One project finished this morning.

This is a tote bag, the "Taxi Tote" in Anna Maria Horner's book, "Seams to Me". I really like how it turned out!
I will be teaching this tote bag next month at the shop where I work.

Next, we have a chair just purchased from a local flea market...wooden but with all finish removed by the weather and it has a bit of rust. I will clean it up and turn it into "art". I will paint it to be in a silent auction for a local charity, "Life Styles". The silent auction is called "A Chair Affair". [see a gallery of chairs here]

I haven't determined what kind of chair....first turquoise paint will cover everything, then we'll see....

This bag from envirosax may look red but it is green! I love these light weight sacks which tuck into your purse ready to help you to avoid bringing home another plastic bag each time you make a purchase!

Tonight is Oscar night....should be fun! I'll be watching! ( for a while anyway!)


I'll be snacking on the world's best popcorn.....

A fun busy visit to Little Rock! Mom and I saw "Slumdog Millionaire" yesterday. I love the yellow tunics and scarfs in the movie...they add such a note of hope and optimism even when the story was a bit dark!

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This morning, at Mom's suggestion, we went to the Clinton Presidential Library, overlooking the Arkansas River in downtown Little Rock.

There, in addition to all the memorabilia from the Clintons' 8 years in the White House, was a show of 200 paintings called "Peter Max Paints America"

Here is a sample. He has painted the Statue of Liberty every year for many years....

It is said that the face he used here was that of beautiful model, Roseanne Vela. Roseanne has Little Rock connections too, she graduated from high school in Little Rock. I think I can definitely see her mouth here!...hmmm and her nose....and

Here is Rosie on the cover of Vogue about 1978.

Visiting the Presidential Library/museum was a lot more fun that I thought it would be, a great change of pace for both Mom and me! I'm glad she wanted to go there!

I have 2 days off and am heading south to spend a couple of days with Mom. It might be just a bit warmer there....LOL!

[I see it is below zero where my son and daughter-in-law are. I will take a trip up to visit them when it thaws!]

Now, to do some chores, load the car and GO! [I think I'll be able to visit some of your blogs while I'm there too! And maybe take in a movie with Mom, so we'll be ready for Oscar night!]

36 years ago

Our wedding anniversary was yesterday! We had a lovely dinner out at the best Mexican restaurant in town. We will be going to the dinner theater in about 10 days, too!

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At work we are getting ready for Project Linus Make A Blanket Day which is this Saturday. We will be making blankets (lightweight quilts, at least 36x36) for this charity. Yesterday, while we were beginning to work on these blankets, a customer came in who turned out to be the administrator of our local Children's Shelter (for abused and neglected children). She told us how the children love the blankets!

Rescued from a puppy mill, these beautiful dogs need some help!

My sister has an on-line auction to help raise money for their needs. Please take a look and bid if you see something you like!

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Meanwhile, I am still painting. These are what I am working on at the moment. Putting them on the computer screen helps me to see them with new eyes and find small changes I want to make....back later with the finished versions. [Knowing when to quit is part of the issue too!]

Good quality sheets wanted!

Being green. Saving Money! I needed new sheets for these cold winter nights. I had patched the ones we have last winter and they were getting thin! I couldn't find any I liked locally....

At my friend Lizzzie's suggestion I ordered some flannel sheets (in 'Mineral") from overstock.com. They just came! They are wonderful!

While we were waiting for this shipment, our friend, Karen, who has stayed with us lately, during the ice storm etc., brought us a set of Portugese flannel sheets in blue. They have been wonderful too! [Portugal is famous for good quality flannel!!!]

So now my dilemna is how to make good use of the old sheets....too worn for the second hand shop.....and I don't need that many rags (as I am not that BIG on cleaning and scrubbing daily tee hee!)and I don't want to add them to the landfil yet.

I was visiting Liz from Australia today...her post held a wonderful idea....knit a washable bathmat from strips of the old sheets!*

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I hope they knit up fairly quickly, I can remember my grandmother making crocheted rugs from old textiles too!
*photo from Liz's post...go see the instructions!

Yesterday was in the 60's and we went for a walk in the neighborhood.



Here is an oak tree split in half from the weight of the ice on all those leaves and branches.
Below, I am standing at the end of our street, where the street sign and stop sign have been pushed down by the huge oak which was uprooted and fell there! Fortunately on no one's home!




This little tyke trying to reach the pedals of his vintage trike is my darling grandson!

This is the watercolor I have been doing today...my day off, I call it "Refection's, Seeking Focus". [This is just the scan of the center of the painting.] I sold a watercolor of birds and a clock, so now am encouraged to paint other birds!

Selling the painting prompted me to make reservations for a charming local dinner theater's production of "Kiss Me Kate", we will be going in 2 weeks! ( a little after our anniversary!)

I am not having much time for posting or reading blogs, for the last 2 weeks, my DH has taken off the same day I have off from work. Sweet of him! But he uses the computer all day....I guess this keeps me focused on my other pursuits, like watercolor!

The last project of the day....sewing a Valentine table runner* to put in the boxes going to our children and grandchildren.

Cupcakes are so "IN" right now, I found this sparkly one for the granddaughter.....and here is the table runner with cards for others too! [Camera still working intermittently]

Now to get all this packed and mailed!!!!

* pattern for heart log cabin block from Eleanor Burns

This Sunday I am baking. The Banana Bread recipe I am about to try is here. I hope making it whole wheat will make it less of a sin to enjoy! LOL! [Trying not to waste overripe bananas, and I will take this to share with my co-workers in the morning!]

I have already made a batch of these blueberry scones today. In these too, I substitued whole wheat for half of the flour.

I tried to use our camera for closeups of the baked goods, but it was not working for this...so the images here are from the Internet. Here is a scan of my watercolor painting from Friday.

Last Sunday we left our neighborhood which had no power and scenes like this one....

to go out for a Sunday drive in the mild February temperatures. Our first stop as we drove down scenic byway 71 was this old one lane iron bridge near the community of Woolsey.

There was much less ice damage the further south we drove, though the homes and businesses were still without power.

This is the small town of Winslow, old store fronts near the train depot.

The person who no longer wishes to be known as "Mr. Pear" spotted frozen ice falls along the train tracks so we began a short hike down the rails to reach the photo op for him.

There was a railroad tunnel dating from 1882 just around the bend and I photographed him with the tunnel in the background. The glare of sunlight makes it hard to distinguish the tunnel.

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Upon returning to where our car was parked, we looked up to read a sign saying that the railroad bed and tracks were private property and trespassers could be fined or arrested. Definitely out of my comfort zone there! (The jail was in one of the old buildings behind the store fronts...LOL!)


We continued along the byway and were able to see many miles over the Boston Mountains. I love going out "in the woods" in winter when the leaves are off the trees and one can see so much more!
We returned home to find there was still no power and we had one last night of "indoor camping"! Memories!

This is a collage/paper quilt ( I will try free-motion quilting it with my old Singer 301) which I am making to hang in the bathroom at work. I work in a sewing center. This collage has antique sewing advertisements and other images of sewing and needle arts. [click on the image for a larger view] I think that people will enjoy seeing it once it is hung there!

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Later...I did finish doing free motion quilting on the paper collage above and used pinking shears on the edges.

I am also taking this old book cover which I framed.

Singer is not the wonderful company it once was. I love their antique machines, and sew on a couple myself.

Today I would recommend a Janome (formerly New Home) or Bernina. Brother and Baby Lock ( which is made by Brother) are just not quite as good. Of course, Viking or Huskvarna is also excellent.

DO NOT BUY cheap machines at discount stores....they are basically disposable models....needing adjustment and repairs frequently. Soon you have spent more on repairs than the cheap machine cost anyway, AND they are pieces of junk and can't really be fixed for long !!! Don't throw your money away!

My day off, so busy!!!!!
Now I am setting up a still life and doing a watercolor....must work while the sun is up, even if it is intruding on my table!



Tonight we will have a chowder using a recipe from our dear Mary. I can hardly wait...I have collected all the ingredients, cod, leeks, potato, zucchini, mushrooms etc. (I should probably be putting them in the still life first! LOL!
We have our friend Karen coming for dinner and to watch the final episodes from Hamish Macbeth...the Scottish (BBC) TV series....(from Netflix). It will be a fun time....then back to work tomorrow, for me.

Here are some photos taken around our house last Wednesday. (the icy ones)

Here are some photos of the ice melting off the bamboo and of the damaged trees after the ice storm. The double uprooted tree is just down the street from me.

The final photo shows the top broken out of the maple tree behind our home. This is how every tree in town looks now...or worse.

We have piles of limbs along every curb in town.

Tomorrow we have the day off and will try to salvage some fire wood from the piles of elm, red bud, and maple branches on our curb.

At work we have power, my home is still in the "dark". So this is another quick note from work.

We have an older gas range so I have been able to cook, we have a wood burning fireplace and gas wall heaters in our bathroom. So we have had many evenings with good food, good fires and candlelight.
The ice has melted and roads have been fine. Trees and powerlines were taken down by the ice.
The photos I am using are from the web...we have lots in our camera too!
I don't know when I'll have time to visit your blogs....I am not being paid to do that here! LOL!

We went to see "New in Town" at our local movie theater when the power was restored there.
I highly recomment it as a feel good movie!