Katie's Wand

A few weeks/months ago I posted pictures of a doll called Katie that I was asked to make. I only had the magic wand to finish. I think that the hardest part of making the wand was waiting until Katie told me what she wanted on the wand.

My friend Kathi Kuti, the doll maker I mentioned before, brought back little pebbles from the beaches of Australia and I used a few on the wand. I knew that I also wanted ribbons on the wand with bells on the end to match the bells on the toes of her shoes. My friend Deb found the bells for me in Toronto and I sewed them on the ends of the ribbons. Even tho they don't make a sound they look nice. Finally I found the star that I was looking for. There were no stars like I wanted in the Dollar stores but I did find a decoration in the Lens Mills store.  The Christmas decoration was of three stars and bells hooked together. I removed the smallest star and glued it to the top of the wand. Just what I'd been looking for. I put the star decoration - minus the smallest star - on the door of my neighbours apartment and pretended I didn't even know it existed. A little elf humour.

Finally the doll is finished and I can wrap her up and send her on her way. Too bad the picture is so dark.

Wishing you all the best of holidays and health, wealth and happiness for the new year. Have a good one

Back from vacation

Sorry I haven't been writing.

I returned from Florida a week ago and have been up to my old tricks of doing too much and resting too little.

My friend Mary Lee picked me up at the airport in Tampa and we went to her place in St Petersburg until 4am on Tuesday morning when we drove to Pensacola to visit her sister and family. We both swore we were on vacation and we were not cooking. Of course that wasn't the case. She made pumpkin bread for her nephews and families when we got there.

I had a wonderful time in the sunny south except for getting the flu for a few days. I spent American Thanksgiving in bed and feeling a little green. I'm glad to say it was only for the one day. I was back up shopping and visiting with my friend and enjoying the Gulf of Mexico in the cold the very next day. Yes, it was cold. Maybe it was the left over flu but I was chilled and other people on the beach looked cold as well. I did see some sting rays jumping out of the gulf and different gulls and pelicans.

On Friday evening our hosts, Lynn and Kathi drove us to Gulf Shores Alabama to a place called Lulu's.
I was still feeling a little green so I played it safe and had a burger and some ginger ale. I didn't want to try the sea food or the collard greens. It was fun and I enjoyed the little side trip.

Saturday we cooked the Thanksgiving Dinner (we were not going to cook) and all Kathi's boys and wives and children came over. Mary Lee and Kathi's brother Tom came in from Burmingham Ala. and we had a great visit.

On Monday morning my friend Mary Lee and I left Pensacola at 4 am and went back to her place in St. Petersburg. We walked the dogs and enjoyed the sunshine and I even saw an alligator in a little lake behind the gym that her son Tommy runs. All in all a wonderful vacation and I'm going back again soon.

Have a great one

Another Doll

Just read a post from an on-line acquaintance who may someday may become my friend. We don't know each other well enough to call ourselves friends but I just love her blog. I've posted before about her work.
She wrote about not liking Halloween and I responded that I don't either. I stayed home and worked on a doll and because I live in an apartment building I don't have the little trick or treaters ringing the door bell.

I got to the legs part of the doll - which I didn't photograph but here the preliminary pieces. This is my first time embroidering a doll face. This is also a doll from someone's pattern given to us by the head of the embroidery club. More challenges.
I will post the picture of her dressed and standing. Secrets!!!!!

The Katie Doll

Besides finding out how to download pictures from the camera to the computer the other frustrating thing about posting to the blog is trying to line things up and put pictures in where I want them. That is why I don't post very often. I want to have wonderful pictures in my blog like others but I don't know how to do it.
I just thought I'd post pictures of the trees that have changed colours.

Then I thought, I'll post pictures of the Katie Doll.

I've not finished her yet. She needs bells or decorations on her shoes.

She needs a wand in her left hand. But for the most part she is finished.

In this picture you will notice the lopsided wings. My choice to do that. She's a fairie/angel and she has struggled getting here so I figure a little bent wing isn't too bad. 

My frustrations with technical difficulties is because I've never learned properly how to do it. I need to have someone instruct me as I do the steps and take notes. I haven't had that opportunity yet. Maybe I just have to plug away at things and hope that I don't delete everything like I did twice this morning as I'm learning.

I found the same frustrations with the dolls using other people's patterns. If I have a question - who do I ask? It's hard to find the people when you need them to ask them. I need to see the finished pieces - step by step or to work with someone who knows what they are doing.
Otherwise I have to do my own dolls my own way and make progress little by little. I can then correct things as I make the mistakes or as some say - happy accidents.

So after three failed attempts at posting today I'm trying this. Type the words and leave spaces for pictures. If this doesn't work, I'll sit and whine and have a piece of chocolate and go for another walk. I've already been for one walk this morning but it doesn't hurt to do a couple more - while the sun is still around.

Okay my idea worked. The pictures are there. I did have the chocolate while downloading the pictures and now I'm going for another walk. Clear my head of technical difficulties so I can go back to sewing. Oh, did I tell you that I sew these dolls by hand and sometimes that can be frustrating too.
Well, time marches on and more will be revealed. Have a good one.

The Dolls

It is almost finished. I've got to make a wand, put some metal washers for weight on the toes of the shoes and she's done. No pictures until I'm finished. What am I talking about? The doll that someone asked me to make from seeing a picture in a magazine. I purchased the pattern and got started. Well, there is the challenge.
I might have mentioned before in another post that I make my own dolls from the ideas in my head. I've only made one doll from a pattern before and it was soft sculpture. This is a challenge because it has wood for arms and part of the body. I've been learning new things. She needs a few more things and it's a holiday here in Canada and so the hardware stores are closed as is everything else, hence no metal washers and other things. I can go shopping tomorrow.
In the meantime I've been washing and ironing some plain muslin/cotton material to make some new stuffed dolls. Kay, the leader of our embroidery group gave us a doll pattern to use to challenge us all to make dolls. It will be interesting to see what the end of the year will bring and the wonderful show of dolls because we will of course make the same doll but dress them differently. Now remember this is embroidery so I expect I'll see all kinds of fancy dresses and Kay has already said she's using silk.And we all said "well of course you are, we wouldn't expect anything else" because Kay does most of her work on silk.
She said she thought I could make an Indian Dress for my doll and I just said "or not" as she held up a picture of a dress from the Souix Nation. I am not of the Souix Nation or any of the nations out west. I'm from the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois Nation as the French called us. I'm thinking of a ball gown, or something fancy like that. I have some books with patterns as well as pictures so I'll spend some time looking through those.
I'm excited to get started but ... I have this other doll to finish.

Getting Corn Stalks and Taking Pictures

My neighbour and friend down the hall named Diane decorates her apartment for every occasion. She is getting ready for Halloween and has all kinds of things from the Dollar Store to make apartment Halloweenish. Today she needed corn stalks.
Now we are talking apartment here. One bedroom apartment with the kitchen and living room combined. I don't think there is room for cornstalks but I agree to help her. She thought I should go and get the corn stalks but I agreed to take the pictures.

She also needs a person to keep watch so that she doesn't get caught. (One person my daughter told me about was charged with theft under $5,000)
She told me that she's never bought corn stalks and didn't think she needed to. The stalks didn't have any corn on them - probably because of the lack of rain all summer.
So here are the pictures. Starting with her at the edge of the cornfield.

Here she is hiding in the corn field and of course, laughing while I stand on the road with the camera taking pictures.

Hugging the cornstalks

 And of course stuffing them in the trunk and showing them in the trunk below.

 After the cornfields we went to the farm market to look for "stuff" and she took more pictures.

A fun afternoon.

Vacation

I've been on vacation - in my mind. I'm sorry I haven't posted in over a month. I bet all those many millions that were following me got tired and went home. Oh well.

I took a trip a few weeks ago to Cleveland Ohio. Then last weekend I went to visit friends outside of Ottawa, Ontario and this weekend I'm taking a vacation to another part of Ontario with my sister and her daughter to shop. I don't know for what but I will have fun looking.

My friend Deb is on a trip to Scotland - the country, not the town in Canada. The next vacation I am going to take is with Deb and the Embroiderers group and it will be to Italy or Spain.

In October my sister Shirley is going to Rome with her church group and a lot of others to see the Canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha. Today my mom and four siblings have gone to Iowa to see my niece as she takes her final vows to become a Nun. I'm truly impressed with my niece - a young lady who actually knows what she wants and is sticking to her plans. I guess that is amazing to me because I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. I'm working on it though.

I have a memory of sitting at the top of the stairs writing stories when I was ten or eleven. I also have a memory of sitting at the bottom of the same set of stairs with my mom's sewing basking making "stuff" teaching myself to sew. I believe I am on to something here and although I won't write a pattern I can write stories and although I won't sew clothes for myself or family, I can make dolls and wall hangings. I prefer to write by hand - then type in stories and I also prefer to sew by hand - hence small stuff.

So, off to work on a doll before I do more writing and I guess later I'll be taking a vacation again - in my mind.

The Garden

I don't spend a lot of time in the garden at our apartment building. Most of the women and a few men sit by the planter in the shade - smoking - I guess because it is close to the door. There are two other areas with a netting of sorts that is to act as a shade - not!!! and to protect from a drizzle if there is one - not!!! If I do go out I sit under one of those awning things and write or draw but not in the hot sun or when we might be getting rain.

So where am I going with this story?    Pictures.

The maintenance man was able to squeeze money out of the budget for some mulch to keep the weeds down. There are a few Hostas growing there.  Last year they put in a watering system that waters the mulch ever couple of days. One early morning I went out to listen to the birds and there were these funny little white things that popped up in the mulch.

Don't know what they are - assuming a fungi of some sort. Didn't think of taking a picture then when they were all over the place. I waited until yesterday after temperatures of 90 degrees or more on Saturday and found just a few.

I believe they come out when it is damp and then die off or recede when it is dry and hot. I particularly like the picture to the right with the large leaf that the squirrel probably knocked down.

The fungi aging and dying

 
Carol likes to add things to decorate - here is her dog Buddy beside the large pinwheels she put in the garden in early summer.


A four foot planter in the garden with some additions to the flowers.

A resin bluebird house with a few additions stand in the corner of the planter.

Another neighbour down the hall added some parrots to the planter.

And this morning there was a spider web glistening in the sunlight - iridescent and sparkling.                                                                              
I don't know if you can see the colours - maybe it is one of those "you had to be there" things. 

Celebration

I decided to write and whine. No, just kidding. I've been feeling under the weather so I haven't done much or felt like doing much. A low grade virus and you don't want to know all the symptoms.

On July 14th my grand-daughters mom and sisters had a baby shower for her. Her dad, my son Mike, is now remarried to a wonderful lady named Tuesday. I like my grand-daughter Lindsay's mom and I always get a warm greeting from her. Here is a picture of my beautiful daughter-in-law Tuesday with my great-grandson Quaid.

Lindsay's great grandmother Dee was a great friend to my mom. I went to school with their children and was best friends at one time with Lindsay's aunt Sherry who passed away from cancer a year or so ago.

This is a picture of four generations. My son Mike, myself, my grand-daughter Lindsay and my great-grandson Jayce. I think they said that Jayce is now two months old - nearly three months old. Quaid - the big brother is I believe almost 6.

My son Mike is the happiest grandpa. He has two grandsons and is looking forward to having them learn from him on the farm.  I think that this is a great picture of Mike and Jayce. I can't wait to see him running around with his brother Quaid and my grandson Eli who are only ten days apart. As long as we have children and grand-children we will never grow old.

This is my grand-daughter Lindsay with her mom Kelly opening the wonderful gifts. She is set for at least a week with clothes for Jayce, well  you know how fast babies grow.

The day was wonderful. I enjoyed visiting with old friends and especially visiting with family.

 
This low grade virus is enough to make me not want to do much. I'm still doing but not as much art. I've been looking at blogs trying to get inspired. I haven't figured out yet why I hesitate to get out my drawing and painting supplies. I keep wanting to draw, even to do Zentangles but I hesitate with that too. Maybe it is because I've spent so much time with fabric arts and beads I don't think it will be good enough to try and draw or paint again. But then I signed up for an on-line doll making course and didn't do that. So I don't know what it is - physical bleh I guess.

Oh well, I'll figure it out - one day. In the mean time I'll keep on going to visit auntie and working on two more afghans. I'm making one for my niece and her expected baby in December.

Finished

Well, not completely finished. I've been gathering materials and cutting out and stitching a quilt top for seven years. Today I took it to the lady down the road who does beautiful work with a long arm quilting machine. Like a few other people I know, I do not like the quilting part. I like making the picture with the fabric and if the piece is too big - it goes to the quilting lady. There is a lot more hand work to do when it comes back from the quilters but I won't think about that today.
It feels like a sauna here in South Western Ontario. The humidity makes it hard to breathe and I get sleepy. But because of the Fibromyalgia I don't like air-conditioning - I ache more than usual. It wasn't bad today as I was in and out of buildings blasting their freezing air and into and out of the blazing sun. Summer is wonderful and for me, much better than winter.
My sister gave me a couple of plastic storage towers - you know the ones with the drawers in them - so I cleaned and sorted after coming in from the warm weather walk. Not too far in this heat. I'll be up early tomorrow and finish the sorting and moving. There is more to do again but I'm feeling good about arranging things. There are no pictures, and if I stay at it the rooms will be done by tomorrow evening because it wasn't too long ago that I did a major cleaning and sorting.
Now all I need is someone to cook meals for me and I'd be all set.

Frustrating

I don't like this new blogger update look or whatever it is called. I just finished writing a new post and sent it to publish then when I went to look at it from my blog - IT Was GONE. uggggghhhhhhh.

So here is the picture I posted in the other one of me making a bracelet for my friend Marian who brought me back gifts from China and Tibet. This is a blue and green frosted bracelet in the flat spiral stitch.She loved it and her gift to me was made of five coloured chords woven with pits of some kind that were carved into dragons. Maybe I'll take a picture of it and post next time.

The other picture is of beaded pieces I'd started before I went to Kathi Kuti's for the little doll club that I mentioned last post. The top bracelet in the photo is finished - it is olive green size 11 seeds and and a peach coloured size 8. The other two are made with bugle beads and seeds. The middle piece is using silver lined bugles and the other one is using a bronze type bulge but it has colours of gold green and coral mixed into the bronze so I used those colour seeds with it.

I think the other post was better but it's gone now so - that's it for today. have a good one.

Show and Tell

While visiting with Kathi Kuti and the other ladies from out little club I brought show and tell - some beaded pieces that I was turning into bracelets and a necklace. Our little group was supposed to be doing some painting in preparation for an art piece to be completed the next month but our "teacher" Marianne was unable to make it that day. I put teacher in quotation marks because we are all teachers, no matter where we go and whom we speak with. Some of our greatest teachers are the little children.

Kathi was working on her owls as I mentioned last post and others were doing their little thing. I worked on a bracelet for my friend who was coming back from a trip to China and Tibet. As you can see, my cup of tea was almost finished and I was busy, busy busy. The bracelet was a hit. Marian brought me a couple of things. One was a little box like item on a cord that is supposed to be worn around the neck and has a mandala inside - she said. I cannot take it apart to see because then it will be wrecked. The other piece was a weaving with five coloured chords around some dragons carved from pits of some kind. I thought at first they may be peach pits but because I'm unfamiliar with what grows there I cannot say if it is or not.

The other picture that I have to show is the beaded pieces in progress. The top piece if made of olive green s

size 11 seeds and a peach coloured size 8. The next one doesn't show up well, it is made of silver lined bugles and pastel colured seed beads. The bottom one is a mixture of bronze, gold and green seeds with a bugle that is also a mixture of those colours. It is hard to explain but quite beautiful.
So that is it for today. I'm sorting and arranging beads again because I couldn't work on my messy table. The beads are in tubes and small packages and they all seem to want to be part of the next project. They jump up on the table and play with each other while I sort and figure out whose next. They just don't jump back into their boxes and lay quiet while I work. They all seem to want to sit there and watch till I get tired of not being able to find something and I have to put them back in their boxes. A little cooperation would be helpful eh?
Have a good one

A Gift

My friend Kathi Kuti who makes wonderful miniatures gave me two dolls last month and I forgot them at her place. She is so busy making that she hasn't updated her website but if you go there you will get an idea of her talent just by her opening home page.Yesterday we had our "doll club" which should actually be called an art club because we make all kinds of things and try all kinds of projects. Kathi was making the little tufts of feathers for her miniature pull toy duckies that are about the size of a quarter I think. I was making a beaded bracelet and showed them two beaded necklaces that I'm working on. Deb was making a stuffed owl out of a piece of old quilt that was her husband's grandmothers. Joan was working on a little owl from Kathi's pattern and Marion was knitting a lovely ruffled scarf. A few of the other members/friends were missing. Nevertheless we had a lot of fun visiting (which is what we do most) and working/playing.

The two dolls that Kathi gave me obviously don't measure up to her dolls in that they are huge compared to her size and they are porcelain. I love them and will keep them for my grand-daughter. One doll is in a high chair and the other doll is standing on a shelf by my other dolls and collectables. They are both very beautiful and my grand-daughter will love them - eventually. She is only 3 and wants to put every doll she has in the tub with her so they are not going to her house yet.

Next to this doll is the second gnome I made and a tree sprite made from an actual tree branch. See what I mean about not just dolls? Kathi had these tree branches and a bunch of "stuff" that she'd collected including the seed pods from a bush in her back yard. They are the top of the sprite's head - hair. The eyes are a pair of earrings and the ears are also earrings. The lips are a piece of "stuff" from a potpori collection that Kathi had. We make dolls and figures and yesterday if Marianne had been able to come we would have been painting on paper to make a torn picture - I have no idea - and will just have to send a photo when we get it done. I guess we also have to have an idea for a pattern - like a stained glass pattern. We'll see. Marianne Reitsma made dolls for years and has taken a break and is now making some wonderful Cakes - as in cake decorating. She made the un-birthday cake for our groups collective Un-Birthday and she made it gluten free for me. How wonderful is that eh?  Well that is all for now. Off to the bead shop - like I need more stash eh? Have a good one.

More pictures

Okay, so it's not really "more pictures" it's two more pictures.
I went to visit my grand-daughter and my great-grandson and forgot the camera. I was wanting to take a picture of Jayce with his new blanket - but forgetting the camera puts a damper on that idea. My daughter-in-law said she baby-sat one day and took about 124 pictures. I asked her to send me one.

So I went outside last night after finishing the little owl I made using some white wool at $42. per metre and the ribbon embroidery off of a hankie. I purchased a kit and it only took me a few hours to do the embroidery but then I had no idea what to do with the hankie. The owl said she wanted it for her apron so there ya go eh. I noticed after I got her sewed together that her one eye is a little higher than the other and her beak is a bit tipsy. Maybe she was into the hummingbird feeder and got too much sugar - fermented? This little owl tipsy and all is about six inches tall.

Back to the outside story. I was sitting in the garden with a couple of ladies from the apartment building and looked up into the pine tree. There were things on that tree that I'd never seen before. Well, I don't really look up that much unless I'm sitting staring off at the clouds or lying on the sofa looking out at the maples dancing in the windstorm - when we have one. Anyway I saw those seeds and pods and the ladies pointed out a few on the ground. They were kind of sticky when I picked them up like they had little hooks on them. I put a few in a little box to take to my friend Kathi Kuti who makes miniatures. I thought she might use them for her doll hats. I took a picture of these little things that I thought would make a hat - but forgot to put something beside them to show their comparison size.  Anyway there they are in all their glory.
imagine that the largest one is about the size of  a kidney bean. Too small for me to use as a hat for any doll that I make.

 

So now I'm signing off to go and do some writing - the Proprioceptive Writing that I've talked about before. 

You have a good one. 

A New Day

  

Good Morning.
It's been a while since I've posted and it seems it's been a while since I've typed because I made three typing mistakes in the first five words.

I've taken pictures and they sat on my camera until this morning when I uploaded them.This is a picture that I took in early April.
After all the warm weather in March we had a wonderful surprise. Of course there was a lot of complaining from the apartment dwellers.







 Then there were the pictures of the tulip buds then the tulips in progress and then the full blown beauties.

I've had a divil of a time trying to get these beauties in order so I'll leave it alone. 

I also took a picture of a stuffed owl I made from a free pattern on Lollychops and here he is. He is sitting among my treasures on the wonderful pink shelf that my friend Deb gave me. Some of the treasures are gifts like the two horses, and the gnome I made stands and watches all the goings on on that shelf.

Now I know why I don't post a lot. I still haven't figured out how to work the technology Good thing I don't do Facebook or Twitter I'd never get to post anything.

I'm off now to finish another owl with a different pattern.
Our little doll group that meets in Guelph and Fergus area met today to show off owls and owl patterns they'd made or found. I couldn't go because I made myself  too exhausted from doing too much again. So, I'll stay home, do laundry and make an owl. Never mind the other figure I should be making with another class.

I am a great-gramma again. My grand-daughter Lindsay had her second baby boy yesterday morning and his name is Jayce. All are doing well. He weighed in at 7 pounds at 9:35 am. That's it for this post. All is well. Have a good one.

New Awareness Again

Yes, it's been a long time since I've written. I've wanted to and sat down to but just couldn't do it at that time. I've taken pictures but the pictures are still on the camera.
Truth is I've been too exhausted. I haven't written about having Hepatitis C and Fibromyalgia because I've struggled with it.
You see, I've listened to others who have told me - "it's all in your head" and "you can get rid of it if you wanted to." I felt shame because I couldn't get rid of these two illnesses or syndromes or diseases or whatever the heck they are.
I've kept on doing what I've wanted to do, needed to do, and been asked to do. I know I feel the pain and the exhaustion physically and then when I'm so exhausted I cannot sleep and then the "Fibro Fog" comes in as they say. I've gotten to the point now where I'm beyond exhaustion. Sleep has been in fits and starts. So that adds to more and when get to the point of exhaustion where my art doesn't seem to be enticing me then I know I'm exhausted.
I've made some decisions and one of those decisions is that I'm even too tired to travel. I dream of going back to MA., NM., FL., AZ., and even seeing new places but I'm not able to do that right now. There are places that I was supposed to go to this spring and early summer and right now that's not going to happen.
I am going to go and do some Proprioceptive Writing, and Zentangles, and maybe work on some beadwork - if I feel like it.
That's it. I will make attempts to sit quietly and do the Zentangles for now. Time marches on and more will be revealed. Have a good one.

Newness

New information? New awareness? I know that I will have a new radiator in a few hours.
The ankle I sprained a week and a half ago feels much better with the ankle brace and I assume it is healing. I brought my van to the garage my son-in-law works at, they are very nice and very helpful. They tested it this morning and I'm back  this  afternoon for a new rad. They have let me sit in the office and they even set me up on the computer so I can write and fill you in on what's happening.
I've been working on the genealogy for our family and while entering the data on dad's sisters and brothers I entered aunties birthday and found out that she isn't 93 after all. She is 94. I enjoy every minute with her and she has been helping me with the information on the Masters side of the family - gramma's maiden name. She hasn't been feeling well as I mentioned before and yesterday after her abdominal scan she said, "maybe I'm just tired of living" and I put on a brave face.
Today when I went to the retirement home she having coffee with the ladies as they waited for their goodies to bake. She's up and down and she did mention that she would se how things go this weekend. It is our monthly trip into Toronto to visit her son, who is slighly handicapped, and to visit her sister who is younger than her - I believe she is about 85.
So I'm being  realistic but wishing for more time. She will let me know if there will be anymore trips to Toronto and how she  is  feeling.
Oh, and I picked up my airline tickets for my trip to Florida in three weeks if all  goes well.
Since I brought my sewing for the story book illustrations I better get started. Pictures coming later.

Lessons Learned

I have been in a silent fretful mode trying to figure out how to help my auntie who just turned 93 on March 10th. Uncle Jesse passed on March 16th one year ago and I know that she has been grieving and maybe has gone into a bit of depression again the closer it got to the anniversary of his passing. I can't help her through that.
She also seemed to be off her food as she says - not having an appetite, not wanting to eat much, not knowing what she wanted to eat etc. etc. etc. I started to get worried and then realized that she might have a bit of a cold or flu bug.
So why am I telling you all this? Well I guess it is background information for why I fell. I did fall on Tuesday morning because I wasn't concentrating, I wasn't watching, I wasn't in the moment as they say. I was watching the man back out of his parking space next to mine and stepped off the sidewalk in the wrong way. Not a clean step and down I went. I tried to break my fall landing on my knees and my right shoulder. Marty, the little ole man put his car in park and came rushing over to help me- shuffling as fast as he could. He helped me  up, and when he bent over to pick up my keys and my book the thought popped into my head "maybe he shouldn't do all that bending over", but he did it and wouldn't leave till I assured him I was okay.
I limped a little as I got in my car and drove away. I thought maybe the shoes had something to do with my falling but actually that wasn't why I fell. I fell because I wasn't paying attention. I was worrying about my aunt, I was thinking of all I had to do, and I was angry at myself for trying to do too much. I'd signed up for a bead work class to learn how to do this bracelet and I don't even wear bracelets. I also wanted to go and visit auntie because I was worried about her. I was thinking of the two meetings the next day and my art project that I needed to finish before April 6th so it could go into the gallery for the show.
See what I mean? I wasn't in the moment. I was in the past remembering how my aunt was feeling and if truth be told I was also worried about her dying because after all she is 93. I was also in the future about how that would be without her, how much work that will be to take care of her estate and on and on and on. Awfullizing as my friend says.
So, as the days have passed, I've slowed down, luckily no broken bones but there was a bit of a sprain on my already weak right ankle and I'm noticing a bit of soreness on my left arm and shoulder, probably from trying to stop myself from my fall.
Today I'll be working on my art project and later I'm going to have lunch with my daughter and then tonight my son is taking me out to supper to celebrate my grand-daughter's 30th birthday. I'm so lucky in all respects. Have a good one.

I found it

Today is my aunt's 93rd birthday. We are going to lunch and shopping. She will shop. I will try to buy lunch, I don't know if I will succeed or not because every time I try to buy she says no. Maybe today she will fool me. So what does this have to do with the title of this post? Nothing. I am just waiting till it is time to go and pick her up from the retirement home. While waiting I decided to scan the pictures and show you more of Oscar.          
                                                                                                                                           

  

I spoke of the book that I couldn't find - I found it. It is a book that my friend Deb made for me while they watched Oscar in February of 2008 while I went to visit my friends in Florida. I was away for a week and they had a ball - so Deb tells me. She and Oscar wrote stories and they took pictures. This is the beginning of the book. They said Oscar was at Camp Slippery Slope because they have a sloped driveway and sometimes it is icy and hence the "Slippery Slope."


They spoiled him. They had a dog they named Blue who died a year or more from complications from diabetes. Oscar was their opportunity to see about getting another dog and their schedules. In this picture to the right Deb is getting some of his treats because he's been outside and has been a "good doggy" and because I'm such a mean mommy she says cause I don't give him treats. Oscar was a great dog that just loved people. He didn't like other dogs so I had to watch when I took him outside for his walk. Sometimes it could be tricky in the hall way of the apartment building with the other dogs coming and going as well. I had to remind him that he didn't own the building and he had to share.

I have a few more pictures to share with you but I'll wait till another day. Thanks for reminiscing with me. Have a good one.

His Picture

Today while surfing my pictures on the computer I came across a picture of Oscar. Mind you, this is not a good picture. He seemed to like to just flop on the bed with me more than in this dog bed. Of course he'd have to make a nest on the bed and often I'd have to tell him to just like down - especially when he was clawing at the quilt on the bed. When I was working on the computer or a piece of art or reading he'd consent to sleep in the dog bed. He would go round and round in this bed of his and make a nest and then about five minutes later I'd see him like this - crashed like he passed out. Sometimes I'd even go over to see if he was still breathing. So that is one view of Oscar. When I find the others I'll post more.

I Want to Tell You A Story

I want to tell you a story of my dog Oscar and show you pictures but I've done such a good job of cleaning up and putting things away I can't find his pictures. Oscar had to be put to sleep about three years ago and I now know what people mean when they say they are heart broken - I definitely was. Oscar was a rescue dog. The man down the road was going to shoot him because all the people that lived in the house ignored Oscar when he wanted to go outside. Every time I went to visit he'd be sitting at the door and I'd take him out - at first on a leash and then we'd just go outside and when he was finished he'd come back in. The lady called me up one day and said if I wanted him to come and get him. So I did.

I was never a dog person. I was a cat person. I had Haida a rescue cat that my sister left me to take care of when she moved away and who'd been hit by a car a few years before. Haida was used to roaming outside but always came home until that one night she didn't. I buried her beside my house with her food dish and blanket that she always slept on. When I moved home from British Columbia in 1996 I brought Willow the white Persian who seemed to think that I was just around to be her slave and then Oscar came. Willow wouldn't talk to me for weeks. Oscar and Willow got along because they lived in different parts of the house.

We had trouble at first. Oscar was so used to going to the bathroom on newspaper or anywhere he felt like it. I had to train him all over. Apparently the poor little guy was owned by someone else before the neighbour lady and that person never took him outside at all. I saw her one day and asked her about him and she said when she had him they didn't go for walks because the pavement hurt his little paws. I'm going to be a judgmental person here and say that the dog didn't have a problem walking, I think she did.

He and I went for walks with him on a leash even though we lived in the country. My brother lived next door and every morning he'd phone and say "coffee's ready" and when Oscar and I got there he'd have breakfast cooked as well. Oscar would come in and sit by me and when we were finished eating he'd get on my lap and I'd move the chair back far enough from the table so that I'd be able to reach the coffee cup but Oscar couldn't get the idea that he'd been invited to eat.

One day my brother's dog attacked Oscar and scared the heck out of me. We went home through the field with me carrying him. I noticed that after that my brother tied up the dog but I was still afraid and that took a long time to get over. Oscar also liked to be carried when his feet got covered with snow - I'd have to stop and wipe his paws off and then put him down. A time or two I'd be walking and turn around to see if he was with me and have to go back and pick him up because his little face would be looking up searchingly saying "did you forget me?"

I can smile now but boy did I grieve. One day six months later I was driving by the Vet's place I thought of him and when I got to my friend's place I was crying. She seemed so nonchalant and started telling me about putting her dog to sleep as well.

Like I said before Oscar has been gone for over three years now. People in the apartment building ask if I'm going to get another dog. Nope!!!! One lady got a dog the very next day after her dog was put to sleep. I can't do that. That's like going out and getting a husband the day after the funeral. Can't do it.

Oscar taught me a lot. I believe I saved his life but Oscar said he saved mine. I guess we are both right. I was really sick from the two chronic illnesses and depressed from being sick which was causing me to be more sick. Getting up every day and walking Oscar in all kinds of weather was good for me. When we moved to town and into our apartment it was better because we had side walks to walk on. The first night we moved in we went out for our walk just before bed time. The owl was hooting in the pine trees and it was snowing big fluffy flakes. We went out around the drive and he sat down and looked. I turned to see what he saw and there in front of us were three deer. They were about fifteen feet away and they were standing there looking back at us. Oscar and I watched a few minutes and then we turned and came back as they turned and kept on walking towards the pines in back of the apartment building. It was a beautiful welcome to the neighbourhood and a wonderful ending to a tiring day of moving.

No Excuse

Nope, there is no excuse for me not posting. I've not been feeling well for a few days. Just a cold. And please don't say "again?". I have a person in my life who says to me "you sound stuffed up again." And I want to say something like "You sound too judgmental" to her but I'll remain calm and just accept that I maybe shouldn't call her if I sound "not right".  

I'm being cranky. There are so many things I want to do but until I feel like doing them a little more I'll just go and lie down on the couch and wait till more than inspiration grabs me.

We've had snow again and it's beautiful from inside here wrapped in a couple of blankets. I've been near the door but not out the door. I haven't taken pictures - either too busy driving
or just being in the apartment working.
 
This is the snow we had at the end of January as seen from inside my living room one night. Street lights glowing outside and the snow piled on the trees and lawn - beautiful. When I lived in the country I would go out in the night and just walk in the snow especially if the flakes falling were really big or if it was a heavy snowfall. It is like being wrapped in a big fluffy blanket. One of my favourite children's story is Wind in the Willows and I imagine the little critters all snug under the snow in their warm little homes.


This next picture is is taken outside the next day. I don't know if it is morning or late afternoon and I can't tell by the light. I'm thinking it is late afternoon. I can't figure out the camera as you can see. The first one is taken with the old camera from inside and this one is taken from outside with the new camera. I just don't practice enough. I guess I'll have to look to my daughter-in-law for lessons.

For some reason I prefer the snow in the evening and I like driving in snow - not in the city but in the country. Some of my fondest memories are driving down country roads in what some people would call blizzards. I see it as being wrapped in a cocoon inside that car and then the warm white blanket of snow outside us. Of course there was the slide into the ditch once in a while but not too often. Guess other people had more sense back then and I didn't meet too many fast driving people. Slow and easy and carefully drive down the road. Not today in the city. It is best to stay home till the sun melts the snow and the plows go through a few times.

Okay, back to the couch. Have a good one -

It Felt Like a Million Pictures

Good morning. I finished the pictures after the books and everything else
was cleaned out. I told my children that if anything happens to me they won't have a terrible time with unloading because I've gotten rid of the un-neccesary clutter. When I say that I mean that for today I have the clutter that I need. Because I'm down to doll making, fabric art, and beading the shelf space got smaller. I still have the poster on the board to remind me that I am supposed to be writing and making art and a few dolls that were gifts. All the other dolls are gone. My little pile of to-do stuff sits in the bright light under the lamp and the pile of supplies for going away to work is on the right of the table.


I've rearranged the book cases to hold my paint supplies and created a little space for writing and painting on one side of the table and sitting reading and crocheting a baby blanket for the new great-grandson coming in May on the other side of the table.

The other side of the table shown in the next picture has a group of small shelves that hold the paint and colored pencils as well as pictures of family. These shelves also hold the different papers and other "stuff". I can't just decide what I want to be when I grow up.

 Above the shelves you can see the collection of little chairs/doll chairs that I have. There are more on the inspiration wall and more behind the writing chair on the board that holds the cards and ATC's that I've received. There are dolls sitting on the little chairs that I have collected and they are mixed in with the books on the shelves by the window. Lots of inspiration.

 The inspiration wall is across from the beading and workspace. It has the TV below which is usually turned to the music channel with the nature sounds or to the Baroque music channel. Beside the other poster I made is a poster from Salley Mavor that I ordered after she made the cover of The Horn Book Magazine. I have been an admirer of her work for years and finally have a few of her books and follow her Blog.

My computer is in my bedroom at the foot of the bed.  And you will notice that there is bright light coming from a sliding glass door to the right that doesn't open. I was fortunate enough to get the apartment that looks out on the little garden with lots of trees. On the computer screen you will see the name of the blog I follow all the time as well it is The Frabjous Versipel. She has wonderful postings of work she does, family, recipes and in my imagination she lives in a little hamlet in the mountains (which is what I'd like to do but that is for another post) and is surrounded by tons of other crafty people.

Besides getting rid of things in the apartment the storage room was cleaned as well. There is no use showing a picture of that because I didn't show the mess it was in before. Pictures were scanned for my daughter that have been sitting under the bed waiting in an old suitcase from her figure skating days. Pictures were scanned of family members and more to be scanned. I dumped a ton of pictures - no one needs four rolls of film of the Statue of Liberty and megga rolls of scenery of the mountains of British Columbia and the south west.
I feel like there is room to breathe - not from the decluttering but from the tremendous pressure I felt to get things done. Besides making art and writing the only thing that calls to me is the family tree I started a few years ago. So that is it. Finished de-cluttering and sorting and putting away. It may not look like it but it is done - for now.