Notes from a survivor

In celebration ofthe guy from Florida shutting down his blog due to lack of readership, I'm posting today. Was it because no one is really interested in what he has to say or is it because his ardent followers are barely literate? Hmmmm, who's to say. Anyway. I've survived the last several months by being cautious, wearing a mask in public, avoiding crowds, and enjoying a nice quiet life in my own yard. Seems the blogger has changed since last time I was here. Hopefuly all my fabulous stories and photos are still here fo everyone to enjoy. I did get vaccinated. Any smart person would. I decided to follow the science and do my part towards a community effort to combat this disease, the same way my parents did to combat polio in the 60's. The same way parents do when we have our children vaccinated from measles, rubella, mumps, chicken pox, etc. I don't get the anti vaxer movement. Enough of that. My garden is beautiful and bountiful so far. With all the sunny spots I have now, I've expanded the veggie garden. So many tomato plants. Can't wait till they are ripe. I've eaten all the lettuce and spring onions already. Had a lovely meal with collards and kale today. After the crazy snowstorm in February, the ornamental plants have done very well. Lots of blooms from bulbs. Jonquils. lilies, may apples, etc. have bloomed like never before. Plus cool temps and rain have stayed around for longer than usual. Hydrangeas are still looking good into this second day of June and blooming like nobody's business. I have enjoyed these many months at home and do not look forward to leaving any time soon.

Time flies when your nose is on the grindstone

 So, today I decided to look at my blog and found a whole new regime installed by the google. I was surprised the last post was in April!! Maybe not too surprised. Everyday is Blursday here, although I do know when Saturday rolls around because my sweet baby visits for the day. All those other days are spent in my veggie garden, sewing room, kitchen, or in front of the tube, watching as much left wing liberal news, fix it and cooking shows as I feel necessary. 

The really big excitement around the neighborhood this summer was the Cooper's (I think) hawk and mate flying around protecting their nest. Several days ago, the babies left the nest and all is quiet in the mornings now. Of course, we still have the owls all night. This is going on in a very urban area of Memphis. 

  Thanks to zoom, I have been able to participate with the peeps at Memphis Sewing Guild and Tennessee Craft-Southwest. At MSG, we've started having programs again. Maybe not as much fun as in person gathering, but it'll have to do for now. I love seeing everyone and what they are doing. 

TNCraft-SW has been able to put together some gallery shows in town. Big thanks to all who put in the hard work to pull it together and provide the artists with venues for our work. 

Someday, things will be different again, for better or worse. I'll be glad for the break I've had from a daily grind and having had the time to spend as I wish. 

These crazy days

It's all been different lately, hasn't it? The upside is the free time made available to many of us. My yard has occupied the majority of my time. Sewing masks for friends and worthwhile causes has filled a few hours, too. I was never one for going out and being the social butterfly, so I've been perfectly happy staying in the confines of my property these last several days. Of course, I miss hanging out with the gal pals, but thank the lord baby jesus, we have group texting.
Too bad we have that idiot in the White House on tv every day blathering his nonsense.

May apple

This is one of the many things in my yard that brings me some joy in these dreary days.

Crazy days

Isn’t this a strange time to be alive? This self enforced quarantine has been something of a blessing for those of us who like a lot of down time. I’m perfectly happy at home taking care of things that need to be done here. Getting some yard work accomplished. Laundry is all caught up. Still haven’t cleaned house like I should have, but that’s going to get done regardless....although the kitchen is looking good. Been cooking and eating, which might be good or bad. If the weather clears up I can get out for a walk to burn up the carbs I’ve been consuming.
  My yard has been a welcome diversion these days. So many flowers. The lush greenery of spring. Makes me glad I’ve turned the yard into a crazy mish mash of plants. I spent the better part of yesterday pulling weeds and planting a small garden with lettuce and edibles that might come up or not. The ornamentals are lovely. Daffodils and may apples. Columbine ready to bloom any day now. Some of the hostas are poking up from the dirt too. As soon as I figure out to post photos from this device I’ll do so. I bought a chrome book and am learning that operating system...slowly...so maybe it will be easier to post from that if I can get Dropbox to cooperate. Fingers crossed.
  To anyone who reads this, I hope you are safe and staying healthy.  Fingers crossed for you and your family. Strange times.

So far,so good

The show at Buckman Center was a raging success as far as I'm concerned. We had a wonderful turnout at the reception and all the artwork was hung on the walls by somebody with exceptionally intuitive vision. It looked so cohesive, even though it was created by two artists, working in different media, and we got lots of positive responses. Some of the people at the reception went back a second time. That is so validating in my opinion.
  Plus, one of Memphis' well known artists bought a wall hanging, and much to my surprise. a couple of my photographs sold!! I had put them in the show mainly as reference to the inspiration for my fiber art works.
 Spring is making inroads here. The yard is coming alive, despite some damage from the local utility company's tree trimmers. After they had been in my yard, it looked like Godzilla had strolled through.
The gazing ball I've had for 23 years was smashed. I'm very angry and have not had a response to my call to tree company. Ugh.....
  Anyway....life goes on...I'm making sure my little great grandson gets the loving care and attention he needs and deserves. He is just so fucking adorable.

How life got in the way of blogging

Wow! I didn't realize how long it's been since I was last here until I got here. So much has happened- good and bad- this past year, I don't know where to start.
 My house improvements have all been good. The basement is finally drying out after decades of water leaking in. A major improvement was done on my screened in front porch. Once upon a time, in my old life, it was home to a dozen or so cats. Now, it is refreshed with new screens, paint (the ceiling is light blue and the swing is now white), and bright clean covers for the furniture. Plus a rug from the sale bin at Ikea.
  My love life, such as it was, is on hiatus. My choice and I'm happy for it.
  This past summer, I was awarded temporary custody of my sweet great grand son. He's living with his daddy now, since the first part of December, but he's here nearly every afternoon while daddy is at work. It was quite an adjustment, I must say, having a little one around. Jerry, the lone cat here, has been infinitely patient with being mauled and pulled at, with only an occasional hiss to express her displeasure. As much work as it is to have a baby around the house, it's also been fun to watch him grow into a sweet toddler.
  Now that these pesky holidays are past-whew-I can start to focus on getting my yard back in order for spring planting. Some trees were taken down before the roof project, then the one big tree that I left, developed a crack and was endangering my neighbor's house. So it went, too. Now there's a LOT of sun in that part of the yard and raised beds are going in to grow veggies. I've never had too much success with edibles since I had so much shade, so it should be fun to see what happens.
   This month, January 17th, my friend Frederique and I are having an exhibit of some of our artworks, that were inspired by visits to beaches. I'll try to post photos of the event. 
  Maybe I can find time to update this blog on a more regular basis, because I know all you followers out there were wondering what was going on with my wonderfully boring life!!!

What happened??

So, I got my roof replaced (refer to previous posts) and it's been well worth the time and effort. After this long strange spring, with all the temperature and precipitation changes, the summer has arrived. I missed most of the spring because I had my nose to the grindstone, but that roof isn't gonna pay for itself!!!
  I did actually sneak in a few hours digging in the yard, only because I was going to lose my mind if I didn't! The self flagellating Calvinist residing deep within me sometimes feels the need to work under the most unpleasant conditions. I tried to hold off turning on the AC until the first day of June. That didn't happen.
 The drum on the clothes dryer stopped turning during this time, as well, but miraculously decided to work again when repairman waved a magic wand (AKA screwdriver) over it. A mystery, yet unsolved.
   Photos of yard improvements will be posted...someday..upcoming art shows, actually one in progress right now. At JCC, the Collaborations Show with members of TennesseeCraft-Southwest.  It's a really good show and will be up till the end of May. Other shows are in October and January 2020.
  Life is good.

Tree redo

Some of the smaller trees in my side yard and a couple near the driveway were taken down before the roofers came. I don't know if you can tell from the photos, but it looks way different now. Lots of gardening opportunities have opened up. Thinking of camellias, but haven't decided on the color yet.

New ceiling

And a new much brighter light fixture! The drywall guys did it in one day! Of course, I've cleaned up in the sewing room since this photo was taken. It's so nice to be in there now.

My She Shed

I've been so happy living in this sweet old house for all these last few years. The neighborhood is really coming up, with the Sears building transformed into the Crosstown Concourse, mainly. Great eateries, YMCA, and the Crosstown Brewing Company, all a ten minute walk away!! My neighbors are the best, too!
   It did cross my mind for half a second to move, since property values are good right now, but the thought of finding another house in this area, sorting through all my shit, packing it, hauling it somewhere else, unpacking it......well...that seemed like less of a good idea. Then there was the partial ceiling collapse in my sewing room that reinforced the whole sorting packing horror story in my mind. If one room was that bad, doing that with an entire house would put me in the loony bin!
   New drywall on the ceiling has been installed and it's so nice, I decided to fix up other things.
    Like the roof! The last roof was put on at least 20 years ago, and was the third layer. Yes, there was a complete tear off. But it's been so worth it and it only took two and a half days.

Another photo

This photograph of the beach is another possible candidate for interpretation to enter into the upcoming show. 

And it begins....

With a photo. This picture is from my visit to Dauphin Island last winter. It was such a relaxing weekend with my friend, Frederique. We were completely enamored of the environment and the solitude. Everyday we walked, a total of 21 plus miles over three days, according to Fitbit.
  We went from one end of the island to the other, even though it was breezy and cold most of the time. The foggiest morning was the best, like walking in a bubble. We both took many photos. Frederique had her very nice camera and has so many lovely shots of birds, dead things, trees, the gulf waters, etc.
 I forgot my little point and shoot, and had to rely on the Iphone camera, Since I wasn't sure of storage issues, I had to be a bit more judicious in my decisions of what to photograph, not just snapping pics of any old thing, like I usually do.
  I'm very happy with what I captured and have started on several pieces of artwork based on the photos. In future posts, I hope to show the progress I'm making and maybe inspire someone else to record your adventure in another way than vacation photos.

WKNO show

hand stitching on linen

The TNCraft-Southwest show at the WKNO gallery closed last week. When I went to pick up my artwork I discovered one of my pieces had sold!! YAY! I have no idea who loved this as much as I do, and want to thank you for choosing my work to be in your home or office or wherever......
  Plus, I couldn't be happier to have a few extra bucks to help pay for new eyeglasses, since I lost my fave bifocals at a punk rock show last week. I've finally stopped beating myself up for losing them. It's as if they VANISHED into thin air and maybe fell off my head into the toilet in ladies room. I don't know....I'm usually very careful keeping up with my stuff.

My yard

The top two photos are before and after views of part of the side yard.....I think it's been much improved. The other photo is just to the side, in the same area. It's next to the driveway and I see it everyday. I feel much better now when I pull in and am happy to be home.
    Of course, there's still lots to be done to spruce up other garden beds, but right now I'm focusing on small areas and trying not to look at the overall mess.

A Gift

Since February, I've been spending a lot of my time in creative endeavors, most of it sewing in one form or another. Coming up in June, some of my artwork will be in a group show. It's exciting to have work shown, but I wish I'd had time to make something new....and I wish I had the time to play in my yard everyday and scrub this hovel to a higher standard that I really should subscribe to...dream on.
 Since I love my artwork, I'm good with the pieces I'm entering in the show. They are pieces I look at everyday and make me happy that I made them.
  I'm starting to feel the same way with my yard. I have found it to be another creative outlet and I see it everyday, so it's always on my mind. The physical activity required to make any patch of dirt look like art is not much more than any other medium. So, I'm happily digging when I can, usually early in the day. I do live in Memphis.
  Life is maybe the best gift a person could get, I'm glad I got mine and the gift of patience to go with it. I just want to get a gift of time.
 

Lemme explain

There was no writing in the last post, mainly because I was so sad at the demise of my trusty Elna sewing machine. It's been with me since the early 80's and saw me through many projects. It was especially useful for all the heirloom sewing I've done these many years.
  Right in the middle of one of the many graduation dresses I'm working on this season, it decided it was too tired to continue. The thread kept breaking. It was very frustrating and I would have panicked, but a several years ago, I ran across another Elna, that was maybe a year or two older than the recently deceased model. I had the intention of using it for replacement parts if my beloved machine ever needed repairs. It was similar to parents having another child for transplant parts for the older child with a serious disease.
   Since there is no time in my schedule to stop for repairs, I plugged in the spare machine and realized it sewed beautifully. And quietly, with no skipped stitches, no balled up thread on the underside of seams!!! YAY!!!
So, all is well in the workroom now, well.....it will be when I get over this awful cold that has had me confined to my bed for the last several days. I had been SOOO careful all winter, avoiding crowds and sick people when the flu was going around, because I knew if I came down with anything it would be BAD!
   Then BOOM I woke up with a scratchy throat last Wednesday, told myself it was spring allergies (which I never have) soldiered on till I went to bed, totally exhausted. Aches and pains kept me from a good night's sleep, then a headache accompanied by rising fever. My temperature reached over 103 and I got out the ice pack.
  Now it's Monday, I'm still fatigued and very disappointed that I had to miss the opening reception of the TNCraft-Southwest Collaborations show yesterday. But so many friends were concerned and offered to bring food and beverage. I'm a lucky person to have such kind caring people in my life...

Sacred Tree

Bug Book

RIP

Spring has sprung, maybe....

After the recent string of seasons we've had in Memphis, spring might be here for a while. Jonquils are coming up, as well as the foliage of the naked ladies. Forsythia is blooming, spirea too. My dad called it bridal bouquet. I love the tiny white flowers. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for blooms on the little dogwood tree and a better showing from the flowering quince.

New Year with new weather

It's only two weeks into 2018, and we've had at least three seasons it seems! Cold (12 degrees), not so cold (70), now snow and ice (ugh, no NYT delivery).....at least not being able to get out and about has given me a good excuse to blog.
  There's lots of sewing to do, too. Graduation dresses are in the works. Carnival suit is in progress. For Christmas gifts (as yet, undelivered) I made several microwave bowl cozies. I love mine so much I found directions on Youtube--Thank you, Karen--then dug through my resource center for coordinating fabrics and batting, and whipped them out. And I have received the parts from collaborating artist, Catherine Stevens, to create the pieces for the show in April. That is VERY exciting and I will post more on that later.
  Since I've got an early start on the dresses and suits, I will have time to work in the garden before the REAL summer season begins. Who knows when that humidity bomb will drop??!!!