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Archive for the ‘Flowers and plants’ Category

Good Things

Friday, August 17th, 2007

Yesterday, I weighed in for the first time since my vacation and I lost .6 pounds. I am so happy with that. It was great to know that I can be in control of my eating, even when I am eating all of my meals out. Even better, is the way my clothes are fitting. I have a few things left from the last time I lost 10 pounds, but once I get to the next ten pounds – look out – ’cause I am going shopping!!

On my way home from WW, I stopped at Mill Ends to buy fabric for curtains for the bedroom because Mr C was anxious to get started with the painting. Here is what I picked out. Isn’t this a cool and modern print?

bedroomcurtainfabric.jpg

Yesterday, he finished painting my chairs. If only I had time to sit out there and read!

greenchairs.jpg

In the afternoon, Steph, M & M and I went to IKEA. It is a little overwhelming to take everything in, but the cool Swedish design is just wonderful. Suits my aesthetic to a tee. Miles helped me find ice cream dishes. He wanted the tall sundae dishes, but I opted for something smaller and more simple. Mia was getting a kick out of the Swedish names for things. I was excited to fnd these bag clips which is what I was using in my shibori class last month.

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After a trip to the Farmer’s Market, I came home with lots of wonderful fresh and organic fruits and veggies and these zinneas.

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Under the zinneas are my new kitchen placemats from Target. They are a knock-off of the much more pricey Chilewich mats that I have been coveting. Plus, the color is perfect for my kitchen color scheme.

Another good thing is this little saying that I find in the cap of my Sobe Green Tea at lunch.

catwalkcap.jpg

Last night I panicked when I realized that there were two quilt show deadlines in the next two days. I scratched one of them, since A Thin Place is going to IQF and it was the only fit that I had. Today, I managed to get organized and e-mail and entry to Art Quilts XII, Current. I love it when I don’t have to deal with slides and Fedexing an entry.

This morning was the monthly STASH meeting at Beth’s home. Before Reva picked me up, I had to run to the paint store with Mr C to pick out the paint. We have cocoa brown for the curtain wall and something called reflection which is the bluegreen in the fabric. And sand for the woodwork. I had to make a decision on the fabric, but I don’t think there will be any curtains made for awhile!! Fortunately there are fabric shades there for now.

It wasn’t ideal weather, but we did enjoy sitting in Beth’s beautiful backyard. Click on an image to see it larger.

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She had challenged us all to get something finished to bring for show and tell. I was too enthralled to take pictures, sorry!! She served us a great lunch of sesame noodles, veggies from her garden and blueberry tartlets. Yumm!

I got some paper work done this afternoon and had hoped to get some studio work done. Tomorrow morning is critique with June and Terry — always a great time.

I Love a Parade

Saturday, July 14th, 2007

We live in the Eastmoreland Neighborhood, but are adjacent to the Woodstock neighborhood, where we do a lot of our shopping. Today was the annual Woodstock Festival, complete with parade, entertainment, food and street fair.

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Maggie and I walked up the hill to the Woodstock neighborhood while Mr C worked in the yard. I arrived just in time for the beginning of the parade. It was the total small town/neighborhood parade. Lots of kids, a couple of bands, some dogs, antique cars, bikes and dedicated neighborhood souls. Here are a few pics. You can see more on my Flickr set.

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Steve worked on planting the area outside my studio. This is the view from my studio, through the sliding glass doors.

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It is still a little barren, but at least we have a good start. Here is how it looks from above, taken from the deck — yellow bird bath and Japanese Maple.

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Here are close-ups of my new lacy Hydrangea and a gorgeous Begonia. Clickable to see larger.

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Mr C and I have been spending the last couple of days planning a driving trip in August. We are driving to the Olympic Peninsula and staying one night, with a day and a half to explore. Then we stay in Port Orchard and catch the ferry to Victoria the next day. We will stay there for two nights. Then we are driving to Seattle for an overnight stay so that we can take in the new sculpture park and art museum renovation. I am really looking forward to this. I love to hit the road with Mr C!

Good Things

Friday, June 29th, 2007

Things are looking up around here. I have several good things to report. First, my energy is coming back. I can put in a full day on my feet doing errands, cooking a meal, working in the studio, and I am not hitting the wall at 7 pm. I have managed to rack up 12 -13,000 steps in the last few days.

Secondly, my sinus allergies are sort of under control. I am being very good about following the regime prescribed by the hunky doctor.

Third, Lisa is coming tomorrow to spend a week in Portland. I get her to myself for a few days as Steph and family won’t be home until late on the 4th of July. We have some fun things planned.

Fourth, I am taking a thickened discharge class at the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts for the next two days. Reva is taking the class, too. (Thickened discharge sounds like a severe sinus problem- yuck!!)

Here is my stack of fabric for the class:

dischargeclassfabric.jpg

I had some dye in the fridge that was left over from dyeing silk scarves last month so I overdyed some less than attractive fabric. Some of it was successful; some of it just proved to me that I need to toss it or just use it on the backs of quilts.

Here is the overdyed silk; this was the most successful. I should have taken before photos.

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These are the overdyed cottons:

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This is the largest piece that I did. It was a wimpy blue that had lots of white in it. I really like how it turned out.

largeoverdyedblue.jpg

I have managed to survive my fist two days on Weight Watchers. I am doing the Core plan which means that I have a list of food that I can eat as much as I want until comfortably full. I have 35 points for the week for goodies that are not on the list, like wine, bread, etc. At the end of day two, I still have 33 points. You can earn points through exercise. I have felt hungry and tell myself that this is a good thing, too.

Judy asked if anyone has hydrangeas blooming. I do, but they are not spectacular like many that I see in the neighborhood. I think they need more sun. We moved one to the back yard and it is really slow coming back. It used to be so pretty in the front yard, but didn’t go with the new landscaping. Anyway, here is my Hydrangea and a couple of closeups, which I think are quite spectacular. The thumbnails are clickable for larger views.

hydrangeas.jpg hydrangeacloseup2.jpg hydrangeacloseup1.jpg

I’ll try to remember my camera tomorrow and post some pictures from class of Reva and I in our fashionable respirators!