas.

I noticed one female goldfinch on the cosmos, a little too close to me. She should have flown away when I took my seat. And I hadn't been seeing any goldfinches in about a week. I thought they should have begun their migration already. I snapped a super cute photo. (This is not the photo.)

She turned her head in the opposite direction, and my heart broke. Her eye was swollen shut, and I realized she's probably almost blind. Her beak also was swollen, with blood clots on her cheek.

Birders in my area have been asked for a couple of years not to put out feeders because a highly contagious infection was spreading throughout the songbird population. It can affect household pets, too.

I looked up what I should do, and it was pretty harsh. Wear gloves. Take down all the sunflower stalks. Dispose of them, and don't put them where other animals/pets can get to them. Wash clothes. Wash shoes if they came in contact with the plants. Sanitize anything touched, including the trash bin. And tell the trash guys to wash their hands after they handle the trash.

And finally, don't worry, the instructions said. The affected birds are not going to last long anyway, and the healthy birds will find other seeds.

Just to be safe and to prevent spreading to the rest of the birds as best I can, I also took down the cosmos where the little bird had landed. I did not see where the bird went when I began taking down the sunflowers.

I hired the kids down the street who had been advertising trash bin cleaning and happily spent the money that would have gone to fall color gas. I made sure they knew they would need to clean themselves up after cleaning my bin to make sure they don't spread the virus to their pets. They were so thankful for the work and the unexpected monetary tip, they said the cleanup would be no problem. They'd handled worse. I didn't ask.

My backyard is now sunflowerless (except for two plants that surprisingly haven't bloomed yet), and the bluejays have discovered the cracked walnuts I left in the (dry) bird bath in threes in order to try to get a photograph and hoping like heck the squirrels wouldn't steal.

I'm still sad about the little bird, but when God closes a door, He always opens a window. The bluejays refuse to pose, but I've now seen my second ever Woodhouse scrub jay!

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Snowflake Monday

I wasn't done with today's snowflake when I finished the 5th Round, but it made a cute snowflake, in my opinion, and I had a couple of ideas I wanted to try on the next prototype. So, I decided to let this one stand on its own. The center is an adaptation of a popular sunflower granny square I've been thoroughly enjoying in yarn. And, sunflowers are reaching the end of their season here. I keep thinking back on my Esther sunflower story, and I just absolutely love that I'm filling my home (and car!!!) with sunflower snowflakes to remind me God is everywhere.

You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!

Finished Size: 4 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 7 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

Esther Snowflake Instructions

Special Stitches

dc cluster (3dc cl): [yo and draw up loop, yo and bring through 2 loops on hook] 3 times, yo and bring through all 4 loops on hook

bobble st (bob): [yo and draw up loop] 3 times, yo and bring through all 7 loops on hook

Make magic ring.

Round 1: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 17 dc in ring; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2. Don't pull magic circle too tight.

Round 2: Ch 1 (counts as 1st half of starting dc), leave loop on hook a little loose, bob into same ch as sl st, [ch 1, bob in next dc] 17 times for a total of 18 bob stitches; ch 1, sl st in top of starting bob.

Round 3: Sl st into next ch 1 sp, ch 1 (counts as 1st half of starting dc), leave loop on hook a little loose, 3dc cl into same ch 1 sp, [ch 2, 3dc cl into next ch 1 sp] 17 times for a total of 18 cl stitches; ch 2, sl st into top of starting cl.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 4: Sl st into next ch 2 sp, ch 2, (counts as 1 dc), 2 dc in same ch 2 sp, [ch 3, 3 dc in next ch 2 sp, ch 4, sk next ch 2 sp, 3 dc in next ch 2 sp] 6 times, omitting last 3 dc of final repeat; ch 1, 1 dc in 2nd ch of starting ch 2 to form 6th ch 3 tip of Round.

Round 5: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 2 dc over post of dc directly below, [ch 4, 1 sc over next ch 4 into next Round 3 ch 2 sp, ch 4, in next ch 3 tip work (3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc)] 6 times, omitting last 3 dc of final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: I've been stiffening my flakes with undiluted, full-strength water soluble school glue for quite a while now, and I've been squishing the glue onto and throughout each flake with my fingers (yucky mess!!!) instead of gingerly painting the flakes with glue. Yes, it's a mess. But it's faster. And stiffer.

Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

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Dedicate

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Ornaments Needed

This will be my fourth year sending my snowflakes to Operation Ornaments. I didn't get as many made this year because... well, it was just harder to crochet back in the spring and early summer this year. I did the best I could.

One of the snowflakes I'm donating is my Snowflake for Lizard. It was difficult to let it go, but I'm hoping it will bring a smile to a family who has lost more than I have. And, I can always make another one.

Last year, I got to meet Carol and Carolyn, two of the main volunteers who have kept this wonderful organization going. Operation Ornaments has been providing handmade ornaments to families and individuals who have lost everything to wildfires, hurricanes, tornados and floods for five or six years. This year, they also are serving Jewish individuals and families.

This year, Operation Ornaments for the first time does not have enough ornaments to serve every family in the areas that have been hit by horrific disasters. They are asking for help from anyone who is able to send even just a few handmade ornaments. You can be sure these ornaments are treasured by recipients; each year, Operation Ornaments receives many thank yous from families they have served. It's such a great way to spread love at a time when so many need it.

Linking up with Alycia Quilts.

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Wordless Wednesday

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Frankenflake

This is the image that sort of brought life to the mad scientist in me. I can't remember if it was the first snowflake image I tried to digitally alter, but it definitely sent me down the most frozen rabbit hole to date.

The first image (at the top of this blog post) is a stacked image, compiled via 11 nearly identical shots I merged in Photoshop to bring out the most accurate focus in each image. (The second image is one of the original 11 images.) Astrophotographers have been stacking images for years, perhaps even decades, to create the stunning stellar photos we've all enjoyed and probably drooled over.

The image directly above this paragraph is the Photoshop-sharpened and cleaned-up version of my stacked image. I began using the image stacking capabilities of Photoshop about last year because I never really mastered my standalone image-stacking software in about 2015. The image-stacking technology probably has elements in common with what we now know as AI. Although I initially (pre-2005) was extremely anti-Photoshop because I came from the pre-digital news environment and didn't want any of my images ever to be considered "manipulated", Photoshop has been my favorite computer tool for at least a decade. My first version of Photoshop was gifted to me by my dad; he thought I might enjoy playing with it when his job required him to update his software. I quickly learned how much faster it is to remove dust spots and to brighten shadowed faces, plus, I no longer had easy access to a darkroom. My favorite plug-in was a kaleidoscope generator rendered unusable when I bought the laptop before this one, and I've never been able to find a replacement, darn it. I could create amazing "snowflakes" with my real images using that old plug-in!!!

It still is incredibly important to me that my actual photographs are never confused with AI, but Photoshop now is my friend. I enjoy working with Photoshop, learning how to make best of most of its tools, and cherish its manual ability to fix old photos. I still have not experimented with Photoshop's AI tools more than a handful of times, but I have used other AI programs. I always label the images I produce via AI as AI. I will never try to pull the superwash sock wool over anyone's eyes. I prompted one of my AI programs to sharpen and clarify my original stacked snowflake image to create the image directly above this paragraph.

One of my AI programs gives me the ability to add motion. So, of course, I had to make my altered snowflake image dance. Or, at least, twirl...

After hiking with a couple of friends over the weekend, I was treated to the equivalent of an old-fashioned slide show of their recent overseas trip. (We swiped left on their tablet.) One has recently become fascinated by what AI can do to his photos, and boy, did he play! He showed me watercolor- and oil-type renditions of some of his most prized photos. They were truly really awesome. I was drawn to what he called his "psychedelic 60s poster" effect on photos. I never would have thought to manipulate my photos in such a way. (Although I have had fun with Photoshop color and overlay filters!) So, of course, I had to try it as soon as I got home. And what better subject than snowflakes??? I fed my AI-enhanced real snowflake photo into MidJourney, which I have used to illustrate my blog when I was unable to take photos. That image is shown above.

My first attempt wasn't bad. But I became curious what other AI programs could do with my snowflake. My second attempt, shown above, is rendered via Nano Banana.

Next, I tried ChatGPT, shown above.

My friend uses a program I didn't even know existed, Meta AI, shown above. Wow. I see why he likes this program. I decided to test it with the crocheted version of my real snowflake photo, shown below.

I often wondered if I spent too much time generating kaleidoscopes more than a decade ago. I really don't think I needed to find something new to steal away time I should be spending elsewhere!!!

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