"Creativity is a drug I cannot live without." ~G.B. Shaw~

Oh, did we have fun in "Chickaluma"... oops... I mean Petaluma... P-Town, Egg Basket, Egg Capital of the World. I guess that, historically, chickens were a big deal here. Petaluma is known for its chicken, egg and grain production. In 1879,  the egg incubator was invented by Lyman Byce right here. Chickens use to rule in this town... well, for the good of the humans anyway. It was big business. It's still a tourism attraction.

This was our hotel on highway 101 (taken from the marshland walking trail). It's a big blue and white hotel with a marina and some really beautiful boats floating around its edges.

That's highway 101 in the background.

This is the Alman Marsh...

To the south of the hotel are miles of converted wetlands that continue to San Pablo Bay, a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of San Francisco Bay. So we not only learned all kinds of wonderful artistic things at this workshop, we also had a beautiful place to create them in.

This is what the hotel really looks like.

We had wonderful, RAINY weather with lots of sunshine in between.

This is the lobby of the hotel with our fearless leaders, Sallianne from Australia and Ellen from Connecticut, welcoming us and registering everyone as they arrived.

We came over from my sister's house on Wednesday afternoon, so we could be there on Thursday morning for our first class.

The first class was called Text & Textiles: Hand Stitched Story Squares. Our instructor was Jane LaFazio... take a look at her blog for more information on this textile artist.
We were taught how to make small squares of quilted fabric with text written by each of us. We were given a prompt, like "a childhood memory", and asked to spend three minutes writing something about this on a piece of cloth, with a fabric gel pen, which then would be incorporated into the small (about 3x3) quilted square. We did nine of these and each one was about a different aspect of our lives... ("What do you want to do with your life?", "What do you love?" or "Where were you the happiest?" etc.) and along with each square came a "gather round" at Jane's table, showing us a new fabric technique and a new embroidery stitch.

Then we would go back to our table and work on that piece of the quilt.
It was labor intensive, especially for me, because I don't quilt and I don't embroider. So it was a long learning curve and somehow... I ended up with eight, not nine, of them. But, I wasn't the only one.
At the end of the day, we laid them all out on a felt backing of our choice...

And, although most of them were not finished, we had a session of comments and kudos to show what everyone had done.
This was my sisters...lovely isn't it?

And this was mine... with a square missing. I still don't know how I missed a square, but I will add one more and practice my stitching on them all.

 

 Mine are my usual catty wompus, fully loaded, "what more can I add" creations, with most of the pins still holding everything together. I have some work to do.

Here are some close ups on other pieces, so you can see what one finished square is suppose to look like.

I don't see any writing on this one, above. Maybe she wasn't finished with it. There is still a pin holding things together. I feel better.
This one is very nice. 

I love the loose weave on top of the other fabric. She still has some stay stitching to do too. Now, I really feel better.

Some of these ladies really knew what they were doing with the stitching. But, in my defense, I now know the difference between a back stitch, a blanket stitch and a cross stitch. I also know how to make a French knot. Ta da!!!

We attached the pieces of fabric to a small ( again, approx. 3x3 ) piece of low loft batting. Then we added any embellishment that we wanted to. 

For me, this was a labor intensive class that taxed my ability to hand sew fabric, but I learned a lot and will hang this small quilt on my livingroom wall... as soon as I finish it. I need to start soon, before I forget all my new found stitching knowledge.

I'm hoping for something close to these... the examples...

I'm hoping for some semblance of order on my square piece of felt... something that looks like I knew what I was doing and that I learned something.

This was our view out of the window. That's a huge yacht floating in the water outside the classroom... HUGE and definitely sea worthy.

Some folks have some money...

On Friday we left the venue. We didn't sign up for any classes that day... on purpose. We choose to just have fun and go into town, eat lunch and shop... all day.

It was a beautiful day.

Petaluma is a cool town. Many buildings survived the 1906 earthquake, (Petaluma is just north of San Francisco.) so the old town is still filled with great architecture. The Petaluma River runs right up through town and they have a river walk behind all the buildings, along the river. The downtown Petaluma Historic commercial District  is a very pretty place and still has the old historic chicken processing plant and grain mill buildings that now house restaurants and businesses.

We walked down Petaluma Blvd. from the old Mystic theater to Washington St and back. We had to move the car three times because there was only a 2 hour limit on street parking. Never found a parking garage.

We hit the Halloween store...

and the sport shoe store... Two of our favorites from years past. We did more looking than buying but it was fun. We ate lunch and then found a beautiful yarn store right next door on Kentucky St. We also found one of those picture booths that you go inside of and have your photos taken. We decided to try it.

Good grief.. she actually stuck her tongue out. 

We did this twice (they cost $4.00 each time) and never did get both of our heads in the picture window frame together... but it was fun. I don't think that I have done one of these photos since I was a kid at Playland, on the beach in San Francisco. It's been a long time. Still, we laughed ourselves silly.
We ended up driving to the outlets, walking around until we were so tired that we just about died. Didn't buy much. I bought SOCKS... hey... important stuff. We picked up some salads at Trader Joe's and went back to the hotel, settled in with a pay per view movie and went to bed early. We needed a good night's sleep for our next class... Dreampunk Mask with Michael deMeng.
Just wait until you see what I did with the deer skull that my neighbor, Dennis, gave me and a cheap Halloween mask from the Party store.

Wild stuff... continued.

Being a bad blogger... for good reasons... kind of.

I meant to sit down and write. I certainly had enough to say... about friends, fires, pillowcases from blogging friends, emails from Montana. But... here I sat with this and that... always saying, "I will do a post tomorrow, the next day, this evening... sure did intend to write something ... I just don't know what happen. Well... yes, I really do... last week anyway.
A few weeks back I got an email from my friend Dawn, who lives in Michigan. She said she was going to be out here, with her husband, for a visit and could she come and see me. This turned into the biggest reunion you can imagine. We had not seen each other since we were 16 years old. It's a very long story about how we found each other again after all these years. You can find it here.
So in the hottest part of summer, with the huge King fire to the north of us and my drought ridden garden looking like it was just about to lose its battle with Mother Nature... Dawn arrived. I had replaced some bedding plants, made up the sofa bed, planned a few dinners, had a long talk with the dogs about their good behavior (she was bringing her dog with her.) and I stuck this sign on the screen door.

Her husband dropped her off. He waited in the RV while she yelled "Where the heck are you, Connie Mae." and then she made a big scene... crying and everything. My goodness... it had only been 55 YEARS.
We hugged and cried... then hugged and looked at each other... and hugged and cried more. Two old ladies, with a lot of life and distance between them, finally after all those years, seeing each other again. It was quite something.
Dawn is still the pretty, tall, opinionated, noisy person that attracted me to her when I was a little girl. Well... when we were little I was taller than her. I was shy, she was confident. I was afraid to get on the bus and go to school on the first day of first grade and she came over to me, at the bus stop, and asked me if I wanted to sit with her. That was the beginning of a fun and wild friendship.
In Junior High School her parents got a divorce and by the time we were heading for High School she left to live with her mom and brother in another town. I visited her once or twice... maybe more. We had some wild times. Too much so. My mom found out just how much fun we were having (a letter found in my room) and she told me that I couldn't go visit Dawn anymore. When I told Dawn, she got really angry and we had a very bad "parting of the ways". In the next few years we just let go of each other and even though I looked for her over the years, I never found her. She married and had a different last name. I did too.

We spent last week catching up. We talked all day and into the night. It's a good thing that the Prospector was gone on a fishing trip with friends. We would have driven him nuts.
First thing we did was make sure that the dogs were OK with each other. Little lady, Mugs, was not about to let Carl push her around.
She established her territory early on and let Carl and Cutter know that, under no circumstances were they to get up on the recliner with his Dawn.

Mugs told my dogs, in no uncertain terms, that this was her person and this would be her chair while she was here.

She was always ready for the camera... a star was born.

There were some tense moments but all in all, the relationship between the dogs went well enough that

 Mugs finally relaxed, curled up and took a nap.

The first day Carl watched some TV , like he usually does, but never moved from his position near Mugs. He was very nonchalant about it all. He always made sure that everything was under control and kept a watchful eye on her.

After he realized that Mugs wasn't going to cause trouble, or leave, he move himself to the couch and sat there watching Mugs with that regal "I'm in charge." look.

Cutter spent a lot of time right next to me.

 Then, he followed Mugs around ... like a puppy dog. I think he was in love.

We had a great week.
I showed Dawn what was left of our beautiful Mokelumne River and she even posed for a picture... the only one.

It was kind of sad that this was all I could show her of a river as majestic as the Mokelumne.

...the drought has taken its toll.

We spent one day in Sutter Creek. Had lunch and looked at all the stores and galleries. Most of the stores were closed. Business is not very good right now. There were signs in the windows of some shops saying that they were closed because of... lack of people, slow business and sales.
We had lunch and then hit the ice cream store.

Oh that Root Beer float was so good.
We bought some fudge. We ate fudge for dessert that night.
Dawn just lost 60 pounds. she looks so good. I think she may never speak to me again. But, we sure enjoyed the fudge.

One day we went to Walmart. We both had things to buy. My chickens need their scratch. They stop laying if they think that I'm not taking care of them like the Prospector does. Even a chicken can get an attitude.

At some point Dawn broke her glasses, so we went to an eye clinic in Sutter Hill.
That is when we noticed the cloud. I knew it had something to do with the fire but it wasn't until we got up on Ridge Road that we saw this huge cloud clearly.
I stopped twice to take some images of this massive Pyroclumulus cloud that was being produced by the King fire. Check this out. Massive, scary and getting bigger as we watched it.

It's one of those "worlds coming to an end" images, with smoke and clouds that you only see over a huge fire. It was actually creating its own weather. Amazing, and beautiful. 

We stopped a few times along the ridge. So were other folks. It was a sight to see.
We are about 30 miles from Placerville and the fire was northeast from there. It started in Pollock Pines on highway 50. They have arrested someone for arson.
We drove up to the Jackson Ranchera Casino. It was very busy. (Doesn't anyone work for a living anymore?) We had confined the dogs together in the backyard for quite a while. I thought that we should go home... so we didn't go into the casino and we didn't loose any money.
We drove home and spent another evening talking about our families and living in Pleasant Hill, CA. in the 50's and 60's . It was a great place to grow up.
On Thursday we stretched the day out until it was late afternoon and she had to go. Her husband asked if I could meet him down at the Walmart parking lot. He had gone to visit with his daughter in Alameda. Guess my steep, dirt road was a little intimidating for his RV. on that first trip up, so I drove Dawn and Mugs down town. They had to be in Modesto the next day and wanted to get there before dark.
We hugged and hugged... and she started crying. she cries a lot... but that's OK. 
I told her to text me along the way. She did.
They are heading back to Michigan now, with little Mugs. I think they did an awful lot of driving, but they saw lots of family and Dawn and I got to connect with each other again. That was huge!!
Whats the poem..
.

Make new friends, but keep the old;
Those are silver, these are gold.
New-made friendships, like new wine,
Age will mellow and refine.
Friendships that have stood the test-
Time and change-are surely best;
Brow may wrinkle, hair grow gray;
Friendship never knows decay.
For 'mid old friends, tried and true,
Once more we our youth renew.

 

I hope to go visit Dawn next Fall. We won't lose each other again.

(I'm leaving tomorrow for a week. Sis and I are going to Art Is You in Petaluma. This is our annual creative workshop we always do together.  I will have lots of photos and stories when I get back and some pillowcases to tell you about.)

Morning...

I brought the last Gladiolus blooms into the house a few days ago, The bugs were starting to dine on the buds

 I wanted this beautiful flower to last as long as possible...

So I put it in a small pitcher, slicing the stem diagonally to absorb more water. Then I placed the flower on the sink, near the window...  It has been so lovely to have this flower greet me these last few mornings.

Such simple beauty and yet so complicated. If this flower could talk, I'm sure it would have all kinds of wonderful things to say.

The leaves sparkle their "Good morning" to me as I prepare my drink at the counter. The Prospector, usually outside, comes in and says "Good morning" too. The aroma of the coffee, the foamy milk, the coolness of the morning and the little dog waiting, at my feet... It is, I realize, one of the rituals of my life.
 I carry a whole graham cracker and half of a banana, on a napkin, with the mug of coffee, watching that I don't trip on anything. I'm not really awake until I finish my first cup of coffee. This is a risky walk from the kitchen to the living room without caffeine... It's done with care.
 I sit down on the couch and the Corgi boys take their places on each side of me. They get one scoop of foam from my cup. A different finger for each dip. Then they wait for a piece of graham cracker at the end.
This is how the ritual goes.
I slowly wake up.
I think about what we need to do today... where I need to start.
The dogs leave... hearing some invisible noise.
I return to the kitchen and pour another cup of coffee.
As I stand at the kitchen sink, I think about the blessings in my life.
They are many. I say a quiet thank you.

And the gladiolus sits in its little white pitcher.

Smiling...

Sister time...Sharing my world with my closest ally

Sis was here a week ago for a long weekend. Her world and her loves are time consuming and sometimes demanding of her lovingkindness and big heart. So she calls me up, saying ... "Can I come up for a few days. I need a respite." She is always welcome. The only person that never needs an invitation or reason... well there are a few other people I feel this way about, but none that I say "Yes." to without question.
So she came, with her tired body and the anticipation of sleeping in, taking naps and wandering with her older sister.
We, of course, came to the river. We always have to stand on a rock and contemplate the river's beauty.

A cadence of movement and harmony, of fluid peacefulness.

The place that lets you feel its presence.

That asks you to step onto its ancient bedrock and smooth stones...

To walk across its bridges...

To understand where it comes from...

And where it's going.

To find yourself looking at something bigger and older than man's history of it and finding reassurance in that thought.

I watch my sister relax. I see her smile, talking politics with the Prospector... having patience and understanding with a different point of view. I see the little girl who still loves the man I married so long ago.

We also do the things that we always do... going to see Sandy at Country Living in Amador City and having lunch at Andres. We buy one small ceramic piece of art at a gallery in Sutter Creek, by a favorite artist, and we stopped at Wal Mart, on the way home, for some essentials. There are no Trader Joe's or Whole Foods here. We have a good time, laughing at the long lines and watching the interesting people. We are part of the potpourri.

But, always...  there are the long talks. The discussions about life. And...there are the quiet, peaceful naps, in the afternoon, with Carl, who allows Sis to cuddle up with him on the sofa bed and sleep. He thinks that this is his bed and that she is there because of his permissions. He is guarding her. What a dog! I think that this is a mutual admiration and agreement for both of them. I think they have discussed this without me.
She reads a book for hours each day, from beginning to end... a luxury of monumental proportions.
Carl, and sometimes Cutter, are always at her side.

The time goes by too quickly.
She is saying goodbye and " I love you. See you next month. I will call you about the workshop."
The visit is done. The car drives away, down the dirt road.
I wave and return to the house.

I have a sister. 
Life is good.

Wordless Wednesday" Lacewing eggs on a oak leaf

Wordless Wednesday: Morning with a Mantis