Boho Lampshade

Boho Lampshade

Catching up

The year has been flying by.  Here we are in September already. So what’s been going on.

I had a knee injury that sidelined a lot of my physical activity late last year.  I had been up to getting in a 3 mile half run in every morning and then could not even get to the end of the street.   It was addressed with surgery at the beginning of May, and I’m still working on getting back to being able put lots of steps in daily without having to use ice and anti-inflammatory meds at the end of the day.  It’s been slow going.   Despite what the brain says, the body likes to emphatically remind me I’m not as young as I used to be.

Back to school has been hectic and the routines had to adjust for that.  The day job has not let up either.

The office is still being put back together from the big repaint.  Mostly it’s a matter of organizing / finding things a new home.  There’s still one more curtain that needs finishing.

I did try my hand at knitting again.   Being a lefty, YouTube has been helpful as most written instructions simply cannot be reversed unlike crochet and most embroidery.

More recently I’ve begum playing with paint again.   The various pouring techniques are so much fun.   I have five canvases done from a couple of weeks ago and have plans, and supplies even, for more.

In the midst of it all, I’ve been part of a writing team for a TTRPG. They are a great community, and I’m excited to see it all come together.

Today is a federal holiday for those of us in the US, Labor Day.   My son and I spent some time cleaning up the yard.  I was able to put up the additional hummingbird feeder and the bug house.   Michaels had rod iron shepherd hooks on clearance for $5 each which gave me an easy way to hang them up.

Returning inside saw the Navajo art get properly hung, and my elephant herd redone, this time with the addition of a new Buddha.

More to come later.

Paint experiments

I’ve been conducting some acrylic paint experiments and having far too much fun. Oh, to be able to have dedicated studio space again. I used to do the plaster/ceramic painting quite a bit, and I have a couple of watercolors in progess.

This blue one was a try with only using water to thin the paint. It’s quite texurized and I love that.

This sunset one I mixed in pouring medium and love the marbling.

On both the glitter was sprinkled on after I decided the paint was done. Next time out I want to use black canvas.

Hexie Play

I have been randomly making English Paper Piecing hexagons since sometime last year I think it was. I would do a few from a stack of random scraps while watching a show or movie. When individual scraps weren’t big enough, I’d join them together to get a bit of a patchwork hexie. Mind you, these are one inch hexies so the scraps had to be fairly small to require preemptive joining. This year I started joining some of them in combos that spoke to me.

The last photo in the gallery is of a couple of predominantly green fabrics that I’m thinking of using as an applique background for the shapes. Several ideas have presented so I’m simply letting them all simmer in the back of my mind.

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Getting Dirty

I’m still working, but am doing so remotely. This has been a boon in that I’m not quite so exhausted most weekends and in the afternoons. My yard and garden have benefited and have provided in return.

It’s nice to be able to sit outside or wander around the yard if needed. Many things have been blooming, and the edibles have been doing well overall. Considering our summers are cold and fog laden, having as much develop and come in as I have has been exciting and tasty. The tomatoes and calabacita have been prolific, enough so that I’ve been giving some away. I do need to go out and harvest the sugar snap peas that are ready. The dwarf lime tree I bought last year appears to be producing 3 times as many fruits as it did last year. I’m hoping the kumquat will do the same next year. There have been intriguing buds on the pomegranate so we will have to see what becomes of those.

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Adding to the Stash

Why, yes, I am catching up on happenings…

Like many areas, there have been a lot of store closures over the last several months. We’ve lost our Pier 1 and Tuesday Morning. I’ve read that Pier 1 went through a reorg and buy out and will now be online only.

Tuesday Morning didn’t close all their stores, but the next closest one is over an hour away even without traffic. That’s just not feasible for me. Mom tells me the one by her is still open. That will have to be one of our stops when we go down for a visit. Losing TM is harder than losing P1. It fed my eclectic decor tastes, as well as my gourmet food preferences on a budget. Specialty pastas, teas, preserves. I also used to get my random housewares like shower curtains, bath mats, soaps, etc. there. Plus there was the craft section where charm packs, jelly roll, and the occasional yard cut could be found, not to mention the yarns, sketch books, pens, pencils, stamps, and more. You can probably hear me sighing.

Another big loss was our local Beverly’s. This store lost it’s lease. It was a place we could go for arts and craft supplies of all kinds. I would also get a lot of my notions there. Luckily the quilt shop seems to be going strong, however, there are things that cannot be had there and will either have to be ordered or necessitate a drive out to Joann’s, a mere 45 minutes.

While I do still lament the loss of Beverly’s, I did take advantage of their sales. I have my first pair of pinking shears, and they are left handed to boot. I also found a bunch of Hoffman quilting fabric. I took them to the cutting stations and said I’d take whatever was left on the bolt. The 1st trip I brought home seven bolts and the shears. The second trip resulted in four more bolts and another three pairs of shears. I plan to eventually post the extra shears for sale.

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Who Was That Masked Man?

I sat down and made a stack of masks a while back. The brown camouflage and red ones were at my son’s request along with any that have ear loops. I did a set with ties for myself or with the elastic long enough and situated so that it goes around my head. The ear loops style irritates the skin behind my ears, especially with wearing glasses. I gave away a couple and have more prepped for sewing but haven’t gotten around to it. We have enough of a stash for daily wear for a week, and we don’t leave the house much.

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One more test…

So the good news is that last week’s power outage seemed to have reset the dryers electronics, and it appears to be functioning normally, mostly.
I got an error code, the same one, this morning on the 1st go round but not the 2nd, however I did notice that all the windows were quite fogged up with condensation and not just by the dryer.  This prompted a look behind it which resulted in discovering that the vent hose somehow became disconnected from the back of the dryer.  

I managed to get everything off the top and pulled it out about a foot.  I used the utility grabber so I didn’t have to actually try to get to the floor behind the dryer.  Getting out would have been nigh impossible.   It’s a small space, and I’m nowhere near as thin and flexible as I used to be. And local emergency crews have enough to do without have to rescue me from my own challenges.

So I have the vent in hand and am sitting on the edge of the sink.  I lean sideways to get the vent hose reconnected and lose my balance.  Crap!  I manage to catch myself so I don’t take a header behind the dryer, but now I’m half stuck in the sink.  

I have to holler for the munchkin. When he finally arrives, I say grab my hand and pull up. I get up enough to get my right arm under me then need him to hang on to my legs so I can get myself the rest of the way up.
I’ve also dropped the hose so it’s way back down on the floor again.
Second time I bring over the step ladder and the grabber and figure out a way to partially kneel in the sink so I can have leverage to reach down and reconnect the damn hose.  Hopefully my dryer issues are now resolved.

Hopefully.

Day quilt

I hadn’t realized it had been so long since my last post.  A lot has happened in the last year though the majority of it in the months since January. Some of that requires a separate post. Most of it is stuff we are all dealing with.

Early in the year, late January or early February, the munchkin and I went by our local Beverly’s. They had lost their lease and were closing up shop so we visited for a last time. There was some fabric that munchkin really liked and asked for a quilt out of it. I finally sat down and made it today.

Soldier dogs panel

Desert camo

He’s happy to have it and only agreed to be in the picture if he didn’t have to show his face.

Kitten Toy Bags in use

Snapped a few pics at the rescue today of the toy bags in use.