Sunday, March 26, 2006

dog hair

I'm sitting here wondering what a Siberian Husky with a buzz cut would look like. There would be a definite advantage in getting all that hair off her in one fell swoop... rather than wading thru her coat blowing process and rasslin' with her to get any of it off with a brush. this is just day dreaming, however, as Jim would never tolerate such a thing being done to Meika. Actually, she could look kind of cute, especially if i followed up the hair cut with the application of easter egg dyes. And this will never ever happen....... sigh... back to vacuuming the dog hair off the stairway carpet. i think it's blue under there.....

And no, I DO NOT like spinning dog hair of any kind at any time ever!

Friday, March 24, 2006

spring???

well, the weather goddess celebrated spring with one lovely day here, appropriately - on the first day of spring!!... and it's been rainy ever since! everywhere i look around my queendom it's green, with little spots of color peeking up from the ground and trees looking ready to burst into spring glory... and then there's the weeds. ah, yes, the weeds.

I took Jim to the airport at 5a.m yesterday (which means i got up at 4a.m.... eeeek) and he flew to Phoenix to meet up with Chris and see some Mariner baseball spring training camp games. I'm glad he didn't have tickets to see the Blazers play the Suns last night, as they got thoroughly thumped, and have now lost something like 21 of the last 23 games. They have gone way past pitiful and are now an embarrassment! Lots of young talent on that team.... they just have to learn to use it, I guess. can't believe i'm writing about sports!!

so, while it's just me and the dawgs here, I'll get a bunch of dyeing done. I got a lovely serendipitous result the other day that I'll try to repeat. Using ProChem Washfast acid dyes, I poured the bright turquoise next to the iris, with just a tiny space in between them... and where they blended together there was a most glorious electric blue!! Loved it!

The only other "must do" (besides outing and inning the dogs) is to get address labels printed for the invitations to Pop's 90th birthday big bash on april 22. he emailed me the invitation list and (so far) there's 104 invitations to send. it's going to be one big party...

Monday, March 20, 2006

a good movie

here's what Netflix says about "Iris", starring Judi Dench:
"Iris Murdoch was l'enfant terrible of the literary world in early 1950s Britain -- a live wire who thumbed her nose at the conformity of the era via a voracious sex life that included male and female partners. In this snippet of her life, Murdoch (Judi Dench) faces the onset of Alzheimer's disease alongside her adoring husband (Jim Broadbent). Kate Winslet portrays the young, free-spirited Iris in flashbacks."

I watched this movie the other night and enjoyed it very much, in a bittersweet sort of way. I admire women who thumb their noses at convention... so really liked it on that level. Also, enjoyed her wit and intellect. The bitter part was watching this bright and gifted woman lose it all to that dreaded disease. It did give me a glimse into what my mother's life must have felt like to her as she gradually lost touch with reality. I'm not sure whether Mom actually had Alzheimer's or if her dementia was more due to mini-strokes which gradually diminished her thinking processes..... but it doesn't really matter which it was...the result was awful for her and for her family. It may sound like I was depressed by the movie, but I wasn't. I love watching Judi Dench and thought the movie was well done, and kind of broadened my perspective. The thought of the possibility of losing touch with my reality at some future point is frightening, but I refuse to dwell on it and thereby waste the now with worrying about what might be!! so there!!

and now am wishing "Pink Panther" with Steve Martin would be on dvd SOON! maybe i'll go back and watch "All of Me" with Steve Martin and Lili Tomlin... my all time favorite movie of his!!

Sunday, March 19, 2006

life...

it's a stunningly beautiful day in my queendom.... actual sunshine, warming to mid-50s and no wind!! BRAVO!

We did go to OMSI with the kidlets on Wednesday and had a wonderful time. there is SO much to see there that we could have spent lots more than the several afternoon hours we were there. The last exhibit we were in was devoted to cartoon making and even had an area where the kids could do their antics while being filmed, and needless to say, it was quite popular.. esp. with Alex. A plus factor was that there were not many other people there, so no crowds around the fun stuff.

Hope to get to Costco later today, or tomorrow, to get a long worktable to put by my sewing machine. The new sewing place is making slow progress as I've been busy in my studio getting more fibers dyed for NW Wools. Stopped by the shop last week and the shelves are nearly bare again.... a good thing, I suppose, but it means i have to actually do some work, which i'm getting used to not doing so much of lately. One of these days i'll take the "semi" out of "semi-retired" and see how that feels.... i have a feeling it will be pretty fine!! Also, need to get some fibers dyed to take to Alabama end of June when I go to help Lynne with a class. That will be a fun time as it is part of the reunion of the class she did in Sewanee last spring, and it's a long weekend retreat/spin-in kind of thing. Then will be in Sewanee for 4th of July, and after that go up to Knoxville to spend a few days with my sis in her new house. First weekend in October will go to Taos for the Wool Festival and to help Lynne with a sock class there.... so will need to be dyeing more fibers for that. So, the reality is that I am still having fun with the "semi-retired" state of being. And we are thinking of going back to Crete mid-October, and including a couple of weeks in Italy.

new sewing space.. in progress

and a bit different view

these are some recently dyed, and now drying, rovings:

(with the usual disclaimer of "colors are distilled a bit by camera and computer monitor... yadda yadda yadda..."


Life is GOOD! veddy gud... BRAVO!!

Monday, March 13, 2006

Progress

I spent a lot of the day creating my new sewing space on the balcony... including finally giving the plants up here some overdue attention. Emptied an etigere (i think that spelling is wrong, and "spellcheck" has no idea what i'm trying to spell!!)
and will use it for stashing sewing stuff... yep, a fabric stash lives here, too! This project will need to go on hold til later in the week as Kate and the kids are coming down tomorrow for a few days... oh, goody, i hope we get to go to OMSI or the Children's Museum or the zoo!!

and, ooooops, just remembered some fiber i dyed last week that hasn't been rinsed and dried yet, plus the pot of fiber left soaking and waiting to be dyed. and Lynne is sending me some Ramboulliet (?sp. again), both yarn and fiber, to try out in the dye pot. lots to do.

life is good!!! BRAVO!

photos coming soon. really....

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Roomba!!

other big news is that the robot is in residence and i have to say I Love It!! we are having a bit of a problem right now as Meika is shedding big time, the biggest blowing of coat that she does all year. she's looking like a mere shadow of her normal fluffy Husky self... and still piles more keeping floating around on the floor and there's always more tufts of fluff sticking out of her coat. anyway, the problem is that roomba doesn't do well with this massive amount of hair. it wraps around the wheels and the brush and just about everything that lends itself to being wrapped around. it does really well in the living room on the carpet and just zooms around doing her cleaning job. a dream come true. i've ALWAYS wanted a robot of my own to do the cleaning. AND the company also makes a robot that wet mops the floors. be still my heart. and now i can hardly wait to show her in action to Alex! Robots are his consuming interest right now. he and his dad built one and programed it while i was there last weekend... it's a Lego kit. it was a treat to watch them working on it together and then to witness his robot in action. Alex was so excited with one of the tricks.. when it bumps into something it sings a song and then does a dance!! this techie stuff is really great!! i'll get a picture of Cinderella my roomba robot soon. really.

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and here is Cindy Roomba at work:

Saturday, March 11, 2006

what's new...

well, life has happened a lot since the last i wrote here. i'll just start with today and see what happens after that.

closing of another chapter here at dome central... my big rustic clunky floor loom went to a new home. it was given to me in the early 80's when Pam divorced & got rid of about 7 looms. this one was made in Texas many years ago, somehow or other got to Damascus Pioneer Art School in Damascus, OR, and was given to Pam there. so, knowing it was time to move the loom on, i called Becki (who bought my Pat Green big carder last year) to see if i could give her this loom, she said "yes" and came today with a friend and a pickup, and we broke the loom down (taking pictures and marking coding in chalk as we
went along so they'd be able to get it back together), and away it went. and since it's probably been 10 years since any weaving has happened here, and i just sold all the 3 pounds of yarn i'd dyed for a blanket to weave for my son, the time was right. and to make it even sweeter... as soon as i get all the dust and debris vacuumed up from where the loom sat... i will move my sewing there on the balcony, under the skylight and get another long work table, and get serious about making a quilt for Alex-The-Awesome-Grandson!!

the loom...


and a current picture of Meika and Tasha, just because they looked so sweet and angelic. but, do not think for a minute that the bright light behind Tasha's head is anything other than sunlight!! she hasn't quite gotten enough control over her great need to mangle yarn and unspun fiber to deserve a halo. i think sometimes her teeth just itch and she must get a fiber fix in order to be happy! she is a sweet dog, tho, and tries hard not to be overcome by fiber urges. i do still barricade my fiber corner just in case! she will be 3 on march 15, so really should be beyond the puppy chewing stages. the birthday date is one i picked arbitrarily, since street dawgs don't come with birthdates.