The Sun is UP!!!!

Naps are the best. Even ones taken sitting up in the van. And this morning, napping sitting up in van was nearly perfect.

Now, daylight gas returned, the dam and bridge are visible and we'll be tourists for a bit. 6 hrs. of driving left
...touristing will be short.

Oh!!! I forgot!

We're at Hoover Dam. Sid wants to take a hike around...check out the new bridge...but, it's DARK!!!! So, we'll park and take a nice collective NAP until the sun comes up.

I did note yesterday that today is the first day of winter, the longest night of the year, winter solstice. Good thing we don't have a need to do much sightseeing on the way to Phoenix. Ha!

Between Here & There

I'm sitting in the front passenger seat of our Toyota Sienna. Sid's driving and three of our kids are sitting in the back seats. And we've all been here, zooming South for the last 15 hours. We're driving straight through from home in Walla Walla WA to Sid's parents place in Phoenix AZ.

I'm tired.

Ha! Really? LOL!!!

Anyway, I've been wearing a sweet beret that I whipped up earlier this week. Simple pattern, #7 needles, Manos yarn...Sweet. Warm. Comfortable. Now I'm working on a matching scarf.

Here's a picture of my new hat...Sid took it while I was driving. :-) Not exactly flattering, of me or the beret, but it is a picture.

Happy me!

Figuring out my DROIDX & getting pics posted here... Don't know what's with the spotty pattern over the whole pic, but...it's a start. ;-)

Dryer Ball?? Seriously?

Well, it is a dryer ball. I'm doodling on it with yarn scraps and a felting needle. Not done yet. ;-)

PICTURES

What on the needles right now.

Blog & Sock

There are two things that I'd like to do more of this coming year.

The first is to knit more socks, LOTS of socks. My favorite socks are the hand knit ones and I'm down to only two pairs. For a knitter that's a cryin' shame. ;-) Another thought that spurs me on is that I want to really LEARN the how-to of knitting socks. Inside out and backwards.

Last year was...the year of the dishclothes? LOL! Well, I knit piles of them. Lost count after about 70. Ugh. NO dishclothes this next year. Just lots and lots of beautiful socks. I declare this new year to be, "The YEAR of the SOCKS". Want to join me? I wonder how many I'll have finished by this time next year. Ohhhh!!! I can't WAIT! My feet can't wait! And so... starting now. I've got about two inches down on the tops of my next pair of socks. Pictures coming soon!

The second thing I'd like to do more of in this new year is BLOGGING! I'm inspired by my sister, her creative team and their endless creativity @ ellinee.com (go to their blog!) I'm inspired by Amanda Soule @ soulemama.com  And I'm inspired by dozens of creative women who come onto the internet on a regular basis to share, with the world in general, the fun things that are going on in their lives.

I'd like to share what I'm making. My endless and evergrowing pile of lovely socks. ;-), my newest fiber love, needle felting. And sewing projects that are itching to zoom through the sweet machines in my studio space. Oh, the things I want to make! ONWARD!

I'd also like to share my life. What I'm thinking and what's happening. While most of the blogs that I follow are of younger women with young families, I'm in a much different spot. My world revolves around nearly grown children, my beloved parents (Momma has Alzheimers, Dad and I share her care), one dear developmentally-challenged client and the one acre that we've been blessed with.

Pictures! LOTS of pictures need to show up here. None tonight because I have to figure out how to make THAT work. But I am working on it because pictures HUGE and important to me.

So, here's to the new year that is fast approaching! ONWARD! Here's to SOCKS and lots of blogging! Starting early, it's a good plan!

Hermitta

A few short years ago, I would have laughed at any suggestion of my being a hermit. Or a hermitta, the female counterpart. And yet, here I find myself... doing my job and coming home. Once home I prefer to stay here.

In many ways, this new life is suitable. I'm content. I am BLESSED!!! I have a wonderful husband (whom I adore), my kids (one married, two away at school and one still here at home), my parents (who are living in a BIG bus on our acre... I love them to bits!), my three beloved sisters ... And I have my clients (love my job!) and the folks that I see in the course of doing my job. I'm well "peopled". Not even remotely reclusive. But...

Yeah. There's the word. But. But sometimes I am powerful lonely for friends and friendships. I miss the chatter, the laughter, the joy of sharing the fun stuff of life, the meeting of the minds. And here I am, stuck in a hermitta mode. I don't have it in me to do much more than just this. I'm frozen inside, by fear and sadness that doesn't seem to leave or heal. I hate it and yet don't know what to do to melt it down. I'm afraid. I've screwed it up over and over...I'm afraid.

I'm awake in the middle of the night. After tossing and turning, I decided to give it up and get back up. Feeling sad and mad. The sad is at the changes, the mad is mostly at myself for whatever it was/is that I did/do that caused/causes my hermitta mode. I've sat here thinking of the friendships that I've enjoyed and wondering what happened.

And I write. While this may not be "safe", I guess I can risk it here.

Tomorrow is another day. Back to bed.

Where Do I (Re)Start!?

Amazing. Life is simply amazing.

These last few weeks have been revealing, to say the least. It's like... after a VERY long night, an almost equally long wait for the "sun"  to get UP over the "mountains" in my mind. Now, the sun is up and OUT and the sky is so veryVERY blue.

Where do I start? How do I relate to you the tid-bits of delicious LIFE that I am now seeing and enjoying.

Where do I start?

A list. Well, of course!

I'm reading a book on my Android, via a Kindle app. The book, "One Thousand Gifts". And It's about lists. LOL! And SO much more! So, a list it is. Buckle up! It's bound to be long... I want it to be as long as the days of my life. ONWARD!

The first joy, the first gift... and then a couple more (in no order, other then how they fall onto the page)

1. Reading - for the last... well, seemingly FOREVER back, I haven't been able to wrap my mind around reading. I use to love to read. Long ago. And now, the love is back, with years of backed up bliss behind a paper-thin dam, pushing to flood my world! QUICK!!! More paper (pages? ;-) )  to hold up the dam!!! I do have to do other lovely things, you know? HA!

2. Dishes - I know, I know. This is one of the oddest, but what can I say. I'm simply JOY FILLED with this gift, the JOY of dishes. Of doing dishes. All my life I've detested the chore. Dishes. BLEeeech! From the earliest in my married life, they would accumulate on the counters, where stuff started to grow. Nastiness. And trust me,  that didn't entice me to facing them either. Yuck. Now, I love my clean sink. I love the counters being cleared and ready. Like a new book, ready to be picked up and devoured, the clean counter and sinks call to me, "Come! Create! Bless the ones you love with tasty, nourishing, colorful meals! Come!" And I do. I make the most gorgeous messes on those counters and in the sink. HA! And then, I enjoy cleaning it all back up. I love to "hear" the call of my clean kitchen, of the dishes waiting to be filled, emptied, cleaned and then calling again to be filled...

3. Fridays - This day is the beginning of the slower pace of the weekend. Friday starts slower. There's no bus to catch, because Benny doesn't go to his job on Friday. Sid has a weekly blog to write, he's busy with that until later in the morning. The boys sleep in for a while. The house is quiet longer. And so, the call of the kitchen is sweeter. There is more opportunity for creativity, for the unusual. There is time for it. And I am blessed. Bliss.

I'm thinking banana-nut muffins, "cube-y potatoes" and tofu... with orange and apple slices. Yummm!!

Yes! ONWARD!!!

And today, I'll spend some time getting to know my digital camera again. Pictures ARE better then words! ;-)

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Slowly, EVER So Slowly

The fog is clearing. There are beams of sunshine peeking though. Better living though chemistry works for me. "Happy Pills" are a HUGE blessing. The holidays passed swiftly, too swiftly. And then I fell under the curse of some creepin' crud that lodged itself in my broncs and ears. AURGH! But... I'm on the mend.

I'm knitting dish clothes, as is my tradition for the first part of each year. This year I'm using the cotton yarns that I have rather than buying the lovely ecru or white cone AND I've got a LOT of colored cotton yarn. My immediate goal is to completely wipe out that cotton yarn stash. As of today I'm knitting on the 23rd dish cloth. And that in 11 days. Maybe I can finish the 24th? We'll see. LOL! I think I'm about half done, maybe. I'll have a supply stocked up for gifts and my own use! And NEXT year, I can start a totally new tradition for the first knitting of the year. Something more fun, like a sweater or socks or a lovely shawl. I certainly won't be needing more dish cloths for a veryVERY LONG time. HA! Love it!

Being sick has prompted me, JARRINGLY so, that my diet and exercise needs focused attention this year. The end goal is to be healthy and active AND be able to look fabulous in the lovely woolie sweaters that I dream of knitting up. 

So, I KNIT on. Improving my speed and methods. 

Another focus for this new year is to completely pay off my personal credit cards. (I think I can do it before the end of June, at the latest)  After that, I'll be able to help with other family debt. My reward? (other then the obvious lack of debtedness and monthly bills) When I get the first of my two credit cards paid off (this week!) I'll treat myself to the first in the Barbara Walker Knitting Treasury books. Then, half way through paying off the next credit card, I'll get the second. Finish off that card, then the third book becomes mine. 

And. no new yarn. I want to focus on what I have and using that. I have lots. ;-) My focus for knitting this year will be socks. Lots of new hand-knit socks. The very first pair that I knitted have worn out in the heels, rather than mourn, it's time to pick up those itty-bitty needles and get busy. I LOVELOVELOVE hand-knit woolie socks...and sweaters,,, and... LOVE WOOL!

ONWARD! Pictures coming of the ever-expanding dish cloth stash.  

KNIT ON!

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

It's really hard to complain. LOL! We work so hard outside on the nice days that a rainy day is a serious HAPPY-inspiring blessing. WAHOOOoo!!! Rain!!!! And we need the rain. All is good. I'm grateful!

Today I'm hoping to get the barn cleaned up a bit. Nearly all of that space is not used well and this spring, since coming out of the gluten-fog, my lil' ol' brain has been boppin' around thinking of all that I could do to make things work better around here. One thing is getting the garden tools closer to the garden! Thus to promote ease in putting the tools away after each use? What a thought! The other thing is to get the riding mower and tiller out of the weather. Seems prudent and we do have the space.

So... that's my work for today.

Perhaps the family members who aren't feeling up to going out to help me can shell walnuts from last years harvest. Or shell dry beans from the harvest that's been hanging in the barn since 2008. HA!

Giving It a Try

Long time, no post, huh? I was visiting with one of my favorite bloggers yesterday. Both of us haven't posted for a fair piece. We both miss each other. :) And since... well, I'll just start in.

These last few weeks have been... more odd then most. Mostly between my ears but also within my body. It's not a happy body. So... when my youngest adorable sister told me about her experience with going gluten-free, I figured why not give it a try. What have I got to lose?

(For those that worry about such things, I am jumping thru the usual medical hoops, too. And with the same attitude. Why not give it a try. I have a mental line drawn on how far I'm willing to go with any of this but... it's not extreme either direction.)

So... a couple weeks ago I started the gluten-free thing. And thus far, the apparent results have been good enough that I'm very willing to continue on! OHYEAH!

The first thing that I noticed was that my head was clearer. I was thinking, making mental lists AND following through. How strange! I haven't done that very well for YEARS!

This whole thing has also encouraged me to add other changes. One at a time, or maybe two. This week I added refined sugars and all things animal. I'm eating a plant-based diet, minus wheat, barley and rye and minus the refined sugars.

Sometimes I forget. And that's okay. It's the blowing it off with "this time will be okay" is NOT okay.

Yesterday we were invited to a big 60th birthday party. How FUN! On the way to it, I started to panic. OHNO!!! I knew what I was taking to the event, what I was asked to bring...my homemade gluten steaks. Won't eat those. I was told that there would be pasta pie (?) and lasagna, too. OHNOOOO! What am I going to eat!?

Well, it turned out fabulous! There were several LOVELY garden salads and I loaded my plate with that. We became involved in a fun conversation with some fabulous friends and... it was totally easy. THANK GOD! LOL! I'm so grateful to have an experience and a subsequent understanding that I will not starve. Ha! Fat chance!. ;)

On the knitting front, I've been working on a pair of socks. The yarn is some that I dyed a couple years ago.

 I've started and frogged (rip-it, rip-it) these things three times. Each with good reason and no regret.  This picture if from the first attempt. :)

The problem is that the time span between the first frogging and the second starting was long enough that I forgot why I frogged it and... I knitted it up the same way as the first time, all over again. DingDONG! So, this time I'm going to keep going, not getting distracted by a jillion other lovely knitting projects that need to get done or that I want to get done. Any time I want to knit, I will knit on the orangatan socks.

But!!! It's springtime! We have 1/3 of an acre that we're trying to turn into a seriously productive garden this year. I'm not getting much knitting done! LOL! Today I'll see if I can remember to take my camera out to take shots of our garden area. I wish I had thought to take one at the beginning of this effort. Then I'd have a great before shot to put with an after shot later. But, not time like now, huh?

ONWARD!!!!

It's Time...

It's time to tell the story. I don't know how to shorten this one up, it always comes out a long story, but I'll sweeten it with pictures and that ought to make it a bit more palatable. LOL!

A couple posts ago I told a bit of winning a "most glorious and generous gift". I didn't have the wherewithal to tell the story then. I was still completely flabbergasted. It was too unreal! I must be dreaming, right? :)

Well, here's the story. I think I can do it justice now.

If you're a stitcher, if crocheting or knitting is your cuppa tea, chances are good that you've heard of Ravelry.com. If you haven't, get over there and join! (http://www.ravelry.com/) It's like Facebook for stitchers, but it goes WAY beyond what Facebook has to offer. There are hundreds of thousands of stitchers from all over the world going to Ravelry. Unbelievable place.

One of the many features on Ravelry are the forums. There's a forum for just about every topic you can think of. Seriously. One Wednesday night at knitting group, Dicksie mentioned a new group started by Michael, one of her Ravelry friends. It was a warm, friendly place to share any and all projects plus whatever else... It sounded intriging so when I got back home that evening, I joined the forum.

POW! LIGHTS FLASHING!!! FIREWORKS!!!!

LOL! Just kidding.

But, it turns out that I was the 100th person to join the group! Michael hadn't expected to have even 75 members join. He was delighted! (as of today, there's almost 175 members!) Someone suggested that Arline ought to get a prize of some sort (an out-of-date, obscure book, as I recall. LOL!) Anyway, the next thing I know, Michael sent me a private message and is basically offering me "the half of his kingdom". Okay, okay, that's not what he offered but it certainly seemed like it to me. I was completely dumbstruck. SO unbelievable! No way! This can't be happening to me!?

But Michael was serious. He offered to send me enough yarn to make the sweater of my dreams. He offered a specific brand. Virtual Yarns by Alice Starmore... THE Queen of All Knitted Beauty as far as many of us are concerned. Her designs are indeed among my very favorites. I am completely inspired by her and her work. (http://www.virtualyarns.com/) And so, we talked back and forth, Michael and I, until we finally made a decision on what my "prize" would be. He would send me enough yarn to make this sweater in a cardigan modification.

Alice Starmore's Inishmore Aran Sweater

Made in this yarn... Alice Starmore's

Virtual Yarn Hebridian 3ply - Sundew

At one point I tucked tail and explained that I am "fluffy" and that I had no idea how much yarn it would take to cover this fluffiness. He responded with "I took care of it for you! Don’t worry. I assure you you won’t run out of yarn. Probably be enough to make hats, gloves, scarves, mittens, underwear, socks….." Underwear? Eeeeuuuwwww!!!! Don't THINK so! LOL!!

I told Michael that he was a PRINCE! What a gift!! What a guy!!!!

After it was all decided, I dismissed it. It was a beautiful dream. On with life.

And life goes on. LOL! Our daughter flew off to Peru. The rest of us (Sid, the two boys and I) took a short trip over to our favorite coastal get-away, Rosario Beach, just a bit South of Anacortes, WA. and then down to Seattle for a doctors appointment, the Museum of Flight and the Portland Zoo. FUN!

I started knitting another Alice Starmore sweater, using some yarn from my stash... Inishmaan!

A lovely knit. Not a bit boring, rather challenging, but fun!

And so, yes! Life went merrily on! LOL!

One Saturday after a long, sleepless night spent up taking care of Ben, who was having major seizure AND diabetes problems, I looked out the window and saw a BIG bag hanging on the inside of our driveway gate. HUh?! What's that!??

Inside the bag was two boxes. Huh?!!! I didn't order anything!? What!?!!!

Then I saw the postage in the corner of the packages...

ROYAL MAIL!?! I burst into tears. (okay, remember, I was a bit rummy anyway from the lack of sleep... but I think I would have bawled even with a FULL night sleep.!) The gift from Prince Michael!!! OHHHHMYYYYY!!!!

I sat down on the couch, all weepy and wet, stroking the beautiful packages beside me. I couldn’t open them. They were such beautifully wrapped packages. One big, one smaller. Both carefully wrapped with tiny striped brown shipping paper. Royal mail. Finally, in another fit of tears, I called my friend Dicksie.

Poor Dicksie, she couldn’t understand a word I was saying or even who I was. I had to slow down, breath and try to calm down enough that she could hear me. Sweet Dicksie. She talked to me for a bit and then told me to go get a sharp object from the kitchen. Sounded like murder to me. LOL! To stab the boxes? Noooo!!! LOL! I did as I was told. (that’s what I’m learning from knitting. My friend Winnie started it. “Just do what you’re told, Arline. Everything will work out okay.”) And so, I went into the kitchen and got a knife.

Dicksie waited patiently, talking me through it. It seems rather funny now, but at the time…I was simply beside myself.

I carefully cut open the paper on the smaller box. I’ve never opened a Christmas gift that carefully, but I couldn’t hurt the thoughtfilled, tidy outer wrapping. I’m a ditz! What can I say. Finally that was done and I pulled the paper off.

Under the wrapping was a tidy, simple brown cardboard box. Not your ordinary four-flapped top box this time, no, but a box with a lid that lifts from one side after you undo it’s little front latch at the front side. It’s like a cardboard treasure chest.

Once the lid was pushed open, I cried some more. Inside was tissue carefully wrapped around the gift and sealed with a Virtual Yarns logo sticker. Dicksie told me, at that point, that try as she might, she’s never been able to just lift that seal off. The tissue always rips. Okay, that made it easier because it was just as she said.

And then…

OHMYWORD!!!! I really lost it. It was lovely. Beautiful. I had opened it while sitting on the couch by the window. The sun shown in on it and the yarn SPARKLED up at me. Sundew. Amazing!

Dicksie had me count to see how many skeins were in the box. It was lovely, all neatly stacked in there, all facing one way, twists matching. In the above picture, you can see the skein on the far left is off. Ha! That’s the only one I’ve taken out of the boxes and I can’t seem to get it back in there right. It’s all so precise. So neat. Carefully arranged, just like Alice’s designs. So, I slide my hand down the side of the box and counted the layers. Quickly doing the math… 18 skeins in the little box.

Ohmy! Now the big box!? Beloved Dicksie. LOL! She’s wonderful. Again, she waited and talked me through cutting off the paper wrapping, opening the little latches in the front of the bigger cardboard treasure chest and…

OHMYWORD!!! More! And much more STILL! I could see, under the beautiful white tissue… there was a big envelope. Quickly, I slide my fingers under the VY sticker seal and pulled back the tissue.

A card with my name hand written on it. “Open it!” Dicksie prompted. (LOL! Dicksie? Did you know!?)

I did as I was told. The scissors sliced under the flap and across the top of the envelope. Open.

“Read it, Arline!” LOL! I was completely incapacitated. Here's what was written on the card.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Congratulations Arline!

Here is your prize from Michael ____. He tells us that my friend and expert knitter Dicksie is going to help you with this project. I wish you both many hours of happiness and like yourselves we are fervently hoping that Michael is going to make a good recovery. His courage, energy and generosity are a great inspiration to us all at VY.

Best Regards,

Alice

~~~~~~~~~~~~

You are kidding me!? This is a dream, right? :) Pinchpinch. Nope. I’m awake. It’s real. A real, handwritten card from THE Alice Starmore?!!!

I figured out later how many skeins where in the second, bigger box, and I wept again. Michael was more than true to his word. He made sure I'd have enough to envelop my "fluffy" frame in Inishmore bliss.

Michael James is a Prince of a man. He is true to his word. There is enough of the most scrumptious yarn here… I could make Inishmore for a baby whale! LOL! Ohmy!

I cried over it all for a few hours. Now I just sit beside the boxes on the couch, every chance I get and gaze at it. I pull out that one skein and stroke it. So awesome. Such a gift. I’m unworthy, dumbfounded and blessed. “Happy” is trite. A HAPPYDANCE would be irreverant. While I AM excited, I’m breathless. There is time to savor it all. I’m busy with Inishmaan. Learning to read Alice Starmore patterns… and savoring every fiber and thought in this gift.

Such a gift.

Thank YOU, Prince Michael. Thank you, Dicksie. Thank you Virtual Yarns. And thank you, Alice Starmore.

I will never be the same. I am touched deeply, at my very core.

Thank-you.

P.S. You must know that all the pics were taken AFTER I settled down. LOL! I didn’t even think about it until afterwards. But I wanted to be able to share the bliss.
Onward!

Jessie's Trip

Our darling Daughter flew out of the country for a week plus in Peru on the 14th of March. She went with friends and classmates from the parochial high school where she goes to school. She went, had a great time and came home. HA! In between she fell in love with Peru and I was a nervous wreck. LOL! It's one thing to have your teenager a few hours away for a week, but a totally different matter when they're half a world away. Here's a few pictures from her adventure. I'm SO glad she was able to go. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to all those who helped make this trip possible for her.

It may look cuddly but Jessie says sloths aren't cuddly at all.

One of the little Peruvian girls that Jessica fell in love with

Jessie and her friend on their way down the Amazon River

Now she's home and back in school. Life goes on. LOL!

HappyDAZE!

Today was a kick of a day, let me tell you.

Darling Daughter was/is somewhere between home and her final destination in Peru. I could get all freaky over this but am deliberately choosing NOT to.

Sister #3/Dea called this morning to let me know that Sister #4/Lia was having a BAD day. Her dog, the one that has lived with my folks off and on (mostly on) for the last few years, has been so very sick that she finally decided to have him put down. Serious bummer. Called Lia. So sorry, Darling. So sorry. And Momma & Daddy. I know you all loved Leo. It's sad. I'm proud of your courage, Lia.

:: Rest in peace, Leo ::

Then the phone rang again. Another friend bearing tidings that were NOT happy. Spent time, off and on the rest of the morning and early afternoon talking to dear friends who are in various unpleasant situations.

*SIGH* I really love my friends and family.  It's hard to watch and not want to wave my non-existant magic wand and make it all better. Bummer. But... I can and am there for them, as they have and will be there for me. That's what it's all about, right? ;) An ear, a shoulder, a caring heart...

This evening I found out that I've "won" (long story) a most glorious and generous gift. Really-truly. I feel as if I've been offered "half of the kingdom".  Talk about a HUGE beautiful delicious and delightful cherry-on-top of this day. WOW! THANK YOU, Michael James!

:: Looks like I'll be able to make this afterall! ::

It's been a day. I got a lot of the work done that I set out to do. The studio did get some attention. Hurray! Tomorrow... LOL!

Tomorrow is another day.

HURRAYYYYY!!!! Bring it on! Just bring it on.

ONWARD!!!!!

And They're Off!!!

Sid and I took Jessie up to the local "International" airport this afternoon. We stood around and watched while she checked in and went through security. Our airport has a big THICK glass "cage" that everyone that has gone through security waits in. It's nice because we could see and visit via our cell phones and text messages. LOL! Funny! We waited about an hour plus before they boarded the plane, then we went out to the parking lot and waited to see her plain lift off.

16 girls, 1 boy and several adults. Lots of luggage. Each person took a carry-on, a bag/purse, a check-in and then one BIG HUGE trunk that was pre-packed by the gatherers of such things. Mostly backpacks and school supplies for the children in Peru. That's about 21 trunks of stuff that won't be coming back up when they return. Nice.

And so, she's gone. My darling daughter has been away for a week before. She goes to camp in the summer. A week each time. But this time it's for 10 days and it's a LOT further journey. She'll have a great time. She'll make new friends within her fellow traveling school mates. She'll get to see how other people in other places live. She'll get to go up and down and up and down... LOL!... in airplanes.

I'll be praying for her safety. I'll be praying that she has a wonderful trip and comes home soon. Mostly though, I'll miss her. Really-truly.

I  love you, Jessica May! I truly-dooly do.

The Studio Challenge

Jessie and I snapped about 300 pictures today. LOVE digital. We deleted out the ugh ones and have a full and over-flowing 100+ left. HA! Nope, I'm not putting them all up here. Not hardly. But in the middle of all that snapping away, Jess went into my studio space and began taking pictures of the little bits of beauty. Here and there and...

:: baskets containing the parts for a couple quilts ::

:: a big jar full of tarnished SILVERware ::

(came with this house)

:: a little pillow that Jessica made for years ago ::

:: part of my brass collection ::

:: apricot-pineapple, blueberry and strawberry jams ::

:: part of my collection of "sticks" ::

:: never enough colored pencils ::

:: wooden thread spools ::

:: art books ::

:: a wee felt bear that Jessie made years ago ::

:: Jessie's pincushion ::

I came in and noticed that she was going around being VERY selective. Now there's nothing wrong with being selective. I mean, discretion is a GOOD thing, right? Well... that got me thinking. And here's what came out of that!!;)

We decided to take big pictures. Really-truly pictures of what the studio REALLY looks like. It's my studio, the place where everything that I could ever need to make anything I'd ever want to make. All the supplies are there. And there's a bit of Jessie's stuff. And there are cardboard boxes, empty containers purchased to help contain stuff, yarn, books, patterns, canning supplies... We don't have a garage or anywhere to store stuff that's not in use. No attic, no unused space in the basement. AURGH! So, everything that doesn't have a place finds it's place there, in the studio. All that makes it nearly impossible to move through the room, let alone be creative. Hate it.

So, here's the deal. We took pictures. These are the before pictures. When Jessica gets home from her mission trip to Peru on March 24th, ten days from tomorrow, I will have it clean or nearly. Organized, orderly and things thrown away, given away, donated... whatever. 10 days. How much can a motivated artist/mom get done in that amount of time? I guess we'll see, huh?

Here's the UGLY truth. ;)

:: Come on in, I'll show you around ::

:: standing in the doorway, looking right ::

:: Still in the doorway, looking straight ahead ::

:: looking a bit to the left ::

:: inside the room turned fully to the left ::

Okay, that's enough torture. :) I won't make you walk that narrow path. Can be dangerous! Anyway, you get the picture. What I'll do is post daily before and after shots. This has to happen and now is the time. Let "The Studio Challenge" begin!

ONWARD!!!!

My Baby Girl

Reminiscence Thursday

This week has been full of thoughts and doings for Matthew (his 14th birthday) and Jessica (her trip to Peru...flies out on Sun.). And so, here are sweet memories of them. ;)

:: Matthew's 6th Month Portrait ::

LOL! This picture always makes me laugh. Matthew LOVED that G-button. Sid picked it up at one of his computer conferences and brought it home for the kids. It became the "Good Button". If you're good, you get to wear it. Ohhh, how he'd prance when he had that big ol' red button on his chest.

:: Playing with the swing ::

"Grandma's Little Preacher"

:: Jessica's 6th Month Portrait ::

:: And Now She Toddles off to Peru???"

:: Here's lookin' at You! ::

:: Two Cutie-Pies! ::

:: Backpacking with Dad ::

And this is for David. ;) You've come a long way, Son!