Stormy weather 12-20-07

There wasn't much of a rainfall today, less than an inch, but we had a very grey stormy sky. I had lunch with the Poodle Mommy at the Long Beach Yacht Club and this the view from our window table. Don't you think the texture is wonderful? In the foreground is the flat, matte surface of the channel, behind that the very busy strip of vertical boat masts and palm trees, and on the top the smooooth grey clouds. It was quite beautiful. And not cold.

Last week a member of the Book Group told us she was reading a wonderful book by an author she did not know. I was so excited when I discovered it is "The Whistling Season" by Ivan Doig, one of my favorite authors. His books are few and far between and I had not checked lately to see if he had published a new one - almost two years ago! My friend loaned me her copy of the book and I am gobbling it up. Mr. Doig has a wonderful vocabulary and uses it like, well, music. His characters are so real that when I finish reading I feel as if I knew these people at some time in my life. His first book "This House of Sky" was nominated for the National Book Award in 1978, but it lost out to Peter Matthiessen's "The Snow Leopard". I read the Doig book the next year and have been buying, reading and recommending his work ever since. "The Whistling Season" is his eleventh book. There is a good basic article about him in Wikipedia at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Doig

Weather 12-19-07

Not much rain today, but more is predicted for tomorrow and over the weekend. So far it has been a gentle rain.

Skinny Strips #4 12-18-07

Here is the next step in working with my skinny strips. They don't really lean toward the middle, I just couldn't get far enough away w/my camera to 'square up' the image. At present this is 28"W and 13-1/2"L, but the verticals are not fused yet as I need to look at it for a couple days to see if some need moving. I used all scraps to make the skinny strips and a couple scraps had gold or copper foil that I had applied sometime in the past, it looks good cut up it little bits scatter throughout.

Corky, the Poodle Prince 12-17-07

I am a Poodle Nanny and this is the little guy that I take care of. His parents run a business from their home and they travel places that Corky cannot go. I have been his nanny for eleven years next month. Sometimes we stay at his place in Long Beach or in the Arizona desert, but mostly he comes to my house - we call it "Camp Del" and he understands what that means. I had always heard that poodles are very smart and I assure you this one is! He picks up words without us knowing, so sometimes we have to use a code to talk in his presence. However, it isn't long before we have to change the code because he figures it out! He likes riding in a car, but he prefers to go fast, when we slow down he complains. Here he is all seat belted in for a drive, as you can tell, he is eager to be off! I don't have grandchildren and Corky takes their place - he is my grand doggy!

A distant view 12-16-07

This is a follow up to my post of 12-03-07. That image was taken at sundown looking east to the mountains and I said I would go back to the same spot to try for a picture of the skyscrapers in downtown Los Angeles. I think I need a UV filter, or something, to cut out the haze. But this morning it was rather clear for this area and I took my chances.

I took the pictures from the top of Bastanchury hill looking to the northwest. Downtown LA is in the middle of the picture, between thirty and forty miles from this location and is rarely visible due to the smog and haze. But sometimes it sparkles out there like the fantasy land of Oz and I find it fascinating that I can see so far.

Here is a cropped magnification of the top image so that you can sort of see what I am talking about. If I ever get a new camera that has changeable lens and accepts filters I will give it another try.

My thumb is going to be fine. Thanks for asking!

Skinny strips #3 12-15-07

Here is another experiment with skinny strips, not unlike something I have done in the past except I have carried it a bit further. These somewhat wedge shaped pieces are butted together and fused. I put the fusible down with the paper side against a pressing sheet on the ironing board, arrange the strips right side up on the fusible side, put kitchen parchment over them and fuse them with a hot iron.The paper backing is still on. This piece is about 13" x 6".

Now I have made wedge cuts in the long direction, turned them end to end, mixed them up, cut them again into 6" lengths,and removed the paper backing. The pieces need to be carefully butted up to each other so fusible doesn't show between them. They are fused again.

I wanted it to be even more scrappy, so I cut really skinny pieces (1/8" to 1/4") from the leftovers and fused them on each 'join'. I may cover it with light blue tulle to keep the edges from fraying. I intend to use this as a sky.

My thumb is much better, still a little swollen and a little stiff, but I can do almost everything in the same old way. I'm so thankful.