Latest work

I notice on all the artist websites I like to peruse they always seem to have a category 'latest work' so here is mine. I mentioned it to you a day or two ago and I feel so excited about it I want to show someone...anyone!! My man needs me to find an artist friend that 'gets me' so he doesnt have to constantly 'come see this'!  He is a good man for being so supportive...

When we bought our house in Gig Harbor our realtor gave us as a gift, an artist that would paint our story around a wine bottle. I must say when she mentioned it to me I thought why in the world would I want that?! So I put off the artist's request for my story info for months...finally I shared pieces of our life together and she was so excited to paint it because she felt our story was different from everyone elses. Duh. When we finally received it I will tell you we both got tears in our eyes when we read her version of our life on canvas. Now it is one of our greatest treasures...

So one morning my friend Cindee, who is the most amazing talented artist I know, sends me this really long text telling me who she is and what she loves. She wants me to make for them a wallhanging with all of this text in it. First of all its scary as hell to make anything for a fellow artist because you constantly worry it wont be good enough. So I tell her I will do it but in my heart I am thinking I cant possibly come up with anything like this..its TMI. So while they were here last week she kept bringing it up and I said I need a visual of what you are expecting and then I will do it.

So she sketches what she sees in her mind as her story and I couldn't wait to begin! There is so much artistic freedom for me to actually have fun making it. I cannot wait to get up in the morning to go make another block or sew what I created in my head last night.

This is the block I couldn't wait to create this morning and I cannot tell you how awesome it turned out! I am having so much fun I can actually feel my soul being nourished! Yea me!
The reason I shared the painting story is I realized I am doing the same thing...telling a family's story and what makes their life complete, but with fabric! Maybe there is a future endeavor to all of this by simply telling the world who you are with bits of fabric, color and threads. If nothing else I am having a blast and that is always a good thing.
Thanks for listening!!

day gone awry...

I am presently hanging out (hiding) in the house because Jerry is having a bad day and I don't want to be in sight. It all began when I asked for rose bushes for Christmas. If you know me you know I love love love roses. So I told myself when we moved back to CA I wanted a rose garden. We finally agreed on a planter and where it should be, so when Rande was here he created one with leftover pavers. I needed to replace all the dirt in the planter with potting soil so no roses yet. While Timothy is trenching for sprinklers I asked him to go up the middle so it would loosen the soil for me to dig holes. It seems when I went to dig a hole they forgot and put sprinkler pipe up the middle. So now I still can't plant the rose bushes and I add two more of my favorites to the group waiting. Last week Jerry decides to take up all the pavers and put them back down with sand under them so they stay level. Then we get the big storm and he feels the sand blew/washed away too much so yesterday he cements all the pavers down and makes the planter wider so I can dig holes around the sprinkler pipe. Today he is going to plants my precious beauties and cant dig deep enough in our awful dirt, so he uses a pick axe. Do you feel something bad coming up with this story? I know right??!...Well the pick axe hits a water pipe and begins to fill the planter. It would appear he hit the pool line and the jacuzzi is draining into our yard creating a big mud hole. Poor Jerry...
So now he and the pool fix it man are trying to figure out how to not only stop the leak but fix the problem. I guess I could just give the roses to my neighbor because I am sure after all this my man will never think my rose garden was a good idea. It seemed so simple when I pictured it in my head.
I don't think I will include a photo today...its just not pretty.

Happy Birthday to my 'ol man' today.

I have come to the conclusion I have lost my blog reading homies and I have to wonder why. Has my blog become too repetitive, boring, too far between or has everyone simply lost interest...? I thought about giving it up but talked myself into another go round. I truly do enjoy the few blogs I read so maybe its not personal.
We have had company from MN for the past week and I think there is less sunshine in SoCal now. They loved being outside soaking it up everyday and said it was the best week ever. One day during their visit it was -24 degrees in MN and 75 degrees here. Do you suppose the 90 degree difference helped make it the 'best week ever?!" lol I really tried to come up with fun things to do that might interest them and also give them a feel for our town. We did the farmers markets in Palm Desert and La Quinta...the street fair in PS and of course outdoor dining at Las Casuelas. Hiking one day and biking the next...BBQing, hottubbing, and lots of drinking.

Beers and sweet potato fries at Hogs Breath Old Town!

I will say it feels good to be back to just us and our somewhat normal routine. We are hoping we can get our front yard finished before Feb. arrives but we just seem to be lacking the focus and energy. Hopefully Timothy will return soon because he is a great motivator for us both. Also a very hard worker and we would be lost without him with all these projects. xo

Timothy digging trenches for sprinklers.

We had hurricane force winds this past Sat. and oh my gosh it was unbelievable! Trees down everywhere, power out in PS and the dust and sand were flying so badly you could not stand be outside. The winds were tossing everything in our backyard like toys and blowing over our potted plants. We spent yesterday cleaning up the mess and putting everything back and vacuuming all the sand that blew in our windows. Dang!  Today we finally got some rain and hopefully it washed everything down a bit. Definitely having a bit of winter and its a good thing.
Cindee brought creamy wild rice soup from MN for us and its the perfect evening to make it. Its also my honey's 64th birthday! "Will you still feed me, will you still need me, when I'm 64?" (Its a cute Beatles song...) I feel badly its not a very exciting day for him and the big gift ended up being us shopping for new slippers. This is a little known fact but if you are a man you better get slippers for Christmas because it is the only time of year the stores sell them. Why you ask? I ask the same question and have no reasonable answer. Women can buy them all year in 50 gillion different styles and colors but for men...Christmas only item. Dumb dumb dumb.
I did find a pair of cool Woolrich slip ons for me on clearance...and its not even my birthday! I just cant help myself when it comes to shoes and there will never enough in my closet. I know, right? Shameless. Remind me to show you the adorable flats I found at Macy's...love em!
For Jks birthday cake I made a lemon meringue pie and used lemons from our neighbor's new tree out front. They are Meyer lemons so very sweet and juicy. I do not know what I did differently...boy I wish I knew...but this pie came out so darn delicious. The filling is creamy and you cant help taking another bite. I dont usually brag about my cooking because I am definitely not the best cooker. This pie would make you think differently. Yum...

Happy Birthday JK!

I have a new sewing project I am working on and will share it with you next blog. I am pretty excited about it and having a great time in the process.  OH and we also both just received our California drivers licenses in the mail. (Thank you sweet Jesus my eyes are open and I dont have to spend 4 yrs with penned in eye dots!) Its official we are now locals again...isn't it crazy that I got the same license number I received when I was 16 yrs old? This old state saved it for me knowing one day I would be back...I guess I have come full circle and I must say it feels fine.
Would love to hear from any of you still here...hello? Are you out there?! If yes, thanks for dropping by.

oh yeah...

I just realized I forgot to show you all what our patio looks like finished. Well I use finished loosely here because we still have yard work to complete but you at least get an idea.  I think it is lovely!

Old vent hood

New vent hood with cute installer

And our shiny new QUIET dishwasher!

We have been continuing to sort thru boxes and donate or toss and actually feel like we could have at least eliminated the trailer for the move if we had done this before! We are trying to get our stuff down to one moving truck...not that we are going anywhere! Its just an inside family joke...haha.

On another note...I finally wrote to the winery telling her I could not be ready for a show in March and could I possibly do it in summer or fall. She replied not a problem and would let me know as soon as she firms up other artists. Can you see the weight gone from my shoulders?! Honestly I felt like a huge burden has come off of me and was amazed how much it had been bothering me. I was so worried about not doing it when all I needed to do is change when. Geez Cher...
Timothy is coming over today to work on replacing sprinklers so hopefully we get our front yard finished and the HOA off our backs. There seems to be someone that doesnt like us one little bit and has nothing better to do but complain. I have let this bother me but now I just concentrate on how many wonderful neighbors we have met and let it go. Life is nothing but lessons learned...

First Monday of the year!

Oh my gosh yesterday was so beautiful here. We golfed with a couple we met last year from Pasadena, (did you know I was born there?!?) that we so enjoy spending time with. They actually live on a street the floats line up on for the parade! I am thinking I may have to visit them one year to see all the beautiful floats up close and personal. Ok back to the point of this...It was clear blue skies and around 80 degrees...one of those days that you don't care how well you do golfing~ just to be there.

I have a new plan as part of the new and improved me that I have been thinking about since I saw it on TV. There is an organization called Little Dresses for Africa...check it out. I finally had time to look up the website and they take boxes of little simple dresses people have made, to Africa to give to the little children that have nothing. When I first saw this on Making a Difference with Brian Williams I thought hmmm I have so much fabric I don't use, this would be perfect! My art has taken such a different direction since I first began collecting fabric. I have tubs of flowery, bright, country, you name it fabric that wont ever fit into a landscape quilt. How perfect to contribute my time and fabric to helping such a great organization. They are making a trip in April so I have some time to whip up quite a few little dresses.  I am feeling pretty excited about this first new plan. My second plan is to find a local cancer group that I can make lap quilts for. They are suppose to offer great comfort to patients and its always nice to know someone cared enough.

I have also decided that today I am going to contact the Woodinville winery and tell them I cannot do a showing in March and if possible could I move it to summer or fall. (Seriously much better months to be in the NW than March!) We have several friends coming to see us in the next couple of months and I simply do not have time to make all I need to. If I am going to do a show I want to do it properly and really showcase what I can do. I also want to enjoy this winter here in the desert when the weather is perfect to be outside and active. I want to also enjoy our company and not feel stressed for not working on projects. I feel so guilty everyday about my work and the fact that I still have not found time to start. If she cannot change the month then it wasn't meant to be. I do have two requests for pieces to be made and that is a good place to start.
How's this for new year resolutions?! I will let you know of my progress and hopefully I find other ways to volunteer.
Thanks for dropping by.

Well hello 2012...

Dammit. I woke up and nothing has changed...still the same old person in the mirror as last year!  I guess I will have to work on this new and improved version of me all year long. I soooo wanted an easy fix on this one. :^>

We are getting ready to go golfing but I had to quickly share this with you. Its official...we are now Californians again. I feel like I should blur the numbers/letters like they do on TV.  At least now if we feel the need to honk, people will just say "Damn Californians!" I guess we have come full circle in 30 years and back to where we started. We both agree winter in the sunshine sure feels fine and so far no regrets. You all go have an amazing day and new year!