More in 100 Day Challenge 09-04-21

I wrote and posted pictures the other evening about committing to the SAQA 100 day challenge.  I am already tired of the rigid blocks and am trying another use for the precut squares.  I fused a layer of Wonder Under to the back of an old plaid, Removed the paper and started laying down a sort of "color wash" style.  I have ironed down about a third of the squares needed.  It will be a background for something - tree, bird, cat, dog, whatever!

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Friday Feet 09-03-21

I am tired of Friday Food, so I will go back and repost some Friday Feet.  I really enjoyed doing feet for quite a long time, but since the pandemic started I don't go anywhere to see anyone's feet.  Just mine and KoKo's!   

This is one of my all time favorite feet image!  Have no idea who it is, or why they would take this picture and post it online.  Don't remember where I found it in 2013.

Men's feet aren't usually very interesting, so I don't have a lot of guys in my files.  This is the fellow who fixed the leak in my family room wall in Jan 2012.  A copper pipe with a tiny hole - after about 40 years.  Weird.  But he was nice and did a good job. 

And there are some famous feet in the archive.  This is Elizabeth Barton's right foot in 2006. 

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And the next day! 09-02-21

 I'm still enjoying the gorgeous bouquet.  And had Ruth's Chris leftovers for dinner tonight! 

Filet, sweet potato casserole, creamed spinach, sauteed mushrooms.  And milk.  And vanilla ice cream with chocolate chip sauce.  

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A Birthday Day 09-01-21

Thank you all for your birthday wishes.  I was surprised by how many I had on Facebook.  The common saying "Getting old ain't easy." certainly applies, but kind words from friends all over certainly make it more pleasant.   And I did have a pleasant day.  It was quite cool this morning at 7am when we went for our walk, almost like autumn, but I keep telling myself that September is here and Septembers are usually very hot.  We'll see.  

Even before we went for our walk we took pictures of those nice boys in the cul de sac. Julian is in 2nd grade and Emmanuel is in 6th grade.  He has grown so tall over the summer, I think he must be five feet.  They both gave KoKo some loving and he was busy licking their legs.  He does like to lick people and I find it irritating most of the time.  I have not been effective in training him not to do it. 

Mid morning I went to PTherapy and felt slightly better afterward.  My Medicare coverage has run out, so I will take a break and try very hard to do the exercises every day.  And try to arrange another spinal injection.  Hope it will help. 

This gorgeous bouquet came from Carol and Dick.  The delivery driver was a little mixed up and first brought me a vase of pink roses for "your anniversary".  I said no, birthday.  Then I looked at the card and they were from Rudy, but I don't know any Rudys.  The driver took them back to the truck and returned to the shop.  Forty minutes or so later he was back with this huge vase and told me he thought they were prettier than the pink roses!  I agree.

Dick and Carol treated me to dinner at Ruth's Chris near Disneyland.  I think the last time I had a steak was two years ago when they treated me.  It is an elegant place and the service is very good. 

They do serve about the best Caesar salad I have ever eaten. 

Even though I don't drink I had a Champagne Cocktail, one of Carol's favorites.  It was very tasty and not enough to give me a headache. 

We all had the petite filet and shared sides of mushrooms, creamed spinach, and sweet potato casserole, all of which I recommend, but especially the sweet potato.  I may try to find the recipe for that.   

They serve a free dessert for birthdays - a small bread pudding which is just bread pudding.  That single candle and the chocolate writing make it festive.  But I think the chocolate writer might need to practice their penmnship.  Looks like Buterboyz!  

All together a lovely day.  Thanks to Carol and Dick and all my online friends.  

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Miscellaneous 08-31-21

I seem to be spending a lot of time looking back through my photo files and rediscovering things I vaguely remember or completely forgot.   For tonight's post I looked to see where I was ten years ago on August 31st, it seems much longer somehow.  I had been up to Washington State to see my friends Mabel and Mac, went to a quilt show, and visited friends along the way.  

On Sep 1st, my 73rd birthday, I was in San Juan Bautista, CA, enjoying Mary's lovely yard with flower boxes overflowing.  

Instead of cake we had a marionberry pie, which we all preferred. 

Of course, one day we drove over to Pacific Grove and had lunch at the Red House.  My favorite there is the Portobello sandwich.  

Followed by a visit to Back Porch Fabrics where Wendy cut lots of fabric for us.  

I drove home on September 3rd and stopped along I-5 to photograph in a cotton field covered with the lovely white flowers. 

Now, ten years later I will turn 83.  Amazing.  Who could have expected what those ten years would bring with the politics and the pandemic and my ageing body!  Hope the next ten will find us in a better situation.  

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Quilt from TCQC - Olga Norris 08-29-21

With the pandemic and all my health problems this year I have not been keeping up very well with what is happening in the art quilt world.  Last week I was checking some websites for artists I especially admire and discovered that Olga Norris of England died in December 2019.  She had been ill, but I don't know what from.  I looked at the images in her online galleries and contacted her husband, Nigel, to see what might be available.  Four of the pieces I am interested in are available and I told him to send me all of them.  As you can see these already in TCQC are quite small, and so are the new ones.  Interestingly, she had specified a charity to benefit from sales of her remaining work, so I will send the payment to the Loch Arthur Camphill Community, a working community in the south west of Scotland, which includes men and women with learning disabilities.  What a great idea to have her favorite charity benefit.  

Hand dyed silk fabric, silk thread, hand stitched.  This type of stitching is in the style of Kantha work done in Bengal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kantha but so much more refined and expressive.   If you click on her name in the right sidebar you can read what I have previously posted about her work.  Check out her website for more of her fascinating work.   www.olganorris.com   I will, of course, post images of the four new pieces when they arrive.  

"The Crow's Story"  Olga Norris - England  2012  7.1" x 7.1"

"Coffee Futures"  Olga Norris - England  2010  11.4"W x 7.5"L

"Red Hen"  Olga Norris - England  2012  7.5"W x 11"L

"New Hat"  Olga Norris - England  2010  6.2"W x 7.1"L

[This does not have a border, I just didn't crop it close enough]