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Archive for the ‘This and that’ Category

Thursday This and That

Thursday, April 3rd, 2008

I realized, today, that I have not reported on my weight loss/gain in two weeks. Last week, I skipped my meeting. And you know how my week was with family visiting, eating out and cooking. So it should be no surprise that I have not lost weight in a couple of weeks. I was about to give it up, but at the meeting yesterday, I struck up a conversation with a woman, about my age, who has lost 80+ pounds. She told me that she often went weeks without losing, but stuck to it and would then see a big drop. Her story inspired me to hang in and keep working at it. I feel as if I am back on track, now. Besides, I seem to be losing inches even thought I am not losing pounds.

Here is a photo of Kyoto Collage II in it’s new home, in Virginia. The owner loves all things Japanese and saw my collages done with Japanese fabric on my website and asked me to make one for her.

kyoyocollagehome.jpg

Here is a close-up:

kyotocolagehome2.jpg

Doesn’t it look right at home?

I have finally gotten things back in order on the home front. Maryama came yesterday and the house is neat and tidy. The laundry is done. The bills are paid. Today, I got my studio back in order, ready for my next project.

We have met with two contractors about our bathroom/closet renovation. We have two more to meet with next week. We have no idea how soon the demo and work will start, but we are getting excited. We have the sinks selected. Our next job is to select tile. I am going to try to remember to take my camera when we do the tile search. I am in love with the colors and combinations. It is like being in a candy store.

Tomorrow the rain comes again, after some gloriously sunny days.

Knitting in Netarts

Saturday, March 15th, 2008

That is where we are – Netarts – famous for its oysters. It is between Tillamook and Oceanside. On the drive over, we encountered snow – yikes! But out fearless driver, Beth, got us over the mountain and safely to the coast.

snowydrive.jpg

We have had a lot of rain, but it has not bothered us. We are having to much fun sharing out stories and laughing and eating. I am forgetting WW for the week-end.

Here is a view of the beach from our condo:

beachview.jpg

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This morning we went in to Tillamook to see the Good to be Green show. The video was not ready, but we were told that we will receive copies because we were on the video. Of course we went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory for lunch:

icecreameating.jpg

I had peach non-fat yogurt. It was so good!

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This afternoon, Reva, Linda and I ventured down to the beach for a walk:

beachwalk.jpg

Here is a view of the condos; we have the two on the right. We use one for eating meals and one for doing our sewing and such.

ourcondos.jpg

I found some beachy stuff to photograph:

driftwood.jpg

bluebuoy.jpg

beachrustedobject.jpg

Then it was back up the stairs to the condo:

beachstairs.jpg

I have been knitting. I am trying to finish the sweater that I started umpteen years ago. I have one sleeve almost finished. I don’t know if I will knit or work on collages tomorrow.

Here are Terry and Beth working away.

beachstitching.jpg

Terry is working on her 12 X 12 community challenge and she stole some variegated perle cotton that I bought at the quilt store in town. She said it was perfect for her piece (and it is) and I had the last skein. She has no shame.

She also made this Easter basket for her adorable Sofia:

sofiesbasket.jpg

This woman can make up a pattern and make any darn thing you can imagine. And tonight, I found out that she dislikes the Helvetica font and the book “Eat, Pray, Love.” The things you discover about your friends when you are around them24/7!!

I am on for making breakfast so I better bring this to an end. Wifi is sporadic around here, but I just discovered that at midnight it works quite well!

This and That

Friday, March 7th, 2008

The Kimono Collage is getting there. I finished the circle layer and am now playing with the red lines. I need to do some more work on this.

kimoncollagewithred.jpg

This afternoon, Mr C and I went shopping. First, we checked out some bathroom sinks and cabinets at a couple of showrooms. I am liking this simple look.

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Or something like this:

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We then did some clothes shopping, and we each got some cool stuff for the changing seasons. I love Eileen Fisher clothes as they are very forgiving to the aging body. I was able to select some items in smaller sizes that fit a bit snug, but that will fit for a while as I continue to lose the lbs.

Then it was off to the reception for Lisa’s mixed media show. I took my camera, but did I take any photos? No! We brought M & M home with us. After they got into their jammies, they had some ice cream and a bed time story.

redjammies.jpg

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Miles now wears glasses for reading. I will try to get a photo of him tomorrow. They are blue wire rims, from France. He looks so darn cute.

Wednesday Potpourri

Wednesday, February 13th, 2008

First, some eye candy. Look at this gorgeous fabric that has been arriving. I am working on a commission piece that will be a collage of vintage Japanese fabrics with reds and yellows as the main color theme.

redjapanesevintagefabric.jpg

Next, I just had to share this delightful e-mail that I received through my website contact form. It really made my day!! I disguised her name, but she is from Scotland.

Just found your blog and website whilst trying to find a reason why after 10 years doing a proper job I can’t get my procien dyes beyond the level of wishy washy! I’m not a blogger-haven’t got any idea what its about, but thought this woman thinks a bit like me when I meandered facsinated around your website-I hope I haven’t got completely lost here-I am talking to the lady who has a bottle of pinot gringio in amongst the threads-aren’t I?
Anyway, I’ll work the recipe out, I always work stuff out or remember in the end, I’ll have multi coloured fingers for a while but I’ll get there. I just wanted to e-mail you and say its nice to know that I’m not the only middle aged woman who finds fibre, colour, and cotton wrapped round the vacuum cleaner exciting, in fact more exciting than most things except homeless people, running, chocolate, cats and maybe that other thing that people do when they’ve got time!

Be interesting to hear from you-great site.

Rxxxxx

P.s I’m a lapsed textile designer, batik in particular, but the ex-husband wanted ‘stuff’ and I meekly responded by getting a proper job. I’m now divorced-yeehaa! Liberated and making my way back to my creative soul-and for the first time in over ten years re-discovering textile, colour, design, dyes, cloth, beads and art! What a relief, I thought I’d lost not only passion but even interest forever-but its back!

Fatima, on the other hand, is making our lives a living nightmare. Someone, or some robotic Internet form filler, is using the name Fatima and our phone number to apply for every loan and mortgage available on line. In fact, I got one message that she was pre-approved for a business loan of $270,000. The calls have been coming about once an hour on average for two days. A live person that I talked to says that people often use a fictitious phone number so that they won’t get phone calls. I have taken to answering the phone with, ” Fatima does not live here. Don’t ever call here again!”

On the weight loss front, I lost almost 2 pounds today. I am at a new low weight. I think it is because I gave up cheese for Lent. I can’t wait for Sundays, when I can break my fast and have a little cheese, yum!

The big news is that I finished the Art Cloth. I produced a computer journal of my process with photos — it was burned to a CD and all will be overnighted to San Antonio tomorrow. I am really happy with my final result.

Tomorrow is STASH meeting. We are going to meet at Terry’s new house and get a tour of the estate, then out to lunch. It will be a lovely day. Mr C is taking me out for Lover’s Day tomorrow night. If I am not careful, I will gain the 2 pounds back!

And Liz, if you are reading this, I am so behind on my week 4 homework!!

Happy Heart’s Day to all my blogger friends. I really do love you!

Week-end Wrap up

Sunday, February 3rd, 2008

It has been a busy week-end around the house. M & M came by on Friday and spent the night with us. It was rainy all the while they were here so we had to entertain ourselves in doors. I even managed to get my office cleaned up while they were here, hanging out in the basement with me.

On Saturday morning, I was watching CNN’s Ballot Bowl. (That is the political junkie in me.) Here is part of a conversation with Mia:

M: Who are you voting for Grandma?

G: Obama!

M: So is Mommy.

G: That is good to hear.

M: What does red states and blue states mean?

G: Red states are more Republican and blue states are more Democratic.

M: What is Oregon.

G: Blue.

M: I’m glad to hear that!

Steph said that she and the kids listened to Obama’s speech on Martin Luther King Day and the kids were totally engaged for about a half hour.

I wanted to do some follow-up with the Chocolate Love piece. Here is the piece that is on the 12X12 blog.

chocolatelove1.jpg

If you read my story on the blog, you know that this was my second attempt. I couldn’t stand the first one once I was done quilting. Then, I looked at it yesterday and decided maybe it, too, could be saved.

Here is what it looked like when I was done quilting. I actually trapuntoed the images by stitching extra batting under them and clipping close before I added the back and did the quilting. One thing I liked about this is that the colors printed in richer colors for some reason.

choclove_1.jpg

But, alas, it just did nothing for me. I thought it was the grid that was making it seem predictable. As is turned out, that was not the problem. I think it just needed more of something. So I did some screen printing and added some kisses.

choclove2embelished.jpg

choclove2detail.jpg

The edges are not finished. I think that I will face it. I was also thinking of binding it with red organza. So, you get to tell me, which one should be in the 12 X 12 group. I can make an exchange, I think.

It took me some time to finish this because I wanted to take a photo before and after and MY CAMERA STOPPED WORKING! I found my old Olympus, but I didn’t have a charged battery. The first lithium battery was defective so I found another and charged that. I have totally forgotten how to use this camera. It seems like such a dinosaur compared to my Canon. So the Canon is going to the shop in Illinois. They say there is a 7 day turn around once they receive it.