New tools Sep 22, 2007

As I pile on the years I find I spend more and more time looking for things that I have put away. Apparently in the wrong place because sometimes I cannot find what I am looking for. Not an unusual situation, I know many people who have this affliction. Twice in the last year I have misplaced my colored pencils - the first time I ultimately found them, the second time NOT! So, today I bought a new set of 48 pencils. (Do you know that Prismacolor has 120 colors?) Tomorrow I will probably find the first set which is verrrry old, I believe I bought them around 1975. Obviously, I have not had the great need for them that I had yesterday. Surely in the future I will be able to find one set or the other. Just in case, I am posting this picture, so if I call and ask you what they look like you can tell me! Might help, can't hurt.

Rather pleasant to have something so bright and new to share. Eventually I will post a photo to show why my need was so desperate.

Showers off and on today and everything is so sparkly clean in the periodic sunshine that it hurts my eyes. The bluest of skies, the whitest piles of clouds and that lovely clean smell in the air. Leaves are starting to turn, even though the temp has only been down to about 50F. Hope we have a cold snap before they all turn brown and drop. Later I'll make a trip over the to gorgeous Ginkgo lined street in Fullerton to take some pictures. One of these days I will make a Ginkgo quilt. I have lots of yellow fabric!

No rain, but..... Sep 21,2007

Sunset storm clouds reflected in Anaheim Lakes. The rainstorm that has been roiling around over the ocean came in this evening, but it seems to have completely missed Orange County, which is south of Los Angeles County. But the clouds have been spectacular, something we don't have very often. Cloud formations are one of the things I enjoy on a Road Trip around the West.

Such as these near Elko, Nevada, in June 2005.

Ah-h-h-h, I spoke too soon! It has started to rain and I went out to stand in it for a few minutes. The fragrance is fantastic, although I suppose part of that is the dust dissolving, it is still lovely. It probably won't be much rain, just enough to wash that dust off of the trees and houses.

Inspiration Sep 20, 2007

I suppose anyone who creates anything is sometimes asked, "Where do you get your ideas?" I am usually at a loss to explain - it just comes. But looking through my photos on Picasa2, I can see the "seed" for one of my quilts. This picture was taken in March 2006 at the Frazer Park rest stop on I-5.

And this is the "Tree House" made in May 2006. I had not previously made the connection. The design just came to me when I needed to make a quilt with a house theme. This quilt is part of the Alliance for American Quilts traveling exhibit (soon to be auctioned), "Put A Roof Over Our Head". http://www.centerforthequilt.org/contest.php Sometimes I deliberately search (as I have been lately) for a design source, but usually I don't. Perhaps if we were able to delve into all of our past experiences we could find the spark for every design.

Rain - maybe! Sep 19, 2007

Rain is forecast for parts of California (including the LA basin) tomorrow through Saturday. It won't be enough to even make a dent in our drought, but every little bit helps put a damper on the wild fires. I have been looking through my photos for some design inspiration and noticed the enormous difference in these two photos of the San Luis Reservoir on Hwy 152, just off the I-5 going west to Monterey and the Salinas Valley.

This one was taken Aug 31, 2005. You can just see the high water line on the distant shore.

This was taken July 11, 2007. There is a huge difference in that distant water line and the bottom of the lake is showing! This is agricultural water for the Central Valley, so it is important to all of us. It goes with the signs along I-5 and Hwy99, "Crops grow where water flows". Corny, but true. I hope that the rain goddess is kind to us all this year.

View from our house - Sep 18

I always enjoy pictures of Blogger's surroundings. So, I am posting a couple pictures of my surroundings.

This is the view from my porch looking across the street into a cul-de-sac.
I rushed out and took the picture when I heard the sound I hate the most - a chainsaw! But it turned out that the homeowner had hired someone to just trim her trees. When we moved here twenty years ago there where many large trees which added a lot to this suburban SCalifornia neighborhood. But as the original owners retired and moved away, new people moved in and the first thing everyone seems to do is cut down all the trees. I don't know why - perhaps because they are messy and drop leaves and things on the smooth green lawns. These two long-needled pines are the largest trees remaining, except for those in the park behind the house.


And this is the view out the back. There is a steep slope down to the coyote fence, a dirt road that belongs to the water company, a chain link fence, a cement lined flood control channel, another chain link fence and, to the left behind a block wall, some patio homes with well tended landscaping and, to the right, the park w/redwoods and deador cedars. When standing back from the low wall at the top of the slope none of the above can be seen, just a green view into the park and the trees and roofs of the patio homes to the left. This picture shows blooming pyracantha (sometimes called fire thorn) on the block wall.
I took the picture last April when I was trying to describe to a cyber friend a police chase along the flood control channel and through the park. It was a very unsual event, but quite exciting - I just wish it hadn't been at 6:15am (or so)!! No sleeping when helicopters are buzzing around overhead. They did, by the way, catch the fugitive a couple blocks away.

And here is an amazing bit of trivia. Connectivity - It took 46 years to wire 30 percent of the U.S. for electricity; it took only 7 years for the Internet to reach that level of connectivity to U.S. homes.

Days until Xmas/Early Birds - Sep 17

There are just one hundred days left until Christmas! Although I am not good at counting I think I have this right. The day seems to be coming around sooner each year. My little grandmother in her seventies would claim that the years were getting so short that she went to bed on New Year's Day and when she woke up it was already Christmas again. I'm not quite there, but now I understand what she meant.

This is "Early Birds" (40"W x 38"L) a quilt made by Ruth Powers of Carbondale, KS. It is entirely machine pieced and quilted and won the Best of Show in the "Think Spring" catagory at IQA in Chicago in 2006. It is now part of the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection and is shown here on a grey wall. In keeping with my promise to the quilt artists I am always willing to loan one of their quilts for exhibit at museums or galleries. This quilt is going to the LaConner Quilt Museum for display at their Quilt Fest the weekend of Sep 29-30. If you are in that area you might enjoy seeing it and the rest of the quilts on display. http://www.laconnerquiltmuseum.com/

Lattes with a friend. Sep 16,2007

My friend Liz Williams met me for coffee this morning at a Starbucks. Even though Liz has a full time job, I consider her my "chasing around" friend. We go to local quilt shows, on shopping excursions, out for lunch and have driven up to Pacific Grove and back a number of times to attend the Empty Spools Quilting Conferences. Liz is a great traveling companion, always game to stop and see things along the way. I had Corky with me this morning so we chose a Starbucks with a nice patio and I carried his 'boat bed' (so called because it is shaped like a skiff) so he wouldn't have to lay on the dirty cement. If one wants a white dog one must take steps to keep him white! He was so good and stayed in his bed all the time we were drinking and gabbing. Whenever we have coffee anywhere I think of these two very special lattes - aren't they cute?

This is how they serve lattes at Jeannine's American Cafe in Montecito (there is a sister cafe in Santa Barbara), our favorite lunch stop on Hwy 101. We had previously been served w/smiley faces and stars, but I thought the barista went out of his way on these we were served this past March. When Elizabeth Barton and I stopped last month my latte was without a picture. Just like a child I was disappointed and didn't think it tasted as good as those I had in the past!

Corky is home in his own bed tonight and we don't have another 'date' for almost a month. I always miss him a lot after we have spent several weekends together.

Autumn 09-15-07

That autumn smell is in the air! We will still have hot weather - has been up to 100F in October - but some trees are showing their fall colors (mostly beige!), especially the California Sycamores. I'd like to drive up Hwy 395 along the Eastern side of the Sierra sometime soon. My late husband Floyd and I would go up for a final fishing trip sometime in October and it was usually glorious with the aspen in their shimmering yellow/gold. But the fishing wasn't great.

Corky is with me again, just for the weekend, so I didn't get any sewing done today. One thing he does for me is get me out of the house for a walk, usually about half an hour, but today we did about 45 minutes. I can't seem to keep a walking schedule if there is nobody to force me to do it! I do like seeing what is new in the neighborhood. There are several houses that have been for sale for over a year, not a good time to be trying to sell or to be looking for a mortgage. Here is a cute little house that is unoccupied, but not for sale!