How Green Was My Valley

What a nice afternoon for traveling! C and I got a lot done at home this morning, and then took to the road right after lunch. We hated leaving Barker behind, but we know that once he laid eyes on his housesitter buddy, he was happy as a clam!

Our first stop:

Otto, North Carolina.

C had told me about this place, as he had stopped there on his way home from a church Vestry retreat a year or so ago...and he loved it. The ice cream was indeed fabulous (I had coconut and C had butter pecan)...and worth every point, Gerrie!

So here we are somewhere between Otto and Asheville........I love the green of summer in our part of the south!

And look at these day lilies:

North Carolina does a great job of beautifying its byways.

We're on the road to Asheville, and the thunderbumps are growin'. YIKES!!!

Isn't that just pretty:

Whoa, the traffic out here is a real killer!


More clouds, a bit of rain, but a very pleasant ride:

I love the barns and old farms in the southeast.....wish I had gotten this entire barn:

Such rugged mountains here in the southeast:

Yeah, the Great Smoky Mountains!!

The traffic was just horrible, as you can plainly see:

Another wonderful old barn that almost escaped me:

Well, now you can see just why I was having trouble keeping up with the barns:

I'm on my second reading of Jane Dunnewold's wonderful "Complex Cloth", thanks to Karoda! Now I can't wait to get back home and start "work" again! Let me see, how long have we been gone??

More heavy traffic and rugged, old mountains:

We arrived in Bristol, Tennessee at about 6:00 PM, and after checking in to our hotel, we headed for the minor league baseball stadium to see the Bristol Sox play host to the Burlington Royals. Our friend Bob is an ardent Chicago White Sox fan, so we really felt driven to get to this game. It was a lot of fun...a couple of home runs, a few strikeouts, and several double plays...not bad for a rookie team. The Bristol Sox won 6-4, Bob.

As the sun was setting over the stadium, C and I happened to glance up and see these beautiful clouds:

As you can see, there was a good crowd at the game:

Hope I haven't bored you...we've had so much fun...but the traffic has been hell!!

Tomorrow: Pittsburgh and a Pirate's game!!!!

PEACE

Cat Fancy

Our little kitty cat Elsie used to be terrified of Barker. He likes to play, and he likes to play rough: let me show you some of my bruises sometime! He will often chase her into the shrubbery when we are outside, no matter how much we scold him and try to persuade him to do otherwise.

Last night while we were preparing our dinner, we glanced over and there was Elsie rubbing up against Barker:

He was licking his lips, so I think he sort of liked it!

Then he gave us this look, as if to say, "Alright aready, that's enough!":

She continued on, as cats are want to do.

In this last shot, I think he has just resigned himself to let her have her way with him:

Well, our bags are packed and we're almost ready to leave! YeeHaw!!! We are taking a road trip to Golden Pond (Squam Lake) in New Hampshire, via a couple of baseball stadiums. Our faithful, trustworthy and animal-loving housesitter will check in tomorrow as we check out, so our little "lovebirds" will be well taken care of, as will our house.

I am excited about our trip and can't wait to be on the road. We normally spend a week or two on Squam every summer, but this past year we enjoyed Costa Rica with C's family instead. I think Kristin grew up believing that everybody went to Squam in the summer, and she has had many summer friends there, and now Dave is catching the Squam bug too! So, sit tight and I'll take you along on our little vacation!

PEACE!

Doins'

C and I have had a busy week: back and forth to Atlanta a few times, and just keeping up with life here on the home front. I won't bore you with all of the gory details, but I will tell you that we went to see Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye" at Horizon Theater in Little Five Points on Friday evening, and it was fabulous!! If you live in the Atlanta area and have a free evening, go see it. Both Thursday and Friday nights' performances were sold out, and we felt fortunate to be season ticket holders. Before the show, we enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Sweet Lime, which is just down the street. I had the tempura style soft shell crabs, and C thoroughly enjoyed his seared Ahi Tuna. Sweet Lime is just a stone's throw from the Horizon, and a nice way to patially walk off dinner on your way to the show.

I got busy and painted this silk charmeuse scarf this past week....finally retrieved it from the steamer this afternoon:

The colors are really much more vibrant than they appear here. The background is almost iridescent with shades of very deep green and blue, while the leaves and vine are a chartreuse. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out.

Here's a view of how the two ends come together:

And, so as to bore you just a little more, here's a closeup:


This afternoon I did a bit of paperwork, but in my spare time, I made this piece of mudcloth:


.....and you thought it took a couple of weeks to make, right? NOT!!
Actually, I'm teasing you! If you go here you can create your own piece of virtual mudcloth and take a tour of the Smithsonian's online mudcloth exhibit. Try it, it's fun!

OK, that's it for today!

PEACE

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels!

Yesterday began beautifully and I was most productive. It was another cool, cool morning here in northeast Georgia! I was having lunch with my girlfriend Shiela when my cell began to ring. It was Kristin, telling me that their home had just been broken into! I was so stunned and shocked that after I got off the phone with her, I just continued to chat with Shiela and eat my salad. My good friend looked at me and said "You've gotta go!". She had to say it about three times before the reality set in, and then I was movin' fast. It was doubly bad for Kristin because Dave is out of the country right now on business, so she was faced with handling this by herself. I called her back and said we'd be on our way just as soon as we threw some overnight things in a bag. She was relieved. By the time we did get to their house, she had taken care of everything. I am so proud of my most capable and level-headed daughter!!! Thank heavens their burglar alarm sounded, because it must have scared away the intruders before they could take too much. And fortunately they didn't ransack or senselessly destroy things. Still and all, it is such an invasion of privacy. I hope that the police detectives will be able to find the perpetrators, as this is not the first break-in in their cute little neighborhood.

Here are some pics from my most recent discharge session with Sunlight dishwasher gel. I'm somewhat pleased.

The fabric in these first two pics is a piece that I started in my surface design class with Rayna Gillman last Fall at John C. Campbell Folk School. I had batiked on this cotton, using a wood block of my own and also an electric tjanting that Rayna's friend Helene had graciously lent to the class.

I used some of that blue painter's tape and just placed strips of it across the fabric. I like how it looks like shadows.

I adore this next piece. I used my foam star stamp and just dabbed the gel onto it and then stamped away on the black fabric. I also made some small curlicews with my foam brush. What do you think?

On this next piece, I had spread the gel over my tabletop (yes, plastic-covered) and then made some squiggly lines with the wooden end of my foam brush.

I would have liked more contrast - more black. So now I know exactly what to do!

Here's the same piece, just another view:

And last of all, my very most favorite piece:

Isn't it cool? Here it is again:

Thanks for dropping by to take a peek at my work.

When you think of it, please say a little prayer for our girl. This is a tough, tough time for her: working full time, going to grad school at night, having to manage everything with her sweet husband away from home. It isn't easy, but then that's life, right!!

PEACE

New Wheels for John!

Our friend John got a new car today, and we were thrilled when he brought it by to show us:

It is a Honda Element, and I believe the color is called Metallic Tangerine. Isn't it a beauty! I am so in love with this car and its versatility. I hope that by the time I am ready to trade in my little Volvo, Honda will be making a hybrid Element.

Here's John (oh, and Barker too!) just as proud as can be of his new baby:

I love how the front and back doors open apart, so it is easier to get in and out of the back seat:

Did you notice the cute little step there on the side? It's very stylish!!

C got in to see how his 6'3" frame fit behind the wheel:

He had lots of room. And then we encouraged him to sit in the backseat to check out his leg room with the driver's seat all the way back:

He still had room! And look who was in the driver's seat!!!

John has a thriving floral arrangement business here in town, and this car is just perfect for him and his deliveries. Look how the back opens up and the backseats fold up on the sides. The thick rubber mat will be easy to keep clean, just in case an arrangement gets tipsy in the back. That is Troy, John's partner, adjusting the other backseat.

Here's one last view of my newest love interest:

I seriously hope that Honda will make a Hybrid Element in the next few years. It just makes so much cents!!

I spent the morning gardening....it was cool and overcast, so incredibly rare for July in Georgia! I was lovin' it! This afternoon, after several stops in town and a visit with John and Troy, I did some more discharging. Hopefully I'll have some good pics for you tomorrow! Now it's off to dinner: corn on the cob, fruit salad, summer squash, green beans and C's famous smoked Baby Back Ribs! YUMMMMM!

PEACE

Monday Monday

WOW! We are having the most increcible weather this summer! I'm not sure who's climate this is supposed to be, but we are enjoying it immensely! It was so cool last night that C had the den door open while we were watching the ballgame, and I had to put a sweater and socks on to stay warm! I ended up sleeping in said socks all night! So, I'm thinking this is Portland weather.........thanks, Gerrie!

After being a good but rather boring girl this morning (cleaning the house - yuck!), I rewarded myself with studio time this afternoon! I have several irons in the fire, but the discharging bug keeps nibbling at me, and I can't let it go!

Here is a before picture of a piece that I'm fairly certain I used fabric paint on in my week with Sue Beevers at John C. Campbell Folk School:

It was one of the first pieces I "worked on", and it has never sung to me, so I thought I'd see what, if anything, discharging would do. I applied some painters tape, and then slapped on a mixture of dishwasher gel and turquoise dye:



So above you can see it with the tape and dye, and below, you can see it after washing, drying and ironing:

It's a bit better, but still needs some oooomph.

This is my favorite piece from today. Unfortunately, I have no before shot of it, but I will bore you with three of the after shots. I'm smitten with this one:

I love the deeper rosey red lines on it and the green. This piece was pretty much all red when I started with it. Where shall I go from here? Any suggestions? Speak up, don't be shy!!

The other afternoon, I glanced out the window and saw a rather odd site. At first I couldn't figure out what it was, so I ran to the spotting scope and realized that it was a hawk taking a bath in the lake. Isn't it nice to know that hawks also like to be clean!

Here he is just after totally dunking himself in the lake:

This shot was just before he took off up into one of the nearby trees:

For the second year in a row, our neighbors George and Barbara have had hawks nest in one of their trees. I feel sure that this is one of the babies, who has staked out its claim in our side yard. Oh joy!

PEACE

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my Sweetie!

I didn't know you waaaay back then, but if I had, I'd have snatched you up right then and there! Wasn't he a cutie pie!

Here he is with Kristin, minutes after she was born:

I'm not really sure he knew what to do with her, but he looked like a natural Daddy even then!

And here they are years later at her Cotillion:

That was a fun, fun evening, and we were both so proud of her. Don't they make a dashing couple on the dance floor!

And here he is with another love of his life: flying.

Yesterday we puttered around Midtown, enjoying breakfast at Babs', one of our favorite haunts. They have a wonderful outdoor eating area, so Barker can go with us. The great thing is that when they see us coming, our friends always bring Barker a huge bowl of water and a biscuit, even before they bring us our coffee! We love it there! We had a late lunch at Apres Diem and then walked nextdoor to the Midtown Arts movie theater to see "La Vie en Rose", the outstanding (but sad) movie of the life of Edith Piaf. Marion Cotillard is fantastic as Edith Piaf. If you haven't seen it, you should...but bring a box of tissues with you!

Last night we got together with Kristin and Dave. They cooked us a marvelous birthday meal and we all had a wonderful evening together, Barker and Marley included. Tonight we are alone: martinis, fajitas, artichokes and spinach salads. Tomorrow we are partying with friends, but not for C. It will be a bon voyage party for a friend who will be spending a year teaching in Mexico. I hope to have more photos then.

C was born at 11:00 PM in California's Mojave Desert. So we can't really decide if we should be celebrating his birthday here on the East Coast today or tomorrow. I'm sure some of you will want to voice your opinions! (We have decided however, to celebrate all weekend, just to keep all bases covered!)

PEACE