Finished Buttons Finnnnnnnnnnnally

It's not that the buttons take that long but I do them in layers and each layer has to dry before the next is applied....so the paints are always out for a week when I start...all over our only table. But I just haven't been motivated this winter to paint. Hopefully I'll remember that before I drag all the paints out again....


I love to have a pretty painted button though to put on RRs that I do.... The rose buttons are about an inch and the cottage buttons are just a little larger. I couldn't resist doing Pat Winter's pink retreat cottage on a button.

They have been sitting around unfinished for a couple months and I could always find something I would rather do... Now that they're done I can do whatever moves me without feeling guilty (for a while at least.) and staring at the mess.

I'm excited about starting on Wendy's encrusted RR blocks. She had masks in the center which just said Venetian Carnival to me. I love working with a theme....

Mother Krueger's Sour Cream Rolls......

For those who asked here's the recipe for the husband-pleasing sour cream rolls..

First I should add that you need to really love someone to make these as they are time consuming and messy...

Years ago I combined this little watercolor I did of her making the recipe, a little story, and a mini-biography. I framed copies for her children.....then her grandchildren..... and now her great and great-great grandchildren. If you have a family recipe that is associated with one family member, this makes a nice Christmas gift. I blogged about it before but you can see it here...

http://olderrose.blogspot.com/2008/09/recipe-for-christmas.html

Mother Krueger's Sour Cream Rolls
Note from husband: DO NOT SUBSTITUE ANYTHING ELSE FOR THE BUTTER!!!!

Ingredients
1 package dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup REAL BUTTER
3-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups sugar
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Cut butter into mixture of flour and salt. Add yeast, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Mix thoroughly; cover with a damp cloth or sarn. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
Turn half of dough out onto a board sugared with 1/2 cup sugar. Roll into an 8 x 16-inch rectangle. Fold ends toward center, sprinkle with sugar and roll again. Repeat twice, using half the sugar. Roll about 1/4 inch thick and cut into 1 x 4-inch strips. Twist ends in opposite directions, stretching slightly. Tie in a losse knowt, dip in sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until delicately browned. Remove from cookie sheets immediately. Makes: 1-1/2 to 2 dozen.

Notes.

1. Because they are so time consuming I ALWAYS double this recipe.

2. There is NO sugar in the dough itself... It is rolled out in sugar which makes them so deliciously crisp and yummy...but also very messy to make.

3. Because of the sugar on the outside of the rolls they burn very quickly so watch closely.

4. The is a traditional German recipe and often found in community cookbooks in areas settled by Germans at the turn of the century.

We're on the dry side....

This is typical of the countryside around and south of Spokane, the eastern dry side of Washington state. People usually make the assumption that all of Washington is like the wet coastal areas but the Cascade mountains keep all the moisture on the west side of the state and the rest of Washington is mostly arid and desert. North of Spokane are mountains and forests all the way to Canada....but still very little moisture.

Installment One - The Purchase

Installment One - The Purchase
On a trip to Spokane in April 1980, my husband bought the farm. . . literally! "What's it like?" I asked on his return to Anchorage, Alaska. . . "Well," he replied, "the road to it is impassable, the land is overworked, and the house is so bad we'll probably have to tear it down." And that was the good news.

So in May after quitting our jobs and selling our house, we are driving to the farm and, because I'm a clever girl and an eternal optimist, I'm thinking I can probably salvage the house and I'll have a fabulous garden with lush perennials beds, tons of hybrid roses and a verdant lawn (gardening in Alaska wasn't the most exciting.)

Then he casually mentions there's a little problem with the well. "Whatta ya mean...a problem??" I ask with a fair amount of tension in my voice. He hesitantly admits there's only about a gallon-a-minute. If you've ever lived on a well you know that is barely adequate for a house let alone a garden.

Besides Spokane only gets 14" of moisture a year and that is in the wintertime....hardly boding well for the garden of my dreams. The house was indeed dismal and everything around it was dead... everything that wasn't buried in broken-down equipment and junk. Well there was one old apple tree living, but not a songbird to be seen. There was a pheasant and a killdeer. But as it turns out, being ground nesters, their habitat was under constant assault with chemicals...fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. In fact so many chemicals had been poured on the land over the years that it had seeped down to the water level of aforementioned well.

After I finished weeping and wailing, I began pulling at the duct tape which was holding up the peeling wallpaper in this dismal house built in 1906. I resolved I would have a garden by damn and there would be birds to sing for my bird-loving husband and never again would there be a single drop of chemicals on this land in my lifetime.

Photo taken in May 1980


Photo taken in May 2009 standing in the same spot -

There is a very small pond on the right where you can barely see the little bridge. It provides water for the larger wildlife.

Addendum for scrapbook: The Dismal House

The house (built in 1906) definitely lived down to my husband's expectations. As you can see there were real problems with the foundation.. I should say what foundation as only half the house had a foundation... the rest was sitting on rocks... not a rock foundation... just rocks. The lovely stuff you see on the outside of the house was asphalt material with a brick pattern. It was peeling and rotting. I'm sorry I don't have early pictures of the inside but the outside was grand by comparison.. My husband was right...we should have torn it down. The tree on the right was dead and the tree on the left was dying.

p.s. I am still working with the assemblage of this piece. I adored all Robin's little openings in her work. I started with felt and didn't like it so will go to town to get ultrasuede. It's also hard to condense the text to fit so there will be expanded text in the scrapbook which I am doing at the same time since I have all the photos out....

I need to vent!!!!

I know that supermarket checkers must go through some type of training and I'm wondering why it doesn't include both restraint on commenting a shopper's purchases and vegetable identification..... Since HWCH is going to be gone Friday night I am going to fix myself one of my favorite suppers...chicken livers sauteed with sherry, green onions and mushrooms.. When I went through checkout the clerk said "This must be for your cat or dog..right???" "No," I say.."it's for me." She wrinkled her nose and said "eeuuuuuuuu, you actually eat chicken livers?" followed by a little shudder... Thanks you very much for that personal opinion is what I wanted to respond..

And if I dare to buy leeks, parsnips, turnips, kale or even beets....I often get "What IS this?" and of course, followed by "What do you do with it?" followed by "eeuuuuuuuu, you actually eat ..." then a long consultation with the laminated vegetable chart like this vegetable just arrived in their store from outer space..

And while I'm at it, I really resent having to give my phone number, zip code, birthday of my first born and the name of my pet just so I can belong to their preferred shopper's "club"!!! I would like to get their specials and wander in and out of the store in complete anonymity. They probably use that information to track what I buy so they can all gather in the break room and collectively say "eeuuuuuuuu, she actually eats..."

Daffodil Teaser

Quickie Post: A blurry shot of daffodil spots. Added trellis detail over gingham ribbon..was inspired by a seam done by Laurie B. (center) Did the SRE daffodils which ended up looking more like yellow irises...well you can't win them all. And so much for treading lightly on the handkerchief lace, Gerry! (right) started sun coming up over garden seam. Taking it with me today to add beaded sunbeams while I am waiting....Aren't we always waiting on something or someone..? Thanks heavens for toteable needlework..... (my spell check says toteable isn't a proper word but I use it all the time...)

Not Another Hair Photo!!!

My sweet step daughter Nancy put this picture of us taken years ago on Facebook a couple days ago... Obviously we were being more than just a little silly....combing our hair forward and pretending to be forest monsters. I was surprised she had kept the photo all these years as I sure didn't. I'm still adjusting to reaching up to NO hair...

HWCH is going to Seattle this weekend and I am finishing up some long-standing messy projects. I'm going to finish Debbie's doll to mail and finally finish the painting of the buttons.

Last night I started to go through some old photos for the bird garden installments. I have been meaning for YEARS to gather this material into a scrapbook or journal... I will use some photos with BJP and what's left into a scrapbook.. finally... It's taken the beading of the birds to get me organized and motivated...... Doing it in installments will make it easier.

A Garden for the Birds in Twelve Installments

First I wanted to do the birds and then tell the story and then finally figured how to attach the story to the birds. If you follow this story you'll learn how a 20 acre garden for the birds turned my life upside down…

The sign is about 18X24" and has a place of honor in our garden. You’ll find out how I started this garden in May 1980 in a Zone 4 arid region with next to no water and how having no water turned into a blessing.

How this garden which I simply started to attract birds for my husband led to :

-a collection of hundreds of old-fashioned roses
-a nursery specializing in plants for the birds.
-the sale 10s of thousands of plants using no plastic pots
-thousands of people visiting the garden learning to attract birds and conserve water
-eroded land turned into a forest
-being featured in a one book and in Better Homes and Gardens
-sending rootstock to David Austin’s breeding program
-speaking engagements around the world
-hugs from former customers who still bring me pictures of their gardens. …
-a wonderful wild garden full of birds and wildlife that started with this dead tree…..
　
　

I should have the installment one attached by the end of the week...
　

Happy Husband

Quick post: My husband had his favorite Saturday night....eating homemade sour cream rolls from his mother's recipe, sipping gourmet coffee and watching Lawrence Welk reruns he's seen a million times. Life couldn't get much better than that according to him.

Having company for dinner today..Menu: poached salmon, roasted yams, green salad, and asparagus... chilled lemon souffle with blueberries for dessert.

I'm still so excited with new beading page and will have it ready (without text) tomorrow. It is soooooooooo wonderful when things come together.....

p.s. Hope Susan Elliot's husband is whistling Dixie!!!!

BJP

I'm busy working on my new January piece (the magpie will be Feb) and am soooooooo excited because I finally can see how I can do the journal pieces and incorporate the story as well. I'm off today to the hardware store for some metal tubing and Michaels for matte board and the fabric store for felt...

I chose the birds theme because this May is the 30th anniversary of a personal commitment which took me on a wild journey....

Two WIPs finished

I finished the last of the jewelry that I had pulled to do.. Try as I might I couldn't get a good shot of the one on the left. The thing that looks like a bar of soap is actually a spectacular piece of mother-of-pearl with a antique crackle finish.. All the other beads on it (besides the spacers) are MOP or freshwater pearls.... Anyway all the jewelry stuff is back in the cupboard until who knows when...because the next time Simone comes she wants to do CQ and we all know what happens when one starts to CQ.

I also hemmed up six dresses so that nasty chore that has been nagging at me for a year is done.. well mostly done. At least I don't have to show up to every event in a "little black dress."

Had a "moment of truth" on my BJP and have dropped everything else to do that.... I've been struggling with my shoulder and trying therapy which has been less than successful and this week I've had a patch with a battery and computerized chip. It continually emitted steroids into the joint at intervals... I felt like bionic woman... They will make a decision on surgery on the 4th of Feb.

Last year at this time we had ten feet of snow and this January is the fourth warmest on record.... My daffs are pushing their little noses out of the ground much too early and we even had a crossbill yesterday...

Recycling

We are very lucky to live in a metropolitan area that is very aggressive when it comes to recycling waste. We've had a waste-to-energy plant since 1991 which burn all non-recyclables and converts them to electricity. It still costs but does eliminate landfills. Some idiot wrote to the newspaper recently that it would be much cheaper if we hauled our garbage to the middle of state and dumped it.... The unanimous response was "That's not the point, stupid!" We not only have the waste-to-energy plant, we have large county recycling sites that takes most everything and also several "for profit" businesses that take larger metals and electronics. They make an effort to help construction and demolition sites in addition.

We, as a family, are religious about recycling and have extremely little to take to the waste-to-energy center. To be really efficient we need a pig as well as the chickens...but I'm too old to have a pig anymore although they were one of my favorite farm animals.. But in addition to separating glass, plastics, paper etc. I might add 2 things:

• People should ask: Do I really did this?" before they buy..


• Before you throw something away....try giving it away... I find Craigslist free section a godsend... I swear that no matter what it is...not only will someone need it and they will drive to pick it up....

This is all on my mind because we are having an unseasonably mild day and I'm heading out to the chicken house with a bowl of vegetable scraps which they will recycle into poop which I am going to clean out of the coop and dump on my little garden plot to decompose....But ran across this site http://tinyurl.com/ylfrpt8 and hope all will take time to visit it.

Daffodil progress

I finished the satin-stitch daffodil last night and am happy with how it fills the space...





I have only two patches left and I planned to do SRE daffodils and daisies in one.. But in my fantasy the space was much larger and I hoped to have massive amounts of ribbon daffodils, daisies and larkspur. In actuality it is quite small and further complicated by a gorgeous piece of handkerchief lace that I don't want to obscure...

So I traced the odd triangular space and sketched a simpler version of daffs and daisies.... I usually have no qualms about extending out of a patch but this doesn't seem to be the time for romping about with a motif.



In the undecided space I had from the beginning wanted to do a stumpwork garden hat for two reasons. It fits with the spring garden theme and it echos the garden hats the girls are wearing.
But I had also really wanted to do an art deco daffodil and this is the only space large enough. I just might work the garden hat in with the sun on the silky frame... decisions...decisions....

For SRE reference and inspiration I am using my all-time favorite ribbon book...Ribbon Renaissance by Helen Eriksson. I've mentioned this book before but it's worth mentioning again. She has fabulous daffodils and daisies and great instructions.. I especially love the book for the diversity of flowers she uses in her projects.

Finally you can see that the block is starting to fill up although I have LOTS and LOTS more to put on it because I love encrusted. AND hopefully you are seeing how the terracotta, yellows, and oranges are carrying your eye around the block... I did echo the tiny bit of lavender in the thistle with the lavender in the flower cart.

I have some marvelous metal sun buttons I need to find as they would be perfect here. Isn't just starting to shout SPRING?????

No doubt about it.... my husband 's a "chick magnet."

No doubt about it....my husband's a "chick magnet." Not only are there the dreaded hussies lurking about, there are his groupies..... In the years since he has retired he has spent countless hours volunteering at one of the local senior centers. One of his specialties are tours...mostly day tours but an occasional overnighters like to the Walla Walla balloon festival ... Day tours includes lunch somewhere and range from such things as an ice cream factory, high teas, concerts, museums and historical sites. Not only are his tours very popular they raise a lot of money for the senior center. He plans them, escorts them and drives the mini-bus....

Once one of his tours has been finalized word spreads fast and his "groupies" fill it before the newsletter can even go out... Not do they only go on every tour they arrive early to try to get the coveted seat behind the driver... I don't worry about the groupies as most have canes, walkers and wheel chairs.... Years ago his late mother told me "All the old ladies loved Ronnie when he was a little boy because he was so nice and polite".... so what has changed?

Day with special friend beading.......

She is much younger and our lives are very different but quite by accident our paths crossed and she has become a dearest friend. Simone is, by far, the most cheerful and positive person I know and brings great joy to my life.

We get together about every 6-8 weeks and bead for an entire day. She always comes to my house so I don't have to drive and in turn I make her a gourmet lunch.. Today we had Moroccan lamb and a green salad with a chocolate orange tart for dessert..

Usually I'm lucky to get one necklace and earrings finished but today I was able to whip out three. All are from mismatched beads, thrift store pieces disassembled, and vintage jewelry restyled. Some of the beads on the green necklace are beads my DIL brought back for me from South Africa.









The really good news is that once she finishes a quilt she is working on she wants to learn to crazy quilt.

Waiting for her true love

Although she wishes to be his constant companion, there are times that she just has to stay home with me... She usually follows me around or finds somewhere to take a nap...but after 3 or 4 hours she figures it's time for him to come home and she begins this vigil at full alert at the window... She'll stay focused like that for over an hour. Our drive is 1/2 mile long and she can see the truck turn off the main road. Then she gets so excited that she just starts spinning in circles..

When I come home I get a woof and an adequate greeting but when HWCH comes home she goes into a raptured frenzy for about 5 minutes.
Such is her love and devotion.

Dual post...read on!

Flower Cart - Daffodil Block..

I filled in the cart with parallel chain stitches...an alternative to long and short for fill in. Once it was filled in I cut right up to the initial chain stitch and stitched it to the block... Then of course it had to be filled with flowers since it was a flower cart...

I was using this block to display a variety of techniques. Now that I have stumpwork daffodils and a cross-stitch daffodil, I want to add a embroidered and SRE daffodils.

I had a special metal button that I was saving for the wheel but when it was time to apply it, it just didn't work. So this little wood button turned out to be perfect..

Daffodil cross stitch/flower cart

I finished the daffodil cross stitch today and am so pleased with it. There were several tense moments and tense words when I started to pull out the waste canvas.... I figured it was going to be there forever. I finally got the hang of it and it all came out. I found that if I flexed the needlework with my left hand while I pulled on the canvas with my right hand that it came out much easier. I probably won't do it again though...at least not with #14 waste canvas.. It was very difficult to see...

Now I've started the flower cart on felt. Sketched it on and then did a very tight chain stitch around the outside... On this one I outlined the inside lines also because they are boards...

Questions to answer.....

I have NO secrets when it comes to how I do things. I may fail to explain well, so do ask. Some things are lost in past blogs now.. I wish I had paid more attention to how I tagged things so they would be easier to find.

Susie in Idaho asked what I used to dye the foundation muslin for my BJP bird: I used Adirondack alcohol dyes and mixed them with a little water (not solvent) and painted the fabric. I LOVE those dyes....and Susie, just where in Idaho are you? I can almost throw a rock from my front porch and it will land in Idaho!!!

Sammy asked yesterday about the how I handle the edges of things I do on felt... I demonstrated on a 9/5/09 post (http://tinyurl.com/yb52vx4) But here's a recap...

Someone asked how I applique my felt pieces and what I do with the felt edges... That's the neat part...there are NO felt edges...

The trick is doing a very tight chain stitch around the outline. (See robin's nest ) When I embroider I stitch right into that chain stitch and when I cut it out I cut right up to the chain stitch... so there are no raw edges to tuck under... Nothing unravels.

Then I just put it on my block and stitch around it (catching the chain stitch) with the colors I used for the embroidery. If there is a loose thread or a felt fuzzy, it's easy to catch in a stitch... This robin was to be over a seam and some lace. It would have been hard to embroider this robin directly on the block..

As soon as I finish the cross-stitch daffodil I will be doing a garden cart on felt and will do it step by step.....

Two posts again - read on....

Cross stitch daffodil

For a long time I have wanted to do a cross stitch motif and now was the time to give it a try. I had this odd- shaped patch and didn't want to take the time to search for a pattern to fit it. So I traced the patch and then sketched a daffodil to fit. Then I drew 1" lines on the tracing and used that to transfer it to graph paper. There are a lot of sites where you can print off graph paper....

The next step was to square off all the edges on the graph paper and then I filled it in with colored pencils.

Then I just needed to baste the waste canvas to the patch and begin... I'm using #14 waste canvas which is 14 stitches to 1" so they are very small stitches. After I was going a while I wished I had moved it up about 3/8" but this is not something moved easily... As you can see below it is progressing nicely. I thought I was going to complete this in one evening but it is going to take three. The real test comes when I try to pull out all the threads of the waste canvas.

Kerry has a fabulous tutorial on her site http://tinyurl.com/y9zevyc and I recommend it highly. There are programs for sale where you can scan in your own pictures or designs and it will transfer it to graph paper and even supply color numbers for threads to use. There were some free ones to download but, having been hurt once with a virus, I am cautious of using of free shareware... But it would be fun to play with.

Gerry's Journal - Hussy Alert!

Actually this resolution started late fall. I'm going to be nicer to my husband. I've turned into a stay-at-home hermit and entirely too focused on my beading, needlework, animals, etc. I may or may not feel like talking, cooking, cleaning or leaving the house depending on what activity I'm engrossed in. So now...

1. He loves day trips and long drives and I used to go along...now he goes by himself. I will make an effort to not only go, but go with enthusiasm.

2. He loves competitive bridge (duplicate) and I used to be his regular partner. ...now he plays with guys... I will now be his partner every Wednesday and in tournaments.

3. And as soon as I get this batch of painting done that has cluttered the table since Xmas, I will keep the table cleared so he has somewhere to eat...

What has prompted all this? Well a couple things...First I look around and almost all my friends are widows and it has got me thinking that I may missing some precious times. Second among all those widows are a couple of hussies. They had started asking him to play bridge...guys are one things but ................... Hussies are always asking his advice and hanging on every word and STANDING TOO CLOSE TO HIM.... I want to grab them by the hair and remind them that I'm not dead yet....

So since he really is a HWCH (handsome, witty, charming husband) and loves me dearly I will try to be nicer...... And when I am dead the hussies can line up around the block with plates of cookies in their hands....but not yet!!!!

p.s. My dictionary actually defines a hussy as a "a brazen or immoral woman who is standing too close to Gerry's husband".

Bead Journal Progress

I set the quail aside and beaded the little nuthatch. We have both the pygmy and the red-breasted nuthatches. I chose the latter because it is so much more colorful. They are such busybodies and such fun to watch... We have several dozen all the time.

Then I decided to put all the designs I have sketched so far on the muslin so I could see them all together. The quail is kinda static but I'm happy with the rest. I decided I don't want blue backgrounds on all of them so will try other colors. I even tried alcohol dyes on some beads today with an interesting result.

I want to try to get more and more texture into the beading and maybe a little more whimsy. The goldfinch is the same design that I already did in embroidery. It will be interesting to see the two different treatments on the same design. I did add the robin family and mama will have a bug in her beak. Also added a bluebird who will be nestled in blue morning glory vines..

Daffodil Block

I've finished the stumpwork daffodils on this block. I really like using the lace for the daffodil cups. Of course it took me a couple daffodils to figure out the best way to gather and attach the lace... I like the lace and think I will try to remember to combine lace with future stumpwork. As to more stumpwork on this block I still want to do a garden hat and a flower cart .

I often say "repeat" color. shapes etc... but "echo" is a much better word for what I mean... Repeat implies replication of something... but echos have elements of repetition with nuances and variations. I used the blue in the daffodil pot to echo the little blue flowers in the garden seam (upper right) and I found a perfect little piece of green-checked trim (upper right) to echo the gingham ribbon on the upper left...

But since I drove all the way to town on icy roads Monday to get waste canvas, I will try my hand at the cross stitch daffodil next. I've seen Kerry do some fun things with this. My house is full of cross stitch I did in the 60s and 70s but that was when the designs were stamped on the linen.... Doing counted cross stitch on waste canvas is a new challenge for me.

Lauri is putting up some blocks on her blog (http://dontcallmecrafty.blogspot.com/.) I just love everything she does as it is so colorful. The romance novel square she put up Friday had a couple seams I am going to adapt for the daffodil block.

I'm not overweight, I'm under tall....

My mother's family is tall and lean and athletic... My dad's family was short and round... Guess which genes I got? I've been looking at all the good intentions of everyone for the coming year and I have a few...I buy all my clothes at thrift store and I love dresses and blazers but clothing manufacturers think anyone as ample as I am should be at least 5'9" tall... If I were 5'9" tall my weight would be perfect....well almost perfect.

As it is any dress that fits me around is 6" too long and dusts the tops if my shoes. I was forever saying I am going to shorten this dress or that dress before I wear it again ...and never did.. So last winter I took ALL my dresses (every single one) and cut 6" off the bottom....this would force me to hem them before I wore them...right? Not!!! I hemmed the black dress and had to wear just it for the whole year.

So this year one of my good intentions to shorten at least 6 or 7 of my favorite dresses...

Two posts today...read on!

March Bead Journal Project

This is the first time I've been in a group effort such as the BJP and ideally we're supposed to do one a month and I can't do that. I'm having the ideas NOW and want to do what's in my head... This is the red-breasted nuthatch and it can walk head first down on the side of a tree. Actually they look like they're going down head first but their feet are side stepping. I don't want the white muslin to show through behind the beads so I dye the foundation muslin in colors close to what beads will be used.

I have designs done for the goldfinch, robin and bluebird and will probably bead on all of them concurrently as the muse moves me. First I'll do all the birds....it's like eating dessert first as the birds are the most fun.

Back to the Daffodils

I started on the three-dimensional (stumpwork) daffodils. I'm using my Kay Dennis stumpwork book as a guide (Stumpwork Seasons). She has really great step-by-step instructions and also has some cool things on the internet... This is a learning experience for me in anticipation for the stumpwork RR coming up...

The first petals were way too long for the size of the motif so I tucked them in a bit. I now have a good feel for the length of the pin placement and it should be fine. She had a clever way to do the center on a handle of a paint brush but I had some tiny yellow lace left from my "garden seam" and will use it for the centers when I get all the pedals done..

I did the pot on a hoop and it is needle woven with #3 cotton perle. I am really loving this size for stumpwork because it is easier for me to manipulate and it has enough body that it holds a shape well.

Since I was out yesterday getting my hair cut I went into town and got some #14 waste canvas for the next stage.... a needlepoint daffodil..

Hair All Gone!!

My hair dresser was still in the hospital today but one of the gals in my senior bridge group was a retired beautician and I threw myself on her mercy and I think she did a great job. I do need to get to a store and buy some mousse. I was home about 45 minutes when HWCH* finally said "Did you do something to your hair?" Well yeah!!!

Miss Molly loves it...it's a girl thing!


*handsome, witty, charming husband

My comments on comments!

The first thing I do in the morning is to check if there are any comments. I think everyone who does a blog loves to get comments. In fact Robin said at our class this fall she used to live for comments and I thought that she would have more comments than she could even read...

But comments are an odd thing as I started looking at other blogs. Some bloggers' style seem to invite comments and also there doesn't seem to be a lot of correlation on the size of readership and amount of comments. I read Allison Aller's blog every time she writes (on Thursdays) and I'm sure at least a thousand other people do but I noticed her comments average only 15-20 a day. Hers is really an instructive and sharing blog and is wonderful but doesn't need interaction necessarily. Other bloggers have a very personal conversational style to which folks comment readily.

So where am I?....not sure but I cherish all comments I get. But on the other hand I do have a counter for my blog so I know you're out there even if you're not commenting. The hits on my blog are averaging about 4500-5000 a month... Divide that by 30 days and I expect that I have about 150+ regulars. One month I had 7500 hits and I went over that month to see if I had been particularly witty or cogent...but not! People must have been a little bored that month and tuned in.

I love to write and the joy for me is that there is somebody out there actually reading it whether they comment or not. I posted over 350 times last year...almost daily. The posts about my lovely hair were personal and got a lot of comments but the post about Alaska got none. But I would venture a guess that most readers enjoyed the Alaska post... So I'll keep writing as long as you all keep reading and remember a comment now and then does lift my spirits!!!!

Hair Despair!!!!

When I got up this morning I was having second thoughts about the big hair cut. So to prevent myself from backing out I took the kitchen shears and hacked off about 10". Now the hair dresser just called and she is in the hospital and I look like a shaggy dog.

Another Block started...

I loved my Queen of Hearts block when it was finished and have been collecting and making more queen of hearts. I sent my encrusted DYOB blocks out with queens and I am going to start one at home.

This is a block I pieced last year at the same time I pieced my original queen of hearts so the blocks are a pair... Before I do any hearts or crowns though I am going to use this block for seam practice. I have been meaning all fall to do catch up with Kerry's BAS and that is what I will use this block for...sensational seams....

Photo Editor Mom

One of the things I love doing is editing the photos from my son's fishing lodge. There were fewer pictures this year but I have still spent most of the day on them and will finish up tomorrow. I resize them, crop them, do any necessary color tuning and clean up really bloody fish. Then I'm always looking for the stupid green hose that seems to creep into most shots and make it disappear. Can you see the green hose???

Ninety percent of the photos are men and fish or fish and men... Most of the guys are in the same upright fisherman pose but occasionally there's one that I love. Guess which one... ??? Is Widlanski happy or WHAT!!!!!

But not all the photos are fish. His lodge is directly across Cook Inlet from two active volcanoes, Mt. Illiamna and Mt/ Redoubt. Here is this best shot of one of the volcanoes. Usually there are a lot of wildlife shots but only the moose photo in this group.