Welcome to the Sand Art Gallery ~

Katie and Hayley were busy on Saturday creating their "Sand Art Gallery" on the sand at Point Whitehorn. The unusually low tide and sand sighting surely inspired the girls.






...the filled the beach with their creative drawings ~ such talent!

Beware of the SHORCA!!!

Forget "dog eat dog" ~ we've got real troubles ~ "fish eat fish".

Notice how the lovely two girls used the rock above as the first item to get chomped.

And the talented girls were too shy to pose.

Geometry ~

I have...

...a square head.

I celebrated Father's Day just like I celebrated my parent's 50th wedding anniversary...I stayed in bed and wallowed in virus. Oh don't feel bad for me, I sent a proxy to spend Father's Day with my dad.

Dear Steven went off to spend the day with my parents. It's nice to have a husband who totally gets along with the family (He probably gets along with them much better than I do!).

The planned day was a visit to the family cabin and a adventure to a new County park ~ Point Whitehorne Reserve. Steve took pictures of the little hike ~ even shots of the parents together.




I heard that there were 37 steps down to the beach after the walk through the woods from the parking lot ~ a walk of just under a mile.



Steve and I had walked out to this beach before there was a park. The only way down was over the cliff ~ not the cliff in the photo below, but something quite close. The way down was lined by ropes that had been tied and rigged so you could repel down the side. (Hmm, much like some of the obstacles shown on Ninja Warrior on G4 that I watched all weekend from my sickbed.)



Steve, always impress by the food the parents feed him, took this shot of the barbecue getting ready to grill his steak.

Fiftieth ~

Ma & Pa, Marlene & Bill, Mom & Dad, aka "the parents" ~ They were married 50 years ago today.

They didn't want a party ~ no fuss necessary. I'm stuck home three days into a virus, but I did call this morning.

Both Mom and Dad were string beans back then. Mom weighed a whopping 98 lbs., and Dad looks like he must have been skin and bones.

Mom wore a big hoop skirt which explains why dad was leaning and walking way over at the edge of the aisle. The bride's maids were in dusty rose/satin dresses ~ I still have some of the material in my stash.

Looks like mom had gladiolas in the vases as wedding flowers. Pretty funny since she wouldn't be caught dead with glads in any bouquet now.

Back then, in 1959, the local paper not only had large write-ups on weddings but also included many column inches on engagements (with photos) and bridal showers. How great it would be if we still had such community connections ~ now we have to worry about privacy and the like. Back then it was considered news worthy if you'd be away for a three-week honeymoon. Now such an announcement would only mean your home would be ransacked while you were gone.

Formal portraits of brides-to-be were considered the norm. Now it just seems odd ~ where's the groom? "He" wasn't news worthy until he walked down the aisle ~ weddings are all about the bride.

clipped ~

I got to work today and realized my shirt kept falling open. Luckily I'm working for a nursing program and the sight of bare skin isn't a big deal. The big deal is when non-nursing program people are around. So I found myself a trusty binder clip and clipped myself respectable.

A few hours after returning home, I looked down and realized I was still respectable.

Aren't binder clips wonderful?!

On another note ~ tapestry wise ~ I haven't shared this in the blog, but I am a BIG fan of CraigsList. Sometime last year a tapestry listing came up. I like to check and see what people call "tapestry" since it is usually an old sheet with some sort of printed image on it.

But in this case I couldn't believe my eyes! It was a real, honest to goodness tapestry! Woven, wool, the real deal!

So I quickly e-mailed the person offering it up for sale. I was certainly surprised when I received a return e-mail and found out that the person selling the piece was an artist whose painting I had hanging in my hallway. Small world!

Now this wonderful "snake" hangs over our bed. It is by tapestry artist Linda Rees who lived in the area a number of years ago and currently works and shows in Oregon. I just learned today that she'll be having a show in 2010 at he La Conner Quilt Museum (a wonderful small museum that shows much more than quilts).

P.S. I was born in the year of the snake ~ so the piece was perfect for me!

woven, lined and beaded ~

...but NOT bedazzled! I wouldn't go THAT far!

I've been looking for a quick and simple project to make for next fall's guild sale. I think I'm getting close to figuring out my plan.

One of my goals is to use up all the odds and ends that are piling up in my stash. I'm the queen of used and/or second hand and continue to save everything with the thought that I might just make something out of it someday.

We'll on the web I found a simple woven bag pattern which is simply a long woven strip. I've woven three strips so far and here is one completed bag.

The warp is brown cotton (8/2 I think) and the weft is some really funky Lily brand stuff that was put up and sold on small cones. I think is rayon, jute and linen ~ that's my best guess. The sett on this bag's strip of fabric is a bit off ~ I think it's 15 epi. The other two strips I wove are probably closer to 17-18 epi. I beaded a bit on the bag with some discount and hand-me-down beads keeping with my reuse/recycle theme. The bag is lined with fabric from an old dress I had saved.

The way you fold the long strip of fabric allows for a pocket on the beginning edge ~ I think I'll skip this feature with the next bag and just add a pocket in the lining.

Since I still haven't purchased any name tapes for labeling, I decided to add this little piggie bead where I would want to place a name label.

oink, oink

karma's coming ~

Found out today that the girl who hit my car and didn't leave a note lives in one of my brother-in-law's rental houses.

Hmmm, small world....hmmm, a lesson....a lesson to always own up to major mishaps since your God is always watching you and won't let you get away with it when you don't leave a note.

So there!

On another note ~ a few weekends ago it was lovely, warm, and there was an extremely low tide. We went out to Larrabee State Park to look into tide pools and climb on rocks.

I found this orphaned piece of kelp.

This was the end of the road where the rocks only led off the edge.

Look here! Steve (on the left) looks like a miner who has lost his gold pan.

The rocks at Larrabee are so cool ~ water-worn sandstone.

Starfish abound.

We are family!

Yum! Dripping Sea Snot!

Things just keep tumbling by me ~

...or so that's how I feel these days. I know I haven't posted in, like, forever, and I do admit that I haven't had any inspiration to write.

My beloved Marcel began a battle with pancreatitis over a month ago. When he is sick, I am sad and suffer with him. He is doing better now, but is having trouble with his thyroid. We've just started him on twice daily medication which has so far been uneventful.

He has lost weight and the pictures of his rolly polly self on this blog are but a memory. I feel his spine and ribs when I cuddle him in close. I long for fur covered folds of fat.

Here Mr. Cat is, safely tucked away in the coat pouch Steven has created for him...

Earlier in the spring Deb and I went up across the border to visit the weaving/fiber exhibit at the Surrey Museum. The Peace Arch Spinners & Weavers organized the exhibit. Here is Deb, the reluctant model.

The exhibit was small, but the guild did a nice job. They probably could have used more museum advice on exhibit labeling techniques and how to handle the diadatic materials.

Upstairs at the Surrey Museum is the Honey Hooser collection ~ a room full of weaving/fiber related texts and open storage. I L*O*V*E open storage.

During May, the Skagit Valley Weavers Guild hosted a workshop by Sharon Alderman who also gave the monthly meeting program for the group. The poor dear was suffering from a nasty virus, but she sojourned on. Once she fell into her groove, she gave a wonderful program.

And somewhere in the last couple of month, I made a stop by the Whatcom Museum where I use to work many moons ago. I took these photos of "stuff" ~ Felix looks like how I've been feeling...

...feeling a bit worn and torn. The arthritis in my right hand has been giving me trouble. In know, hardly 44 years old and already complaining about arthritis. My knuckles have always been big but never painful. Now I'm swelling up and losing flexibility ~ I have ALWAYS had extremely flexible fingers and hands......not any more. I can hardly use my right pinkie finger currently. The finger keeps curving to the left more and more. So you know, that little pinkie finger is essential in keeping yarn tension in knitting.


And lastly, I am working right now. It is a temp job that, with arthritic pinkies crossed, will turn into permanent. Oh, and if you read the post prior to this one ~ yes, the job is at Whatcom Community College where parking lot hooligans victimize unsuspecting RAV4s.

BTW ~ the hooligan did call finally....she has insurance....she said she left a note on my car....she must use invisible hooligan paper and pencil.

Y'al done violated me you turd ~

Y'al (aka 648-YAL) smacked my good, loving, and trusty RAV4 in the parking lot of Whatcom Community College today.

No note on my windshield. No attempt to take responsibility.

No justice for the innocent.

Not smart enough to drive away either. The driver just continued into the parking spot where their MAZDA MPV sat next to my RAV4.

The MAZDA MPV willingly boasted its freshly-made front bumper damage (see below).

My good buddy RAV4, smartly parked centered between two lines in the admittedly narrow parking spaces at the College, did not deserve to be victimized by Mr. Ugly Blue Mazda.

Dearest RAV4 sadly bled red plastic bits on the blacktop.

Evil turd sucking MAZDA MPV will surely succumb to the wrath of KARMA. Bad deeds bestow bad deeds...bad, bad deeds.

Watch out 648-YAL, cuz KARMA's gonna catch you!