Nikki's Vox

I'm lost somewhere Between Heaven and Hell

nobody@vox.com(mystico_tala) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:27:37 -0600

A nice little hiking trip in Purgatory Chasm...

Wow, what a neat landscape! The place is in the middle of no where, but we've noticed the signs for some time and decided that hey, with a name like that, we have to check it out! I'm honestly surprised they let you climb in there. You have to clamber over and jump on rocks and whatnot. Seemed like it could have been dangerous, but I've been climbing on rocks since I was a kid. And wow. I was just stunned by the scenery the entire time. Massive rock ledges to the side of you and all these rocks you had to climb over in the middle, surrounded by forest. Very, very neat. I would definitely go back, it was a lot of fun. Different areas and rock formations had different names too, like 'Lover's Leap' and 'Devil's Pulpit'. Really awesome :) I could totally see them filming part of a movie out there or something.
We left my mom behind at the beginning, which was a shame because it was really neat, but she couldn't make it, especially with the shoes she was wearing.

~Nikki

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Autumn Colours Part III

nobody@vox.com(mystico_tala) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:06:17 -0500

More pictures of trees. I just can't help it! The colours are so beautiful! These are just from a short walk I took around my neighborhood.

The second one in is an old abandoned factory a little down the street. Awesomely creepy and overgrown. I love it.
The colours have been awesome, I'm a little obsessed, obviously. But a storm came through yesterday and blew all the leaves off the trees. The ground is completely covered in leaves, which is actually kind of neat looking, but not nearly the same. Fall seems to be nearly over now!

~Nikki

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Plus couleurs d'automne

nobody@vox.com(mystico_tala) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:57:04 -0500

Some pictures of when my sister was here to visit last weekend! Right in the height of fall. The colours were gorgeous. The first day we went to the Shakespeare Company (in western Massachusetts) and saw a play, Hound of the Baskervilles turned into a comedy, Monty Python style. It was HILARIOUS. Anyway, it rained that entire day, which was a bummer, because that part of the state is gorgeous. Well, I got the first shift home to drive and guess what? THERE WAS A SNOW STORM. I kid you not. SNOW. Everywhere! Fantastic :) I'm the only one in my family with the patience to drive through the traffic and snow, so it was probably for the best, but because of that, I don't have any pics of it. Very awesome though. First snow of the year! Even if it wasn't directly here. The rest of the weekend was gorgeous though.

These are from a trail by the ocean. Fantastic weather, but the ground was a bit wet (notice the flooded trail. Also not helped by the tide). Once again, fantastic colours. I really love fall.

A couple pics from our last day in Boston.

Oh oh! And my dad just got new internet service. SO glad to finally have some speed!

Hope you enjoyed the pics!

~Nikki

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Sewing Projects: Fall Swing

nobody@vox.com(mystico_tala) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:20:45 -0500

I've had these pics sitting around a while so I thought I would post them! This is one of those franken-patterns. Much adjusting was done, but it turned out just like I wanted it to when I bought the fabric. The fabric is wonderful, btw. Nice weight, texture. I enjoy it :) I wore it on a tour of the cemetary (morbid, I know) and got some comments on it. Always a nice feeling when someone comments on your clothes or asks where you got it when you know they didn't know that you made it yourself!

Pictures taken right after I got home, so I still have jewelry on. The neck is just a regular V neck. Sleeves are bell sleeves with elastic at the ends. I moved the zipper on the pattern from the back (I HATE back zippers) to the side, made the skirt fuller and longer, and didn't line it. Also had to make the whole thing smaller by nearly 7 inches. Really, why bother putting measurements on patterns at all? It is absurd.

Anyway. I finally got laces for my Ren Faire type vest, even though I probably won't be going to a ren faire. I'll wear it when I hand out candy to kids on Halloween when I'm staying at home with nothing to do. Also finished a fall weather vintage dress that I started AGES ago and finally finished hemming while I was watching hours and hours of Heroes last week. So I'll take pictures of those :)

Next order of business is to work like mad on Christmas projects that I haven't started because I've sort of had a creative brain freeze. But I'll start! I swear! No jacket making until presents are done!

~Nikki

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Premières couleur d'automne

nobody@vox.com(mystico_tala) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:33:45 -0500

Just a bit of fall colour here on the South Coast. I've seen some gorgeous trees and colour while driving, but I haven't been able to take many pics. Maybe I'll go out for a drive in the country sometime on my own so I can stop and take pics. There are some gorgeous scenes along the freeways, but for the life of me, I can't figure out how to get to them.

DSCN1962

Oh, and there was a ginko tree in the cemetery. It hadn't turned yet, but I plan on going back to snap some pics. I remember the ginko trees in Beijing, they were spectacular.

~Nik

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Seals!

nobody@vox.com(mystico_tala) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:08:06 -0500

Fantastic! I've been complaining about wanting to see some seals since I moved here and we finally got to see them! They were all in the water, but I talked to a local in a book shop nearby and they said that low tide was the best time to find them on the beach, so I plan on going back. There were a ton of them though! I would say 60+. So adorable :)

Hard to get pictures of them, my camera doesn't zoom much, but they are there! It was quite a trek to get to them. In the sand. Nice workout :) On our way back I was telling some people how to get there and they decided that it wasn't worth the walk :P Totally was.

Those pictures in the middle are the ones of the seals bobbing around in the water. Super cute :) I had binoculars with me so I could see them better than that.

Fun times! And it was really a gorgeous day out!

~Nikki

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Pics: Me and my sunsets!

nobody@vox.com(mystico_tala) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:20:50 -0500

Well, first, a couple of random donkeys. I just couldn't help myself! They came right up to the stone wall :) And, as you may or may not know, stone walls could possibly be one of my favourite features of New England!

Then, last week (2 weeks ago? Something.) we went to see my cousin's band play, he really is absurdly talented. It was FREEZING though, but the music was great, so we ended up staying, no matter how inappropriately dressed we were. He played at a bandstand near a really gorgeous beach/bay area. And woe-be-tide anyone who stands between me and taking pictures of a sunset.

I've got some more pictures of a beach I went to on the Cape last week. I decided that it is my favourite beach in existence. When you see the pics, you'll see why. I've never seen anything quiet so awesome before :) I'll post those later in the week.
I also have some sewing things I've done. Not much, but I finished a vest last week that I still need to take pics of and I'm working on a few things now and messing up on some plaids, etc, etc.

But that's it for now. I wanted to get some of these pics out of the way.

~Nikki

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Sewing Projects: Shirt, Skirt, Pants

nobody@vox.com(mystico_tala) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:46:32 -0500

A couple of projects I've finished recently. I haven't been feeling particularly inspired lately, I'll blame it on my current stagnation, but I've still been trying to get things done. Putting together some patterns/fabric that I'd decided a while back what I would do with them....

Shirt pattern from Burda. A bit springy for this fall time of year, but the weight of it is right. And I'll have something for next spring :) Wasn't a bad pattern to make, tracing patterns out of Burda magazines are so much easier when they aren't full-length dress size. All the seams are french seamed because of the sheer fabric. The buttons are self-covered buttons and the button loops are absurdly small pieces of fabric turned inside out. That was probably the hardest part, lol. Oh, and putting the elastic in the sleeves. That was much more difficult than it should have been.
I like the way it turned out and it is very comfortable :) So yay. I should make more shirts, I've hardly made any.

I almost didn't put these pictures up because the overhead lighting made them turn out so poorly. Really awful....and orange....and the light makes my feet look deformed. But anyways. Didn't have patterns for either. The first are massive, comfy, gauze pants. With pockets. SO comfortable. The second is a white skirt (obviously). Didn't really expect for it to turn out that massive on the bottom, but that is what happened. Mixed between a white gauze and a white gauze with some thin silver stripes in it. It is actually very heavy. But now I know. Still looks cool though! I'll just cut tiers on the bias from now on instead of making them out of circles. You wouldn't believe the amount of fabric that took.

So that is it for now! Working on some other things. Should probably get started on a few jackets as well.

~Nikki

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Nature Pics

nobody@vox.com(mystico_tala) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:40:24 -0500

Well, the weather here has been really dreary and I tend to get very affected by the weather. Yesterday it was almost pitch black all day because of the tropical storm Danny and I was ready to go to bed at around 1pm. It just drains my energy. Plus, I had another muscle spasm in my back yesterday, it is getting a bit better. I know how to deal with them no, but it doesn't make them less painful. And also, with all the different storms and fronts moving through (and a spasm in my neck) I'm getting some awful headaches and just feeling horrible. It is annoying.

Combine that with the fact that I just watched Torchwood: CoE, the most depressing and upsetting mini-series in existence....I just hoped that some pretty pictures would make me feel better.

First set is from Lloyd Center for the Environment. Just a nice area with some hiking trails. I really enjoyed it. I would love to go back and take some of the longer hikes. You can also rent kayaks and go out on the lake. It would be fun. There are some bald eagles out there and apparently there are occasionally seals during the fall. I'll have to go back! The last two pictures are of 'stonewalls'. They are everywhere around here. People would take them out of their fields and build short walls out of them. Sometimes you just see them meandering through an old forest and you wonder how long they have been there. Some of the towns around here have been here since the 17th century. These walls could be hundreds of years old. I love seeing them :)

The beach over on West Island in Fairhaven, MA. Neat beach. Long and narrow. My favourite part was that the sky was so fantastic, and if you've seen any of my pictures, you know I just can't help taking pictures of sunsets :)

So that is all. Pretty pictures. The weather is getting nicer here, mid 70's and sunny for the rest of the week. Fall is just around the corner. Now, I just have to go to sleep and wake up pretending that Torchwood didn't make a Season 3 :P

~Nikki

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Sewing Project: Island Party!

nobody@vox.com(mystico_tala) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:47:08 -0500

For lack of a better name. I bet you guys can't tell that I like Hawaiian prints, can you? [See: here, here, and here] I know, I know, how cheesy. But they just scream summer to me.

Only took me like, 2 days to do. Super simple. Ruched on the side, sweeps down in the front. The sleeves can be worn like a cap sleeve or something can be tied around them and made into a sleeveless. I love how it turned out :) Exactly what I wanted when I bought the fabric! Fabric is a gauze material, btw. Nice and summery.

Speaking of summer, it is absolutely miserable here right now. I'm actually feeling sort of ill. So, it isn't as hot as other places, but the downside to Massachusetts is that it is REALLY humid. 85F feels like 95F. Along with not having A/C! Texas I could handle, it might be 110 outside, but it was 75 inside. Here it is 85 and somewhat stifling. I may head down to the beach.

~Nikki

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