Oh my, December is half gone already!!

..... and it is still snowing every day!! A lot of past years there has been all kinds of discussion and worrying, Oh my it's going to be a green Christmas..... but NOT this year. Unless we have a massive thaw, everything will be nicely covered with the white stuff. I only have two gifts to finish, then I can get started on my 2009 show projects. New work is always exciting, if nerve wracking.
Solstice greetings to all

and now it's December, 2008

I had a goal/plan that all chores, sorting, winterizing and fixing had to be completed by Nov 30th, and 99% was actually done. I'm impressed with myself!! I am on high speed, the furnace is fixed for the season, I have changed from Bell Expressvu to Star Choice (wotta difference!! when I have a question I actually get a real live person, who knows what they are doing!! ) and I have a new to me car, a 2001 Chev Cavalier. I decided I needed to stay home for Christmas instead of going to my sister to be spoiled. Plus I cleared out TONS of un-used/unwanted stuff from every room in the house and from my life . Not bad eh??
So now my December goal/plan is to get the last gifts made, prepare for a show this month with the Land o Lakes Artisan Guild, and enjoy a 3 days a week for 8 weeks pulmonary rehab program that I was referred to by my doctor. and pay off some bills!!! THEN I can get back to creating my art!!! I have some very specific goals for that too. but more about that later

This is a squash that grew "by mistake" this year Dontcha love it!!

Sumac in my back yard

Isn't this colouration extraordinary??

Fall 2008 clearout.

This fall I have been clearing out my house and life, discarding old fabrics, yarns, projects and volunteer organizations that are no longer of interest or use. It was definitely time!! Life had become so overwhelming and cluttered that I was no longer able to focus on anything. Now I can actually get going with the things I really love. Wotta concept!!
My head and brain is actually becoming a useful appendage again. Yippee.

I have finally joined the 21st Century

Today I am finally hooked up with high speed internet..no more 8 hour downloads, no more going to make a coffee while I wait for my bank info to arrive, no more jammed mail system because someone sent me an enormous sized junk mail joke. AND the phone can be used at the same time, instead of permanently having a busy signal. WOW!!!
On the down side I have to start to send out mailings with my new email address..now THAT is going to be an extra large pain in the neck. However I can still access my old server for a while so no panic!!
Everything is so fast now. My evening "check the mail" took only minutes to deal with, even with the "gotta check that out" side trips. LUV IT!!
Picture me HAPPY Shirley

Oops, I missed October!!

It is November 9th, 6.30am, and I have been trying to access epost. Wotta pain that is!! Sometimes it lets me in, but mostly it ignores me, then shuts me out. VERY irritating and time consuming, especially as I'm still on dial up.
and that's another irritant. There are finally a few high speed services out here in the boonies, but trying to get someone to actually install everything in my village has been a nightmare. None of them have followed thru on what they say they can/will do. Frustrating, and time consuming again.
Hope your internet experiences are less annoying!! Happy Sunday

September 2008

My life over the last couple of years has been a real slow, brain-dead, lethargy filled drone, with lung infections and my puffers appearing not to have any effect. At the end of August I was finally referred by my doctor to a pulmonary team/clinic to see if my lung function could be improved. (I have COPD). DONT EVER SMOKE FOLKS!!!!

AMAZINGLY, I was just told to reshuffle the puffers I use, use this one first, then that one, then that one. Two of the drugs were combined into a single dose application, and I was told to prop the head of my bed up a little. and unbelievably, there has been a MASSIVE improvement in my health, attitude, and levels of oxygen in my blood stream. I simply am astounded at the changes as are my friends and family. I can stay awake, think, plan, work in the garden, have fun and generally feel alive again.

Life is GREAT again. Have a fun fall folks Shirley

OK so now it's August!!

I am still struggling to get my creative act together, but a few pieces have been designed for a series I want to do. A small needle felted base has been made, ready for embellishing, and several pieces of fabric have been dyed with rust for a collage I plan to do on a canvas base for an Art Explorations Yahoo group challenge. A year ago I put together a small crazy patch quilt with some of my hand dyed fabric and I have finally started creating and attaching embroidered, beaded plus pre-made lace and ribbon motifs. It's gonna be a knock out!! However, it's also going to take a long time but it's supposed to be ready for a show in 2010, so I do have some time to play with it.
Hope your summer is creative and fun. Shirley

Now I've seen everything!!

My yard is full of cats and kittens that have been abandoned, dropped off, or just found that there is usually food here, etc. They are all strays that REALLY need a home....so if you need an affectionate kitty cat or kitten, just call me!! they are all different colours, shapes and sizes. We have one that we named Sicky, because she was the sickest, puniest cat/kitten when she was dropped off here, we were sure she wasn't going to make it, but she eventually turned into a beautiful affectionate cat. She's seems to be part Siamese, white with chocolate highlights and incredible blue eyes. Anyway, I heard water running in the bathroom, went to check on it, and there was Sicky with her bum over the toilet, peeing profusely!!! She must have watched us a lot when she was little....... Go figure, huh??

I finally have some kinda large pictures posted. #1 is a Christmas Tree done for a fundraiser donation. #2 is Druids Dreams with different types of trees and #3 which is I Hate Fall, done after a workshop with Judy Morningstar in which she asked us to write a story with our art. I truly don't like fall (fall phobia?) and this piece talks about all the reasons. Now I need to find out how to put this entry next to the pictures!!!

Here I am again... I think, fingers crossed, that my lengthy creative slump might be over. I did a bunch of stuff yesterday, challenges for Napanee Artisan's Guild. Today I'm planning to start on a month long challenge for Art Explorations, an online group I belong to. By golly, my brain is actually working again!!!
Challenges used to leave me totally brain dead, no ideas, no comprehension of the concept, nada zip. However, my buddy, Ingrid, got me working on simple stuff, and eggs me on when a new one turns up. I am now part of an international round robin, and signing up for challenges everywhere I go...... So my next personal challenge is to start on my new series of fiber/mixed media art pieces. Wish me luck.

Wow, what happened to this year?

It is now July 2nd, 2008. My fear that the blog would prevent me from working on my art was definitely misplaced. No entries, and almost no new pieces either. A total desert!!
However, the bathroom is finally being renovated, first time since the 70's I understand when the room was originally converted from a small bedroom. The house itself was built in 1845, so everything is somewhat lopsided and warped, but I love it.
I have some work in a gallery now, at Artemisia in Westport, Ontario, so I guess I am making some progress.
I will try and post some pictures of my work in the near future. Have a great summer. Shirley

Winter in Ontario

Winter here is long, cold and restrictive. However, this week I have sewn a lot, dealt with office and online stuff, and generally actually begun to catch up a bit with my back log of wanna do's. The crazy quilt is not any further forward because the guild meeting was canceled, due to yet more snow, so why rush to get it put together!! right??
However, a canvas work piece is plodding along nicely, I've done some research on different interesting techniques and I'm downloading all kinds of useful stuff as we speak. Sundays seems to be download day and as I'm stuck with dial up, this takes AGES!!! I've also got some Surface Design Group swaps made and ready to be mailed. and read a book and listened to several books on tape while I sew.
Not a bad week altogether.

Hmmmmmmm!!

So much for the procrastinating idea. I actually got 5 crazy patch blocks made yesterday!! Now all I have to do is put the blocks together so the quilt top can be photographed on Feb 6th at the Limestone Quilters Guild meeting, the deadline for entry into the Quilts Kingston show.
Then the embellishment starts, to be completed for early May.
The weather here is atrocious, sleet, freezing rain, high winds, and snow! Just yummy - but great for staying home and stitching, which is what I shall do today

Yet another procrastination tool I fear!!

I have just created this blog so I can ramble on about "stuff" that I find interesting, and maybe meet some new e-friends, therefore Welcome to my first ever blog posting.

I am a dab hand at finding things to do rather than get on with my sewing/painting/fibre art. Sometimes I even sweep the kitchen floor!! So I have a feeling this new web tool might be used as yet another "gotta do" before getting back to the sewing machine or dye bath. However, having said this maybe it'll have the reverse effect, fingers crossed.
I'll let you know Shirley