Grace and Sovereignty

Grace and Sovereignty...

Sounds like a pretty deep and ponderous post, yeah?

Well, it's not..

"Grace" is Grace Bridges, a piece I stitched some time ago, but she is finally framed and home. (Not on the wall yet...give me a few years.)

The design is by Stacy Nash and was stitched on 40-Count "Boardwalk" linen by Colour and Cotton, using the mostly called-for DMC flosses.  Many liberties were taken with the original design to accommodate my OCD.

(Marly (Samplers and Santas) would be so very proud.)

If the frame looks vaguely familiar, it is. 

This was the second piece I took to a local artist for framing, the first being Noel Sampler by With Thy Needle and Thread.

(Did I share the framed finish of that or not? I can't seem to find it in older posts. In any event, here it is:)

As you can see, they are the exactly same frame.

This was completely unintentional on both my and the framer's part.

If nothing else, I guess I am consistent.

(I prefer "consistent" to unimaginative.)

And Sovereignty...

Sovereignty is the horse that won this year's Kentucky Derby.

For many (many) years, our neighbors have hosted a Kentucky Derby party.

(I know I've posted about at least one of them before, but the posts don't show in the searches as I apparently wasn't using labels back then.)

It's been a few years since I've actually gone to one of the parties, but this year I broke hermitage and went.

Each year they do it up better.

There are mint juleps, horse betting (and other forms of gambling - scratch offs, pull tabs, bingo -all with a horsey theme), and an amazing spread of food.

This year, the track was a muddy mess, and I was grateful none of the horses were injured.

The horse, Journalism, was favored to win but (ironically??), Sovereignty beat out Journalism, and Baeza came in third. 

Although I've been a bit out of the derby loop for a while, I actually did well in the betting - winning the first place ("win") pool, the third place ("show") pool, and even the trifecta pool.

Yeeesss!!

Sometimes walking amongst the living isn't so very awful.

Happy Easter

Wishing you the blessings and peace of grace.  

May the gift of new life ever flow in your family.

Where Winter Lives

There is a place where the pines are crusted with snow and the spruce are coated with the dusty glitter of frost.

A place where the wind howls in misery as the winter passes,

and Spring shivers meekly in the unwelcoming cold, hesitant to come.

But every once and again, the fortunate soul catches a glimpse of the place transformed.

The gateway to a crystal forest opens and a tantalizing fairyland unfolds.

Dressings of ice sparkle like shards of glass, iridescent in the lucent sun,

and one is surrounded by heaven's great tears of icy glass, richly furring branches that once were bare.

While the maples groan and the pin oaks splinter, the tinkling branches laugh in the wind.

For a few short days, the world is terrible and beautiful at once and there is a nothingness in between.

This is where winter lives.

 

Blizzards, Bindings, and Birthdays

 

Another week three days, another blizzard in Nod.

The 8" of snow we received last week (Wednesday) had just begun to properly melt...and then yesterday happened.

Another 8+" of s**w.

For some reason, snow is prettier in December.

That's all I have to say about that.

On to binding....

A few weeks ago, Saundra (of Woodland Junction fame) and I had virtual, long-distance, "dates" for an hour each day dedicated to binding our rugs.  

Saundra, of course, finished hers and I, well...didn't.

I attempted to work on mine again during yesterday's storm, but I've come to the conclusion that I have a definite handicap.

Oh well...I'm sure there'll be another blizzard and another chance to bind.

The bright spot in the whiteness (and the most-welcome distraction to binding) is little Miss Mia. 

She celebrated her second birthday this month with all things kitty.

She has grown so much in one short year but one thing that hasn't changed is her now-trademark "skunk eye."

{Mia at one on the right and at two on the left}

Some things are irrefutably genetic.

Hope your blizzards are few and far between....

Should I Tell Them?

Nah, I don't think so.

But get the snowballs ready...

The Disappearing Crow

Yes, I've been gone again.

And, like all other of my disappearances, this one was not for enjoyment.

The short version of the story is that I got sick...very sick. Hospital-stay sick.  After an ambulance ride and a day and night in the ER, I was diagnosed with a kidney infection and sent home with medications....

 But I didn't get better.

No doubt, as the hospital called me within 24 hours and wanted me re-admitted as my tests showed a "rare strain" of bacteria which was resistant to all oral antibiotics except one.

And, given my amazing luck, it was the one and only antibiotic to which I am allergic.

As a result, I needed special antibiotics administered by IV...in the hospital.

After a week of additional testing...and me being my cranky self...they decided to insert a picc (a "peripherally inserted central catheter") in my arm so I could administer the antibiotics myself and sent me home.

I am slowly recovering.  The antibiotics were finally stopped and the picc line was removed last week.

I am still compromised - incredibly tired and weak, but I'm getting there.

I have, however, missed the past several weeks.

My house is caught midway between Christmas take-down (serves me right for procrastinating in that department) and Valentine's Day and, at most times, I am still uncertain of what day it is.

There are a dozen and a half things to catch up on, missed deadlines, and unmet expectations, but they will have to wait.

Accepting that part of "this" has been difficult.

One thing that I've neglected is replying to some of the (later) comments on my last post.

For that, I apologize; however, I was literally unable to read or process things for a while. But please know that I have since read them and my lack of a reply does not diminish their meaningfulness in any way.

A Fish Out of Water (For the Hookers)

In the middle of my furnace woes (which continued and intensified following my last post), I did my annual "stepping-out-of-my-house-box" undertaking and ventured down the lane to Red Barn Rugs for one of Cathy's hooking workshops.

(No, we do NOT hook in the barn, but I love how it looks against the moody sky.)

I don't tend to post a lot about hooking (because, if you haven't figured it out already, I'm a very "part-time" and distracted hooker), but thought I'd share photos of some of the rugs for those who might have an interest.

We neglected to do a "throw-down" (which, at Cathy's, I call a "throw-up" because we usually actually tack the rugs to show on the hanger on the wall) and, even though there are only 10 of us (excluding Cathy), it is a bit crowded with everyone's frames, rugs, supplies, etc.

So, I don't have a lot of photos of the works in progress - just of few of the rugs my immediate tablemates were doing - and several of Cathy's completed pieces.

I'll start with Cathy's and apologize if I've posted some of these previously.  She has so many dang rugs it's hard for me to keep track.  

If I happen to remember the name Cathy gave the rug, I'll include it under the photo.  Otherwise, if there is one you would like to know the name of, I certainly can find out for you.

{I think she calls this "Quilted Stars"}

The rug below is based on the painting The Angelus by the French master, Jean-Francois Millet:

{"The Angelus"}

This next rug was an adaptation Cathy did of a painting found on the front of an old folk-art reusable shopping list. (The photo following the rug is of the original piece from which Cathy worked.)

{"The Washer Woman"}

This rug is also based on a famous Millet painting I'm sure most of you are familiar with:  The Gleaners.

It is Cathy's pattern but this particular one was hooked by my tablemate, Marilyn Denning.  (It was also being worked on at the workshop by my other tablemate, Kim Zwiers.)

{"The Gleaners"}

As for works-in-progress, this was the rug Marilyn D. was currently working on:

I believe she was hooking this in a 3 and 4 cut.

The hookers may remember this piece of hers from Celebrations a few years back:

Another Marilyn, Marilyn Annin, was working on an original design she entitled "Good Trouble" based on the book of the same title by the civil rights activist, John Lewis.

Marilyn is an artist from Madison who does not only fiber arts but sculptures and paintings. (You can see some of her works by clicking here.)

She was celebrating her 87th birthday.

And Kim, who was working on "The Gleaners," had just finished this fun rug:

 For obvious reasons, I absolutely loved it.

As for the furnace....After nearly 2 weeks, 4 different service technicians, and 6 (give or take one or two??) service calls, I officially have working heat again. 

Oh...and that fish out of water?? 

That would be me amongst that group of hookers.