Baskets and such

I'm managing to survive in the 80º temps here in VA. Soooo glad not to be in AZ anymore! A couple of weeks ago Mary Ann taught four of us to make baskets and we enjoyed it so much that we returned this morning to make a second one. This particular type of basket has a wooden base and handle so it looked funny before we began:

But after a couple hours of Mary Ann's tutelage this is what I made:

We all brought food and had a delicious lunch (I made homemade ice cream -- from my auction find, the ice cream maker -- homemade brownies, homemade caramel sauce, and homemade [duh] whipped cream for dessert). Afterward Mary Ann showed me her hydrangea bush which had pink blossoms mixed in with the blue (the color is based on the acidity of the soil so how could half of one bunch be a different color?), she offered me some so I brought them home and arranged them in a very expensive vase!

Before I came back home Cherie invited me over to look at the wooden bread board her husband Dennis is making for me. It is two different hard woods and absolutely gorgeous! It still has to finish curing before it can come home with me. Cherie and I wandered into her wooded area and gathered some dead grapevines to play with:

After soaking them, manipulating, and just generally messing around with them I managed to create 2 wreaths. We originally were going to try baskets, but they just weren't supple enough for anything that "organized." So I just played around and made this:

I left the smaller one for Cherie to finish working on and fill out. It was kind of messy, but I just sat in Cherie's yard while her dog, Sally watched. It was a "hard" day at work, but worth it!