some people like to watch the grass grow... Alex, however, contemplates the possibility of the blossoms on this tree becoming apples!

somehow, Zylie wearing Chris's hoodie reminds me of Yoda.

fibers

newly dyed fibers drying in the sun.  Kate and i spent a bit of time applying color to plain ole white BFL.  doncha just love the wavy-ness of the BFL??

beauty of handdyed fibers by Kate!

Kate has been busy dyeing spinning fibers (BFL,

merino/tussah, domestic  wool) and you can get an idea here just how gorgeous they are.... but wait!  We delivered them to Northwest Wools

where they can be seen in person, fondled and purchased!  We have decided to keep the Woolgatherings name going and the label will indicate which of us did the handdyeing... and it will be mostly Kate, and i'll still have the option of keeping my fingers in the dye and fibers and yarn when my muse dictates.  and just in case there is any doubt.... yes, this is a shameless commercial plug!  

seriously, Kate really has an artistic eye for color... and i'm not just saying that because she's my daughter-in-law!

just south of Wheeler, OR is one of those places from the past.... from maybe 40 years ago, maybe longer ... where you can buy fresh-just-caught crab.  you choose the one you want from the tank of live ones and it gets cooked for you while you wait.  there is also a dock where you can do your own crabbing and folks were out there pulling up nets full of 'em.  or rent a little motor boat and go out in the bay and catch them.  it was a funky old place... very interesting.  Linda bought a crab to take home, and while it cooked, we watched the seagulls, and the people and amused ourselves with some picture-taking.  I'd have bought one, too, but had just spent all my $$$ on smoked salmon to take home to Jim.

Linda and I amused ourselves.

a warm sun, clear blue skies and water, a picturesque setting....  ah, a simple gift.

twisted sisters at the beach

Jane seems to have a real talent for getting wrapped up in her fibers.  and look at that gorgeous yarn!  this is from a kit with pattern (from Dicentra) to make a "stained glass" scarf/shawl.

see the empty space on the sofa?  Laurie, Linda and Jane were waiting for me to sit there, while i fooled around trying to set the timer on my camera and get there so we could have a photo of the fearless four.  by the time i had that figured out, the camera battery ran out of its ooomph.

i caught Jan holding up the wall.  she was able to be there for 1 of the 3 nights.  we missed all the twisted sisters who couldn't be there and tried to do their share of spinning, laughing, knitting, grazing and all those things that twisted sisters do.  as usual, we had late nights, too much food, lots of fiber, much laughter, wine, movies, planning for future adventures and a totally fine time!  oh, and it was a glorious sunny weekend and there was even some beach walking done... i won't say how much or by whom.

big one

Chris went fishin'.. this is one of the 2 he caught!

declaration of spring!! tra la

OK!  i'm ready now to say that spring has really finally come to my queendom.  I had my first hummingbird sighting of the year yesterday, which is quite late actually as that usually happens March 6 or 7.  So, i quickly cleaned up the hummingbird feeder, filled it and hung it... waiting, waiting...

then went to look for them in the blooming current bush/tree.. and there they were.  2 of them having a territorial disagreement, like as if there's not enough gorgeous pink blossoms there for a family or 2!

i'm loving the contrast of the new bright pink blossoms against the winter grey of the almost but not yet leafing of the twisted willow.

can you see the hummingbird in there??  i can't either, but it was there when i pointed the camera and clicked.  really!

another sign of spring around here... there are salad greens ready for harvest in the greenhouse!

(the ones in first photo will need a couple more weeks, 2nd photo... yummy now!)

this climbing hydrangea on the gazebo is one of my faves... just wish it would blossom. 
end of photo tour of some signs of spring around dome central.

signs of spring

I might see this as a sign that spring is here.... if i hadn't become a cynical old crone.  well, maybe it's not cynical to know that we still have lots of soggy and cold days ahead before spring is really here!  but what's blooming is glorious... til the rain and slugs get 'em.

life

the next quilting project will be a nap quilt for Jim, hopefully completed in time for his birthday in May.  This fabric immediately made me think of a dinner table in Vamos, Crete, and i thought Jim would like it with that fine array of bottles of wine.  i'm not sure yet of the design of it, but also got a variety of fabrics with grapes, and with olives, figs, tomatoes, limes which looked good.

and my house nap quilt is finished and works very well... i've already had a couple of 2-hour naps under it... mmmm, i do love naps and the quilt is so warm and comfy.... mmmmm

my fiber life hasn't been exercised much lately, especially spinning.  i can't find a chair that's comfortable enough to keep my back and hip from aching, and despite having an over-abundance of yarn in many colors and weights, i haven't received any inspiration from my muse, so i just keep on admiring the stash and fondling it occasionally!  waiting waiting waiting

i'm still awaiting the beauty and uplift that is spring.  driving around this week (yep... i did get out into the world this week!) i found an abundance of glory in the blossoming trees.  there's been not much sunny and warm weather to tell me that it's spring.  i haven't even seen the first hummingbird of the season and they usually appear around the 4th or 5th of March.  but those bloomin' trees!!... one of those simple gifts....

dome central... my queendom... no action... no offers.  we didn't re-list with our realtor when the listing time was up and will probably try the "for sale by owner" route and see what happens.  yep, the market is bad and yadda yadda yadda, but i hate this limbo and will be so happy when we can go on to the next step/adventure, which we cannot do until the house is sold.  i'm sure hoping for some time in crete in the fall.  i was looking at the Vamos SA website site (link in right hand column) last night... all those lovely sunny photos and scenes of our village...and thinking of spring and easter there...  and the rain here was coming down in torrents.

anyone who knows me, knows i've never been a flag-wavin'-rah-rah-patriot kind of person and have, in fact, when we've been out of the country in the past few years,  been embarrassed to admit to being an American.  however, since the election in november and the inauguration in january, my pride has increased.  my cynicism is even decreasing.  and watching the MSNBC news tonight, and seeing our president and first lady out there "in the world" reflecting honesty and humility and realness of character, i really did feel hope that we can regain a place of trust again in the world, and not be thought of as war-mongering ugly american hypocrites.    i really do feel that Barack Obama will be instrumental in big changes!!  oh my dear goddess, it feels so dorky to even write this.  well, now i'm all verklempt... talk among yourselves.

wisdom of today

"Politics is like the circus..  The worst job is cleaning up after the elephants."  -James Carville

that was then

Victoria, BC... sometime around dawn some weekend in 1973 or so..

quilt progress

well, the front (fun) part is done.. onward now to the back and putting the whole thing together!

ides of march

i think i'm in one of those sluggish cycles... so if i owe you a phone call or email, i probably DO know it and just haven't done anything about that knowing.  but i will... really i will.

this is a photo of a quilt i'm working on.  the idea came from one of my (many)quilting books

that showed what they called "liberated houses"... meaning they hold very little likeness to reality, very primitive, and using lots of color.  fits me to a T (or tea? or tee?).  i ended up doing some of the blocks with trees and a couple with people (kids?).  this will be my nap quilt and the next one in the Q will be Jim's nap quilt.

here's the latest addition to our tradition of a photo of Anna and me whenever we get together.  we've been doing this for YEARS, and last time i visited her in Boise she had an array of them out for my amusement!  it's like having an index tab in a journal... each photo brings up a segment of time, history and memories!  i sure am glad we've kept on doing this thru all these

years!!  we've decided we should go back to Victoria BC and repeat a set of photos we took there and we'll have a "then" and a "how'd we get this damn old?".  actually, when i get my new printer and have a scanner that fucking works with this computer, i'll scan the "then".

blessed event

and what could be cuter than babies?  talkin' about guinea pig babies, and the grandkids were absolutely thrilled... Kate? not so much!   she had taken pains when looking for a companion to the first piggie that it be another female, because she did not want to deal with litters of little piggies.  (can't blame her there!)  so about 3 weeks after Ella came to share a cage with Lenny, Kate went to feed them one morning and found 3 tiny newborn guinea pigs which look just like Ella.  so, doubting any kind of divine intervention, the conclusion is that Ella brought them with her when she moved in.  they really are cute ... or just adorable, as Z would say.
Zylie was so excited about the babies, she drew a picture of the event!  i love it!!
thanks, Kate, for letting me use your photos....

dinner with Sonia

On Tuesday, we got a call from Sonia saying she's in town for surgery.  this was a huge surprise as she and Ryan have been in the Peace Corp in Burkina Faso, Africa for over a year.  the short version is that they were in a bus accident 6 months ago, Ryan's shoulder got messed up and Sonia's hip was broken, Peace Corp flew them to So. Africa to get fixed, when Sonia went for her 6 month check-up a couple of weeks ago they found that she is still broken, so sent her home for another surgery which she had yesterday.  the photos here are from tuesday night when Sonia came out for dinner (it was Jim's night to cook and it was lovely!!)  Since what they eat in their village in Africa bears very little resemblance to what they were used to at home, Ryan encouraged her to eat lots of the foods she loved and drink some "estate" wine.  She's been workin' on that.  We did what we could to help.  and took some photos for Ryan.... and here are some of them:  top down - broiled salmon and veggies, chips and salsa, Sonia and our dogs, and a toast to Ryan!

Hope you enjoy the photos, Ryan.  We'd have loved seeing you, too!!

Madrona Yarn Market

We didn't quite make it for the Saturday opening of the Yarn Market at Madrona (in Tacoma), but we did get there well before everything was all sold out!  went to Everett first to pick up Pam, then went on to Tacoma, found the hotel,  and lunch... then went shopping!  and it was great to see some familiar faces and get some hugs (always sweet... esp. Morgaine).  first photo is the yarn i couldn't resist (displayed upon the high chair which was made for my dad by his grandfather.  my dad is almost 93, to give a time perspective!)

and Zylie was enamored with the yarn and wanted to hold it for a photo.

it was a really fine day.. and we got home in time for the Valentine's dinner, which was a delicious lasagne, fresh baked bread and a heart shaped ice cream cake from B&R... which Chris, Alex and Zylie presented and we loved!!

sunday in duvall

Tiki... trying to ignore it all!

Alex watching SpongeBob

Z looking like a very demure princess 

and Chris working (or something)