KoKo, again 05-04-18

This picture is interesting on two counts.  First, of course, is the wonderful, charming KoKo, waiting in line at Starbuck's.  He doesn't get a Pupachino because I don't think he really needs a cup of whipped cream!  The other interesting thing is something I have mentioned previously.  All of the cars in front of me are white.  I guess this is a SCalifornia phenomenon as I don't notice it when I am driving in other parts of the country.  I have parked in medium sized lots here and counted how many cars are not white and it is always a small fraction  sometimes only two or three out of 40 or 50.  I guess people think white cars are cooler and maybe Cool, in the hip sense.  I find it mystifying. 

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California fires 10-09-17

Other than smoke and ash, we are not affected by the fire in Orange County which is about 10 miles to the south of our house.  Except for the terrible traffic congestion since the 91Fwy and the 241 toll road are closed, along with many surface streets.  I have to drive to south county in the morning and am planning to leave extra early because I anticipate hitting bumper to bumper traffic.  Can't take my surface street detour because all the roads in that area are closed.  

Fortunately we have not had any fatalities here with what they are calling the Canyon Fire 2.  But those poor people in Santa Rosa are really in a terrible way with many fatalities and missing people.  And no end in sight for any of the fires.

Nobody is talking about the cause of the fires, but I have always wondered if the fires that start along the highways/freeways are started by people throwing cigarettes out the window of their vehicles.  I have seen them do it, but have not seen a fire started. 

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Orange 03-01-10

Terry Grant has been talking about orange - one of my favorite colors. So here are a few orange things in my life.

"Cactus Flower" Del Thomas 2000 61"W x 48"L

I designed this quilt in Ruth McDowell's class in 2000, took the design back the next year and refined it. But still no fabric - by this time I had three 32gal plastic bins full of orange fabric. I took the design and the fabric out to Corky's house in the desert and did a four day construction marathon. No people, no interruptions, no excursions - sew, sew, sew. This is all pieced, there is no applique in this quilt. The first thing people notice is that it is very ORANGE.

Someday I will do a poppy quilt, I'm sure. Some years the poppy fields in the Antelope Valley look like this - glorious.

"Green Trails" Del Thomas 2005 36" square
This is the only quilt top I have ever completed in about 40 classes at Empty Spools! It was a Sylvia Einstein class with a most compatible group of students. I couldn't believe that I was actually sewing the blocks together on the last day. I am easily distracted in class because I live alone and work alone, so all that creativity and energy just does me in. The various shades of orange with the red, yellow and green make this quilt glow.

Someone gave me this 'quilt ladder' which leans in the corner of my working space. I started draping orange fabrics on it several years ago, but it hasn't turned into anything. They all don't go together, they are just there for inspiration. I'm always trying to find a word that rhymes with orange, but the closest I have come is sponge.

Corky was in the Orange County Register this morning! While he and his mommy were at the vet so he could have his acupuncture treatment there was also a photographer and reporter from the paper doing a feature story on acupuncture for pets. You can see it at:
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/acupuncture-236582-woods-cancer.html
Click on PHOTOS tab at top.
The Poodle Parents and I think that Corky is living a longer, healthier life by having a treatment every three weeks. He tolerates the needles very well, but finds it hard to hold still for the fifteen minutes they must stay in place. I am considering human acupuncture for my arthritis, if I could only decide which part of me hurts the most!

Just a tiny bit of snow 12-20-08

Saddleback Mountain is composed of several peaks, the tallest is about 5,700 feet, grouped together on the eastern side of Orange County, CA. Most years it gets a little sprinkle of snow on the very top, but on Wednesday, Dec 17th it really got dumped on. This picture was taken by my friend Patty Mayer who lives in Laguna Niguel, which is south of Saddleback, so she gets a better view than I do from the NW.

There is also snow on the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains, which can be seen from my area, but I have not been out anywhere since Wednesday. Thus - no pictures. But I suppose a lot of you are just tired of snow anyway!

I was out on Wednesday to see the hand therapist who turned out to be a budding quilt maker and a new member of Beach Cities QGuild. Quilters are EVERYWHERE. And then I drove in the pounding rain to LBeach to see the PPrince and his family. But the time I drove home in the evening it was merely sprinkling. More rain promised for Monday.

Here is an unbelievable UK sunset:

http://tinyurl.com/9vpxhe
Borrowed from: http://www.wunderground.com/wximage/viewimages.html