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Archive for the ‘House and home stuff’ Category

Happy Homemaker Stuff

Saturday, December 1st, 2007

Aren’t these Gerbera daisies pretty? And so un-Christmasy. I am bah-humbugging all the holiday decorations. It is only the first day of December!!

Our church sponsors groups of 8 members who get together during the year for dinner together. Some choose to eat out. some include children. We are in a group that meets in homes. Our new group came to our house for dinner last night. It is a very lively group. We have two single women — one is in her late 80’s and is an incredibly delightful person. We have two other couples. I always love when people come to my house and the most interesting thing is the art on our walls.

I love getting out the good china and and cooking big. I was responsible for the main course. I made pork medallions with a dried cherry and port sauce and polenta with roasted butternut squash. It was delish. I had my camera at the ready to take a photo, but alas, I got caught up in the moment and forgot.

I did get a nice foody photo of my breakfast this morning — oatmeal, fresh berries and yogurt.

Yesterday, I rearranged some artwork and hung the beginnings of the Congdon Art Quilt collection.

On the left is the piece by Kristin, the two on the right were purchased from SAQA fundraisers. The top one was made by Virginia Spiegel who is the ultimate fundraiser for American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. the program is Fiberart for a Cause. Please go over and check out what she is doing this year. There are prizes to be won!! The other piece was made by Elizabeth Fram. I also have a piece by Liz Berg which stays in my office with me. And Terry’s nest also hangs in the living room.

Whoopee!! I finished the green thing and sent photos and artist statement off this afternoon. Here is a detail shot which shows the hanging threads which Deborah pleaded with me to include. (Sorry for the grammar?)

Tonight, we are going to Trinity for Lessons and Carols. For the non-Anglican readers, this is a very traditional service that heralds the season of Advent and Christmas.

In 1918, the then-new dean of King’s Chapel, 34-year-old Eric Milner-White, wanted to try something innovative and beyond the standard liturgy of the Church of England. So, he wove together scripture and song, called on readers of various ages from school and town, and made up this truly magical progression that carries us from prophecy to fulfillment, from Old Testament foretelling to a birthday celebration.

What am I going to do now that the green thang is done? Stay tuned.

Posted in Art in our home, House and home stuff, My creations, This and that | 11 Comments »

Just Another Wacky Wednesday

Wednesday, November 14th, 2007

Let’s get this out of the way right at the top. I lost .2 of a pound today. I really thought it would be more. I guess my sluggish behavior over the week-end didn’t help. Maybe I overdid the lasagna and chocolate fondue. At least it was in the right direction!!

Have you noticed that Marie Osmond is everywhere lately? I get such a kick out of her on Dancing With the Stars. I think she is doing amazingly well. I have fond memories of my girls sitting in front of the TV, watching the Donny and Marie show. They absolutely loved it. I once met Marie at a business convention. Her is the proof:

We were having a contest to see who had the biggest smile!! She obviously won in the eye makeup department. I am guessing that this was about 22 years ago.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Diane sent me an e-mail with questions to answer. I was to forward it to and copy it to her. Here are the questions and my answers:

*TAG YOU’RE IT!*

If you opened it, you have to do it. Then, send it back to the person who sent it to you and the rest of your friends!

Two names you go by:
1 Gerrie
2. Geraldine, Mom

Two things you are wearing right now:
1. new smaller size black pants
2. sweatshirt screen printed with a dove and peace by Lisa

Two of your favorite things to do:
1. hang out with my grand children
2. do stuff to fabric

Two things you want very badly at the moment:
1. an end to the war in Iraq
2. have a cleaning person

Two favorite pets you have had/have:
1. Maggie our JR
2. AJ, the cat

Two People who will fill this out
1. Terry
2. Judy

Two things you ate today:
1. two slices of Amy’s roasted vegetable pizza with no cheese
2. baked wild halibut

Two people you last talked to:
1. Steve
2. Terry

Two things you’re doing tomorrow:
1.Working on a design for a quilt with a looming deadline
2. Cleaning the kitchen counter where stuff piles up when I am not home

Two longest car rides:
1. Wilmington, NC – Santa Rosa, CA
2. Santa Rosa to the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Las Vegas, and back to Santa Rosa

Two favorite holidays:
1. Thanksgiving
2. Christmas

Two favorite beverages:
1. Sauvignon Blanc wine
2. Pinot Noir wine

The reason I am posting this, is the question — two things you want very badly. Well, obviously, I didn’t get an end to the war in Iraq. You guessed it — Maryama came knocking at my door looking for houses to clean. After some negotiating with Mr C, she will be coming every other week. She spent most of today getting us up to health code. She is coming back tomorrow to do the kitchen. After this, she hopes it will not take as much time. She is extremely thorough.

The thing I like most about a cleaning person is that I am forced to get my stuff organized and put away. Mr C hates that part. And when he did the “cleaning”, I never knew when the bug would hit him so I had a hard time getting my clutter out of the way.

I must end this and settle down for the start of the new season of “Project Runway.” Love, love, love!!

Posted in House and home stuff, Just for Fun, This and that | 4 Comments »

Here I Am!

Wednesday, October 10th, 2007

Oh, you probably didn’t even miss me. I have been futzing around. I made this Weight Watcher’s zero points vegetable soup. I was down .8 pound today. On Sunday, I ran into Chico’s and grabbed an outfit a size smaller than I normally wear, and it fit!!!

I finished the curtains for our bedroom redo:

This was complicated by the fact that Penney’s did not have enough of the hooks at the store whee we bought the rod. So, on Sunday we drove across the river to another Penney’s, and they didn’t have them either. Every other color except Sienna Bronze. Then we went online to order them, only to find that they were back-ordered until the middle of November. I then called the Vancouver, WA store where they had them and would put them on hold. So yesterday, we drove out across the Columbia River and picked them up.

Here is the rug which we found. It has natural dyes and is silk and wool, loomed in India. I love it.

Now, we are waiting for the new track lights to get here so that we have reading lights over the bed.

I have also been working on my last round robin piece which is a collaged page for a journal. Since, I am the last and there were two pages left, I am doing two pages – just because I can. I will post photos tomorrow. I am waiting for some glue to dry so that I can foil one of the pieces.

Today, I took my camera out to photograph the glorious fall color. We have berries in just about every color you can think of. All photos are clickable to see a larger view.

The trees are wearing beautiful colors, too.

Someone was growing a great pumpkin.

And how often do you see toy horses hitched up on the street?

Actually, you can find them all around Portland. Go here to find out more about the horse project.

Today, I have been cooking and cleaning because the great ladies of STASH are coming.

Posted in Cooking and Recipes, House and home stuff, Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

TGIF

Friday, October 5th, 2007

This was our mantra when I was in college. We had TGIF parties, and it seemed as if we lived for the week-ends. Later, as a wife and mom, I looked forward to Fridays and week-end activities with the family. Then, when I went back to work, I looked forward to the week-ends to do what I wanted or to catch up on household activities. When we retired, Fridays no longer took on any kind or special significance.

So, I was amused this morning when Miles announced that Friday was his favorite day. I guess it is hard to be an almost 6 year old, trudging off to school all week long. I was thinking about all the reasons in his future that will make Fridays a great day for him.

I survived the morning routine and got them to school, a little early.

Mia, of course, has to do the silly pose for me.

After dropping them off, I realized that I had about 6 hours to get some work done, well maybe 4 after some computer time and an hour walking the dog. Last night, I started cutting the panels for the new curtains for our bedroom redo. So I worked on those today and almost finished before it was time to pick them up. Look at how nicely I matched the seams.

Miles brought his quilt with him and since I don’t have photos of it, I took some today. It looks pretty good for having been dragged around and slept with for 5 years. And look at how square and flat that baby is.

Here is a closeup. Each window had a fussy cut funny face in it. For some of the windows, I printed pictures of the family and Maggie. Those are quite faded now.

I had fun doing the machine quilting on this. It is called two way traffic because the quilted traffic is going in the opposite direction.

I hope you are having a good week-end with loved ones.

Posted in House and home stuff, M & M | 6 Comments »

Keeping Busy

Sunday, August 19th, 2007

Whew! It has been rather busy around our house. We have not slept in our bed for several nights as the bedroom has been torn apart while Mr C paints and puts up the new woodwork trim. He says that we are spending just one more night in the guest bedroom. This better be true because Mark and Jayme are getting here on Tuesday!! I need to launder duvet covers and get everything cleaned up.

One of our friends from Santa Rosa was in town. We took her and her host to church with us and brought them back to our house for lunch. It was great to see Melinda and catch up on all the Santa Rosa gossip. Her host, Jack, works for the Architectural Heritage Center, and we had previously met him as he did the Mid-century Modern house tour that we took part in a couple of months ago. We have always been curious about the style of our house as it seemed to be a mix of art deco and mid-century ranch. He said that it is Art Moderne. He also was pretty sure who the architect was. This was very interesting information for us.

While he has been redecorating, I have been off on an art quilt tangent. I took two of the fabrics that I created in classes over the past several months and made this piece that I call Global Warming:

Here is a closeup:

I did fairly simple quilting on this so that the fabric could speak for itself. I am trying to figure out how to use some of the complex cloth that I have created in classes. I used the hand-dyed greens to anchor this piece and to give the eyes a place to rest.

I really enjoyed doing this and have already started on another.

I want to take some time to brag about my daughters. Lisa has just made the big announcement that she and her friend Rena are opening a gallery/shop in San Francisco. You can read about it here. I am so happy for her and proud of her for following her dreams and her passion.

Stephanie makes the most wonderful soft sculptures. Her latest creations are this polar bear and this swan. They are just beautiful, don’t you agree?

So that is what I have been up to. What have you been doing? Oh, I am sorry to tell all of you suffering in the rest of the country that it has been quite cool and a little drizzly, and I have quite enjoyed it!!

Posted in Family, House and home stuff, My Brilliant Daughters, My creations | 6 Comments »

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