Around the Studio and Beyond

Un petit tour d'atelier cela ne fait pas de mal. It can but one would have to look where to step and be careful of what to touch. Needles can make their way onto the floor and  travel so easily onto the surface of the tables. There are some obstacles like piles of fabric or work in progress that need to be stepped over. The occasional book piles and art supplies left on the floor. But please come in, now that you have been warned...

A lifetime of hording, that is sizable if  horded in one room, or one level, or one house. Add the same amount of years of patina over (dust some would say) and you have a pretty good idea of my space. A place to let one's imagination loose.

Where the visitor feels free to make a mess and not worry about it. Work on what one fancies. It has everything one would need, and more, much, too much more. It feels perfect to "this person".

You have the  children's projects hanging on the window's corner, the stacks of yarns, the inspiration board with multiple must do projects, the collections of whatever this person collects, the large amount of books on shelves and close at hand on the floor, the gifts from loved ones, and then of course the memories.

Sit, take a time out from the World, come and rest in meditation and listen to the soft music from the wind blowing through the trees,the birds nesting and the gentle rain landing on the roof.

Will Spring Ever Come?

I have had a bad case of the Winter's End. I feel stuck in a grey scale again. I know there are really some other colors in the yard and trees but this lead color sky and stagnating air is just bringing me dowwwwwnnnn.

Off for a walk today (last weekend), by the water, should have done the trick, but, nope. The air is so cold still and people wear too many clothes. Gloomy!. It was busy on the trail, dogs taking their owners on a walk. Those were happy beasts, all ears in the wind, nose pushing ahead, having a purpose. Well I was dragging. I did take some pictures. So inspiring to see all that grey scale around.

 Even the birds were in tone, black birds, cormorants, crows, ravens, eagles. Gloomy! I also felt cheated because the weather man had said we would have some sun showing up. Well, nope. There was also a strange sound coming from under the pier.

 Like a ghost sound done by the wind. At first I took it for a barking seal, but it was stranger than that and pretty daunting. Something that would send chills up your spine. My fertile imagination doesn't need much to activate the sensory buttons. I had already few scenario of how this sounds could have it's origin. Hello Tana French would you like some help for the next murder mystery case...

Oh I was on the edge of Chambers Bay. It is an old sand pit turned into a golf paradise. Very challenging course from what everyone is saying. It will host the 2015 US Open Championship. Are you impressed yet? Well you would not think so right now just coming out of Winter, it looks in need of Vitamin. There is a nice paved trail all around the golf course and it is hilly. I was feeling on the last 1/3 meandering through the up and down terrain. Someone designing it must have had a sense of humor and a golf cart!!!

The beach is a dream for the photographer. The birds, the weathered logs on shore, the rusty shacks, the railway, old gravel factory like ancient vestige. A pretty random mess ending up being interesting and sad, at least worthy of being captured on SD.

And here we go, I have managed to drag myself out of a mire depressed state and turned it into a memorable energized time. Who says that life is boring even if your World is grey?

Walla Walla, On Arrive!

Close to the Oregon border, not far from the Columbia River, Walla Walla is now a choice area for wine makers and consequently wine drinkers.

The perfect town for Curt and I to celebrate our 30 year anniversary. How to celebrate a countable lifetime together? Well how about by tasting 30 different wines, cheering 30 times and gathering 30 souvenir bottles?

 Maybe, but not really when it comes to Curt and I. We are more of the lets try and see, lets taste and enjoy, lets talk about it, lets bet on it, lets argue about it, lets live it, lets not count... After a nice dinner at Brasserie 4 and a great lunch at Green Spoon, a pain au chocolat and Cappuccino on a historical downtown walk at the Colville Patisserie, a walk in the snow at Whitman College, a visit at the Walla Walla Foundry, a 5mn visit in a small quilt store who still has calico fabrics for $2 to $5 a yard (no! I didn't get any),  the rest of our stay was filled with touring those wineries: 

Dusted Valley was a given ( Pharmacists turned Winemakers =  good chemistry that can be tasted in those bottles), then L'Ecole #41 because it is one of the earlier "pioneers" along Leonetti Cellars to arrive in the Walla Walla area and still share some vines with each other. Then Basel which was disappointing, with a very snooty young woman pouring for us very boring wines ( beautiful location though and stately log cabin). Dunahm Cellars that had beautifully crafted wines and a very fun host. Insenhower Cellars where we were welcomed by the lady of the house and her three young daughters, very much a family owned business with interesting wines, their table wine is excellent as well as their Syrah and Rose which was pretty and tasty.

 Many wineries were unfortunately closed due to our Sunday and Monday stay but also the end of the winter season. So: Buty, Walla Walla Vintners, Syzygy,  A Maurice, Foundry Vineyards, Grantwood Winery, Va Piano Vineyards were closed and missed. I am due to come back in June with my friends and might have more luck at this time.

A fun time even if the cold wind and the snow made it a bit more difficult to enjoy the outdoors, it didn't stop us from seeing wild turkeys, pheasants, deers and many different migrating and nesting birds. The snow dust on the hills added an extra dimension to the decor.

A nice escapade peaceful and gentle, high points food and wines, low point the weather, slow and steady, a perfect celebration for this 30 years old marriage.

And I Thought It Couldn't Get "Cosier" Around Here!

Yeah well as I said because life at home is near perfect comfort and leaving it is getting harder and harder I might have found another level of comfort that is going to be ever more challenging to join in the outside brouhaha. A real nest to curl up with a good book with a warm pouch at my feet. I don't even need a background music as the gurgling sound of the fountain just is enough for the extra peace of mind.

Well of course a cup of tea is always good with a muffin or such in the afternoon. My figure might suffer from the inaction but boy does that feel good. So anyway remember my escapade to the Shibori Dragon? I had gotten a nice colorful book to make "Wild" tea cosies. I have always looked for a cozy over the years and couldn't find what I had in mind, they were all too cozy cutesy if you know what I mean. That was then and this is now.....

I have made a Wild Tea Cozy with a crochet hook and a mix of fun yarn that I had around the house.

It is the "Sunflower Cozy" which for mine it doesn't fit the title so I am renaming it "Le Chardon" (The Thistle) due to the colors I used.

Now I will not have to go back so often to fill the teapot with hot water, right. So more opportunity to keep focused on the pages and the stillness of the present.

Peace is addictive and can endanger  one's social life if you are not careful with it. Who know!!!???

"Tea, Anyone?"...

The Day of Shibori Dragon

Well shopping is not something that I do very often anymore especially when it comes to fabric, quilt stores, I will avoid it at all cost. So, of course as in everything there are exceptions. One of those started to happen on Saturday when I went to the TARTS meeting (Fiber Art Group) and a nice innocent well intended person handed it out coupons for a "blue" sale, happening at the Shibori Dragon in Lakewood. I was doomed to go and have a look.

It is the Year of the Fire Dragon, which will not come around again in my lifetime and I had yet to celebrate the Chinese New Year so I saw this as a sign, wouldn't you have? I waited for Monday to make my move to really let the anticipation built or to forget about it (but not this time...) So Monday, around noon, I was ready to face the wind, the rain and the sale!!!

The GPS didn't stall, the roads didn't flood, the wind didn't blow me away from my destination. Those were other auspicious signs that I was meant to be shopping!!! Nice parking up front made it easy for me to run into the store without getting wet. The store was inviting and not your typical quilt store, with a definite oriental theme to it. The owner's collection of Chinese statues (many are Dragons) are in cases and shelves throughout the store and give the place a most exotic feel. It is a well appointed store with everything you need. It has beads to create jewelry, yarn to create from sweaters to socks to felted purse, thread for embroidery, fabric, remnants,

hand painted paper, oregami papers, paint, dyes, patterns for clothes, purses, quilts, dolls, pillows...

Extensive notion, books, kits, intriguing objects, raw wool.    All this is arrange in an harmonious way so you can meander and flow around the rooms without feeling rushed. So I took my time. Then I got a basket and then I filled my basket. After that it was all over for me, an out of control moment that found me a bit guilty but so happy later that it was all worth it. Two books (a Noni book of purse pattern and "Wild Tea Cosies"), hand painted paper for journal making, vintage silk kimono pieces, Japanese indigo printed fabric, a green scarab bead, a piece of gold silk, knitting gadgets, 3 spools of King Tut's variegated cotton from Superior Threads. I feel like a glutton after an eating frenzy, I can't move, a stupid smile is permanently etched on my face, a comatose state half aware of my surroundings. I am in a state of torpor and loving it!

So that is it! My binging is over for now and I shall regain control of myself for a while. It is Mardi Gras and Monday was definitely more Fat than today. I can now abstain and be frugal for a while.... Yes I can, I promise. Now to create in my mind with all those beautiful things.... My addiction should be recommended as the most healthy cure to all subjects afflicted by winter boredom and winter blues. Now, time to work!!!