Textures in Nature

Back in June when we were visiting Hawaii for our son’s wedding, we spent a delightful evening poking along Waikiki.  Our son thought I might be interested in a shop there selling photographs by Peter Lik.  Mr Lik’s landscapes are stunningly lovely and the shop displays them beautifully.  But the ones that captured my interest were shots of textures presented in a square format.  There was a poster on the wall with the photographs presented in rows, clearly meant for choosing which ones you wanted blown up and framed.  I asked if I could buy the poster; the answer was ,”No”.  But they would be happy to sell me the larger framed pieces of my choosing.

Since I really liked the variety of the photos and didn’t want large framed pieces, the next best thing was to spring for the pricey catalog.  They assured me that the quality of the real photographs was much better than those published in the amazingly lovely catalog but I was content with that.  And somewhere between the poster and my exit from the shop, I realized that I had taken many texture photographs myself.  I just needed to sort them out of all the photos I had taken and I could clearly have them printed collage style, almost like the ones by Mr Lik.  Mind you, I’m not claiming anywhere near the level of competency here, but my own photos come with memories of time and place, much nicer than just someone else’s image, no matter how fabulous.

So, for Christmas I asked my son to make the collages for me.  I sent him files, he sent me three lovely posters, two of my serious ones and one just for fun – with a cute little monkey face looking  out of one of the boxes. – 61 images in all.

Christmas morning walk

We were up and out early, just as the sun was coming up over the hills.  The day dawned clear and cold, with fog frozen on the trees.  Everything was frosted with ice crystals reminiscent of snowflakes, a magical landscape, the woods still and beautiful.  What a perfect backdrop to remembering the incredible gift God gave so many years ago: the baby born in the manger in Bethlehem, the Savior of the world.

Of Turkeys and Snowshoes

We got out the snowshoes for the first time this winter for a trek along an abandoned road.  It is now mostly a stream bed and greatly abused by ATVs.  It is a lovely stretch of woods that gets churned up to mud with all the weekender traffic.  But in the winter, it is still pristine and beautiful, especially after a good snow.  We saw lots of wildlife tracks: rabbit, deer, fox, squirrel….. and turkeys.  While most of the other tracks criss-crossed the old road, the turkeys used it as a thoroughfare.  We see them often in the yard, sometimes large flocks, sometimes one or two.  What a treat to “see” them here.

Farewell to a faithful friend (and no snickering!)

It’s been coming for a while.  Sometimes the charger worked, sometimes it didn’t.  A full charge only lasted 24 hours.  It was often running low on battery and more often than not, I had to plug it in to use it.  But it served me well for many, many years, starting way back before there were wallpaper options or cameras.  This was only the second cell phone I ever owned, the first having gone the way of analog service.  I loved this little dinosaur; it was simple and straight forward, just the ticket for me.  I wasn’t bound by a contract (it expired years ago) and I had a great plan that I wasn’t willing to trade for bells and whistles.

Then my family started to move to iphones, slowly, one at a time, until finally my daughter talk time was threatened because it would cost her too many minutes.  The plan was to wait until Roger’s contract expired in a few months and then switch together.  But after some research, it didn’t make sense to wait.  So today, I said goodbye to my faithful friend and moved on.  Since I’m not all that savvy, it’ll take me a little while to figure it all out.  I have to enter all my contacts by hand because the store didn’t have a cable that would accommodate my sim card.  Then there are all those wonderful apps to explore, and email to figure out.  After just a little dabbling, I think I’m going to  like the change.

Getting ready

Remember that tree we picked up at the fire department? It’s up and decorated. And with a few present under it, no less! Honestly, it was up but stayed undecorated for a few days while we went to visit an aunt and a cousin we haven’t seen in a few years. Finally, there was no more putting it off and once I got started, it was fun. Roger was out for the evening and I thought it would be a pleasant surprise when he came home. It helped that the tree is only as tall as I am. Two strings of lights and a couple of handfuls of ornaments did the job. I realize from this exercise that I need to go through the ornament box and cull what I haven’t used of late. Gone are the days of 8 foot plus trees and needing every ornament we owned to make it look full and shimmering. So I think I’ll set a goal of sorting out and consolidating when it comes time to put them all away.
It continues to snow and the house looks festive in it’s cloak of simple candles in the windows and wreaths on the doors. I’ll hang crocheted snowflakes from the chandelier and put a little decoration in each spare bedroom for when the guests arrive, but it seems I’m being content with less fuss. There’s no one to impress here, and after all, that’s not what the Christmas season is all about anyway. Sure, we’re looking forward to family time, enjoying each other in the snow, around the fire and playing games. But the highlight and focus is always about the incredible gift that God gave mankind. Jesus, the only true hope for peace with God was born into the world to die. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Winter is finally here.

Life has been busy in this neck of the woods despite the lack of information posted here.  This past weekend was the culmination of months of diligent practice with the Springfield Community Chorus.  (Don’t look for me in the picture – it’s from last year.  I’m sure they’ll post the new one they took for next year’s article.)  We sang two concerts in nearby towns, one Saturday and one Sunday and now have a month off before the spring work begins.  Even in spite of the first measurable snow of the season, both houses were packed for this annual tradition.

We managed to get a Christmas tree from the local fire department; it is in the house and vertical but so far unadorned because I’ve somehow caught my 3rd cold in 3 months and don’t feel like doing much.  We’ll get to it in a few days.  So I’ve been laying low in front of the fireplace while it snows its heart out outside for our second storm of the season.  Don’t worry, after this one, I’ll stop counting them.  Our measurement in early afternoon was at 16″ and it is still coming down several hours later, depositing another couple of inches.  The weatherman has predicted freezing rain, so we’re leaving whatever comes down now so that we’ll hopefully be able to get it up once the rain stops.  The ice stays all winter if it hits the bare driveway and the thought of putting sand down that will get tracked into the house is unpleasant.  It isn’t us so much as the dog, who can’t take her paws off in the mud room.

This last one was taken about 4pm after the heavy snow had abated somewhat.  I was on my way out to get the mail.  Yep, we have to walk down the hill to the corner where the mailboxes are.  When I got to the private road that goes along one side of our property, it hadn’t been plowed and there was about 4 feet of snow across the entrance.  Not wanting to step into that deep pile, I thought I’d take what looked like a shallower route.  Thing is, I forgot that there was a rather large drainage ditch that went through there.  I sank up to my waist – my arms kept me from going deeper but it was a struggle to get my feet out and roll off the pile.  Needless to say, I left the mail for tomorrow.  Who knows if there was anything in the box anyway.

Images from today

Thursday is the day I spend volunteering at Six Loose Ladies, our local yarn shop.  We’re a not-for-profit, none of us are paid, and we’re a wonderful resource and outlet for local fiber artists and producers.

Anyway, on my way our the door this morning, as the end of the Nor’easter was passing through, I saw this beautiful rainbow.  It was exceptionally bright and lasted a long time.  At one point it was almost complete, arching all the way to the other side of Okemo from downtown Ludlow.

I do a variety of things at the shop.  Along with selling yarn and patterns, I get to help folks who come in with projects in progress.  From deciphering directions, to teaching cast ons and bind offs, it’s always interesting.  Sometimes I get to teach someone how to crochet or knit – brand new beginners -  and we love how excited they are when they bring in their first completed project.

I also help out with the window display.  Sometimes it’s a struggle; sometimes it’s pretty easy.  Suzanne had a great idea for Christmas and by the time she arrived, I had the window empty and ready to go.  And this one went together like a charm.

Remember those  snowflakes I did a while back?  I stiffened them a few days ago with diluted white glue and they were ready for the charity wreath.  We added some silver ribbon and 5 precious felted snowmen who are sporting hand knit scarves and hats.  One even has a little cardinal friend perched on his head.  Pang and a friend made the snowmen, Suzanne and I dressed them with cute hats and scarves.  We hope our contribution brings lots of money at the auction.

Another doodle

I’ve been eying a set of manga markers at Michael’s.  It comes with lovely gray brushes in 5 shades with which to shade my doodles.  I finally decided to get them today with a hefty  discount coupon, only to find that they were already on sale and didn’t qualify for my coupon.  They were 40% off anyway and I brought them home.  I just had to try them.  Besides,  was tired of making 40 ” of I cord for a knitting project I’m working on.

More on sewing machine issues

Tomorrow is take-my-machine-for-service day.  Since I wasn’t able to resolve my tension problems, I figured that a good once-over would be a good place to start.  I want Jim to address my tension issues as well and so I have made a little tension sampler to show him.  This little sampler came from Sarah Ann Smith’s new book Thread Work Unraveled.  In her book she discusses the basics of thread (how it gets to the spool, the different kinds, how to choose from the myriad out there), needles, the sewing machine, and how you work (ergonomics).  She also talks about applique and machine quilting.  The vast majority of the book is a reference text with only a few projects toward the end.  What a resource!

So here’s my little sampler done with regular everyday thread and with the two threads I want to use for my project.  I have to admit I’m relieved that my problem was still an issue as I made this.  Whether the technician can get the same results still remains to be seen, but at least I have something to show him to explain what I’m talking about.

And now for a peek at something I’m thinking about.  Looks luscious, doesn’t it? These are pieces of silk, some that I picked up in Houston and some silk strips from Stitches 2009.  Stay tuned.

Gingerbread

One of our daughter’s activities to get ready for Christmas is making a gingerbread house.  She had canvased her friends to see if there was interest in a group effort and her friend Corey signed on.  The activity was scheduled for today, but that meant that the gingerbread house parts had to be made and baked and ready to go.  I got to help with that.

We found a recipe and set to work.  While I drafted the pattern from the directions, Ellen pulled together the ingredients.  Since the recipe listed the flour and spices first, she measured them carefully into the bowl.  Then she added the next things, the butter and sugar.  She put it under the mixer and all of a sudden there was flour going everywhere.  Hmmm.  What happened?  Somehow she forgot everything her mother taught her about baking:  cream the butter and sugar first, then add the rest.  What to do?  We set it aside and started over… Meanwhile, I drafted a tomb stone for our failed attempt.

The next batch went off without a hitch and we set it aside to rest.  We decided that since most people don’t eat gingerbread houses, what did we have to loose.  We pulled out the big chunks of butter and added them to a small amount of the flour mixture.  When that started to look like dough, we added the rest of the flour and the liquids.  Somehow it beat up ok so we set it aside to rest too.

When it came time to roll out the dough and cut the pieces, the botched batch worked out better and in the end was just fine.  It was a slightly different color and a little grainy.

Ellen sent me photos from today’s fun.  They both did a great job, don’t you think?