Felting my Friendships

I chose to spend the afternoon with a friend, yesterday. It was a wonderful visit. She lives in town and her home is one of those beautiful old Victorians that line the hills, up behind Main St., in Jackson.
She slipped on some ice during the holidays and did some major damage to her ankle. She has been in a cast ever since. Now, she is in a black boot and will go back into a cast again next week for another month. The ankle is not healing well and another cast is required.
I tell you this because my very active, giving friend who does for so much for others and never stops moving, has handled this accident with her usual optimistic self. I'm in awe of someone who can weather a fall like this, pick herself up  and continue to be the positive, glass half full person that she always is.
Even with the complications that have arisen, she is still thinking ahead to trips she wants to take next year and getting a walking cast on, next week, so she doesn't have to sleep downstairs with the cats and maneuver the narrow passageways of her charming home in a wheel chair anymore. She needs to get back to buying groceries for a house bound friend of hers and volunteering at one of the local thrift stores.
I'm sure she has had a few "Oh, @#*&!" moments but she is a trooper and I'm so proud of her.
So, I took cake... and magazines... and small gifts, etc. hoping to lighten her spirits, There was really no need. She greeted me, in her wheel chair, like she had just come in from working in the garden. We had deli sandwiches ... and we talked, talked, talked... laughed and talked some more... until it was time for me to head back to the highway, pick up the mail and drive home. The visit did us both good. It always does.
I left her in good hands. She has a  husband that takes good care of her and treats her like a queen.
So I'm telling you this because...?
Life is long (or short, depending on how you perceive it) and "@#*&!" happens. None of us is going to get out this alive, so we need to make the best of it.  We can play games, whine about our bad luck, carry grudges and complain about life, but... have you talked to other folks lately?
Everyone is having problems. They all have "thorns" in their sides...Some even have large knife wounds.
 My friend could have been bitter, angry and blameful about all this, but she wasn't. I'm sure she wishes that she hadn't gone out on that icy old balcony. I'm sure that she wishes the ankle would heal faster. But, she isn't being "why me?" about it. She's waiting and hoping and making plans for the future. All that positive energy has got to accelerate the healing process.
I'm convinced that life is, in large part, about attitude and expectations and.... looking at the good things in life, so you have this deep well of good thoughts and ideas to carry you through the times of drought and fire.

"The world is full of cactus, but we don't have to sit on it.  ~Will Foley
My friend never sits in her "cacti". Well... she is sitting a lot at the moment, but she's looking ahead of all this. She is an example to me of how to weather a storm. She's an example to us all.

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So today is "finish a felted scarf" day. Here are some choices. What do you think?

 This is the scarf. A combination of gray wool and a taupe, mystery yarn. I had no idea how it would turn out. I have a huge amount of it that I got at one of the thrift stores and ... wait. I do have some with a wrapper on it.  It's SPINNERIN 100% wool yarn called Suzanne. That's why it worked so well. I used it continuously with the gray wool yarn but in two places I dropped the gray wool and used only the "Suzanne" yarn. After I felted it the taupe yarn tighten up and looked much better. The gray combination felted really well. I'm very please with the results.
So, now I'm ready to embellish.

 Buttons? (with dog hair underneath... how embarrassing.)

A shell from the Pacific Ocean?

A different button? There's that dog hair again. I think I felted the hair right into the scarf. Maybe I could make it my trademark... Corgiwool, scarves from the dogfarm.

Some antique lace?

Old lace... and a button?

Or the ruffled edge of the "cute" shirt I bought at the thrift store. Remember the shirt made out of gray jersey with ruffles? What do you think? It's hard to get the colors true, here on the post, but you can get an idea. There are so many possibilities. Maybe lace is too lightweight for this scarf. I'm not sure. Maybe it needs to be a heavier lace... or none.
I would really like your input.
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Today I'm on to brighter possibilities...

When my sister was here we went to Amador City, my favorite little gold rush town. I bought this yarn at Sandy's Country Home store. She dyes and spins this yarn herself. It's so beautiful. It's a bit harder to knit with because it goes from thick to thin and felts up very thick... but I can't wait to use it.

Oh, yum!
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On my afternoon walk a few days ago, I thought that I would love to find some yarn that looked like the oak trees with their bright moss, tiny ferns and lichen growing on them.... Looking like they were going to a party, with the help of the rain and some northern exposure, and getting all dolled up for the occasion.

 I would love some yarn that looks like this...

or this...

Or possibly a softer green like the new grass that is coming up on the trail.
Think I can find some yarn that looks like this? Think I can wear a California Winter around my neck?