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Archive for the ‘Flowers and plants’ Category

Good Things

Friday, March 6th, 2009

Thanks for the commiseration over my recent state of mind. Today was much better (even though I turned myself into WW and was up 4 pounds!! eek!!), and I think it proves the old adage that sharing our misery helps to dilute it.

I spent an hour with a charming Comcast tech who straightened out our connections so that our phone, Internet and TV will all operate more efficiently. He fell in love with Maggie and might have absconded with her if I had allowed it.

M and M arrived early afternoon (no school). We took a walk in the Rhodie Garden and fed the ducks. There were many signs of spring.

onetwothree

springdress

helibores

milescrossingwater

redcoat2

The mail came very late today, but it had two large envelopes that made me very happy.  Early in February, I won a pressie when I commented on Regina’s Mostly Turquoise blog. Regina is a talented artist who lives on the Dutch West Indies island of St. Martins (Sint Maartin). My gift arrived today and it is so much more than I expected. It is a beautiful art quilt with some hand painted fabric and of course, some turquoise.

reginaquilt

And some more Regina Art:

reginaart

Thank you so much, Regina!

The other envelope was the acceptance of two of my quilts into the Sacred Threads exhibit. This happens every two years, in June, in Ohio. The two quilts are the Galilee Sunrise and the Wailing wall with the Dome of the Rock, both of which were in my show and sold. The new owners have graciously agreed to let them travel. They can be seen on my Flickr set, Holy Land Pilgrimage, A Quilter’s Journey.

M and M brought some much needed energy and fun to my life.

Woe is Me

Monday, December 8th, 2008

This was one of those Mondays when nothing was going right. I know you want to hear all my woes, right?

Number one. My laptop died on Saturday. I thought it was caused be a dead battery and a power cord with a short. Turns out, there was a problem worse than that. Anyway, I got a pretty good deal on a trade-in and a new open box Mac I-book. Open box means that it was purchased and returned and I got it for a discount. I get the new Mac warranty. I also get a new carrying bag and a Lacie external back-up drive. I was hoping to pick it up this morning, after they had copied all my files to the new computer. But they called and said that it kept freezing up and so they had to try another method. Tonight, they called and I can pick it up tomorrow. Woohoo! Can’t wait.

Number two. This morning I packed up my nice clothes that are too big and took them to the nearest consignment shop. They only took about 1/4 of the things I took in. They said they were not “their” style. I said, Oh, that is why I can never find anything here. You don’t carry “my” style!! So tomorrow, I am going to call the Savvy Plus consignment store to see if they are interested. I find it amusing that they want items purchased in the past year to year and a half. And yet, when you look around the store, she see all this stuff that you know is older than that. Sigh. It is so much easier to go to the Good Will and forget about cash!!

Number three. Two weeks ago, I ordered 3 rolls of fabric prepared for printing on a large format computer. the company is ColorPlus, in Las Vegas. Last Tuesday, I called to find out where my stuff was. She said it had not been sent because the organza was not in. I said, just send the silk and the cotton – I needed it yesterday. She said she would send it priority mail. You guessed it. No fabric has arrived. I called again. I was told that they would call back in half an hour to let me know if it had been shipped. No phone call. I will try again and tell them I have 500 fiber artists reading my blog, and they will hear about my problem!! (Sometimes a little exaggeration works!)

Otherwise, it has been very pleasant around here. Olivier left at 4:30 this morning. I never got to take a photo of him in his cool coat, but I found one on the Internet. He is on the right. He found some wonderful vintage German-made opera glasses at an antique store on Saturday. We had a great lunch at Papa Haydn’s. The Bach Christmas Oratorio was absolutely divine. It includes 6 cantatas and is 3 hours long, but very worth it. It was followed by Wassail and cookies.

My latest project, while I wait for my fabric, is a collage titled “Pilgrimage”. I have printed a photo of our group on organza and also have a photo of footprints on silk. I have made thermofax screens of the religious symbols in the background. The orange linen will be the base for this. I am going to try writing on it with a syringe or tjanting tool.

Lastly, I was talking to Mr C in his office and looked out and saw this wonderful sight of water droplets on the strange flowers that bloom in the fall on the plant outside his window. I tried to get a clear photo of it using the close-up button. If you click on the photo, you can see the droplets a little better.

Here is another shot of the flowers.

My friend, Diane, takes incredibly beautiful macro shots of flowers. My camera cannot compete with hers, but I love trying!!

A Mellow Monday

Monday, July 7th, 2008

This is a hydrangea that I planted on my studio patio last year. It has just bloomed. I love the lacy blossoms.

I spent some time designing my quilt for the next 12 X 12 challenge — illumination. I am having fun with my idea, but I can’t share anything yet.

I painted some of the fabric that I printed last week — the brown circles. I used a limey green Setacolor. I am going to use this for the SAQA 12 inch auction donation.

I also played with some options for the construction piece that I have been redoing. I am auditioning some design elements, and they may get the parts!!

Today a big truck rolled up with all the fixtures for our bathroom — two sinks with chrome stands, the shower fixture with the rain shower head, and the swanky La Cava shower base. Everything is sitting in the garage. There will apparently be a frenzy of activity tomorrow.

I think summer is here to stay. It was a mellow day today. I did a big edit for the SDA auction pages. I also spent some time ordering supplies from Prochem and Thai Silk.

What is Bubbling in the Front Yard?

Thursday, April 17th, 2008

Mr C is making great progress with our bubbling fountain for the front yard, adjacent to the garage. Mark helped us buy the pots when he was here last month. the black plastic will get cut back. There will be larger rocks surrounding the pots. The water will filter and become clearer. Here is a close-up

While I was out in the front yard, I saw a big fat bumble bee getting nectar from these flowers, but the bee would not stay still long enough for me, but I did get a nice close up of the flowers, which also attract hummingbirds.

Annie and her dad, our next door neighbors, came by to check out the fountain. I had to get a photo of her shoes and socks — tres cool!

I managed to send some goodies off to Kristin and Diane, today. I also sent in my entry for the APQN show in August. Some snow and cold weather is forecast for the next few days. Will spring ever come to stay?

Pink Season In Portland

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

Spring arrives tonight, and it is in evidence all over my neighborhood. Spring is pink season in Portland. We even have pink snow. These are clickable to see larger. There are more photos on my Portland Pink Season Flickr set.

pinkthree.jpg pinkthirteen.jpg pinksnow.jpg

pinkfive.jpg pinktwelve.jpg pinkeight.jpg

I was so inspired by the pink that I made a pink season collage, using some of my vintake kimono fabrics. The background is hand-dyed. I think I will add some beads to this.

pinkseasoncollage.jpg

I also finished the other collage that I started at the beach. These both need some stitching.

kimonocollagemania.jpg

Steph, Jack and M & M are taking a red-eye to North Carolina tonight. Mr C is taking them to the airport. There was no room for me in the car. I will miss having them here for Easter, but I have a good excuse not to buy candy!

I didn’t lose any weight at WW, but that is ok considering my diet over the week-end. Today, I got my hair cut by Kevin at Carpe Diem. I really like the cut. I think I finally found someone who understood what I wanted – a no-nonsense haircut.

I was able to score tickets to see and hear Obama on Friday morning here in Portland and then I remembered that I have crit group at Terry’s. I am a bit disappointed, but it has been really difficult for us to find a time when we can all be there.