I have been selecting and fusing some of my indigo fabrics for an Aspen themed landscape. In addition to the indigo blues, I am using some of the colors of Aspen leaves. Here is the palette, so far. I love how those golds and oranges look with the indigo.

I have been struggling this week, but not because of the bad sinus headache, that is gone. On Monday, I had my physical with my doctor. I had all good reports — my blood pressure was 114/68. I was given 2 vaccinations — pneumonia booster and shingles. Well, I have had a very bad reaction to the shingles vaccination. Yesterday, I could barely do a thing. I had a temp of 101 and finally went to bed quite early. I managed to start fusing some fabrics, but really didn’t get much done. Today, I finally felt better, but still have a hot, painful rash on my arm where I got the shot. Argh!

Tomorrow, I am taking care of M and M for Steph as she is updating her shop with some adorable new animals on Friday. How cute are these? You can find them here, on Friday.

Tomorrow, it will be in the 90s, so I think some water play will be in order!

I tried to take some photos of Scooter with my iPhone at the end of our walk today. He has grown quite a bit. We love him so much. He is gentle and funny and a wonderful addition to our life.

Here is the almost new microwave I got for five bucks today. Every June, our neighborhood has a huge garage sale. This is going into my studio for silk dyeing.  People come from far and wide. I have been suffering from one of those horrendous sinus headaches that I get. Yesterday, I didn’t do much except burn a CD to enter a fiber show with pieces that have photography in them. I got out a few pieces of fabric to start a new Aspen themed piece.

I was not sure how I would feel this morning. I was just finishing breakfast when M & M and their parents arrived to head out to the garage sales. I put on my shoes, put my coffee in a thermos and with Mr C and Scooter in tow, off we went.

I picked up a roll of heavy weight plastic in a free pile. I also got these big buckets for shibori dyeing for a dollar.

I couldn’t resist this sweet little print for five dollars.

We spent 5 hours, stopping for lunch along the way. Miles had saved up some money and got some great bargains. M & M selected some puzzles and games for us to have at out house.

After I recovered, I decided to head over to Reed College and check out the Art Fiberfest that has bee happening there the past few days. I found Nikki Wheeler who is one of the Twelves of 12 X Twelve. She was having a great time, having escaped the daily life as super mom.

I also got to meet Alma Stoller who was here teaching. She was delightful and I wish I had had more time to chat with her. Someone in the class wanted to know if I was the mother of the two famous sisters. Ha! Yes, my claim to fame — Lisa and Steph’s mom.

And so it was fitting that when I went to New Seasons to pick up take out for dinner, I saw this display of Lisa’s designs on prominent display!. This was taken with my iPhone and is not that great.

This photo taken of Mia with my iPhone, however, is quite good. She is growing up too fast.

I am whooped. Off to bed. G’night.

I had a horrible sinus headache today and am losing my voice. There is something in the air that is making my allergies go bananas. I managed to put away all of the SDA registration materials and get rid of the table that has been part of my office space for 6 months. It was cathartic. It gave me energy. I straightened up the studio and put away fabrics I had been auditioning for the SAQA piece. I got a burst of energy and decided it was time to make another scrap piece. For this, I used fused silk scraps that were left over from the big liturgical piece I did 3 years ago. I fused some color strips and cut curvy strips and arranged them on the silk background and did some simple quilting. Here is a detail:

Today, when I came home from walking Scooter, I found this in my front yard, fortunately before Scooter did.

I ushered Scooter inside and grabbed my camera. She saw me and started escorting the babies away.

Here they are “duck”ing for cover.

I have not seen them since. I don’t know where they came from or where they have gone.

It is summer and this blog will occasionally succumb to gratuitous photos and posts about the grandkids. They came to spend the day. Here they are lunching al fresco on the deck and in the sun.

Here is Mia with a mouth full of watermelon.

Mr C and Miles made a couple of trips to the Dollar Tree. I think Miles is beginning to understand the tenuous quality of their merchandise, if you know what I mean. Mia and I took Scooter for a walk around Reed College campus and then pulled weeds in the garden.

This afternoon, we had a rousing game of Go Fish for Art, using the Impressionist deck. Mia said she liked learning to pronounce the names. I used my best French accent for them!!

Yesterday, I went shopping to spend some of the money I made as registrar for the conference. I upgraded to Leopard on my desktop computer and also got the maximum memory. I also bought this:

Oops, wrong side:

And here are the apps:

Yes, I got an iPhone and I am loving it and I don’t even have the bubble wrap app, Terry!! (sorry for the lousy photos!) I have spent quite a bit of time today adding my contacts and learning the ins and outs. The keyboard makes texting so much easier. I must say, I have quite mastered the little thing. And don’t you love the lime green case that I got? I also love that wallpaper in the second photo. As a senior citizen, I got a way better deal on the monthly service, too.

Fiberfest is going on over at Reed College. I think it used to be Art & Soul and was in another location. Kathyanne White, an SDA friend, is teaching a couple of classes. They have a vendor’s night open to the public on Friday night. I’m planning to go over. I have invited Kathyanne to come over for a glass of wine tomorrow night. I guess I better get the studio cleaned up.

We have not had perfect weather, but we have had pretty great weather — a little rain and a lot of sun breaks. The family came over yesterday for a Dad’s day barbecue. Miles and Mia have so much fun playing with Scooter, and he loves the vigorous play that they provide.

When I went down to my office today, I found this created from my magnetic words.

I suspect Mia did this, but I don’t know for sure. I love it.

I spent a lot of time working on the SAQA auction quilt. I haven’t been doing a lot of free motion quilting, and felt a bit inept. At one point I had a huge thread nest on the back of the quilt which I had to rip out. Mr C was helping Jack and Steph put drywall on their kitchen ceiling so there was no one around but the dogs to hear my frustration.

In the end, I am saisfied with the result. I think the fabric makes this piece and I was afraid of mucking it up with stitching. Here it is. I have titled it Mystical Forest.