Nothing, but Wait

I feel rather badly that I have not written anything for over a month.  Possibly because I've not had anything of interest to say.. Even as I write this,  I'm wondering why as I still don't have anything fascinating to say.

Hey wait!   I could tell you about going to the Mendocino Art Center which I went to in November.  I went with my grandson, Charles.  He was given a jewelry making class as a graduation gift and  I decided to take class in art, Big Art.   The art center has rooms and apartments to rent right on the campus so we stayed in one of them.  So handy!  It took about a minute to walk to class.

This is view of our room. Full bed for me and a comfy twin for C.  It's behind the red chair.  There was a kitchen and of course a bathroom.  Both small, but big enough.



Charles' class was three days.  He was able to make 2 rings.  He had wanted to make rings for a couple of years.  He enjoyed it and would like to take more classes but closer to home.

Pretty great aren't they?  I wish I had been able to get a photo of him actually working on them.  I didn't, rats.




In my art class, I made two pieces.  One is about the size of a poster.  It's done with mixed media, old dictionary pages, some old sheet music,  tissue paper, paint, molding paste etc.  It is my finest work so far.  It is now hanging on my wall.  Maybe I will get it framed.  I love it.  You may not, but that's okay.

It's quite textural.  It makes me smile when I look at it. To my mind that's what one's art should do.













On the second day, our teacher gave us canvas that is 4 1/2 feet square.  We thumb-tacked them on a wall and set to coating them with white house paint, to seal the fabric.  Cynthia had brought all this interior house paint for us to use after the white.

Look at all those 
colors.  
Fabulous!




My "Big Art" turned out to be another abstract.  A really big abstract.  It's hanging out in the garage as I am hoping to do a bit more with it before I have it framed or at least attached to boards some how.   I have three photos of it as it progressed.

Some paint and some tissue paper.

The big fish I didn't like.

See the fish?   It's too dark now and although I don't hate it, it needs to be lighter.

I will fix it.







Thank you for stopping by.  I recommend art.  It's fun and it feels good.  Well, most of the time.

Current and Proposed Projects

Howdy

I will, I will, I will finish the duffles.  There were actually 4 to do and one is done. One is half done, another is cut out and waiting,  I can't remember about #4.

One on the right is not finished, No lining.

See.

But the one on the left is complete.





I had trouble with the piping on the ends of the bags. Perhaps practice is what I need.  Piping does add a certain je ne sais pas to the duffles. Also to other things.

I think when the lining is added to the bag on left. it will help smooth out the wrinkly piping.




I found the pattern as a tutorial from SewCanDo by way of Sew She Can.  I changed the pattern a bit.
#1  I found that lining the straps with the same fleece as the bag made them too difficult to turn right side out.  I left the fleece out of the straps.  A lighter interfacing though might make them less floppy.
#2 I had to change the way I added the zipper because when I did it like the photo, it didn't work.  So I looked at the photo taken after the zip was sewn in and worked backwards.
Otherwise I think they are cute.  So hoping to finish all by Thanksgiving.

I have some spinning to do.  Well, actually, plying.  The spinning's complete.  Oops, what I should have said is, 'some' spinning is done.

This one is plied.  It's called Salsa Caliente.  



The one I need to ply is below. However, I have forgotten it's name.

It's all ready, I just need to do it.



Weaving.   Finally got the new warp tied on to the old warp.  New experience for me.  It worked!

It's tied on but not beamed.  I have no photo of that.  

What I have is a picture of the start of a new set of towels.

This was meant to be a  more sagey green that this or maybe just a deeper hue.  It's a Finnish twill pattern.

There are soooooooooooooooo many more projects in my world to be completed. These have been 5 of them.

May God make His Face to shine upon you and give you peace.

Fabric Love

Just a photo essay of fabric, because I love it.  Some of these photos are from my Pinterest board titled "Fabric is Fabulous".  Enjoy the beauty, it's free of charge. Also it doesn't take up space in your house.

A batik that says fall, Halloween, pumpkins, vines and jack-o-lanterns.

I love the muted colors on this one.

Cute

Elephants!

Harris Tweed

I love the bunnies

What to make with this one?

So that's my fabric photo essay.  Maybe you could go write your own essay today.

That's all.

Here Today

I am, in fact, here today.  I'm nearly always around, but today I'm here.  This blog is not at all what it started out to be.  See my first post HERE.   It was supposed to help me finish the piles of things I had started, but never completed.   Thankfully I did finish some before changing the focus of the blog to it's current leanings.  "Whatever Whenever".  

And now . . . . 

I have been HERE.  Have you?   You should go. Parts of The Last of the Mohicans were filmed there.

Longing to go HERE ( to wander)           and  
                                      HERE    (sheep, wool, etc. Maybe Jimmy Perez)
                                                                           
                                               and     HERE  (Have Paul or Ringo been?)


There are many other places to visit such as HERE   or 
HERE. These  I've been to many times and am always amazed at the beauty.  But now I am closing.  Here's hoping you will go places or be at home whatever suits you.

I am here for now.

July All Gone

Yes, July is over and I never wrote even one blog post.  First I was busy with things, then one evening my computer worked fine and the next day it was'toast'.  Buying a new one had not been on my to do list.  Then I was thrilled to have a party in my honor and have my out-of-state children here visiting.

I would love to share photos of my wonderful party, but there are none.  We were all having such a good time no one thought to take any.   Here are some others to give you a hint as to what the gathering was all about.

When she was a baby, she loved to take off her clothes. Patiently her mother would put them on again.

She loved her Easter basket and gave it to her daughter.

You can tell she liked to get dressed up for Easter with gloves and even a little hat.  Her suit was pink and grey.

She went to a New Year's costume party in 1964.  Dress sewn by her mom, hoop skirt borrowed.

                                                                    

 Her next important occasion. 1967

Years later, the family all together in 1999 at home. A special photo.

That's her in the middle with her beloved family.

           She is not

            Always

                 Herself.

But now that she has reached the age of   70, she's happy, contented and thankful.  She praises God every day for this life He has given her and for the life to come.

  

And she is me.

Can You Dig It?

Yup, been gardening.  After taking last year off in discouragement, I'm back at it  It's sort of like an addict who get sober (etc) then gets a whiff of dirt or sees someone else's glorious garden.

I also have renewed my interest in homesteading, but not necessarily living off-grid.  Perhaps if I found some kind of similarly inclined person to live the life together, I might be able to give it a try.  I've been enjoying some YouTube videos by Esther Emery and Nick Fouch.  Here's a link to one of theirs. HERE.  I liked it because of the useful info but also the humor.

            Some photos from this year's garden efforts so far.

Late May

Although I have acreage, I also have hungry deer and mean, greedy gophers.  This is the reason I plant so much in pots. And plant within fences.

June 29-30

I am pleased with the progress and even though I had something eating my cucumber to death and a couple of my pumpkins babies turned yellow when they were still the size of a marble,  many things are making me happy.

Cucumber

Gypsy pepper

Acorn Squash

Eggplant blossoms

I also have got some herbs and flowers coming along.

Arctic White  Verbena

 Front walkway with assorted deer resistant plants.

Front Porch with assorted herbs and others plants.

That's all for today.  I might have to run to the nursery for a few things.

Clouds again

I'm sure I've mentioned the Cloud Appreciation Society before.  I get their newsletter.  I am a member.  There are members all over the world and therefore photos that show up on their Facebook page are amazing and diverse. See it here.   Previously I have shared some.  It's that time again.

I took all of these photos at my house except for the last one.  It was taken in Shingle Springs, CA looking northeast to where the King Fire was burning.  The large cloud is called a pyrocumulus as it was forming over the fire.  Fall 2014.  

If you would like to know more about clouds, I recommend The Cloudspotter's Guide: The Science, History and Culture of  Clouds by Gavin Pretor-Pinney. And don't forget to check out the  Cloud Appreciation Society website.

Just over the trees is a line of wave clouds.  I spotted them as I was driving home. So I had to pull over and try to photograph them. I'd only ever seen them in pictures.   Boy, was I excited.

I love watching clouds, but take heed, be careful when driving.