Party On!

Yesterday was our cousin Catherine's birthday. She is a lot younger than we are, but was feeling 'old' at the young age of 42.......groan! Catherine is very bright, witty beyond words, loving, giving, caring, and was suddenly struck with the horrible disease MS several years back. She conducts her life with a grace and dignity that is amazing, and I hold her in the highest regard. She doesn't stop at anything: living alone, swimming daily, singing in her church's choir, etc. I consider any time that I have the opportunity to spend with Catherine to be a very special gift.

Coincidentally, our cousins from Florida and their young, hip, and good lookin' NYC chilluns are vacationing about an hour north of us for two weeks, so we all got together yesterday to celebrate Catherine's day. Our weather here has been delightful and deliciously cool, which made our get-together even more pleasant. I snapped a few candid pics and will share them with you. I hope you can get a feel for the fun we all were having.






I dyed that tee for Catherine and had a ball creating it. The colors are just wild and they make me very happy. I hope she will feel a similar exhilaration when she wears it. Here is a closeup of some of the happy colors:

Catherine's Mom asked me to dye a jacket and pants in blue for the birthday girl. Once again, I had fun with this project, but since she would be wearing it in church while performing with the choir, I decided they needed to be a bit more subdued. Here's the jacket:


and here are the pants:

the colors actually do coordinate......the lighting wasn't always the same when I snapped these pics

Here's my faithful studio dog, doing his guard duty as I worked on Catherine's duds:

Thanks to all of C's fabulous family for making yesterday so much fun. Barker was exhausted after his day with Gus and Noelle, but he was happy to have made some new friends.


My friend Barbara sent me a fun link: go here
don't hit your mouse once you've clicked the 'play' button

PEACE

One Proud Mama!

Kristin and her friends Sarah and Suzy participated in the Aflac Iron Girl Triathlon bright and early this morning (Kristin and Sarah left our house shortly after 5:00 AM). It was a first for all three, and judging by their smiling faces at the finish line, I think it was quite a positive experience and probably won't be their last. The event consisted of a 1/3 mile swim in Lake Lanier, then an 18-mile bike ride, and lastly a 3 mile run. The terrain is hilly in that area, thus providing a bit more of a challenge. I cannot imagine swimming a third of a mile, then running barefooted across a sandy beach and up a hill to a transition area to put on my biking/running shoes (over wet and sandy feet) and then getting on my bike and riding 18 miles, only to dismount at the transition area and run another 3 miles! These are some tough young women!

Dave and I made it to the finish line shortly after the girls did, and I was able to snap these pics:

l to r: Suzy, Sarah, Kristin

I've been happily knitting away on my newest pair of socks and I've gotta tell ya that I just adore this pattern and the wonderful Hand Maiden yarn! I dropped back by Knitch on Friday and picked up another skein so that I can get going on another pair when I finish these. Here is sock number one:

The yarn is called Casbah and it is 80% Merino, 10% Cashmere and 10% Nylon. The best part is that the socks are machine washable! Aren't they cute!!! The pattern is Simply Lovely Lace Socks by Karen Baumer and it is so easy to follow. I love her directions and really found the heel simple to work.

We are finally getting some much-needed rain here in the south. Here's a rather lovely 'thunderbump' that I photographed the other evening while we were at the condo:

If you enlarge this pic and look carefully, you'll see a jet just about to enter the cloud on the left side of the cloud, about halfway down. We watched that plane from our 14th floor perch, wondering if he'd go around the storm and just pass right through it. Hope everyone had their seat belts on!!

Our friends K & M visited with us in Midtown last week and we had a great time! They enjoy so manyof the same things that we do......including great food! We walked to Mitra on Friday night and all partook of varying renditions of the prix fixe menu. Well done Mitra!!!

Hope you've had a great week!

PEACE

What the Hail

I'm trying my darnedest to take a short nap each afternoon. C has been a napper most of his life, and he swears by the rejuvenating powers that a short nap can provide. I however normally wake with a headache, so have steered clear of this little break for most of my life. I am currently reading a good book though, and stealing a quick 30 minutes is quite nice...even if my eyes do close for a few minutes. Are you a napper? Care to comment on this??

Yesterday afternoon I got a late start in the nap department, and by the time I was laying down my not-so-weary head, there were rumblings of thunder nearby. Barker wasn't the least bit happy, and kept trying to join me on the bed, which is a no-no in our household. Suddenly the heavens broke loose and I heard rather loud raindrops on our rooftop....but wait: it was hail! We had quite a hailstorm, as you will see in the photos below:


This is our front walkway:

The gutters were so overwhelmed with the hail and the bits of leaf debris that rain and hail was sloshing over the top:


The temp dropped from 86 to 66 in a matter of minutes. Froggy seemed happy enough!

That is leaf debris that is flying through the air, along with the hail. I'm glad I wasn't out on the lake in our canoe!

PEACE

I Scored!

Yesterday when C and I were taking Barker out for a walk at the condo, we spotted this huge piece of plexiglass in the trash collection area. It had been painted in areas on one side and has painter's tape still applied, but the other side is nice and smooth. C knew that I was lusting after this find, but we decided we would take a chance that nobody else would pick it up and wait until this morning to drag it up to the condo: hopefully less people to witness our 'dump-picking', as Saturday mornings are very quiet here! Then due to drizzly conditions and a late night out last night, we overslept! But as you can see, it was still there!

It's far too big to bring home in my car, so I'll have to cut it up and transport it one piece at a time. Lots of monoprinting and stamping will be done with this find!!

While out doing errands yesterday, I dropped by Abadabbas and picked up these lovelies:

My last pair of Keens finally bit the dust, and I am so very pleased that I was able to find some in this terrific melon shade!

PEACE

Wunnerful Wennsday

I never finished showing you what I worked on yesterday, so I snapped a few pics this morning to share with you.

Here are some of the discharged samples:



I like them all, but I think the last one is my favorite.

And here is the scarf I told you about:

I ADORE this scarf, even if it is in jewel tones!!! This colorway is a first for me, and came after a request for jewel tones from my cousin Virginia.


In lieu of an after lunch nap, I puttered around with 'Losing Track'. While swimming this morning, I got a little wonkier vision of the tracks running through my brain and so I have attempted to duplicate it here:

Not sure about the trees. But nothing is glued or sewn in place. I've got some ideas for the upper left hand corner, but ran out of time today.

My knitting buddies are coming here tomorrow, so I've been doing a bit of spiffing up. We are having absolutely gorgeous weather: highs in the low 80s, low temp last night in the 50s, and the humidity is low. You gotta love it!!!

And here are a few more shots of my, shall I say, 'orgasmic' scarf:

PEACE

Do You See What I See?

While walking through our livingroom this morning, I noticed something odd about the trunk of our River Birch:


Taking a closer look, I could see a kitty cat nestled in the middle of the trunks, almost perfectly camouflaged! Not fair! Look what that kitty is looking at:

I know it's only natural, but I can't just sit back and let a cat nab an innocent bird at one of my feeders! So, Barker and I came to the rescue of the unsuspecting birdies and scared the kitty cat away...for now, at least.

I've been working on "Losing Track", a piece that I like very much:


It's time to cut up some discharged fabrics and make something of them! Initially I liked the top 'track' placement best, but now I'm undecided. This was a second choice:


But I think I like this one now:

There's lots more to be done to it, but I'm having fun just moving the tracks around and thinking about what I will quilt into it, and perhaps a few images that I may transfer into it. Stay tuned!

I spent a couple of blissful hours discharging more fabric, working on some yummy samples for a t-shirt client, and finishing up a scarf that I am now madly in love with. By the time C called me in for dinner, it was too late to get any pics.........maybe tomorrow?

PEACE

Midtown Walkabout

Yesterday our friends R & B joined us for what we called a Midtown Walkabout. R had lived in Midtown for many years back in the 60s & 70s, so we thought it would be fun to meander through the neighborhood that he used to call home, and see it all through his eyes and memories. And we were not disappointed!!!

We began the morning buying pastries at the Saturday Green Market at Piedmont Park and then proceeded to Caribou where we enjoyed our almond Danish with a bit of java. MMMM: the iced coffee was delish! We wandered through the park admiring the Noguchi Playscapes, and R recalled the hippie days and Alman Brothers free concerts. We waddled down 10th Street past Grady High, and across Monroe to MetroFresh, in order to take part in Mitchel's Saturday Soup Sale, and to enjoy a bit of a rest under the new chartreuse awning. Barker enjoyed his cup of cold water. Walking back to the Metropolis via 8th Street, R spotted a few old residences that jogged his memories, and we all enjoyed his tales.


We enjoyed lunch alfresco at the Vortex on Peachtree and then did a bit more sightseeing, and R provided more tales of intrigue. What an interesting life and what exciting times in Midtown!!!

Sadly, our friends departed mid afternoon, but I think they'll return again for more frolics!


Last evening C and I walked up to the High Museum's Rich Theater and viewed "Devil in a Blue Dress" as part of the Don Cheadle series. We walked back 'home', and enjoyed a brew and some wings here while enjoying the last few innings of the Braves/Angels game. (The Braves are actually winning AND winning on the road!! WooHoo!)

Happy Fathers Day to any Fathers who might actually be reading my blog. (Are there any? If so, please raise your hands, be counted, leave a comment and pat yourselves on the back for being such good Dads!) My Dear Dad died in '86, but he left me with several things: my sense of humor; my appreciation of honesty, sincerity and integrity; and of course we cannot forget: my nose!! Thanks Dad!! I miss you!!

PEACE

Summertime......

and the livin' is eeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaasy!

I've been gardening, cleaning out closets and drawers, walking, dyeing, sewing, etc. It's a great life!

While purging items in one drawer I came across the cami below, without the fern design.


I don't recall dyeing it, but I know that I must have, at some point. Anyway, I decided that it could do with some discharge, so the figure you see above was the result of one session in the studio. When I looked at it the other day, I decided it needed even more pizazz, so this is what happened:


Now I like this version a whole lot better!

I visited my favorite yarn shop this afternoon, and walked out with this:



It's called "Casbah" by Hand Maiden of Canada. It is 80% Merino, 10% Cashmere and 10% Nylon AND it's machine washable. Do I need to tell you how soft it is in my hands while I knit this pair of socks????? I can hardly wait to feel it against my footers!!

PEACE

WooHoo!

As seen in yesterday's Atlanta Journal and Constitution.
We've come a long way baby!

I have been redoing a few pieces that have bothered me over the past few months. Here is one:

a silk charmeuse scarf that I dyed, discharged and printed last Fall. I added another layer of dye yesterday:


I did some discharging this morning:


Here is the finished product:

I'm pleased with it now.

My buddy spent the morning in the studio with me:

PEACE