plants make you smile and giggle

my visit here is almost over......altho am now hearing the ash cloud is rearing its ugly head and might mess up my flights -

one thing I did for my mom is to help plant her plants - she and dad usually do this together, which of course wasn’t possible this year - she had such a big smile on her face when I showed her the two pots on the front steps

I thought I would go for a slightly unusual colour combo.......hot pink geraniums, purple and magenta coleus and a bright, acid green creeper, which I do not know the name of

we went to this amazing nursery to get the plants, Family Tree Nursery - I didn’t know this place existed......but they had absolutely every plant in every colour you could think of! the plantings they had arranged around the place were so beautiful and even more amazing - everyone working there was really knowledgeable about the plants!

they even had a really nice koi pond with beautiful golden fish.........an older woman was standing next to it throwing bits of bread into it and giggling at the fish jumping

er......at least that is what I am assuming she was giggling about!

yup, it really is me

hellllllooooo........I know, it has been quite a while since my last post

I guess family stuff has just taken precedence over stitching

not to mention I am thousands of miles from my home...and “stuff”

I did finally post the ATC to Lynn and am waiting to get back home to see what she has sent me! this is the first time I have done one of these swaps and hope to do more of them!

I have been loving seeing the cardinals in my parents' backyard, but the big news here is that they had 3 Baltimore Orioles! I tried over and over to get some photos of them to show.......but they always flew off by the time I got my camera

they are amazingly bright orange! they give the intense brightness of a male cardinal a run for its money! so anyway, I got a photo from a book to show you instead.......but will keep trying for the real thing

in between rain and thunderstorms - oh......by the way, here’s a helpful hint; if you are in the midwest and planning on going walking......might think twice if it is thundering and lightning with gusting winds.....chances are, you will eventually GET SOAKED!! yup, that's what happened to me this morning....duh

guess I have been gone for a bit too long - have lost my midwest weather smarts!

thanks for everyone for hanging in there with my non-posting

not sure when I can get back to it.......or have anything to talk about other than trips to the pharmacy, trips to the hospital.etc

but am gathering some materials and magazines to hopefully keep sparking my brain!

time to go

I finished it! well, ok, not quite - I haven’t attached a backing to it..and am not sure if I am supposed to put anything on the back or not

looks like it will be making its way to the US with me and can send it out from there

thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions on how to steer it a bit more towards Spring

not sure if I got there, but think I like it anyway -

as I mentioned- am about to go to the States for a couple of weeks to see family and friends and help out my parents a bit -

have collected some recipes to try out on my mom......plus, I finally get to have some Mexican food! woo hoo!

oh, did I mention the margaritas too? hee hee

on the rocks, no salt, please

I will also be seeing my younger sister, whom I haven’t seen in over a year - and meet the latest nephew for the first time

I hope my flights are ok and the movies are good!

will be writing the next post from Kansas City

Tootles!

dark spring

well I finally got out from under the paperwork (and general staring into space) and got back to my machine today

I have joined my first ATC (artists trading cards) swap, so have been trying to get into that

however, the theme is spring, and this isn't looking too “springy”......wonder what I should do next?

perhaps starting on such a dark background wasn’t the most clever idea?

I was the winner of a blog giveaway from Kayla Coo - I am now the proud owner of one of her brooches!! thank you!!

so, I think this piece was definitely inspired by her work (which is fantastic - go look!) but am missing the lighter element.......perhaps I will put this away and start on another one

the thing is; I was hoping to do a few more pieces before my trip

will she do it?

I want to enter a show......see how that goes - so need to get it in gear!

I think I will be able to do some work on my trip too - my mother has a beautiful sewing machine that I used last time I visited......but it is having all the little bits of fabric, thread, beads, buttons, etc lying around that I will have to fine somewhere........maybe a few garage sales would do the trick!

I am having fantasies about going to a garage sale of a little old lady and finding bags of old buttons and little hat accessories (there is probably a fancy name for that)........lace, ribbons, etc

Yes please!

anyway.........a BIG thank you to everyone that has stopped by and especially those who have made comments -

THANK YOU!!

nuttin honey

what happened to all the time??

I had so many plans......so many schedules to start......

and then; nothing

absolutely nothing has happened!

this past weekend and today, I am bogged down with paperwork and printing, but I can’t really complain since that is actually how I pay the rent for my studio!

so, good that I have jobs to do......but they have kept me from doing any sewing

ok, that isn’t completely true; I have kept me from doing any sewing! with what tho?

hm

and now this ash cloud thingy - I am supposed to go to the US next week to be with my parents while Dad is going through his chemo and radiation, etc....but will they have opened the skies again by then??!

S is supposed to go to Germany this Wed for a football game, but that doesn’t look too promising either

very strange goings on......

I do hope next time I get back here, I have something nice to show you......

oh; and the ashy cloud is not as apparent as the fog was in this photo of the Tennyson Memorial on the Isle of Wight!

so much sunshine!

I have started on this and have absolutely NO idea what I am going to do with it! guess I will just have to wait and see what happens.......

for the past two days, it has been so sunny with the most exquisite blue skies.......it is a bit difficult having my studio right next to a café

there’s only so much coffee drinkin and sun sittin that a person can do =-D

of course, that also means not a lot is getting done in the studio -

I have a list of calls for entry, submissions to galleries and shops, and various challenges I need to be getting on with

One question tho; each of these needs pictures of my work......do I do a bunch of new stuff? do I use what I have? do I have enough work already done or is this all to just show what I do and then if accepted, do new work??

all so new to me.......not sure how to go about it

which of course is also feeding into the procrastination - just so long as I keep deadlines in mind and not miss anything - I can keep pondering (better yet, keep working while pondering!) anyone out there (assuming there IS anyone out there reading this!) have any suggestions or knowledge of such things???

have many plans for the weekend - so hope I keep to them

one thing; am having a friend over for dinner.......I haven't cooked for anyone (other than husband) for so long - can she still do it?!

am making an old recipe I have made several times; roasted salmon with red thai curry - used to be my party trick if anyone was coming over for dinner that I was trying to impress and it usually did the trick (except for the Norwegian guy we had over when we lived in Portland, Or - who went on and on (before I told him what I was making) about how he was so sick of fish and salmon in particular! oops

he also went on about how he was allergic to cats

well; after loving my dinner, he sat with the cat on his lap......so not sure what that was all about!

where was I?

oh yes - so......I will be making Vietnamese salad rolls and then the red thai salmon

yum

sunshine hopes

and did I get caught up over the holiday weekend? of course not! how silly of me to think I would.......

I did, however, finish and send off my last two pieces to a frameshop/gallery in Kansas City where I hope anyone in the area will go by and see them! not sure when exactly they will be shown......the owner is going to frame them first.

S and I took a walk through the garden (unfortunately, this is not OUR garden!) in our town to see what spring flowers had arrived.......they do such an amazing job keeping these gardens looking beautiful all year round

today I am in the midst of sending off my application for Artwave 2010, which is the local Lewes arts festival which I opened my studio up for last year. I am also trying to apply for a few contests, call for entires and submissions to galleries, etc.........??

but, mainly today, I am thinking of my Dad

he was diagnosed with lung cancer a few weeks ago and is starting his treatments today. I will be going to the US in a few weeks to help out my family

so, I am especially grateful for the sunshine today which shines a bit more light onto my hopes

not easy being so far away sometimes........