Strange timing

The day after little Agnes died, I learned that 4 of my art pieces had been accepted in a local Cartoon and Humorous Art show.  One featured her as a character in a painting.  It was impossible to be very happy at that point, but I was grateful to have the work to do to ready the pictures for the show.  I had the pictures, which I'd painted using Photoshop, printed on silk, and then I mounted them on white needle felted wool, so that the effect would be soft.  Yesterday, I delivered them to the gallery, but took this picture first...you can see her little face, and the carved rock which the veterinary hospital sent to me, as well as the Keep Calm Carry On water bottle my son sent.  Once the show opens I'll post a photo of the pictures...at least I think I will...I am a big worrier about how they will look in public.  Anyway, all this has been therapeutic and a month has gone by, which is astonishing. 

That's all for now...

Newts, hail and full moon

Hello everyone.  Four of my pictures have been accepted in a local show!  So I've been preparing them...this involves printing on silk, fringing the silk and then sewing it onto a felted background.  I decided to wait until the show actually happens (early in April), to make a posting of the actual images.  So until then, here is the sign from the park where the road is closed for newts:

We have been having a great deal of rain.  Friday evening there was a loud, flashy thunderstorm that must have been right over head...it was quite noisy.  Later I looked out to check on the doves and lo and behold the ground was white...not with snow, but HAIL! 

It was still on the ground the next afternoon:

and here, completing my report of mysterious events,  is the very nearly full moon:

Adjusting

Hello everyone.  Well, it's a new reality now, a new world.  I'm trying to cultivate and nourish my awareness of little Agnes as a spirit now.  It's difficult because I miss her form so much.  Still, there is definitely a sense of her about.

I've been stitching on my grandson's quilt, and here's a bit of that:

Went for a walk in the big park...lots of moss and drippy wetness:

And a close-up:

Next a little newt crawled by.  In the spring the Rangers close a road up here so the newts can travel undisturbed.

And then, I visited the Little Farm where the happy pig slept.  I think she was dreaming of her babies who were under the heat lamp.

The world is full of amazing things.  That's all for now...

Very Sad News

Hello everyone,
Dear little Agnes passed away during her Dental Procedure this morning.  Her heart stopped beating and they weren't able to start it up again, despite every effort.  It wasn't anyone's fault.  She lived with me for 7 years...she was 3 when she came here, but she might have been older.  I will tell more of her story some day, meanwhile here is a picture of her on Valentine's day with the heart bisquit that friend Pat gave her.  She was the lovingest, dearest creature imaginable.

To the farm

Hello everyone...on Sunday we went to the farm.  First there was snow on Mt. Diablo, an unusual sight, the snow, that is:

Then comes all this beautiful green grass on the windmill pass into the Great Valley:

And here is the river my friends live next to...all swollen with the winter rains...just a little more water and they would have to evacuate, but so far the storms are spaced far enough apart that they're safe.  As I write this, I'm thinking of my friends in Australia and New Zealand who are getting the brunt of the worst.  My prayers go there.

I finished basting a big panel for my grandson's quilt and have started outlining the letters using one of the techniques taught by Jude in the boro class:

And here is Agnes, all snuggled up next to the the thread nest.  She's resting up for the big Dental Experience she'll be having next week at the animal hospital.

That's all for now!

Happy St. Valentine's Day...

Hello everyone.  This is the heart I wove in Jude's Contemporary Woven Boro class.  Everyone is doing such inspiring work.  This heart was meant to go on a tree outside, but it's raining so today it's hanging on the plum blossoms from my neighbor's yard. Pot Roast is on the menu tonight...friends are coming over!

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This is the latest in the trivet collection.  Also being called Miniature Prayer Rugs.  This one is called "seeds of tomorrow".   I wanted to see what would happen if I put it through the hot cycle of a washing machine.  This was not a great idea...presently it is smaller than it was and I had to work a bit to restore its good looks.  Hand washing recommended...

That's all for now. Love to YOU...

Overnight guest

Hello everyone.  Things have been a little busy around here...Agnes' friend Zoe came over for an experimental sleepover, to see if they would be compatible for a longer stay.  Agnes did a little growling, but overall it was a positive experience...here is a preliminary sniff...

I did go to see some of the Lunar New Year festivities at the Community Center.  The Chinese after-school program had some wonderful performances...the room was packed...

Here's my first experimental "weaving without a foundation" for Jude's Contemporary Boro Weaving class.  We are learning many intriguing new techniques.

Have also been continuing to needle-felt.  This one is called "Bumped":

That's all for now!