home
about the artist
gallery
blog
links
contact

Archive for November, 2011

Not MIA

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011

I have not been inclined to blog about anything. I have been busy catching up on SDA work and other stuff. I can’t believe it is Wednesday. I did finish piecing Gwen’s Disappearing Nine Patch blocks. I need to run to the fabric store and get something for borders so that I can finish it.

So, I thought I would post a few inspirational photos from our week-end at the beach. That is a mushroom up there.

This rock looks like paint has been dripped over it, but the white is part of the rock.

And of course, a very contented Scooter.

 

I promise something more interesting, soon!!

More Family Fun

Saturday, November 26th, 2011

I can’t believe that we are heading home tomorrow. The days have flown by. Yesterday, was a beautiful day. We drove in to Crescent City where Mark had a plan to forage for sea food for a family dinner for Saturday night. You can see that the intrepid Scooter was ready to help.

As was Mia –

Here comes the expert, decked out for some serious seafood gathering.

If  you look closely, you can see him out there on the rocks at low tide.

With the help of Mia, Miles, Jack and Stephanie – they more that harvested their quota of mussels. Mark was able to get one fish with his poke pole. Mark enjoys catching fish by poke poling.

Last night, Steph made some fabulous turkey and squash enchiladas. This morning, Mark led an expedition to the docks in Crescent City where they hoped to get some crabs for tonight’s meal. They managed to get one after 3 hours of waiting,

Lisa, Clay, the dogs and I stayed back here and went for a nice walk at the Crissey Field State Park, just over the state line in Oregon.

Here are some photos from our walk:

I love beach grass!!

This tree is in our back yard.

Mussels waiting to be cleaned.

We all took turns scrubbing the mussels.

A couple of kids wait patiently for their food.

The wait was worth it.

Jayme made some delicious brown sugar cookies to finish off the meal. It was all good.

Tomorrow, we have to clean up and head home. It has been great.

With Gratitude

Thursday, November 24th, 2011

 

I am full of gratitude for the life I have been given, my family and my friends.  I am happily ensconced in this house facing the Pacific Ocean in California, just across the border from Oregon. All my children and their partners, grandchildren, Scooter and Wilfredo, my granddog are here for the Thanksgiving holiday. Above is the house we are in. The top floor, where those windows are, looks out across the ocean.

We all had harrowing drives through wind and rain to meet here. Now, it seems so worth it.

Sunset last night, after the rain stopped and the skies began to clear.

We brought Scooter with us and he has been such a great traveling companion. He was very excited when his buddy, Mark, showed up.

This morning we arose to find blue skies and set out to check out the beach and the state park across the street.

 

Scooter and Wilfredo are getting along quite well. Last time, he drove Wilfredo nuts!! Here is Wilfredo chillin’ with Lisa.

We are all contributing to the holiday feast. I am doing the turkey, stuffing and cranberries. Here are Mark and Jayme chopping veggies for their veggie dishes. They also made us a delicious kale frittata for breakfast.

And, best of all, here is the baby bump!!

 

If you have made it all the way to the end, I want to thank you for checking in on my blog on a regular basis. I am grateful for you, too.

Hope you are having a happy day.

Mottainai – Essence of Things

Monday, November 21st, 2011


This is a most incredible exhibit! Steph and I took it in this afternoon. We so wanted to touch everything. The exhibit is on through the week-end at the Portland Japanese Garden. The Mottainai exhibition consists of objects hand-made by the wives of farmers, fishermen and lumbermen in rural communities in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The earlier pieces are lovingly patched and stitched over and over for reuse. The later objects are fabric and garments made from natural fibers like hemp, ramie, wisteria, elm, paper and kudzu.

I will just post some photos with comments where I remember something.

The first set of photos are of boro cloth – which is older cloth and garments that are patched and stitched.

Boro Apron.

 


If you click on this sign, you can read about sakiori. Sakiori is derived from the saki, meaning tear and ori for weave. The sakiori cloth uses torn strips of cloth for the weft.

This is a gorgeous garment  woven from ramie.

This piece of fabric covered a seat which was over a brazier for heat. The heat scorched the center of the fabric and it has been patched and mended many times for reuse.

We saw some very utilitarian sashiko. Most of what I have previously seen has been very decorative.

Kudzu fibers!!

Paper undergarment.

Paper garment.

 

Indigo dyed paper garment.

The following pieces are elm or linden tree fibers.

 

This is wisteria!! (I think)

 

Not sure what this is – just some patched and stitched fabric and balls of fibers.

It was just a lovely, lovely and humbling exhibit.

At the gift shop, I bought a pack of linen squares. I am not sure what I will do with them – maybe just fondle them.

I also bought the catalog, which I think is available at the online store, here.

Before heading to the garden, the whole family had lunch at Sushi Land for Miles’ birthday. He loves this place because the food comes around on a conveyer belt and he can grab whatever he wants.

 

Here is a sweet photo of Mia with her Dad.

I must get a good night’s sleep so that I can do all the holiday prep work tomorrow to load in the car for our drive down to Smith River, which is on the coast just south of Oregon. Scooter is going to the groomer to get all pretty for his first vacation with us.

The Alliance for the American Quilt Auction

Sunday, November 20th, 2011

My little quilt, Pearls of Wisdom, is on the auction block on ebay this week to benefit the Alliance for American Quilts. The auction starts tomorrow at  9:00 pm Eastern. The bidding for each quilt will start at $50. You can pay by credit card, PayPal or check.

There are lots of great pieces for sale around the theme of Alliances: People, Patterns, Passion. Click here to see the “Alliances” quilts up for bid on eBay this week. (They will not be visible until the auction starts.)

I have been putzing around and not getting much done in the studio. With turkey day looming, I can’t seem to settle down.

Tomorrow, if it isn’t raining absolute buckets, Steph and I are taking M & M to the Japanese Garden to see Mottainiai: The Fabric of Life; Lessons in Frugality from Traditional Japan. I hope to get some photos. It is Miles birthday today, and we will take him out for sushi and presents after the Garden. He had his friend party today.