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Archive for the ‘This and that’ Category

Day 18

Friday, December 18th, 2015

Rain

We have been getting a lot of this.

Portland — which has seen 12.54 inches of rain in December — looks to be on track to break the all-time record for December of 13.32 inches. That total got a huge boost Thursday, where 2.42 inches of rain fell downtown, breaking the old record of 2.26 inches, for the date set back in 1884.

Friday marked the 19th day in a row that Portland has had a least a trace or more of rain.

Today, it did not rain incessantly, just lots of shower bursts. In fact there were sun breaks. That is a term that I learned after moving here. Winter is normally overcast and showery with sun breaks.

We took advantage of the sunbreak to take the street car down to the DMV. I had a form from my surgeon to get one of these.

handicap

Mr C needed to replace a damaged driver’s license. The DMV is a place where all types of citizens cross paths. I am a people watcher and always enjoy the scene.

So, that was today, nothing exciting happening. I did a bunch of SDA work, but I need to finish quilting my lost edges piece and turn it in. Maybe tomorrow.

Day 17

Thursday, December 17th, 2015

kandhouses

I have had a busy couple of days. Yesterday was the PDX SAQA holiday lunch at Elizabeth Bamberger’s home. Always a fun time, sharing food and fellowship with members. Before I left, Kristin La Flamme stopped by to drop off something and asked if she good photograph her Migration Story piece in my condo hallway. It is a totally wonderful piece about her personal migration story as an Army Wife. It will be in the SAQA exhibit at the Textile Museum in DC.

kenyafiberartists

During the show and tell yesterday, Mary Ann McCammon, showed us this quilt made by women in Kenya where she taught a workshop for women suffering from obstetric fistula. This is a cause that Marianne has taken up and she does lots of work for the Fistula Foundation and her own artwork often references the problem. This is a third world problem where this problem is not addressed as it is in most modern medical care. This quilt, which has lovely story embroidery, will be auctioned off. I really admire Mary Ann for her work with this organization.

After SAQA, I was off to the dentist to get a needed check up for my impending knee surgery. So, I have that out of the way. And then, I crashed.

Today, I met my STASH friends for lunch and some sloshing around in the rain visiting some shops in the Portland Alberta area.

stash12-15

I found my daughter, Lisa’s, latest fabric line at the Modern Domestic store:

lisafabricalberta

At the knitting shop, nearby, I bought this angora yarn to make an infinity scarf. I love that chartreuse and gray combo.

angorayarn

Tonight, Lisa and Clay took us out to dinner and then to a Baroque music concert at Trinity. What a gorgeous concert with solo voices that sounded like angels. The orchestra played the old renaissance instruments. So tonight, I am feeling mellow and happy having had wonderful fellowship and food and music. Tomorrow, I have to get some work done.!!

 

Day 13

Sunday, December 13th, 2015

 

seasonal-affective-disorder-depression

I have been having a pity party of one. I have felt depressed and lethargic and have to force myself to get up and get dressed and get on with the day. I know that part  of the reason is Seasonal Affective Disorder. I have had it all my life. When we moved to California in 1976, it went away. Then we moved to Portland and the first year we were here, I bought a happy light which I sat next to every morning as I had my coffee and checked my e-mail. I also had a Rise and Shine Wake up light which came on like the sun was rising, getting brighter over a matter of minutes. I also had the huge studio with daylight florescent lighting. I had to be careful to not spend too much time there at night or I would have a problem falling asleep.

Over time, I think I adapted to the changing seasons. Last year, we moved here to the condo which is much darker and up against a hill. Last winter was fairly mild and so the lack of sunshine didn’t seem to be a problem, but this year? Argh! Dark and rainy and miserable.

The other problem is my damn knee pain. I am in pain most of the day and wake up early in the morning with more pain. The amazing brace is helping, in fact, I am so happy when I can wear it, but I am still limited to 2-3 hours a day. The brace actually changes the alignment of my body and so even though the pressure on my knee joint is released, the rest of my body is not happy so I have to ease into time in the brace. It does seem to have a residual effect, in that I feel pretty good for a couple of hours after I take it off.

And so, starting today, I am going to try to deal with this as best I can. I have all of these symptoms  and so I will try to work on the treatment because we all know that this is just not me.

medicap-pharmacy-sad

I did have a lovely end to yesterday. Wonderful Christmas concert and dinner with Lisa and Clay.

Thanks for letting me share this. It helps to get it out there.

Day 8

Tuesday, December 8th, 2015
Krystal Nacht  by  Robert Natkin

Krystal Nacht by Robert Natkin

Since I have been unable to get to my studio, I thought I would share some art I love, with you. I just recently discovered this abstract artist and I love, love his work. This is a link to his website. Love his use of color and the interesting shapes.

Robert Motherwell, At Five in the Afternoon, 1950. Oil on hardboard.

Robert Motherwell, At Five in the Afternoon, 1950. Oil on hardboard.

I was also delighted to find that there is a collection of Robert Motherwell’s Elegies at the de Young. We are heading to the bay area after Christmas so this is on my to see list. We own a Motherwell signed print so I am looking forward to seeing more of his work. This is our piece hanging over the fireplace.

fireplacearea

I picked up my bionic knee brace today.

bionic knee

I could only wear it for an hour today and add an hour each day with a max of 8 hours. On my initial use, I think it is working. Now I have to figure out what I have in the way of pants that will fit over this.

rainydayviewfromgym

And this happened – more rain and more flooding, mudslides and sink holes in the Portland area. It is so warm, I fear that the snow will have left our mountains.

 

Day 7

Monday, December 7th, 2015

_DSC7390

This is a little piece that I did earlier. It is an homage to the grain elevators you see in eastern Oregon and Washington, surrounded by golden fields of grain. My favorite part of this piece are the little details that I added. I did lots of stitching with perle cotton.

_DSC7389

Today, we braved the wild weather here in Portland. I had an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon in Hillsboro. We started up Burnside Road which is near where we live and were met with this – rushing water and debris. Traffic was totally stopped in front of us. We quickly did a u-turn and went via another route. When we came home later, they had closed the access to Burnside from our area.

76935592_Still

I found that I am definitely a candidate for knee joint replacement in my right leg. It was very interesting to go through my x-rays with him. The unfortunate thing is that there is a backlog of people waiting to get knee replacements so I have a 5 month wait. In the meantime, I got fitted for a brace which will hopefully relieve the bone on bone pain on the outside of my knee joint where I have the problem. I go to pick it up tomorrow. I hope it helps. It will surely add to my festive look for holiday events – not!

I feel so much better tonight just knowing that I am now on track for some relief.