Green Mars Update

So the base embroidery is finished on this piece and I'm working on adding more beads. Where, what color, what pattern? I'm not sure. But more.

There will probably still be colonies of french knots to add... but that will come after the beads.

Then I finally need to figure out bind the edges of this. Facing might be necessary, overcasting might occur. Any suggestions?

On another note, I heard from the ladies at Art Quilt Claremont. There are still plenty of spots in Rayna Gilman's class. There is plenty of time yet; but this isnt' something to delay your decision about too long or you'll end up committing to something else.

If you've always wanted to take a class with Rayna, sign up now!! Heck, they will even let you make regular payments. Think about it... The Claremont, Rayna, Gerrie and me!! What's there to think about??

Darn.

I'm working on knitting my first thing that isn't a pair of socks. (what an ugly sentence!) It's a pale yellow cotton knit tank top. Or it will be if I ever get further along than 3".

I cast on and started working on it while I travelling. Including while in a cramped center seat on the flight home. When I got home, it was 15 stitches wider than when I started. Rip.

Cast on again last Thursday and worked on it while watching TV. Finally yesterday it was long enough to check the size and make sure that it's going to fit OK.

uhm.

The gauge when I swatched it was the same as the pattern: 5 stitches/inch. When I finally checked the piece last night? Gauge had become 4 stitches/ inch. So my top was about 8" too wide!

Rip again.

Start all over again.

Connect the cast-on stitches to make a tube.. and they twist. Rip out and start again. Think maybe I should rib the first couple rows. The caston stitches twist and become completely unable for me to discern what's a stitch and what isn't. Rip out and start again. I'm getting to hate this.

This is a very easy pattern; but I'm now going to have to pay attention and make changes along the way to adjust to the new gauge. At this rate, I'll nice light cotton tank to wear at the winter holidays.

How'd I learn to do it??

Beth asked how I learned to do the stuff I'm doing on Green Mars. Sounds like a great topic for a blogpost.

Most of the embroidery items on this piece are very simple embroidery stitches. There is cross stitch, feather stitch, French knots and couching; maybe some chain stitch. Some simple wrapping stitches were used to create the spiderweb flower forms.

There are several places to find these stitches online:

Sharon B. has a wonderful online Dictionary of Stitches for Hand Embroidery and Needlework and The British Embroidery Guild has a fabulous website where you can find stitches and projects. The stitches are the foundation, the projects give one ideas how to use them. A lot of my inspiration comes from Encrusted Calico.

Many of the beads were simply applied like you'd bead anything... though I'll admit there are patches of beads where a strand of 5-10 are woven or braided before the end is sewn down. Don't know if I read that anywhere or just decided that that's what needed to be done to get the proper texture.

I'm almost done with the base level of embroidery.. will have paths of French knots to run through the piece and more spiderweb flower clusters to add, but the next step is to do some more of the beading. I want it to repeat some of the look of stuff I've done with simply thread (beading is just stitching with an extra step of stuff, IMHO).

So I've gotten inspiration from lots of places, but I'm not sure that I LEARNED how to do this from any one. Given that I have 5 (five??) pieces that are waiting for hand work to be done on them, I think this is something that my soul has created.

So what questions arise from reading this?

Tags: Embroidery, beading, fiber art

I'm going to try a change.

In an effort to make this blog more centered on my creative activities, I've started another blog to fulfill my need to babble about my daily life:

Deb's Daily Distractions.

This new blog will be the spot where I note things like:

• how many steps I've taken each day.
• what I'm reading.
• what we're having for dinner.

What THIS blog will return to is what I'm doing creatively. I'm hoping that making this change, and feeling compulsive about writing here regularly, I will "back door" myself into doing more creative stuff. I mean without distractions to write about here.. if I don't create what will I blog about?

I'm going to try this for atleast a month. Please let me know if you think this is working.

Motorcyle Awareness Month

My friend Biker Deb (to distinguish from all the other Debs) sent me a note reminding me that this is Motorcycle Awareness Month. And she sent this poem by that talented poet: Anon Y Mous.

I Saw You
.....
I saw you,
hug your purse closer to you in the grocery store line.
But, you didn't see me,
put an extra $10.00 in the collection plate last Sunday.
...
I saw you,
pull your child closer when we passed each other on the sidewalk.
But, you didn't see me,
playing Santa at the local mall.
...
I saw you,
change your mind about going into the restaurant.
But, you didn't see me,
attending a meeting to raise more money for the hurricane relief.
...
I saw you,
roll up your window and shake your head when I drove by.
But, you didn't see me,
driving behind you when you flicked your cigarette butt out the car
window.
...
I saw you,
frown at me when I smiled at your children.
But, you didn't see me,
when I took time off from work to run toys to the homeless.
...
I saw you,
stare at my long hair.
But, you didn't see me,
and my friends cut ten inches off for Locks of Love.
...
I saw you,
roll your eyes at our leather coats and gloves.
But, you didn't see me,
and my brothers donate our old coats and gloves to those that had none.
...
I saw you,
look in fright at my tattoos.
But, you didn't see me,
cry as my children where born, and have their name written over and in my heart.
...
I saw you,
change lanes while rushing off to go somewhere.
But, you didn't see me,
going home to be with my family.
...
I saw you,
complain about how loud and noisy our bikes can be.
But, you didn't see me,
when you were changing the CD and drifted into my lane.
...
I saw you,
yelling at your kids in the car.
But, you didn't see me,
pat my child's hands, knowing he was safe behind me.
...
I saw you,
reading the newspaper or map as you drove down the road.
But, you didn't see me,
squeeze my wife's leg when she told me to take the next turn.
...
I saw you,
race down the road in the rain

But, you didn't see me,
get soaked to the skin so my son could have the car to go on his date.
...
I saw you,
run the yellow light just to save a few minutes of time.
But, you didn't see me,
trying to turn right.
...
I saw you,
cut me off because you needed to be in the lane I was in.
But, you didn't see me,
leave the road.
...
I saw you,
waiting impatiently for my friends to pass.
But, you didn't see me.
I wasn't there.
...
I saw you,
go home to your family.
But, you didn't see me.
Because, I died that day you cut me off.
...
I was just a biker,.....
A person with friends and a family.
But, you didn't see me.
...
~Anonymous

I know, it's Thursday afternoon..

and I haven't blogged anything in a couple days. Seriously, nothing to write home about.

Remember that odd bug I had in February? A squishy gut? Steve has it. So I cook him soup for supper and try to stay far enough away to not catch it again. But he keeps coming home early feeling sick and disrupting my day. So things seem to be accomplished at half pace.

I have cast a cotton tank top onto some knitting needles. I hope I finish it before the weather gets cold.

I have dyed some t-shirts late this afternoon and will rinse them out tomorrow. Still need to design my sayings.

I may have something to show by the end of the weekend.

And I've figured out that the clutter in my sewing room is driving me away, so I'm working on straightening it up.

See? Boring.

But the good news? My veggie garden is completely planted.

Pride and Pedometers

I've signed up for a challenge. Not an art challenge.. a woman's challenge. It's Women and girls On the Move Across the Nation.

All I've agreed to do is wear a pedometer every day and attempt to do my 10,000 steps/day for 2 months. I've wanted to accomplish this, but now I'm part of a group.

Yesterday I wore the pedometer, and worked around the house but did NOT take a daily walk. I still ran up over 10,000 steps!! I was not sitting idley around on my butt all day.

Sunday (first day) I took the dogs on a 3 mile walk, today we did 2 miles with elevation (up and down about 200 feet). With all the gardening and housework included, I'm well on the way to over 10,000 steps.

If you would like to join me, I've started a group: quilters with no fat quarters.
Go to the website, and join. Tell them you wish to join an existing group, then scroll down to this one.

Save The Internet

I'm sure you know. There is a bill in US Federal congress supported by the large phone companies that will allow those companies to control the individual's access to the internet. These companies will be allowed to slow the access speed to smaller websites (so it is slower to load a personal blog than a commercial news website) or be allowed to block certain websites altogether.

This sounds like the land of the free speech, doesn't it??

Read more about it then DO SOMETHING.

And thanks to SongBert for providing the Snopes link in case you think this is scam.

Sunday! Work day!

The problem with travelling is all the "stuff" that doesn't get done at home and sits waiting for your return. STLE seems to always occur in that one week in May when all living things go "sproing" and either sprout or leap up to hip height. This year was no exception.

So today:

I woke up at 6 (well, the dogs woke me up), did my online stuff, bathed, dressed and ate a little breakfast. Out the door with the dogs for a 3 mile walk about 9 am. We met about 6 friendly dogs along the way, recommended a new "poop bag" to the city, and made sure that the city hasn't changed in a week.

Home.

Mowed the lawn, raked up the patches of dead grass (they are about 1/3 of the lawn), spread some seed and watered it in.

Break for lunch.

Watered the pots on the deck, fed everything with fish emulsion, picked some rhubarb for a pie.

Now for a nap. The dogs are crashed on the tile (a sure sign of summer... dogs on the cool floor). Maybe some weeding later today.

What's for dinner? Grilled Chicken Salad with grilled vegetables, fresh lemonade, fresh strawberries and angelfood cake.

Car Conversation

He: I've got to check outside and see how dry it is. Maybe I can get one more fire in the firepit this season.

Me: I think it's going to be too dry.

He: Well, we'll see. I wouldn't want to be known as the guy who burned the town down.

Me: So you'd be the Mrs. O'Leary of Northern California?

He: Yeah. But you'd be the cow.

Me: I'm not going near your fire.. not to mention kicking it over.

He: But you bought the firepot. Without it, no fire. So you're the cow.

Me: You picked it out...

He: Yeah, but YOU went back and purchased it. Ergo, you would be the cow.

Me: I really don't like being referred to as a cow!!

He: Took you longer to react to that than I expected.

What I did on my Spring Vacation besides eat.

GREEN MARS in progress

This is Green Mars (in progress)
I started this a couple years ago, misplaced it, just found it and worked on it while we were travelling. It's only about 10" square). I've decided that before I continue with the beading, I need to cover most of the surface with embroidery (very freeform). That's what I'm working on now. When the stitching is done, I'll go back in with beads.

This is part of a series of pieces based upon Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series. In Green Mars he spends a couple pages describing the first lichen/mosses seen growing on the planet. That's was this piece is supposed to represent. No it is not supposed to be realistic.

DETAIL #1

Even with the closeup feature turned on, I can't quite get a superclear closeup picture. Sorry.

I think the fabric is dyed then painted. There are bullion "flowers", french knots, feather stitch, cross stitch, couching and beads. Much of the beading is "braided" or repeats similar stitches to the embroidery.

DETAIL #2

Another detail shot. On the plane last night, I just stared at this for about an hour thinking about how it will look when finished.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig.

We got home at midnight. Turned up all the heaters that were down/off (water, coffee, hot top, furnace), and turned on the modem/server. Fell asleep by 1 am. Awoke at 6:30.

I've read all the quilting blogs in my feed, and checked my email.

Today I need to:

• Get the dogs, and take Jake to the vets (ugly eye);
• Wipe out the fridge then grocery shop;
• Start the laundry;
• Pick up the mail;
• Check the gardens

Think it will be a simple supper and an early-ish night.

Final Food Comments, eh??

Wednesday was our last night in Calgary.  A number of the women I've spoken with have HAD to go to dinners with their spouses where they were either being an "entertained customer" or were they were being the "entertaining supplier".  Whichever role, the dinners all tended to be too long (like 3.5 hours) and not entertaining.  They have my sympathies.

Tonight the three of us who began the trip a week ago invited 2 other friends to join us for a final night out.  Continuing with the international dining experiences we headed for a Russian restaurant we'd spotted.  I don't remember the name.. it began with an "S" and means "fairytale".

After perusing the menu, Elaine (responible for dinners, remember?) suggested that we each order something different, ask for extra plates and have a sort of Russian smorgasbord.  It was the best idea yet.

We started with appetizers of an assortment of olives (olives are Russian?) and a plate of blini and red caviar.  The waitress let them know that there were 5 of us.. so 5 blini appeared on our plate.  After devouring those, our main dishes were served:  Beef stroganoff with rice, chicken kiev with fresh steamed vegetables, cheese perogies with fresh shoe-string onion rings and sour cream, pork and beef dumplings, and sea bass with a champagne-mushroom sauce.

Are you drooling yet?  I forgot my camera, or I'd have those tastebuds on high alert.

The staff had never seen a table serve and eat "family style" but they all agreed that it made a great way to eat.  I think our waitress might file it away to suggest to other large parties.  We passed plates and divided the goodies, then ate until we were almost stuffed.

The finale was the dessert.  They had three to offer: a "Russian cheesecake.. a blini filled with cheesecake filling then deep fried, served with a raspberry and chocolate sauce.. and two versions of a fairly traditional honey cake... a tall concoction of sliver thin pieces of cake with a light filling.  We chose one blini and one cake to split each 5 ways.  We could have stuck with only one dessert.

Yep.  We were stuffed.  But we talked and laughed and visited and had a great time.  Two and half hours later we headed out take a short stroll before settling in for night.  And we agreed that we will try to repeat the experience at next year's conference in Philadelphia and the year after in Cleveland.  I'm not sure that I will go next year... but I'm sure that these four will have a great time.  Massoud was even told that he could not retire until these dinners had run their course!

Today we are heading home.. where the most exciting thing about dinner will be whether the wind off the bay blows the gas grill out.  Oh well, I will need to add a mile/day or more to my walks each day to recover from the eating this week.

More for Wednesday...

Since I'm online...

This afternoon I'm going to the Calgary Zoo. It's supposed to be a very good zoo, and I always try to visit the zoo when I'm in a new town.

Tomorrow morning I'm heading to a museum... part natural history, part history, part art. Then we are heading home. So I'm already starting to switch over to "home" mode of thinking. My list of things to do on Friday is at 8 and growing... And I think Steve just added another item or two to the list, though I don't recall what they are.

So look for the next post this weekend. I did some work on a hand piece that I started over a year ago, misplaced for a while, forget what my original thoughts were so I'm approaching it a bit anew. It got highly positive comments from the other "guests" on the tourbus yesterday... and it's maybe only 1/3 done. Photo this weekend (I think this will be entered in the Small Works competition at Chicago next winter).

Ok.. So Wednesday!! Plus Pictures

Silly me, I considered that being in a large hotel (hotel/conference center) complex, that it might be likely to find affordable internet connection without walking all over Calgary!! Our hotel is charging $18/day for internet+long distance. Just want internet? Still $18.

So it took until today to find a good spot. Fortunately, the Calgary Chamber of Commerce has free wifi, though they do request that you buy a cuppa coffee. So for $1.50 I am back online. This part of the trip has been less fun than the first part... nothing bad, but nothing quite exciting either. As promised: photos from the weekend, all Lake Louise and surroundings.

The Fairmount Lodge at Lake Louise.

Lake Louise. The view of the glaciers (there are six up there) from near the lodge.


On our way back to our room, we took a sideroad (1A that parallels the freeway. Saw lots of wildlife, including these Mountain Goats crossing the road to get a drink of water in the stream.


We decided to pick up a lunch at Lake Louise, and picnic on the way back. I'd told you that already. Here is the photographic proof.


Not very accomodating, but quite a scenic lunch:


Additional evidence:

Notes after a Nap

I am sitting in my motel room in Canmore, Alberta, CA. Just finished a fine afternoon nap, and thought I'd better let you know I'm still among the living (well, more than that cryptic note of this morning let on). Pictures probably not until Monday or so. I've taken them, but haven't downloaded them into the computer yet.

We flew into Canada Thursday. Left our house at 3:45 am, picked up friend Elaine and made it to the Oakland Airport with a little time to spare before 6 am flight. (but not a lot. We might have slept in another 15 minutes.. no more). Flew to Denver than up to Calgary, where we arrived about 3:30 pm. Sunny, warm and wonderful.

Calgary is building up a storm!! We drove through new home developments that must hold close to 10,000 new homes. I will find out this week where all those people are working. Then up the Canadian highway to Canmore. It's a nice little town about 25 km from Banff; and Canmore is building up a storm too.

We have a nice but quite small room. And a simple arrangement: Steve picks where we eat breakfast and drives; I pick where we eat lunch and navigate. Elaine picks where eat supper and provides conversational diversion. So far it's working well.

Except that Steve gets off easy. We found out that breakfast is included in our room... so no picking necessary from him. Still he's driving, so I won't complain.

Thursday night, Elaine chose a local Greek restaurant. None of us were terribly hungry, so we split a meze plate (mixed appetizers) and each ordered a small Greek salad. Ofcourse there was baklava for dessert.

Friday we drove up to Lake Louise. This is a glacial lake. It may be May, and it was gorgeous everywhere else, but there was still a little snow on the path as we walked next to the lake. Enough snow that I chose not to head to either of the teahouses; up hill paths with snow... not in my future.

We walked around a bit, then I suggested we stop at a deli "in town" and pick up a picnic lunch. The weather was beautiful. We plopped ourselves on the "alternate, pictureque route" back to Banff and searched for a spot. Finding nothing that seemed likely, we simply pulled off the road at a "scenic spot" (it was...) and ate either standing up or sitting on the parking stops.

It was delightful.

Dinner was fresh pasta place in town. Steve had chiriso and mussels in a spicy tomato sauce over fettucini; Elaine, penne with chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil. Me? butternut squash filled ravioli with a sauce made of butter, raspberries, fresh herbs and almond slivers. They called it: Dream of Summer. It was.

Today we spent the morning exploring Banff. It is cooler today (and rain is supposed to be coming in), but we walked around the Fairmount "castle" in Banff, checked out a couple of the hot springs that started it all, and took a nice trail walk. Our original plans at Tea at the resort were cancelled when we learned that a) it's $25/person and b) you must make reservations in advance. Besides our permit to be inside the National Park (and Banff and Lake Louise are part of the park) runs out at 4 pm.

Instead, we had lunch in Banff (buffalo burgers), and an attempt at shopping. I collect national park pins for all the parks I go to; Banff and Lake Louise are in Canada's Rocky Mountain National Park. Alas, there is no pin. Or I couldn't find it. Any Canadian readers: your mission is to locate a park pin for me. In the US, there would have been about 4 gift shops runs by the park system at every stop. Here in Canada, there is none. I like this better, but...

We slept poorly last night (crazy people screaming and playing in the halls all night), so home about 2:30 for a nice nap.

Now that I've written this, I can go down to the gym for a small workout, and do some reading before discovering where Elaine is taking us tonight.

Tomorrow we head back to Calgary. Steve and Elaine put on thier work hats.. I think we even have a dinner scheduled with someone tomorrow night. And I play tourist alone in Calgary.

See ya Monday.

Just a second before breakfast...

I was watching Saturday's TODAY show.. and they had INXS as the band on the plaza. JD was nowhere to be seen.

I want to know the story.

The light in this sunset the other night was so diffuse it looked like a Japanese watercolor.

Wednesday's Ways

We leave the house tomorrow at 4 am. and return next Thursday at midnight. I'm taking my laptop because there is a good chance I will find wi-fi somewhere... and it's predicted to rain Monday through Wednesday.

Today I'm doing all the "ready to travel" things done. Empty what needs emptying, filling what needs filled. Stopping what must be stopped. Stock up for the dog sitter.

Nothing interesting.

But I am packing some handwork, so maybe when I find said wi-fi there will be photos.

Maybe more later.

Later

My car fixed. It took three hours to check out the sensors, see that there was no problem, reset everything and get me back on the road. Fortunately, it's all covered by the warrenty.

After a lengthy talk with the other guy in the waiting room, I excused myself to sit in the sun and read my book; I finished it 15 minutes before they finished my car. I recommend it if you like biographies about fearless women who love food. And, yes, Karoda this book has recipes mixed in with the story.

It is TENDER AT THE BONE, by Ruth Reichl. The first of three or four autobiographies she has written. She is the restaurant critic for the NY Times.

I'm trying to understand why this year I seem to be drawn to books about women who travel or move and love food. With short breaks, I've read: Linda Ellerbee's Take Big Bites, Frances May's Under the Tuscan Sun and this book. When I get home, I'll go to the library and pick up her second book.

I love the travelling stories as much or more than the food stories. Maybe I'm living vicariously through these women. Anyone want to take up the psycho-analysis of this reading, step right up.

Tuesday's To Dos...

Darn it all. My car needs to go into for a look under the hood by a mechanic. I can't plan on how long this will take, so I can't plan to do anything today.

Will write more later...

In the meantime, Crazy Aunt Purl has decided that:

CANCER (June 22 - July 22)
More UFOs appear to Cancerians than to any other sign in the zodiac. Perhaps we're so damn evolved that we naturally attract intelligent life from other planets. On the other hand, maybe we're just a little oversensitive and we "see" things that aren't there. This is the dual nature of the crab. May is shaping up to be a stellar month for crabs, and boy have we needed it. I think we should spend this month actively communicating with intelligent beings. Instead of seeing aliens all around us, or trying to beam ourselves far away from the current situation (whatever it may be) (and right now personally it is my dire lack of lunch), we ought to try seeking some human contact. Whether it's in relationships (hrmph), career issues, or family and home stuff, the results could be out of this world. (Hah hah! Get it! Out of this world!) (Sorry. Low blood sugar.)

Ok.. so as I understand it.. I need to spend more time among human beings instead of sitting here with my laptop pretending to communicate with human beings...

I can do that! (yeah, right!)

For something totally different today...

If you've got the time, go watch the video of how Adam Ellyson constructed his quilted Hummer Cozy.

Friday Foray

We will be heading to Calgary in a week, so I need to nail down the drip irrigation system or my plants won't make it through the week. I got all the drippers installed yesterday; today I'm leak checking.

After that grocery shopping.

Then dyeing.

There is going to be some thickened dye work I think..though probably not today. Having never done it, I'm a little intimidated. But I have Jane Dunnewold's book and I think another resource...

Ok, I can admit it.

I was stitching on those 3 little (5x7) pieces everywhere: waiting for food in a restaurant, meetings, watching tv.

They are so small to move from one space.

Somewhere... somehow.. I've misplaced them.

Thursday ToDo's/Dharma Redux

1. Walk dogs. Yesterday was long and flat; today 2 miles with some terrain. A walk around the block. Then 30-45 minutes of arms/back/stomach exercises.

2. Finish installing the drip irrigation system in the garden. Plant summer veggies. Test irrigation system.

3. Clean up mess on studio work table, prep fabric for first tree quilt and the clothes from Dharma.

Now to the questions:

Did I spend a fortune? NO. I have dyes; I did need some more soda ash. I picked up some discharge paste. I also picked up 1 tank top, 2 T-shirts, one Hawaiian top and a skirt. Most items that they carry in the catalog (clothes-wise) they have AT MOST one in each size in the store. The exception is the standard HANES-style T-shirts.

Did I pick up anything really cool? Nope. Really, they pretty much have just have the basics in the store. I looked for some yarn to knit myself a summer tank top; must get over the sticker shock that a simple top like that will cost me about $50 in yarn.

Do they have a good selection of the silks they sell online? The yardage?? I avoided the yardage room. Don't need any at the moment. As far as the silk accessories and clothing they have almost none in the store. That's pretty much catalog only.

Oh, I bet it was fun! It was fun because I was there with friends. I went to check the sizing on a couple of their T-shirts. For ordering supplies, it's more successful to order by catalog.

After Dharma, we headed to Pumpkin Seed Quilts. I got see the Los Hilos quilts hanging in the shop and read their stories. Both of the other gals bought there, but I don't think I bought anything. (did I?? hmmm) Lunch at a Chinese restaurant (I had lettuce wraps). Back to look at photos from Egypt.

Great day, good fun with goofy gals.

The Carquinez Bridge

On my way over to my friend's house, I lucked out!

First a little history of the Carquinez Bridges:
According to Wikipedia,

The original bridge, a steel cantilever bridge, was designed by Robinson & Steinman and dedicated on May 21, 1927; costing eight million dollars to build, it was the first major bridge in the San Francisco Bay Area.

It was the construction of this first bridge that convinced financiers and engineers that it was possible to build bridges in the San Francisco area. No initial Carquinez Bridge.. no Golden Gate, no Bay Bridge. (well, of course they would have come eventually, but this bridge started things rolling). In 1958, a second span was constructed to handle the increased traffic. Then after the Loma Prieda earthquake caused the specialists to seismically retrofit all the bridges, it was determined that this first bridge could not be retrofitted. Instead they built a third span.

This third span (a suspension bridge that is light and open and my favorite bridge!!) opened a couple years ago. Retrofitting and resurfacing of the 2nd span is complete. Now they are removing the original span.

Tuesday, I arrived near the bridge as the first section of the bridge was being lowered to a barge that will carry it away to Mare Island where they turn it into scrap.

Here is the same shot without the zoom. All the TV stations had camera crews set up there in the 10' of clear shot. They nicely, however, let me slide in front of a camera for my 2 shots.

Tuesday's Trip

This is the outside of Dharma's retail establishment. It is NOT the same facility where they process thier mail orders. Those are Judy and Janice framing my view.



When you walk into the door, the front half of the store is primarily a yarn shop. There is a small room off the left where they sell yardage of fabrics (no photo).


This back room is the place to buy the dyes, paints, chemicals and clothing that you see in the catalog and online. You can find some of the dyes, some of the paints, some of the tools. Not everything. And not necessarily in quantity.

Dharma bound

We three goofballs (Me, Judy and Janice fresh back from the Egyptian eclipse) are heading over to San Rafael today. We are going to Dharma Trading and to Pumpkin Seed Quilt store. I want to see the display of quilts by Los Hilos (check their blog out from my blogroll).

all of those who are now incredibly envious.. how about I take pictures of Dharma so you can be surprised? (shocked? awed?). Do you know that the front half of their store is a yarn shop??

I've worked out the idea for the t-shirts... I already have the dye but I need a couple chemicals. and a couple shirts. And I think I need to take the class at the art center on screening tshirts. Maybe not. Maybe that's getting ahead of myself.

Anyway, I'm going to make a couple shirts (probably asking Gerrie to make me screens.. maybe figuring it out for myself)... as a test run. With "pithy" sayings.

What pithy sayings you query?

Do!! Tell!!
blog your art

What do you think? I have another concept, but I think I'll design those for a cafepress shirt and totebag. It's a bit more "generic".

Yeah, sounds like I'm learning to do a screen printing.

Ya know...

Ya know...I've gotten to used to quizzes that you publish on your blog!!

I was at the Cloth, Paper, Scissors site and they have a quiz.

I couldn't figure out to click on the answer of my choice.

It stopped me cold for a couple seconds!!

Turns out they have a new interesting challenge.. and the quiz is the basis of it.

Go find out What kind of Artist you are...

Oh, me?? I was a perfect split on Grunge/Integrated Artist...

Outside ToDo UPdate

It's 1 pm on Saturday; a thick layer of potential rain clouds is sliding in.

I have weeded the original veggie terrace-bed and the old flower/new veggie terrace bed.

I have also spread amendments over the surfaces and dug it in. The new bed is raked smooth and the tall support ladders are spaced for tomatoes.

The old bed needs to be raked but my bad shoulder is telling me that I can't do it today; maybe not at all. Hopefully I can talk the spouse into doing it for me.

I still need to lay check/fix/layout the drip irrigation system and lay out and build a new footpath.

As much as DebR. loves the flagstone that surrounds our spa.. it doesn't work for the path going down to the gardens. (I put it there when I built the spa flagstone area). I think the slope encourages the dirt to wash through. Anyway, the stones disappeared within a year or so.

This time I'll dig the path deeper, lay down some weedblock and fill the path with small river pebbles. My back and shoulders are already smiling at the thought of carrying bags of these stones...

I also need to bug the spouser to rebuild the steps going down. At the moment, they are only 24" wide. Way too narrow when you've pots or produce throwing off your balance. Can't tell you the number of times I've almost fallen down the steps. So wider, in this case, will be better.

By next weekend I hope to be able to start planting out my veggies; it's normally near the back end of time to plant stuff out (my neighbor traditionally plants out her tomatoes on 3/15), but the rainy weather has pushed everything back a month.

Wasn't it late January/early February that I was concerned that things were a month ahead? That will teach me.

A Woman's Writer Book Meme...

Found this from Liz at Badgerbag... The directions/key:

• Bold the ones you've read.
  
• Italicize the ones you have wanted/might like to read.
  
• ??Place question marks by any titles/authors you've never heard of?? **
• Put an asterisk if you've read something else by the same author.

*Alcott, Louisa May–Little Women
Allende, Isabel–The House of Spirits
* Angelou, Maya–I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
* Atwood, Margaret–Cat's Eye
* Austen, Jane–Emma
??Bambara, Toni Cade–Salt Eaters
??Barnes, Djuna–Nightwood
de Beauvoir, Simone–The Second Sex
Blume, Judy–Are You There God? It's Me Margaret
Burnett, Frances–The Secret Garden
Bronte, Charlotte–Jane Eyre
Bronte, Emily–Wuthering Heights
Buck, Pearl S.–The Good Earth
Byatt, A.S.–Possession
*Cather, Willa–My Antonia
Chopin, Kate–The Awakening
* Christie, Agatha–Murder on the Orient Express
?Cisneros, Sandra–The House on Mango Street
Clinton, Hillary Rodham–Living History
?Cooper, Anna Julia–A Voice From the South
?Danticat, Edwidge–Breath, Eyes, Memory
Davis, Angela–Women, Culture, and Politics
?Desai, Anita–Clear Light of Day
Dickinson, Emily–Collected Poems
Duncan, Lois–I Know What You Did Last Summer
DuMaurier, Daphne–Rebecca
* Eliot, George–Middlemarch
?Emecheta, Buchi–Second Class Citizen
?Erdrich, Louise–Tracks
Esquivel, Laura–Like Water for Chocolate
* Flagg, Fannie–Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Friedan, Betty–The Feminine Mystique
Frank, Anne–Diary of a Young Girl
?Gilman, Charlotte Perkins–The Yellow Wallpaper
?Gordimer, Nadine–July's People
*Grafton, Sue–S is for Silence
Hamilton, Edith–Mythology (atleast parts)
Highsmith, Patricia–The Talented Mr. Ripley
?hooks, bell–Bone Black
*Hurston, Zora Neale–Dust Tracks on the Road
?Jacobs, Harriet–Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Jackson, Helen Hunt–Ramona
Jackson, Shirley–The Haunting of Hill House
* Jong, Erica–Fear of Flying
* Keene, Carolyn–The Nancy Drew Mysteries (any of them)
Kidd, Sue Monk–The Secret Life of Bees
Kincaid, Jamaica–Lucy
*Kingsolver, Barbara–The Poisonwood Bible
Kingston, Maxine Hong–The Woman Warrior
?Larsen, Nella–Passing
* L'Engle, Madeleine–A Wrinkle in Time
Le Guin, Ursula K.–The Left Hand of Darkness
Lee, Harper–To Kill a Mockingbird
* Lessing, Doris–The Golden Notebook
?Lively, Penelope–Moon Tiger
?Lorde, Audre–The Cancer Journals
Martin, Ann M.–The Babysitters Club Series (any of them)
* McCullers, Carson–The Member of the Wedding
*McMillan, Terry–Disappearing Acts
?Markandaya, Kamala–Nectar in a Sieve
?Marshall, Paule–Brown Girl, Brownstones
Mitchell, Margaret–Gone with the Wind
* Montgomery, Lucy–Anne of Green Gables
?Morgan, Joan–When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost
*Morrison, Toni–Song of Solomon
Murasaki, Lady Shikibu–The Tale of Genji
?Munro, Alice–Lives of Girls and Women
* Murdoch, Iris–Severed Head
Naylor, Gloria–Mama Day
Niffenegger, Audrey–The Time Traveller's Wife
* Oates, Joyce Carol–We Were the Mulvaneys
O'Connor, Flannery–A Good Man is Hard to Find
* Piercy, Marge–Woman on the Edge of Time
?Picoult, Jodi–My Sister's Keeper
Plath, Sylvia–The Bell Jar
Porter, Katharine Anne–Ship of Fools
Proulx, E. Annie–The Shipping News
* Rand, Ayn–The Fountainhead
Ray, Rachel–365: No Repeats
Rhys, Jean–Wide Sargasso Sea
?Robinson, Marilynne–Housekeeping
?Rocha, Sharon–For Lac
Sebold, Alice–The Lovely Bones
Shelley, Mary–Frankenstein
Smith, Betty–A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Smith, Zadie–White Teeth
Spark, Muriel–The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
?Spyri, Johanna–Heidi
?Strout, Elizabeth–Amy and Isabelle
* Steel, Danielle–The House
* Tan, Amy–The Joy Luck Club
Tannen, Deborah–You're Wearing That
Ulrich, Laurel–A Midwife's Tale
?Urquhart, Jane–Away
*Walker, Alice–The Temple of My Familiar
* Welty, Eudora–One Writer's Beginnings
* Wharton, Edith–Age of Innocence
Wilder, Laura Ingalls–Little House in the Big Woods
Wollstonecraft, Mary–A Vindication of the Rights of Women
* Woolf, Virginia–A Room of One's Own

If I spent the time, I could add other women writers that I've read who probably deserve to be on this list. But there are gardens to weed and floors to vacuum and life to live. Though there are times that I regret not keeping a Life-Book list.

You knew I was going to do this...

I might have SAID that I wasn't going to work on the garden this week because it was so wet. We all know that I could resist for only a day or so, right?

Back in February, the plan was to remove the hated juniper bushes, add some compost to the poor clay, till it all in, add some sand and dirt, bury the drip irrigation lines, then dig up the plants I'm moving and plant them. Cheay... right!

Reality: remove the hated juniper, rain for 9 weeks, spread 4 bales of compost on top before one week of rain, dig up the plants and replant them. Wednesday I got most of the plants dug up, divided and replanted. It felt really strange to have to water my garden after all this rain (especially since the clay is still rather damp).. still, new plantings new waterings.

Thursday I thought I only had one plant left, a pink penstemon (I think)that just about reached the max size for its space. First step was to cut the foliage down by about 50%, to limit stress on the roots. Here are the two piles: plant and "hair cut". Clearly this plant was as wide as the bed.



SURPRISE. There was a white lantana hiding under some of the growth. The lantana was moved first. It looks insignificant here... but the roots were ready to hold it in place for a 7.2 quake!!

Back to the Penstemon. It had a HUGE woody base, so I couldn't divide it with my standard pull-apart or chop with the shovel method. But it sure looked like it needed to divided. (heck it looked like it needed to have been divided 2 years ago!) I improved a new method:

I got a tree saw, leveraged it between my feet and cut it in half.

The new garden bed is completed planted. I've added some annuals to fill in while the plants settle into place. In a few months things should start to fill in; by next year it should be a very nice butterfly/hummingbird garden.

The small portion of this garden that runs between the spa and the deck doesn't look like much at the moment. It's kind of a mini-herb garden, with sweet basil and sage mixed in among the fuschia and yarrow. Again.. I'll take pictures in a couple months to show the difference. Yeah, this looks just like dirt.

TO DO over the weekend:

• Install the irrigation supply lines.
• Lay out the footpath to the steps.
• Clean up the lower terrace levels for vegetable planting.
• Weed the other garden beds.

Down to the "T"

A number of the ladies attending BlogHer this summer are beginning to plan some wardrobe options. Tshirts from their blog or other blogs.

I've decided that I want... NO NEED.. to take some of older tshirts with stains on them, discharge them, maybe soywax batik them, dye them?? Paint them?? Overdye them?

Anyway, I need to make my own shirts for the couple days.. and maybe make a few more to sell while I'm there. (No I won't be selling old, stained shirts). And I need to figure out how to get my blogname on my tshirt. I really need to visit Dharma (though I can't do it today)...

Shopping list:

some discharge paste
some tshirts?
some cotton socks (shirts and socks to match.. who could resist?)
Check my dyes..

What else??

Today I am headed to the regional quilt council meeting. I'm actually looking forward to the program: planning a guild/mini-group retreat. And I may get to meet Annie Smith of Quilting Stash podcast!!

What I'm Reading

I do most of my reading in the bath each morning. I realized that I just wasn't setting aside a time to read, and establishing this works for me. Run a bath and read until I've read atleast one chapter or the water's gotten cold.

At the moment I'm reading Fool Moon, book two of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. These are "light, fluffy" novels about a Private Investigator Harry Dresden in Chicago who happens to be a wizard. One friend describes them as "harry potter all grown up" but I think that's a bad deal for both series. First, this series was started before Potter hit the world; second.. they are very different universes. Dresden lives in a more real world and most of his problems are dealing with the world we know, when he knows there is more there. They are good fast simple reads.


Anyway, there is one character in this series.. the author writes that she's a small tough woman of Irish decent. But as I read the books, I can't help seeing and hearing Chandra Wilson as this character!! Yep, Dr. Bailey from Grey's Anatomy!! If they ever decide to DO SOMETHING with this book, I hope casting directors listen. This is your Murphy even if she written this way.




We are talking about going away for a couple days this weekend (weather depending) and if we go, I'm going to pack Ruth Reichl's Tender At the Bone. It looks like it would be a good "read aloud" book when we're driving, though Steve has a major problem with that idea.

Ruth was food critic for the NYT, and a writer for Gourmet magazine. This tells about her starting to cook because her mother was "The Queen of MOLD".

Things are finally gellin'..

And I'm not even wearing Dr. Scholl's Insoles!

The sun is predicted to be out for the next three or four days... but it's way too wet to work in the garden. So, gee, I may have to sew! Think I will be experimenting a bit with the ideas I mentioned the other day.. how to get from concepts to a design.

In the meantime, I still have tons of handwork stuff I'm working on. It's amazing how much time is spent and how little to show for it. And for those who seek visual content, this is Sunday's photo.

Let's Pack Up and Move Toward the Fun

If it's Sunday, it must be time for fun and games..

First the weekly quiz:

You Belong in Amsterdam

A little old fashioned, a little modern - you're the best of both worlds. And so is Amsterdam. Whether you want to be a squatter graffiti artist or a great novelist, Amsterdam has all that you want in Europe (in one small city).

What European City Do You Belong In?

Secondly, for the Spring Resurrection Celebrations... two games:

One from my friend Stan lets you play miniature golf without the corndogs, the whiney kid behind you or the overly competitive father in front who hoots when he beats his 5 year old daughter. I think the best I've done is 5 over par. The worst won't be mentioned.

And the fabulous blogger Pam of Beancounterscame up with a fabulous game: Eggrun. Oddly, I find the "harder" courses easier to handle than the "easy" one... but I'm not posting a score.

Seriously addictive fun both!! Listen to egg yell when you accidently have it jump into oblivion.

And in the vein of planning ahead.. I will be Calgary in a couple weeks.. if anyone lives nearby or can recommend things to do while I'm there, I'd appreciate it. I will be on my own from rising until about 5:30 pm.

Query #1

Ok, Karoda gave me a really great question... but I'm saving it. I'd say "for a rainy day..." but then I'd have to use it today. Karoda asked:

What are you reading? Not online but actually book(s) that you hold in your hands. Tell us about the story, the characters, the place, the author, and the effects the book is having on you.

Still waiting for other great questions to put in the pile...

So today I thought I'd answer a question that I've been asking myself lately:

Do have any purely original ideas?

I've got to say, probably not. I can take a couple ideas that others have had, mash them, mix them up and come up with something that is my own, but I don't think I've come up an idea that is 100% original.

Sometimes it bothers me. Usually it doesn't. If the old adage is true that there are only 7 plot lines and all fiction derives from these, then I see no reason to not acknowledge it.

Case in point... a hint at what I'm mashing up at the moment. There is nothing in fiber yet to show.

#1. I've been following Dijanne Cerval's work with Lutrador all year; it's intriguing and fascinating to have transluscent layers in a piece. Now the hunk of Lutrador I have is fairly thick and I'm not sure that it will ever appear transluscent.. that's OK. If translucentcy is important to the work, I could use a sheer in a similar way. (I have already admitted to the world that I'm fascinated by transluscent layers of fabric and color).

#2. Last year it was leaves and layering.. this year I'm back to real fascination: the shape of bare trees. The stunning sillouette of branches against the sky.

So I've wanted to combine these two ideas into a piece, mixing the treeforms up so it's not simply a tree silloutte against a background. How to do that?

Diane gave me another piece of the puzzle last week...

And I'm almost ready to start physically working out the construction details...

Image originally from: The Ecology Center Terrain for Schools.

I Have Almost No Hair Left

For most of the winter I've been trying to grow my hair a bit longer. Thinking that I could get back to my old "wedgey" kind of hair style. One problem, though. My hair grows forward... toward my face. So when I sit down to work, it falls into my face.

After minutes/hours/days of frustration pushing a piece back or away, I'd grab my scissors and whack it off. (yep, thinking Bong is gonna hate me. She's my hairsylist). Last night I talk with myself:

Self: what's up with your hair?? Either you need to cut it short or you need to stop trying to create bangs that go almot back to your neckline.

So I searched online for short haircuts, found a website that will take your face shape and search for the haircut, and took their advice. I printed off 3 pictures and visited Bong today. She asked which one of the three I wanted. I told her to me they were all the same cut, just styled a bit differently.






Bong that these each had distinct differences. That's why she's the stylist. We kind of decided on the middle of the three as more workable for me. Now if only she could style me that chin!!

Anyway, she wielded her scissors and comb.. and I now have a summer weight hair style that will not fall into my eyes.

For Future Posts, Ask and You Shall Receive.

This is an idea I'm taking from another blog...Though I do not know if it was begun for the reason.

Often I'm completely uninspired about something to write about. I either babble or stick in a quiz or meme to take up the space. I'm resisting the almost daily challenges (SPT, IF, Alphabet Soup, etc..) I'd like to do something different. So I am opening this up to the readers for my inspiration. Putting this blog in your hands in a way.

You can ask me any question, and when I have no worthwhile inspiration of my own, I will carefully and thoughtfully answer your question. Check out some of the questions given to Scheherazade. I won't write about being a lawyer or a sailing coach because I've never been.

So I'm challenging you. Email me with a question that has been niggling away at your psyche. Whenever I am dull and flat and without inspiration, I will take inspiration from you, search out the answers to your questions and post a (hopefully witty and telling) post.

Another similar challenge you can do: Tell me what to photograph.

Something Goofy

Ya know how I talk about having adventures with a couple friends where we ALWAYS seem to eat Thai? Well one of them (Janice) just returned from viewing the eclipse in Egypt and we are planning our next adventure.. but a couple weeks ago the two of us who remain who here spent an hour investigating the new JoAnne's ETC.

It's not worth much more time. There is even less fabric then has been in the traditional JoAnne's that are all being replaced. Thank goodness I rely on StoneMountain and Daughter for my fabric purchases!!




Anyway, I brought my camera with me.. and remembered to use it a little. Here are Judy and I trying on what may be our Easter Bonnets. Judy is such a clown!! That's what I love about her. Later we found more goofy hats.

Mine (We think it was a pink alien) just didn't turn out... but Judy seems rather apropos for the
weather.
We followed up the stop at JoAnne's with lunch at a newly opened Vietnamese restaurant (Judy thought it was Thai, and the menu didn't look very different). Lunch was OK but I took some home and realized that is smelled like any Chinese takeout I bring home (this was supposed to be a Lemon chicken thing.. and I never tasted any lemon). So I probably won't return.

After Lunch, we headed for a quilt store. I picked up a couple yards of background stuff there and got home just as the heaven's opened up for the day.

While I don't appear very creative..

I'm really just building my ark. And doing all the online searches to figure out what the heck a "cubit" is. Then I realized I'm not the only one doing this.

Actually, I've realized that I just don't think very creatively during all this dreary and rainy season. So rather than anguish over it, I'm just accepting it. I'm storing this all up and will burst forth in creativity when our weather improves. Like a daffodil!!

When will that be? The latest weather forecasts show rain until next Tuesday...

Just so's you know... In March we had 6 days without rain. So far in April? We've had 1. And it started raining in the end of February. So... in 7 weeks we have had 7 dry days.

Call out for help.

Ok, over the next few weeks I'll be looking for blogs dealing with several things. If you happen to find anything that I may not have seen, please point it out to me:

1. Anything that would fit with the EarthDay theme of Reduce, ReUse or Recycle.

2. Doodling used in any art/craft form.

3. Points and tips on photography (especially for a blog).

I can't afford the ticket..

back to Suffragette City!! But the clerks in Safeway are probably thinking about springing for one for me.

Today my MP3 player is loaded with oldies going back to the 60's.... I pulled a muscle in my thigh yesterday, so I'm hobbling around and these old songs are about the only thing to lift my mood. Well, that and the sun is shining at the moment.

Anyway, I'm listening to music so I don't whine and it means I was walking around the grocery store doing my shopping and singing to myself. Outloud. Most of the help in the store was born after these songs were popular, so I'm sure they found it (how do I put this?) amusing. Yeah, that's the word. (I will not say psycho.. or strange.. or demented.. that won't come til I'm maybe in my 70s....)

Songs in the store:

"It Feels Like the First Time" boston;
"American Pie" Don McLean
"Evil Ways"Santana
"Let's Give Them Something To Talk About" Bonnie Raitt... well, that one was appropriate!!
.

Where was all the Los Lonely Boys stuff?? Much later in the mix...

Anyway, atleast it was a short trip and long songs this time...

But I swear if they played some of this music over the speakers in the store, they'd have the customers dancing in the aisles.

The Wiki Meme

From DebR. It's the Wiki Meme!!

Go to Wikipedia and enter your birthday in the search box, month and day only.. not year. It pops up the Events, Births and Deaths that happened on that day in various years. You list three events, three births, and three deaths that have occurred throughout history on your birthday.

Events:

1864 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln grants Yosemite Valley to California for "public use, resort and recreation."

1905 - Albert Einstein publishes the article "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies", where he introduces special relativity.

1971 - The 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, lowering the voting age to 18, is ratified as Ohio becomes the 38th state to approve it.

Births:

1917 - Lena Horne, American actress and singer. (she's older than I)

1953 - Hal Lindes, Anglo-American music composer and guitarist for the British Rock band Dire Straits. (He's younger, but not much.) And need I mention that one of my favorite earworms is the Dire Straits song: Sultans of Swing??

1959 - Vincent D'Onofrio, American actor (He's even younger than my youngest brother.)

Deaths:

1785 - James Oglethorpe, English general and founder of the state of Georgia (b. 1696)

1971 - Crew of Soyuz 11

• Viktor Patsayev (b. 1933)
• Georgi Dobrovolski (b. 1928)
• Vladislav Volkov (b. 1935)

1993 - George "Spanky" McFarland, American actor (b. 1928)

Now what this says about anything is beyond me. I saw one blog yesterday where they went a step further: they came up with a dinner party peopled by the people listed in that wiki. But I aint' doing that.

Pictures and Words..

I found a new blog this week... Pictures and Words.. Oh wait she changed the blogtitle as soon as I found her.. it's now..Panta Rhei. She is a new member of the Artful Quilt Blogring and the Simple Still Life challenge.

Anyway this is a German blog.. but she publishes in both German and English so you don't miss much.

Saturday she posted a new set of fiber postcards.. with mini-bundles ala Sonji on them.

Check her out.

The Inspiration for PINK

DebL. asked if the collage photo yesterday came from my yard. That collage is heavenly.. this is the reality. Most of the flowers I took are in this shot. Really. There is the green clump with the pink tubular flowers that the hummers like, the clematis, and the peach tree.

Except the geraniums which are peaking out here. In front of them are a just beginning to leaf out lilac, a pink oleander, some lavender and some lantana. None blooming.

A better picture of the clematis (which refuses to climb the lattice and which blooms off-season I think) and the peach tree/shrub. It will get 4' tall.


Oh, Look!! It's about to rain again!! What a unique experience lately!!


Now a wierd question... Is anyone else using Netscape (not Firefox) to post to your blog? And does it hang up for you? I have both browsers on my desktop but usually open Netscape because it automatically opens my mailbox; for the last 2 weeks, when I try to post here from Netscape the program becomes unresponsive and must be closed. I'm waiting to hear from the Help folk, but it might be as long as a month til I hear from them.

Interesting, I can't comment on a blogger-comment page using netscape either...Really wonder if it's something on my end or bloggers...
Just asking if others are having the same problem.

Simple Still Life: FLORAL

This is my simple still life inspiration piece for the month of April.

Ok, so it's not a Still Life. I didn't see where my assignment for the month really said it HAD to be a still life. The assignment was: FLORAL. And GET ME OUT OF THIS FUNK.

So I went outside during a moment of dry and photographed all the pink and pink-ish flowers in the yard. Then I collaged them in Picasa. Clicked and clicked until I liked the arrangement they came up with. (although I dearly wish I could arrange them myself). Now to do something with this as the inspiration.

I am so middle of the road!!

A Bit Of Both You are 50% Calvin and 50% Hobbes

Calvin & Hobbes, like a scruffy yin and yang, are in perfect balance within you. Like Calvin, you're weird, a bit insecure, and can be a trouble-maker. But like Hobbes, you're down to earth and sensitive. It's a risk to say it here, after just a ten question test, but I'll bet you're smarter than most. Both Calvin and Hobbes are crafty, clever characters, and any one made from equal parts of each is a force to be reckoned with.

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 31% on calvin You scored higher than 27% on hobbes

Link: The Calvin Or Hobbes Test written by gwendolynbooks on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Attention Left Coasters.

Tuesday I headed down to The Claremont in Berkeley to check out the classes from the inaugural session of Art Quilt Claremont. Lots of work happening in those classes!!

The instructors who "made the cut" were Jane Dunnewold, Elizabeth Barton, Katie Pasquini-Masopust, and Terrie Mangat. (they had enough students for the classes to go). There was intensive work going on in every classroom.

And here's the important news for us left-coasters. Among the instructors for next year is:

RAYNA GILLMAN .

I signed up for her class while I was there.

Now the website won't be updated for a while, so you can't go there yet and sign up, but if you've wanted to take a class from her, this is a good chance!! As a bonus, Gerrie and I will be there!! Check out Gerrie's blog for updates from this week. Heck, if you don't live on the left-coast, come out for the workshop anyway!! It can't be as rainy next year as it's been this year, can it??

Sigh... Ok I've got to rethink one..

It's NOT Winding Way... It's Winds of Change.

Ya know I read this thing about 5 times while I working on it and I never noticed that.

So the maze thing (that circular prayer thing the name of which I can't remember).. will have to go as a symbol. Darn. I was actually looking forward to stitching that.

Ok...let's think...

Crazy Aunt Purl's Horrorscope...

I know you were waiting:

CANCER (June 22 - July 22)
I have been working on your chart for weeks now. It was unclear to me why I was unable to see a single discernable truth, then I realized: You are me. We are the same, and my utter lack of introspection and self-evaluation is keeping your reading masked from me. And the truth is that while we seem to be caught in some deep psychic fog,(my bolding) we're making progress. Financially, it feels like there's a weight on us we'll never break through. At the same time, we're already making plans for how to get the money situation under control. (Not like the gloomy days of years past when we just hid from these issues, you know?) I say ya'll, we should make a pact to ignore our demons and fears for the month of April and wander blissfully through this month together (well, blissfully as we can, I mean come on -- we're Cancers). Maybe all our old fears will get bored in the waiting room of April and go haunt someone else, like the Libras for a change.

From Sucking Bilge Water To a Colorful Conclusion

Ok, I had a couple ideas for the Ricky Tims thing... Nice line drawings... yucky executed in color and fabric. I tried it a couple ways.

The main idea: come up a nice "landscape" of a Tuscan/NoCal. kind of countryside... with a terraced vineyard, an olive grove and a road winding through and all this and up and around a hillside. Then close up pieces of the olive grove and the terraced vineyard. (and future pieces possible from dividing the picture up different ways).

Let's just say, great idea, dreadful execution. Interesting line drawings in black and white; dreadful colored in. Yeah, I even thought about doing them as black/white line drawings.

So anyway, the rules said to abstract the ideas... so I am really abstracting thing. I've painted up some nice background fabrics... and will abstract the ideas from there.

The piece to the left is the plain fabric painted as one piece. Today I cut it into pieces, fused it to some TimTex and quilting it (to represent the ground and the sky). The left piece will be Fields of Gold; the middle, Winding Way; the right, Tree of Life. And this picture is sideways.




I need to bead these pieces with the symbols that will represent these objects. (that should take me a day or two), and zigzag finish the edges.

OK.. a question. I cropped and edited this piece in Picasa. So why isn't saved cropped?? And how do you SAVE an edited image from Picasa? There isn't a "save" option. So why, when I view the pictures in my "My Pictures" folder, are the changes from Picasa not saved?

And Answers

#1. If you could choose a name for yourself, other than the one you have, what would it be?

Gretchen. Gretchen March. Gretchen because it was my familiar nickname as a kid, and atleast every 5th female born in the 50s wasn't named that; March because since I read Little Women in 4th grade, I've imagined myself the fifth (and unknown) March girl.

Either that or Lillian Jade. It's a very melodic name, but I have trouble thinking of myself as a Lillian.

#2. If I really wanted to annoy someone, I would continually do this:

(OK, did anyone point out that this isn't a question???)

Correct their grammar.

#3 What's the most embarrassing thing you have ever done?

Yeah, I'm going to tell you!! Let's just say I got home from work that day and burned the dress!!

Another one of the most memorable embarrassing things I've done is wear a dayglo orange to Sunday mass at our huge church. On St. Patrick's Day.

#4. How many jokes do you know by heart?

None. Though if you tell the joke, I can screw up the punchline!!

#5. What are you most neurotic about?

Most neurotic?? Who says I'm neurotic?? What have you heard?? Yeah. I'm most neurotic about the idea of people talking about me behind my back.

#6. If you were to give yourself a creative title for your personal business card, what would it say?

The last creative title I stole for myself: TechnoMage. One who uses technology to create magic. (I'm offering a prize to the person who can name the TV show this came from, because I don't remember the name!!)

Ok, my friend SongBert reminded me of the correct name: Crusade. It was the short-lived off-shoot program from Babylon 5.

Questions

Ok, I an SO stealing this from the Mommybloggers... Comment here that you are answering the questions on your own blog. Then copy, paste and answer!! Or answer in the comments if you wish and you don't have a blog (Del).

#1. If you could choose a name for yourself, other than the one you have, what would it be?

#2. If I really wanted to annoy someone, I would continually do this: (OK, did anyone point out that this isn't a question???)

#3 What's the most embarrassing thing you have ever done?

#4. How many jokes do you know by heart?

#5. What are you most neurotic about?

#6. If you were to give yourself a creative title for your personal business card, what would it say?

The quiz dujour

Your Brain's Pattern

Your mind is a multi dimensional wonderland, with many layers. You're the type that always has multiple streams of though going. And you can keep these thoughts going at any time. You're very likely to be engaged in deep thought - and deep conversation.

What Pattern Is Your Brain?

Opening of the Season

We spent the day doing chores: grocery shopping, vacuuming and dusting. And I also went to Papa Murphy's to pick of the traditional "opening day of a sports season" pizza. They make a really nice fresh, uncooked pizza which you take home and bake in your own oven. And the will put most of the cheese on one side, so I don't have to deal too much with the effects of eating dairy.

Yum.

Pizza came out of the oven just as Jon Miller began introducing the night's event: Tommy's Chicago White Sox vs. My Cleveland Indians.

Go TRIBE!! My time of cheering for the White Sox is over until and unless they remain in the October playoffs longer than the Tribe does.

Let me just say, it's really strange to see Jim Thome playing in the game... and trying to beat Cleveland.

The game is scoreless, and I will go before now and watch.

Baseball has begun...Life is good again.

It never rains in California..

but it pours!! I know I've been whining about the rain a lot lately, but there is a reason.

Thursday we set a record; it became the rainiest March on record, raining all but 5 days in the month. And to keep the record going.. it also rained Friday, Today and is predicted to rain every day through next weekend.

I am growing gills!!

I spend hours during the day watching the sky and waiting for a good one hour dry spell to go for a walk. Some days I find it; many I don't. I swear my mood will improve as soon as I see a little sun and get more physical activity.

In the meantime, I'm working on perfecting the sketches for the Microcosm thing.