SILLY TURKEYS

1014: makes me laugh ... these silly turkeys made me laugh! They've been roaming the neighborhood for several weeks now. They seem to be quite fearless as they travel from yard to yard going from here to there. They don't even hurry when crossing the road as a car approaches. Silly silly turkeys.

 

... wonder if they'll still be around in November ...

AUTUMN JOY

1011: something close up ... a perfect name for this flower ... Autumn Joy ... everything else is in the garden is looking a little bit ragged and worse for the wear, but not this little fall gem. I tweaked the photo a little bit with a new-to-me camera app. The app is 100 Cameras in 1 HD and it has 100 different effects that can be combined in as many ways as you can imagine. And, I can take photos with my device directly through the app.

 

However, the really amazing thing is how Mother nature has been tweaking the flowers on this plant of late ... early September the flowers were a beautiful fushia pink. Now, deep maroon red.

 

I love watching Mother Nature "arts" her way through the seasons.

WORDS OR PICTURES

1010: emotion ...

I LOVE RED!

1009: red ... let me just say my love affair with the color red continues. My fabric stash of red fabric is always growing. It doesn't seem to matter how many red patches I sew into my quilts or how many red quilts I make, my tub for red fabric seems to stay just as full. And that's not a bad thing if you're planning on quilting for many more years. We all know (and probably suscribe to the notion) one can NEVER have too much fabric!

 

So when we moved to Massachusetts to a house with multiple bathrooms, what a perfect opportunity to explore a more permanent decorating opportunity using my red things. I can't begin to tell you the grief I've taken from my family at the red and white towels in the guest bath.

What was I thinking!

Don't I know the red towels will fade and the white towels will become pink!

My answer: Hello! Have you never heard of using the color catcher sheets from Shout?

 

And so I've continued on my merry way picking up red and white pieces as I shop the antique and thrift stores. I've found some fun items that one might not use in an every-day-morning-noon-and-night bath, but work well in the occassional-use guest bath.

 

The washer and dryer is also located in this guest bath. The fellas had to remove the doors to install my new front loaders so I've been working on a quilted curtain to serve as a door over the laundry area. I need a total of 72 blocks and I think I'm about a third of the way there so far. I admit, I've been working on it for a while, but I also am trying to make my blocks scrappy. And there's the rub. If I follow Juanita's rules, I should try to make my scrappy quilt without repeating any of the fabrics in the different blocks.

 

Yup, you guessed it ... I keep running out of red fabric.

Time to go shopping!

ANGLES & PERSPECTIVE

1008: angle ... it started out like any other day and quickly fell apart. Journaling my way through helped me pause, reflect and look at everything from a different angle.

 

The background was ready so white pen in hand (I like to use a Gelly Roll from Sakura) I let thoughts and feelings pour out uncensored on the page knowing these are not words that I would want to reread again or have anyone else accidentally stumble upon. 

 

So the plan began to form. I printed my core thought on pages torn from my altered book tearing each word grouping with a ragged edge and then adhering to the journal page. I wanted my journaling words to still be there as a reminder to me but not make any sense to anyone else.

 

Adding a tip-in page to provide a little bit of shelter for my thoughts and feelings helped as well. The vulture, not a very nice bird, serves as a good visual reminder for me when I find myself in similar situations ... very much like the Mr. Yuk stickers we use on containers of poison liquids. 

 



  

 My heart is healed, soul forgiven and lesson learned.

... art heals ...

 

Later:  a timely post by Danielle LaPort ...

JOURNAL PEEKS 1008

LIGHTS IN THE NIGHT

1007: light ...

• sun LIGHT  back LIGHT
• tail LIGHT  head LIGHT
• LIGHT as a feather
• cigarette LIGHTer
• shine a LIGHT upon my path
• bright LIGHTs  sky LIGHTs
• Christmas tree LIGHTs
• LIGHT touch
• flash LIGHT
• day LIGHT savings time
• Buzz LIGHT year
• candle LIGHT
• LIGHT step  LIGHTweight
• heavy vs LIGHT
• electric LIGHT LIGHT switch  porch LIGHT
• LIGHT source
• faster than the speed of LIGHT
• LIGHT of my life
• LIGHTning bugs
• flickering fireLIGHT

and a funny quote from Muhammad Ali:  "I'm so fast that last night I turned off the LIGHT switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark."

I love my collection of seasonal night LIGHTs ...

GOOD COOKIN' 20: SAUSAGE TORTELLINI SOUP

Soup is a cook's best friend. To my way of thinking soup is a very versatile culinary delight. Here are 5 reasons soup is one of my favorite things to fix.

• SOUP can be served hot or cold
• SOUP can be hearty or light
• SOUP can be very precise in following the recipe or can be made from whatever is on hand
• SOUP tastes good alone, with a sandwich, a salad, or both
• SOUP can be served as a single course in a many-course meal or as the main dish

Go HERE for the recipe ...

GRATITUDE: GUTTERS & DRAIN PIPES

It was not a pretty day the first day the basement floor began to turn into my own personal lake. Having just moved from the west coast to the east coast, from Oregon drizzle to Massachusetts downpour, from hubby being there with me to rescue boxes, carry out buckets of water, and to fix the problem to being all on my own ... as you can well imagine ...

after the third time I just sat in a wet soggy mess on the stairs and cried!

 

Fast forward in time to a year ago ... house in Oregon is sold and hubby has joined me in Massachusetts. 

 

... now we wait for the rain ...

 

As any Oregonian can tell you, the waiting game, the waiting for rain wouldn't take very long, but in Massachusetts we have actual rainy seasons basically two times a year - in the spring and in the fall. Mike needed to see where and how the rain came in before he could figure out a solution.

By this time I have moved all packing boxes and stuff on shelving so nothing that could suffer from water damage is on the floor any more. Eveything is pretty much piled on tops of tables in the middle of the room. Off the floor and  away from windows where the water can come in as the water table rises.

 

... and so the waiting game begins ... praying all the while for a whopper of a rainstorm ...

 

Eventually, the rains came down, the water came in, all my stuff was safe, and the best part ... I had help carrying out buckets of water and cleaning up with the shop vac.  

All of this is to say ... today I am thankful for ... GUTTERS and DRAINPIPES! Yesterday Mike finished connecting the last of the pipe to the gutters we had installed this summer. Trenching through the rocky soil (residue from the original inadequate quassi drainfield that surround the house) was not fun for Mike but he is good at what he does when it comes to digging and now the drain pipes are all burried directing the water to the city drain system in the streets. Whew!

 

As for me ... no more excuses ...  I can finally start sorting and organizing as I unpack more quilting supplies boxes in the fabric storage room and of course, there is the other half of the basement with boxes of holiday stuff and who knows what else.

AN ASIDE: don't you think it seredipitous with the horseshoe nailed to one of the rocks Mike dug up ... it may be time to go buy a lottery ticket!



INSPIRATION BOARD 2

1005: shadow ... great inspiration piece for possible quilting ... fun shapes to piece ... those diamonds could be strip pieced and sashed with black to make the window panes ... some three dimensional draping or pleating could work for the curtain shadows ... and look at all that wonderful black space just waiting for some great contrast thread quilting ... looks like Darth Vadar peering in my night-time window ...

READING

1004: what I read ... anything I can get my hands on most of the time. I absolutely loved my nook until I got my ipad. Now most of my "book" reading is done on the nook app on my ipad.

 

I love immersing myself in period historical fiction and am currently reading the "series" by Philippa Gregory about the women behind the men during the War of the Roses.  The White Queen, The Red Queen, The Ladies of the Rivers ... I must say that confusing time in history is beginning to make a little bit more sense to me now.

 

I also love the series TOMBS written by Ken Follet. Thank goodness for tablet reading. I think I might kill someone if I dropped one of those huge books while I dozed off as I reading. His books tend to remind me of James Michner ... really digs in deep to the storyline bringing it to life like no other.

 

It's a funny thing in this day and age of technology. I find myself most nights ear buds in place going to sleep listening to a book on my ipod. Rarely do I make it past 15 minutes which is a good thing. I have difficulty turning of my brain when my head hits the pillow. Such is not the case when someone reads a bedtime story to me. I have even been known to listen to the audible version while reading along at the same time. Seems like the ultimate in being spoiled, but why not indulge myself once in a while.

 

One of the things I don't read very much is the newspaper. I tend to get my current events from a variety of media. However, I do find that reading The New York Times or the Wall Street Journal is a more common occurance for me these days. Do you suppose that is because of apps on my ipad?

 

My bookshelves will always be filled with my much loved hobby-related books and magazines. My wall of quilting related books and my growing collection of mixed-media art journaling related books and magazines serves me well for inspiration and motivation. Most days ... usually morning coffee in hand ... you will find me curled up in a comfy chair easing my way into the day while thumbing through the pages getting my creative juice flowing. It's like my mental stretching routine before I start the work for the day.

 

I've never stood in line for concert tickets or at a store for a shopping spree, sale or grand opening, but I have stood in a line that wrapped around the corner, out the door, and down the block to have a book signed by an author ... but that's a story for another day.

 

What's your favorite read these days?

TODAY ...

1003: today ... was a busy day with a very full to-do. Best course of action on days like that: don't think about it. Just put your head down and get started. Don't look up until quittin' time :)

LUNCHTIME

1002: lunchtime ... facetime ... the best way to connect with family that lives far away ... schedule a lunch date today. It's on the calendar ...  Eryn and I enjoy breakfast dates, coffee breaks, and lunchtime together on a regular basis.

STANDING ...

1001: where you stood ...

Quote: The little reed, bending to the force of the wind, soon stood upright again when the storm had passed over. Aesop

 

A list of 10 places I stand regularly:

1. in the shower
2. at the kitchen sink
3. in front of the stove
4. at the longarm
5. in line at the grocery store
6. in line at the post office
7. in line at the lunch counter
8. in the rain
9. in front of the pellet stove (or over the floor vent)
10. shoulder to shoulder with a friend

I stood my ground; I set my boundaries; I stood up for myself.