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Archive for June, 2009

Getting into the Swing of Life at Home

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

scootertongue

Life with Scooter is very entertaining. He has been with us almost a month and now that he feels so at home with us, we love watching him being the doofus that he is. I am going to take him in for a poodle do for the summer. He seems to be very uncomfortable in the heat. After the sun goes down, he loves to play ball in the front yard or romp with other dogs on the Reed College front lawn.

I got a lot accomplished today, but tonight I am feeling the jet lag. I am going to try to stay up as late as possible. I unpacked and laundered my clothes, but I have no unpacked the other two bags which are in the basement waiting for me. I bought us some food for the next couple of days, walked the dogs, went to the farmer’s market, did some work in my Urban Farm and paid bills.

I am really happy with the progress of my Urban Farm while I was gone. I don’t expect a huge crop, but I do have raspberries.

gonnaberaspberries

This is part of the herb/lettuce bed.

herblettucebed

There are actual baby pods with peas.

peas

On the left are beans planted from seeds.

beanstomatoeschrysanthemum

Look at the size of this tomato!!

tomato

I have a plethora of tomato plants with lots of blossoms.

tomatoplants

Here is a baby eggplant – so cute.

eggplant

And, an even cuter baby squash.

babysquash

So, as you can see every thing thrived with out me. Here is another shot of the Scooter.

scooterlicious

I Didn’t Know What Day It Was

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

flwcross

Literally! I thought it was Friday. I am so confused, but I am home. I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed. This morning, I packed up my belongings and filled 3 suitcases, even though much of the registration stuff was left in KC. Hmmm!

I took a walk in the humid air to the Community Christian Church a couple of blocks from the hotel. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Here is a link to its history.

flwchurch

One of the SDA artist’s had an exhibit in their gallery which I had not seen. One of the folks in the church was kind enough to turn on some lights so that I could see the sanctuary which seats 900 people.

flwsanctuary

The gallery is on the thrid floor. Heather Allen-Swarttouw had a show of very spiritual images of boats and other imagery representing our travel through life and the changes we encounter. Her work is strong yet delicate with hand stitching and beautiful marks. Here are a few images.

hasnaautilus

A detail of the beautiful stitching:

nautilusdetail

has2

Such beautiful work!!

Mr C made me a delicious meal of grilled chicken sausages and salads from New Seasons. So nice to eat in my own kitchen. Well, it is past my bedtime in KC. I am not sure if I can stay awake much longer.

Pop Art Identity

Monday, June 1st, 2009

opartidentity

The Twelve by 12 group had the theme of identity for this month’s challenge. I had to get mine done early because of the trip to Kansas City. To execute this, I did a thumb print which I scanned and played with in Photoshop. I zoomed into the center whorl. I printed the patterns on Wonderunder and fused the pattern to the fabric and then fussy cut the pattern using small scissors and and Exacto knife. This was then fused to the complement fabric. I hand dyed the fabric and purchased matching thread so that the stitching would not interfere with the pattern. I flipped the thumbprint for two of the blocks to create the undulating pattern.

Here is a detail.

opartidentitydetail

You can read more about it on the Twelve by 12 blog and see the amazing pieces done by the other 11. I am always so impressed with the thought that they put into their work.

Today I took a class on photography textiles. So, I have no photos!! But I learned a lot about my camera and using the manual setting and also about lighting a piece. I thought shooting work outside in the shade was sufficient, but no!! I will be getting proper lights, soon.

In lieu of my own photos, I will share a couple of photos taken by my adorable friend from Toronto — Anu. She is home now and e-mailed some photos she took. Here are the two of us, which she took to show her husband. I have loved meeting the young members, especially the student members.

kansas-trip-024

Here is a photo she took of Judy and I at the picnic on Thursday evening.

kansas-trip-023

I am going home tomorrow. Woo hoo. Can’t wait.