Solstice, & Alaska is on Fire

We had a pleasant Summer Solstice evening watching Beatrix Potteron DVD with our friends John & Mindy Meyn. It was a beautiful evening, & they had taken their daughter Christy & some friends to climb Flattop Mtn. which is just a short drive behind our house. The climb takes just a couple hours.

We enjoyed the movie, I would highly recommend it. Beatrix had an interesting life, & Renee Zellwigger did a beautiful job playing the part.

It doesn't really get dark here this time of year, but this morning the sky was a greenish gray & very gloomy. At 3 a.m. I was awaken by the smell of smoke. Initially I was a little worried until I realized it was a campfire smell, not a burning house smell. Actually it was more the smell of 1000 campfires. 1000s of acres on the Kenai peninsula are burning right now, & the smoke had drifted into Anchorage during the night. We're all praying for rain to still the fires & clean the air.
This picture in my back yard this morning shows some of the gloom.

The soy wax I've been playing with, I added wax over the whole piece, let it harden, then crackled it & painted black over the whole thing.

After pressing & washing out the wax & excess black, I added more color. It's still an experiment in progress.

This is the finished cape, for Christy's Irish Dance dress. I've started on the dress now too.

Here's a detail of the light bit of quilting, & the piping I made for the edge. I found I can't quilt very smoothly with my bum shoulder . Speaking of which, I had a Dr visit today, & he said it looked good. He gave me some simple exercises to do, & by the time I left there, I was aching pretty good. Tonight I will take a 1/2 of a pain pill.

We went to lunch & then to the movies. We saw Nancy Drew. It really is a cute film, & if you want a nice clean movie, it's a good one.

Below is the cover of a little picture album I put together for Auntie Ethel. Her mind is slipping, & I thought she might be helped by looking at some of her old photos, that I found in the dresser of her old room here. This is the cover I made from a newspaper add she had saved, & a little thread heart I made a long time ago.

Here are just a couple of her photos, of her & her husband Jack.

This last was her sister Nellie. She died about 5 years ago at age 90.

I have to do a Grandma brag here too. My DD called me tonight to let me know that Darian got straight A's again! She's brilliant!

Moving Right Along

Here's my gardener. She doesn't charge a cent, she prunes & fertilizes & seldom makes any noise.
And here's my crazy cat. He has just recently started using his paw to scoop up the water when he drinks. Is that odd, or what?!
The quilt for the next grand baby is done. It just needs washing to defuzz & fluff the cut edges.

Here's the oh-so soft back side made from Minky soft velvety fabric. Little miss Carys will love this. It isn't going to be a prize winner, & it's lucky to be done since Grandma only has 1 good arm right now.

I also played around with some of the soy wax I've been saving from candle leftovers.

I just did a little doodling on a scrap of fabric, with the wax, & some Dynaflo paints.

Not exactly your usual way of Batiking,
but I was just playing around.

These will probably end up as backgrounds for quards & ATCs.

Speaking of ATCs, I bet nobody else out there has one like this. My friend Lindsey made it for me, out of fused glass. It really is pretty, better than it shows in this photo. I'll have to try again under natural light & see if I can do better.

I even put the stays into this cape for Christie's Irish Dance dress. That's the next project I will be concentrating on. I will not waste these days that I can't work, by sitting idle.

Lastly, this is what's on my bulletin board right now. Counting down to the opening of Order of the Phoenix. I've already got my tickets for opening night.

I know you all probably think I'm nuts, but I love those stories, & going to that opening midnight show with a theater full of die-hard fans is really a fun experience. I'm really looking forward to this movie more so because of the introduction of my favorite character Luna Lovegood. I fear though that Luna will be the sacraficial lamb in the last book. She's just too sweet, & I know I'll cry, just like I did when Dumbledor died.

Name that Bird

It was such a warm sunny day, & I'm feeling better enough that I decided to try & get rid of some of the cobwebs in my brain, so I went for a 30 minute walk. This odd little bird must have a nest near our driveway, because it made quite a fuss about me walking there. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I think it may be a little lost, because it looks like a shorebird, & we are at least 3 miles from the ocean. You can see it from here, but it's quite a distance.

The air is heady with the perfume of the Elderberry bushes in bloom.
It's such a sweet scent, I wish I could share it with you.

The wild roses were blooming too. They too smell wonderful.

I don't think these little Deerberry blossoms have any scent, but I think they're cute.

I found a path just up the road from us, that I never knew was there.

I decided not to go too far because I was alone (in bear & moose country), & no one knew where I went, so maybe tomorrow I'll take the cell phone along, & hike a little farther. I'll also take water & bug dope (the mosquitoes were wicked).

Afterwards my friend Kathy called me, & she asked that I post some details of my Sari curtains.

My son & DIL gave me the hanger, & I had to come up with a way to put curtains on it. The rod doesn't come off of the ornate section, so I was thinking I could do tabs with buttons, but didn't really want that look, & it was too much fuss for a 1 armed quilter, so I got to thinking outside the box. I bought a roll of fiberglass window screen, & used that on top, just cutting little slits to put the ties though to hold it on the bar.

Afterward the bows reminded me a little of dragonflies, which are part of the decor in my studio.

On the closet door, I just did a regular pocket curtain, as that rod was a single bar with elephants at each end.

Just for fun

Here's a little bit of fun I found
at Helen Suzanne's blog. Put your work on a museum wall. Of course
this is a bit out of proportion, since it's a post card size! Imagine the possibilities.
It's a fun website, Thanks Helen Suzanne!

Milestone Day

Today I felt like I made some progress. I managed to sleep last night with only Ibuprofen for pain. I drove myself to my Calendar Girls quilt group, & had a great time with the girls.

This evening I decided to attempt to cut some fabric & batting for my soon to be born grand baby's quilt. I had to think about how to hold the ruler with my surgical side, & in discussing it with my DH we came up with a solution that worked well, but not fast.

I clamped my batting to the table, then clamped the rulers on the ends, & weighted them down with bean bags to help hold them still while I cut with my good arm.
It worked quite well, though I only got 6 pieces cut before I got too tired. My energy level is still a bit low.
Outside my studio window, a moose munched. We still haven't had time to do any landscaping since our construction, so the yard is pretty wild, & the moose seem to appreciate it. We've had them here a lot lately,
this one stayed for hours,

I did a little postquard, doing a little machine felting. The wool & silk rovings loved to stick to my sling. I was quite fuzzy when I got done. I started by using one of the photos I took in Washington, in the Olympic National Rain Forest. I stitched it on to a piece of batting, then embellished with the wools & silk rovings. I also embellished with some beads, & simply glued the quote that i printed from my friend Kathy.

"We need to save those Elders who cannot speak for themselves -- the trees."
--Haida Gwaii, Traditional Circle of Elders
The trees are the Elders of the Earth. Go to the forest or to the mountains and find a young tree. Then find and old tree. Spend time with each. Sit by the young tree and listen to your thoughts. Then move to an old tree and listen to your thoughts again. Just being in the presence of an old tree, you will feel more calm. Your thoughts will contain wisdom and your answers will be deeper. Why is this so? These old trees know more, have heard more and are the Elders of the Earth. We must ensure these trees live so we can learn from them.

I'll be sending this to Margaret in the UK.

Making Progress Post Op day 5

This 1st picture makes me feel loved. The basket of flowers & teddy bear are from our friends Ilene & Stu, who vacationed with us in Seattle. Below the flowers is the plate from Mindy & Lindsey. Below that a table runner from my dear friend in Michigan, Kathy Jolman, & they're all setting on the table my DH gave me for my birthday.

I'm down to minimal pain meds. I take a 1/2 of a Percocet at bedtime, & took 1/4 of one this morning just to get moving. Aside from that Ibuprofen gets me through. I've been running fevers every evening, but the last night is was a little lower, so that seems to be resolving itself. My incision looks fine, I'm not sure what the cause of the fever is.

So that's it for the health report. I have a bit of fiber to share here (the non-edible kind).

Abovce is a close-up of the edges of a silk-poly blend Sari that I bought in Seattle. I found a store filled with all sorts of goodies, just down the street from my daugther's office.

This red/yellow shibori piece is a guazey cotton

as is this black & red piece that I bought in the same store. I'm not sure what I want to do with these last 2, but the sari is going to be curtains in my studio.

I bought this padfolio from Sue Bleiweiss a while ago. I'm keeping it next to my sewing macine to write notes in when I need to.

The day we left for Seattle, I was holding the padfolio, when I came up with an idea to make a bigger folio, with clear pockets to use when I travel. I made it on the spot, with what I had at hand. That's why the odd little angles on the covers, it was all the Timetex I had. I used every scrap.I used a special dichroic glass bead that I'd bought on my last Seattle trip for the cover hook.

The fabrics are my own hand-dyes. The clear vinyl pocket along the bottom was another piece of scrap. I carried our plane tickets & passports, & maps & printouts for motel reservations, basically everything I needed to stay organized while traveling. It worked really well. So thanks Sue for the INSPIRATION!

I am very belated with these next few ATCs.

This pretty pink & green piece is from Leanne Hurren (sorry Leanne a photo doesn't do it justice).

The same is true for this flowers ATC from Barbara Baldzun. Ladies if I owe you an ATC please remind me. I think I sent them long ago, but so much has happened in these past couple of months, I'm not sure wether I'm coming or going right now.

This last felted postquard from Mags came as a complete surprise to me. If I arranged a trade, I completely forgot it. I do love it Mags. It came mostly intact, one tiny sliver of shell was floating free in the envelope, but I don't think it detracted from it's beauty.

I shall get busy making something special just for you. Thanks you so much!

Home from the Hospital

Well I'm home. Surgery went well. The strange mark under my chin there is from a couple of EKG patches that were left on until I changed from my hospital gown into tank top & slacks at about 4 a.m. I couldn't sleep in the hospital. I work there, so sleeping just didn't seem right! Besides, I'd had that dozy twilight sleep on drugs most of the day after surgery.

The shoulder was frozen, Dr Pete said he had to "crunch it loose" (makes me feel ooogie just thinking about it). There was inflammation & gooey stuff that he cleaned up, & he cut the end of the clavicle where it articulates with the shoulder, because there were a couple of burrs there impinging on the joint. So hopefully my mobility will get better with time. I'm very glad to be back home. I just wish I could get along completely without pain meds. I don't like how I feel on them.

I think the experience of this surgery will make me a better nurse. I learned a few things seeing it from a patient's perspective. I couldn't believe how stoned I felt all day. I was glad my Dr. kept me overnight. I could not see myself functioning at home after that.

I also realized that things aren't necessarily done on the floor the way I thought they were.

Normally when I'm sending a patient home in a sling I help them get dressed, then go over the sling to make sure it fits comfortably, & supports them well, but if I'm sending them upstairs I didn't worry about it, because I was sure the floor nurse would do that the 1st time they get up.

I found that I was the one adjusting my sling, & the RNs (though very good otherwise) seemed hesitant to fix the sling for me. I wasn't sure why, maybe it was just because they knew I knew what I was doing.

Thanks for all your well wishes. I'm really doing fine, & the pain isn't bad at all. I had some worse days before surgery. The really good news was my Rotater cuff is in good shape.