It's A Painting...

Ben's friend said, "That's not a tat on your arm, dude, that's a PAINTING!!....I want one"

Ben worked on his tattoo yesterday, adding more color to the sky and lots more blue water....and check out the ferry!!  He did that free hand...drew it on his arm, then tatted over it....it's not done, but....

I was recently asked...

Crows as a whole

how I did the crochet border.  It's not hard, but I thought I would give you a more close-up view of it.

oh lookie there....my siggy....my zodiac sign symbol...my initials in my maiden daze..

 a little close-up of the bg crows....same size yarn I used on the border...just did a satin stitch for these.

I did a blanket stitch all around the outside edge, which I left raw, BTW.   I tried not to make the stitches even in spacing or length, but I didn't stray to far outside either of the invisible lines.

After I did all that, I pulled out a crochet hook, the one that suited the yarn the best, and just started a single crochet stitch in the top part of the blanket stitch, that I found an illustration for.  I think I did 2 single crochets in each until I got to the corner where I think I did 3 or 5....it has to be an un-even number or the crochet police will hook you down.



                        

Flowers. Tree. Squirrel.

 This lovely bouquet is from my in laws. Thank You~ J & W!

 This gnarly tree....

 is out front of the cemetery 

 Dan says it's a maple...I just think it's cool.

 I happened to look out the window...

 and noticed this furry visitor...

 sitting there in her thick winter coat....

and then she was gone!

My Shirt Says...

A 'life goes on' moment at our house.

Scene set up; Friday evening, Dan/grandpa just  home from work, Lily/granddaughter bouncing off walls.

Lily: "my shirt says Dance!....my shirt says Dance!....see grandpa, my shirt says DANCE!"

[shirt really has 3 words like 'tickle smile laugh']

grandpa: "I see that....what does my shirt say?"

Lily:  "WORK"

Child dances off while grownups laugh.

Mom and Dad Back Together

Dad died on April 13 and mom on April 14...but there had to have been a leap year in the years between...so maybe it's the same day.

Anyway, Stephanie mentioned that maybe Grandma was now with Grandpa again.  I was looking at this picture last night...what if the white light mom was seeing at the end, was a foggy day at the beach, gulls screeching, the salty sea smell filling the air and dad standing there in his comfy clothes and smiling his crooked smile....

My Mom

My Mom passed away this morning, 

hopefully to a place where the air is sweet and easy to breathe.

We love you Mom.

[I took this photo of her with her Edward Bear, who was the original Pooh Bear, before the Bear went into a museum]

Weaving Stories

Rhiley~21 months or so

A 'weaving' I started a bit ago, a~la Jude, using some of Mom's favorite shirt [the print], the dye experiments Steph did [she was going for black] and now some torn strips from a blouse my niece wore in and brought back from, India. The same niece that the silk merchant covered with scraps.  

After a day with the young lady in the first pix, 

I needed time for a creative fix.

Also in the first pix are the clotheslines we strung up for the girls to hang art, or whatever, up on. Dan screwed a 1x2 to each end of the table, add rope and done.  Megan likes to color the clothes pins too.  The purple paper is something Aunty Steph found at the college book store, on clearance of course. We are not sure what it will get used for, but until then, it graces the wall.

With mom in the nursing home now, we have given 'her' room over to a play room. It will always be a work in progress as the girls grow.

Me and My Gulls

my girls and me

 We have a sloped ceiling which complicates the hanging of quilts. Probably because none of my quilts are straight either. A crooked stick is not easy to work with either.

We also had to hang this one sideways to fit the space. 

tropical quilt with sea creatures round, dolphins, turtles, seahorses and starfish

The creature round went really fast! Probably because I raw edged the seahorses. So the next round is sand and palms and flowers....If I go any bigger, it won't fit my walls. So this is about as big as the dog...er...quilt gets.  [the dog is a jack russell, for size ref]

Rhiley didn't slow down for a nano second...the middle picture shows how we hope she will be with her sister, caring and loving. I generally have R. once a week and the other 2 every weekend.  Well....Ben has his girls every wkend, but since he lives here....

the house is painted!

Ashley and Danny's house has paint! They are hoping to move in in late May....when the baby is due, of course. I am so proud of those 2, building their own home! [and the others on this side of the street]
They are Rhiley's mom and dad.

My Ancestor Played By...

Kevin Kline!!   According to my grandmother, Edwin McMasters Stanton is an ancestor of ours.  Mr. Stanton was Sect. of War during the Lincoln Admin., President Lincoln that is.  There is a movie coming out, called The Conspirator, about Lincoln's assassination.  I guess I had better dig out the info, so I can dig out more info on Stanton...like the connection we have.  Or not have.

Works in Progress

lily

notice the tongue at work too 

corner of bedroom, work in progress, view from my bed

This is a mess, but that's ok, it might always be this way.

 I have this old ladder.  The cats used it for years as a way over the outside railing. I wanted to use it somehow, but when I placed it right side up on the dresser, it tilted.  I never noticed the bottom right leg is shorter than the left....So I turned it upside down just to see what it looked like. Different.  But.  I really like the weathered gray rung tops {the foot 'steps' part} and when the ladder is this way, I can see that part while sitting in bed. So it may stay this way.  Not sure if the 'vase' of squiggly sticks will stay though.  Rather a Zen looking spot huh?! Notice it sits right next to the chaos....

let Megan color on this Styrofoam, looks like Pueblo dwellings

I'm Just Sayin'