Set Up Day

So, after walking 4 miles on the golf course with Barker early this morning and then taking him to Miss Brenda, his beloved groomer, I got busy photographing and tagging the rest of my pieces that will be on my table at our church's show, beginning this Saturday.

This is one of my all-time faves:

I chose the color scheme after admiring a wonderful Dale Chihuly birthday card that our friend Michael had sent me last year. Of course it's the traditional red/green, but with a great twist! Thank you Mr. Chihuly! I felt so free when I waxed, painted, waxed, and then again painted this scarf. The fiber is silk charmeuse, so you know that it is butter soft and drapes like a dream.

This 44" square of hand-painted silk crepe was inspired by Fleegle's Knitting Blog, which my friend Roberta (Dr. Sock) had told me about:


You will notice, if you read Fleegle's blog post, that I was totally inspired by the colors in the scarf she chose! HA!! Anyway, the square of silk is transformed into a wonderful little bag. I have chosen to use the clear acrylic handles (courtesy of the honorable Dr. Sock) to fashion my furoshiki. Those Japanese are so inventive!!!

It's a wonderful little bag and I can't wait to make more of them for all seasons!

Next, I will finally divulge the piece that I have been knitting on (off and on) for several months now:

I dyed the silk, tore it into strips, and then knitted it into a lovely little wrap.

Dr. Sock will want to see the button that I chose for closure:


I'm really pleased with the outcome of this little project.

It wasn't until after lunch, after my shower (Pee-You!), and after loading up C's SUV, that I finally got my stuff to the church. Thanks Be To God!! I almost immediately met up with Becky, who introduced herself to me, but she didn't need to for I had been impressed by her work two years ago at our last show. She said she reads my blog!!! (I was excited but also felt a bit transparent!). I was really glad to find out that our tables are next to eachother in the gift shop area, since Becky does incredible things with vintage linens. I'm really honored to be sharing space with her.

Setting up isn't my cup of tea, and it makes me a bit crazy (or crazier than usual?), so it took me a long, long time. C and I had found some great plastic lattice at Home Depot, and I thought that the white plastic would be a perfect way to display my 'stuff'. I had a hard time getting it to behave, but with a little wire and the help of Jeremy, our festival co-chair, we straightened it out, literally!

So here's how it looked when I finished:

Above is 'my space', and below is 'our space': Becky's and mine! I wish I had some closeups of her work, because she has taken some beautiful vintage linens and transformed them into beautifully functional pieces for the 21st century.


As I was leaving the church, I caught a glimpse of our lovely steeple:

It wasn't too long ago that we built our new nave and I stood amongst a crowd as Mike Feeman, the current Associate Rector, climbed into a bucket attached to a crane and mounted the wonderful Celtic Cross atop the steeple. It was a magical moment and I still get chills when I recall it.

This afternoon Becky and I discussed our hopes that Barack Obama will win the Presidential election next Tuesday. She told me that she felt a kindrid spirit when she read my blog and saw my Obama sign at the upper right, and also that she felt quite the minority here in GainesVegas. I agreed but told her that I was filled with the Hope of Change every time I passed by the HUGE OBAMA/BIDEN sign on Green Street. She hadn't seen it, so I snapped a picture on my drive home. Here it is, Becky:

That's it for tonight folks!

PEACE, HOPE, CHANGE:
OBAMA/BIDEN!!!!

This and That

How about that amazing Obama infomercial this evening! I was thrilled and brought to tears several times. What a great leader we could have, if only people will let it happen!!!

Just for equal time, my friend Barbara sent me this Palin/McCain cartoon:

Switching Gears:

Our church's Festival of the Arts begins with the Preview Party on Saturday evening. I'm slowly but surely winding things up around here. This cami has been a long process of complex cloth, but I think I finally found the answer last week when I decided to batik it and then overdye it one more time. I just love how it has turned out. I don't think I'll put it on my table for sale, but I wanted to show you now.


This is Periwinkle Surprise, and I am also smitten by it:


Here is the detail:

I have a funny story to tell you about the circular motif that is in the center of the detail shot above. C and I were walking Barker in Midtown one day when he hiked his leg on a fire hydrant. I glanced down on the other side of the hydrant, and there was this wonderfully round black object that I just had to have. I said something to C about it, and he gave me the most horrified look and then muttered something about not picking up any object that was next to a fire hydrant. So I grabbed one of the 'doggie poop bags' that we always carry with us when we walk Barker in the city, and carefully picked up the object. I brought it home and sterilized it....isn't it a great stamp!!!

Here is October Sky with Ginkgos, another of my favorites:


and here is the detail:


I felt like I really had to do a few more holiday scarves, so here are two with holly leaves:



Tomorrow will be a busy day: pricing and tagging all of my items and then setting up my table in the little gift shop area. Of course, as things go, I'm doing everything at the very last minute, but that just makes the adrenalin flow faster!!!

If you haven't seen this amazing YouTube of the dancing dog, take a peek, it is quite amazing and the accompanying music is awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sknEaZHHbhc&eurl=http://breathingeasy.wordpress.com/2008/03/15/dog-dance/

PEACE, HOPE, CHANGE:
OBAMA/BIDEN!!!!

'Been A While

Lots has been going on around here, and it seems that I haven't been making time to blog. I fear that my faithful followers have deserted me. ARGH!!! Leave a comment if you're still hanging in there with me, just to boost my morale!

The morning after I last posted, with those lovely pictures of Barker frolicking on the golf course during our evening walk, he took the liberty to totally 'besmurch' himself with all sorts of hangers on! Take a gander:


He's a funny boy: he is eager to go out and hunt on the golf course, but he hates to look bad, so he wasn't too happy to have me take that picture! He was so embarrassed!!!!

The rule in this household is that he who allows Barker to become besmurched must also be the 'desmurcher'! I am pleased to report that while the boys had walked the golf course, I had done my yoga! So, here are my boys:

take special notice that Elsie, our kitty cat, is seated on one of the ottomans! She and Barker have a real love/hate relationship, and she was totally enjoying Barker's grooming session!

We had tickets to hear Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, speak at Brenau University last Thursday evening.

It was a wonderful evening, and I so enjoyed hearing Dr. Hosseini speak about his life and his writing. He said that when he is writing a book, 8 hours can pass by and he is astonished when he looks at the clock and realizes how the time has flown. (I can relate as I feel the same way when I am working in my dye studio!) He also expressed his displeasure with the ads of the Republican National Committee where they cite that Barack Obama's middle name is Hussein. Like so many of us here in these United States, Dr. Hosseini doesn't understand why the name Hussein is offensive, or why some think that a Muslim cannot also be a 'good' citizen of the United States. 'good' isn't the correct word, but I think you know where I'm going with this!

OK, enough on politics for tonight!!

We spent a hurried 48 hours in Midtown last weekend. Was it really 48 hours? We went to see Oliver Stone's "W" at Midtown Arts (there wasn't much in there that I didn't already know, but Josh Brolin did a great job and the gal who played Condalisa Rice was fantastic!) and we walked a lot, as usual! I snapped a few pictures on our walks around the 'hood. Here's how 'our collapsed house' is coming along:

I was so pleased to see that they had gotten the roof on since we last were in Midtown, because we actually had rain last week!

I love how the neighborhood decorates for the holidays! These guys always put on a great show:


I love the front porch on this house at the corner of Penn and 8th St:


Midtown is definitely Obama Country, and I feel so comfortable when we are there! Here are just a few of the many signs and bumper stickers in the neighborhood:




We rushed home to GainesVegas on Sunday morning, so that we could attend a few blessings. It seems that the last Sunday in October is a huge Blessing Day!

Our friends John and Troy were having their new shop, Occasions by John & Troy, blessed by Doug, our Episcopal Priest. Here they are after the Blessing:

John is an incredible flower designer and Troy is a fabulous baker. They also have many pieces of art on display and for sale in their lovely shop, including some of my scarves!!


Our friends Joan and Ed have recently built and moved into their dream home, and it is indeed a wonderful abode! They had invited us to their House Blessing later Sunday afternoon, and we were delighted to attend. Our church was also having the annual Blessing of the Animals at the same time, but we decided to give Barker the afternoon off, and opted to spend it with Joan and Ed, and many other of our mutual friends.

While in Atlanta last weekend, I went by Mingei World and picked up this beautiful tjap that I had ordered earlier in the week:

I just love it!! I spent several hours batiking today and will hopefully have some nice pieces to show for it. If so, I'll share them with you soon!

My usual lunch is a big salad with lots of spinach, aurugula, tomatoes, Feta cheese, sliced mushrooms, perhaps a cut-up apple, and a bit of whatever leftover cold meat we have on hand. Today's lunch looked particularly appealing, so I snapped this pic:


Well, that's it in a rather large nutshell. But, one last thing: if you are a U.S. citizen and haven't voted and you have the opportunity to vote early, please do so! I don't care which candidate you choose, I just want you to get out there and vote! It is so important!!!

Take a second and leave a comment..........I have!!

PEACE, HOPE, CHANGE:
OBAMA/BIDEN 08!!!

A Day in My Life.......well, ok, make it 4 days!

The window washer returned to the Metropolis on Saturday morning...I could tell as soon as I got up and saw the big thick ropes dangling down in front of my view of Stone Mountain. I was excited, but so was Barker: he needed to go for his walk. Well, as luck would have it, once again Spidey seemed to wait on our return:


I was sitting checking my emails and reading my blogs when he suddenly appeared in front of our livingroom window!

Now, a totally different view from another livingroom window here in GainesVegas:


I took the above pic yesterday (Monday October 20th) morning. I love it when the steam is rising off of the lake. Big Blue, our resident Great Blue Heron, is all hunkered down, trying to stay warm.....our low was 46.

Speaking of livingroom windows, I heard a loud knock on one of our sliders this afternoon, and darned if this little fellow wasn't down on the patio when I turned around.
I just hate it when that happens! Most of you will recognize this as our Northern Cardinal, a very lovely bird, but also one that we here in the states tend to take for granted. I remember a few years ago when we had visitors from Cornwall dining with us and they were so captivated by our Cardinals. I do think they are lovely. I took several pictures of this young guy, and may use them for a quilt in the future. So sorry that we lost him, but there are dozens more at our feeders every day.

I decided to take you along on our evening golf course walk. We do this every evening that we are home....mainly to give Barker a bit more exercise (one of us takes him about 4 miles on the cart paths every morning), but also to enjoy the evening just before the sun sets. It is getting earlier and earlier now that Fall is upon us.

So, here is Barker Baby playing with a pine cone. It doesn't take much to amuse him!

Barker has just turned six, but he still acts like a puppy:


Whew, he has finally settled down long enough for a photo op:


My favorite hole on the lake...it will take your breath away at sunrise:


Autumn is upon us:


Somebody forgot to tell this honeysuckle that it is about to get really, really cold here!


If you haven't already read the blog post of my friend Beverly, I want to recommend it to you. She is one brave soul: traveling from Utah to Colorado for the weekend to stump for Obama! I am so proud of her!!!

PEACE, HOPE, CHANGE:
OBAMA/BIDEN!!!

Spidey Visits the Metropolis

When I got up this morning, I saw a long, thick rope dangling down in front of the window where our little dining table sits. I was so excited: we hadn't missed the window washers after all!!! I grabbed my camera and went out onto our deck to snap a pic:

I couldn't have that job for all of the money in the world! No way!!

And there he dangled right in front of us, just a minute or two later:

He is quite thorough and very methodical in his work, never stopping to pose for me or even smile!


When we returned from walking Barker, Spidey had moved over to the next row of windows, and had already done our bedroom. I snapped this photo of him from the other end of our little balcony.

Then I noticed more activity down on the amenity level:

The gardeners are changing out the seasonal plantings, adding pansies and ornamental kale and cabbage, which will last until Spring. Part of me says that I could live this life all of the time, never again having to lift a trowel or shovel in any garden and not missing it for a moment, but another part still enjoys diggin' in the dirt! I guess I'm not really ready for full time condo living.

In my long and rather pictorial post last night, I forgot to add this photo of perhaps my all time favorite new scarf, October Sky:

I really, really love it! The blue is more intense than it shows here, and the colors in the leaves really do sparkle.

It is available at "Occasions by John & Troy", the new shop just off the square in GainesVegas.

PEACE, HOPE, CHANGE:
OBAMA/BIDEN!!!!

Phew: What a Week!

It's been a wild and crazy week! That said, I'm pleased to say that both C and I have survived it all........you knew that Barker would!!

I will begin with the last (and best!) first: I've been playing around with Susan Conn Italo's Wild Onion Jacket. Susan's master pattern shows the jacket reversible and completed with its seams exposed and bound on the outsides. I wanted a jacket that was reversible but didn't have exposed seams. Not being a pattern planner person, I emailed Susan and we discussed my plan. She encouaged me to proceed, and so I did. After a few extra seams sewn and frogged, here's my completed jacket front:


back:

lining front:


lining front with 'real front' showing:

lining back
lining detail:

I was unsure as to the sizing and my construction ideas on this jacket, so I purchased some very inexpensive muslin from my local fabric store with the thought of making a sloper. Then I just couldn't resist playing around with the muslin, adding some dyes, discharging a few, waxing more, bleaching a little, printing more, etc.

I am pleased to report that the jacket pattern is totally reversible and that it fits me to a TEE!! I am so in love with the Wild Onion Jacket pattern!!! Thanks Susan!!

Scarves: I've been having a wonderful time dyeing silk scarves!! I was pleased to see that my friend Gerrie's gorgeous silk scarf donation to the Surface Design Association's online auction had done so well. Go Gerrie!! Next year, I plan to make my donation. In the mean time, here is one of this week's creations on silk charmeuse:


It is my interpretation of Autumn in Georgia, with the maize colored grasses and leaves and also the crimson Dogwood leaves. I LOVE Autumn in Georgia!

here's the detail of Maize:


The Silk Painters group that I belong to has a monthly challenge/theme and this month's is Autumn. I haven't submitted mine yet, but here it is:


I've rediscovered the love that I once had for free form painting on silk with acid dyes! This scarf was so much fun to create!!! It all began a week ago when Barker and I walked at sunset on the golf course. The setting sun against the autumn leaves and sky was breathtaking and very inspirational.

Another view

and a bit of detail:

Here's a tee that I've been tinkering with for a month or two:



Here's another tee that I have finished off for myself:


detail:
I am short on seasonal tees for myself, so I am finally getting a chance to stock up on a few for the cooler months!

Our friends John and Troy have opened a cute little shop just off of the square in GainesVegas: Creations by John and Troy. They do not have a website yet, but if you are in the area and you are in need of gorgeous cut flowers by the stem at a very reasonalbe price, check them out on Bradford Street. They are now carrying my one-of-a-kind hand-dyed silk scarves, plus many other lovely pieces by local artisans.

PEACE, HOPE, CHANGE:
OBAMA/BIDEN!