Beauties...and the beast

Christmas 2007 114
Originally uploaded by hummingwoods2.

Our son, Conrad, spent this Christmas in Ohio so that he could attend the baptism of his godson, Samuel. These are two handsome boys. It is so enjoyable for us to hear Conrad describe the new things Sam learns.

and now the beast...some of my time and more emotional energy has been sucked up for the last few weeks by the aging of my in-laws....my FIL has been placed in a nursing home and I feel that his voice is not being heard....Our family has struggled this last year to try and understand some actions in his life and this has caused some family members to loose respect and ...I feel....maybe ....he is not being given the respect any human deserves....he is also being drugged....for a number a reasons probably good and not so good.....but it makes it hard to know how much of "him" is really there now....so this is not new in the world of the elderly in our culture today.....but that does not make it right....I just don't know what ....exactly .....to do about it....

of the Poetry Foundation

Poetry Foundation: The online home of the Poetry Foundation

epiphany...birthdays...etc

It's my Dad's birthday today...I am hoping that this year he explores the difference between art and craft/manufacture/production...it will ...as always...be an interesting journey
snow..we have had a fair amount this year....nothing that really sticks but falling alot
paper...as in brown paper grocery bags.....recycling
really the one quilt that I am proud of for the year 2007....."hoisted"....

the end of one and the beginnings of....

We had a wonderful holiday this year....everybody gave and got and ate and laughed....now it is a new year...I have decided not to use the "R" word instead I shall be "committed" ...to all the regular things...but foremost I am going to try and THINK FIRST....





I had lots of time into gift creations so finally this weekend I set up a paint station and had a great time ....I intended to make monoprints but this plan morphed into layers of wet painted panels I tried to take photos of these but my camera ran out of power....so later





















and I made a bunch of body parts and created some flat dolls to use as a visual reminder of those items to which I plan to be committed....this may (will probably) evolve.....Happy New Year !!

2fer

On Thursday my Dad

was hit by a lady who had fallen asleep

he was checked out at the hospital but like my niece

walked away with just a sore body

blessings......

Cold

We have had cold days and wet days here in Oregon...this photo was taken a few days ago during one of our unusually cold clear days

Nate

HPIM4151
Originally uploaded by hummingwoods2.

He's 13 and happy to work for pay....unlike one's own children he is cheerful and dedicated without having to constantly supervise....if I'd known nephews were so much fun I'd've had more !!!!!

GARDEN ART

HPIM4145
Originally uploaded by hummingwoods2.

been working in the garden lately
we have lots of big rocks
I like to create rock art........too

thankful

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Originally uploaded by hummingwoods2.

Yet another family gathering ....I didn't think we were having such a crowd....but we had a great time and good food.
Family kept wandering in over the weekend and more food was consumed....
It is a blessing to have the gift of a big happy group .....

and we were especially thankful yesterday when we heard that Elissa ....my beautiful niece in the photo below......walked away from her car after flipping 3 times upon hitting black ice on her way back to school in Montana...and all she was upset about is not having a car....what fortitude.....

soy wax as a part of ?

HPIM4125
Originally uploaded by hummingwoods2.

started working on one of the the soy wax pieces I don't have my sewing machine here so I just played with piecing some bits I have with me by hand...

happy birthday Mariah

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Originally uploaded by hummingwoods2.

we drove to the oregon coast for BINGO.....and a a nice dinner at a brew pub she is 24 years old now...here she is with
damien....a very funny sweet guy that I am glad is in her life

soy wax

soy wax
Originally uploaded by hummingwoods2.

It is the rare occurrence when I am excited to iron. But that is just what happened yesterday after I spent a delightful couple of hours learning about soy wax with Gerrie...and she fed me too! I rushed back to the RV and iron out the wax and look and the wonderful patterns. I want to play with these some more but today is our daughters 24th birthday so I guess I better have some priorities...........

10-14-06 003

10-14-06 003
Originally uploaded by hummingwoods2.

One of the issues that has made the "sabbatical" is that I spend quite a bit of time away from home...and my little laptop doesn't have enough power/memory to store all my photos so I am trying to find a program that will easily host/upload and then blog photos.......we will try flickr for now...this is part of the pile of fabric I got from my Mom.....

Sabbaticals

Sabbaticals are offered to other professions why not bloggers. Anyway that is where I am leaving the explanation of absence lately. I have been busy finding room for a truck load of fabric my Mom bought for me. This is just a small amount of the loot.

quilt shows

I went with my Dad to help with his booth at a local quilt show. He is trying to attract customers in order to provided fine art photography services. Most folks don't understand how that could fit in with their quilt or fiber art so we spend most of our time educating. We did bring a few samples of fabric blocks that we had printed with copies a few of Mom's paintings, and we sold a few. It was a nice day weather wise and that made it very pleasant.


Here is my Dad wearing my coat as it was a bit chilly in the morning.....and on the outside of the booth I hung some of my pieces which got a lot of positive comments although it was clear that "fiber art" was not what most folks came to see.....the comment most often heard was " OH isn't that clever! "

vacationing...at home

I am at home this week....yeah!!!...I have had such fun wallowing in my creativity...I am playing with my own stuff and making some examples of "what you can do with these"





My Dad is printing my Mom's paintings on fabric and I am using them in various ways so we can show folks the posibilities at a quilt show in Coburg Oregon on Saturday....

I will go to support the Dad...he has more ideas than time....I will take the sewing machine...if you are in the area come by and see us.............

gallery visits

I enjoyed this........

My Boy

It was so good to see Conrad !!! Here he is with his godson's sister, Emma, she is beautiful and smart and I enjoyed meeting her and her parents and her new brother, Sam.








the sun roof view of san diego


and the driver



at the beach waiting for the fireworks to start

travels

During the week of the 4th of July we traveled ( In the behemoth ) down to camp pendleton to see the boy....the Marine......it is not very relaxing for me ...going down the road in something so big makes me nervous....but it is nice to have your own potty and bed while traveling....David did most of the driving thank goodness.....






there are such an amazing array of sights going down I-5 and then you hit the great LA traffic


anyway we made it and had a nice week I got to go to the visions quilt gallery and that was great!!! I really enjoyed seeing those quilts many of which I have seen on line and it is such a difference to see them in person. And the gallery is so nicely done as well.


And we king of stumbled on the exihibit of the dead sea scrolls at the natural history museum...the more I think of that the more amazing it seems that we actually saw them!!!

weekend delights

My Niece, Brenna, started this the weekend we went to long beach washington. She finished writing out the verse that inspired her last week and I finished it this weekend. I am looking forward to the weekend she spends with us so that she can have her own time with the sewing machine. Isn't this a wonderful piece! I wish the photo was better but we will have to wait till grandpa does his magic! Then the real beauty will shine....
the I was working on a new piece...grated my focus was to be on finishing pieces already ...mostly......done...but what happens????A few pieces of material sit together just where my eyes can see!!!! and there we are...this is called "space walking" and is pieced-fused but not sewn yet....