Mountain Weekend

This weekend it was back to our mountain cabin.  Finally, there are leaves on the trees there!

I went on a walk looking for signs of spring, and found many!

I thought it was about time for the wild "flame" azalea to be in bloom.  I found some on the very top of the mountain.

The pink ladies' slipper orchids are somewhat elusive, but we have a nice crop growing along our driveway.

Before we left home, I started work on a watercolor painting  Here is a preview of the unfinished scene.  It does not have much left to do except add some detail.

A few weeks ago I gave my sister the Inspire journaling Bible.  She had seen what I was doing with my Bible art, and was interested, but not sure how to get going illustrating the pages.  The Inspire Bible has line drawings and text in the margins on many pages, but also has many blank margins to fill as desired.  She came over this afternoon and we painted together.  She was doing a page from Revelations, so I turned to the same page and chose to illustrate the Tree of Life from Revelations.

I tried out my new Derwent Inktense pencils.  They are a water-soluble colored pencil, but not watercolor.  The color is acrylic ink.  Once it dries, you can not reactivate the color by wetting it.  I love the vibrant, rich color and the ease of drawing with pencil rather than paintbrush.

Must stop...time for Game of Thrones!

Life is Beautiful

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind.  We soaked in a lot of beauty in Florida on our daily travels to and from Sarasota.

 We splurged and stayed for two days at Lido Key in Sarasota to save a bit of travel time and relax on the beautiful gulf beach.

                                          

We crossed a lot of bridges, both literally and figuratively.

And we are happy to say that on the last day, Charlie's doctor told us that he is in complete remission!  We cannot believe it.  It is almost a miracle!

Here is our Florida team that was with us all the way...my brother Jeff and his wife Anna.  We cannot thank them enough for providing a home, car, meals, and constant support and friendship.

So this part of our journey is over.  We are home.  We are feeling blessed and grateful.

If anyone you know is experiencing prostate cancer, even advanced cases with metastasis like Charlie's, I can highly recommend Dattoli Cancer Center in Sarasota, Florida.  All they do is treat prostate cancer.  And they do it well.

Child's Art Journal

One of the joys of being with my grandchildren is making art with them.  I babysat for little Charlotte two days a week from the time she was three months old until she was two and a half.  She loves to paint and color.

I save up her artwork (mostly big swaths of paint) and the little crayon drawings I make for her.  I used some of these to make a cover for an inexpensive spiral-bound art journal I got her for Christmas.

The pink flower background is a painting with washable glitter paint, Charlie's medium of choice.  The little girl is a crayon drawing that I enhanced with a black ink pen.  I added a little watercolor to the figure to fill in the color.  The text is just lettered on with a permanent black ink pen.

On the back, I cut some shapes out of Charlie's painted papers and added some words.

I used gel medium to attach all the papers to both front and back, and also to coat the finished pages.

I can't wait to start filling up all those white pages inside with her!

We are enjoying a balmy December here in Raleigh.  What a treat to be able to go for walks with my dog without even needing a jacket!

Yesterday we walked on the greenway at Crabtree Creek near our home.  It was so nice to be able to enjoy the outdoors as winter approaches.

Our pond at our Raleigh home was looking nice and shiny yesterday.  I enjoyed a rare chance to eat lunch outside on our deck overlooking the pond. 

Tonight is craft night at a friend's house.  I have no idea what we are going to make.  Stay tuned!

A Flock of Ibis

I came across these little guys while walking my brother's dog this week.

A Flock Of Ibis, Jeanne Turner McBrayer, 2015

The ibis appeared to be eating bugs out of a sunny spot on a neighbor's grassy lawn.  They looked very pretty in the sunshine.

We have had some great bird-watching off the deck of the house.  There is a small lake, and we enjoy seeing the variety of wildlife attracted to it.  Otters, ducks, herons, iguanas, even bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, and owls are all in the neighborhood.

There are two bald eagles perched at the very top of the Norfolk Island Pine, just above the first pine branch.

A couple of ducks at the edge of the lake.

An iguana is swimming across the lake.

It is a serene place to sit outside and read or just relax.  The weather is getting nicer here, less hot and less humid, making it even more attractive.

Memorial Day Weekend in Mountains

We had a very productive weekend at our North Carolina mountain place.  We ordered a storage building being built by the Amish.  It will look a lot like this photo, but with a green tin roof.

Then we started building a rose garden along our driveway.  We already had a masonry wall built by our friend Tom Fissel last year.  The little girls in the family were using it as a balance beam, which made me nervous that they fall down onto the lower driveway.  When these knock-out roses fill out, I don't think they will want to be on that wall.

What a labor of love!  I am sure we will enjoy this garden for years to come.  One of these days we will cover that white wall with a rock veneer of some sort.

We also started insulating the basement that will one day be my sewing studio.  Our friend Big Mike also came up and finished the wiring.  Yippee...lights!  Power outlets!

I had not even turned on my Gammill all winter because it was so cold down there.  I briefly turned it on to check out the outlets.  It fired right up, and I gave it a good cleaning and a nice big drink of oil.  Can't wait to have some time to do some quilting.

I have been taking some nice walks with my camera phone.  Here are some of the nature shots of this beautiful area.

Fire pinks and ferns in our back yard.

A flame azalea blossom.

Mountain laurel

Mountain Laurel

On the way back to Raleigh on US 421 we were surprised to look up and see the Goodyear blimp overhead.  I think it was in the area for the Coca-Cola 500 race in Charlotte on Sunday.  I took a picture through our sun roof.

It was a great weekend!

Art Quilt: Connections

I went to the PAQA-South quilt exhibit at the Page-Walker Arts and History Center in Cary yesterday, thinking that I would linger and take some photos prior to my art quilt group going out there for our November meeting.  I took a few photos in the foyer of the old house, and was told by the lady at the desk that I could not take individual photos of the quilts.  I could only take shots of the quilts from across the room.  Well, that is the first time anyone has stopped me from taking pics at this venue.

In the display case at the entrance, there is a colorful arrangement of prayer flags made by members of PAQA-South.  I must have missed the memo asking us to make these.  They look great!

I found my quilt upstairs on the second floor.  The room is not nearly as lovely as the downstairs parlor with the gorgeous wood floors, grand piano, and fireplace.  It is just a meeting room.  But I liked the quilts upstairs.  Mine is the little guy at lower center.

Here is the wall at the far end of the room.  The two quilts on each end are by Raleigh quilter Roxanne Lessa.

Here are some more on a different wall upstairs.

 And these are on the wall opposite my quilt.  My friend Roberta Morgan's quilt is the one with the faces next to the window.

It has been beautiful in Raleigh.  I took my dog for a walk at Umstead State Park, which actually adjoins my neighborhood.  Instead I drove to the entrance off Glenwood so we could walk around Big Lake.  The leaves are just starting to change there.

We are now in the mountains, where it is quite chilly and there is a freeze warning for tonight.  I started quilting an antique quilt top this afternoon.  It is going well, and I should finish quilting it this weekend.  Photos to come in a future post.  Here is a teaser:

Baby Quilt Progress

I've been babysitting the last two days for my little Charlie, but today I came home to my sewing room and finished piecing the blocks for an I Spy Quilt.  I had finished the short sides last time, and had the long sides all organized in order for quick chain piecing.

When you chain-piece, you just sew one block after another without stopping to cut threads.  You end up with a "chain" of attached blocks.  You just sew one side, then start again and sew the other side, before cutting the threads apart.

Then, I pressed both long sides to the outside, and checked to make sure that each block had a "twin" with a matching center.  These seem to be upside down!

Next is the fun part...arranging the blocks in a pleasing placement on the design wall.

Here are some other pictures from the last two days.  First, my grandbaby!

  

She is full of new tricks, including sitting up, eating solid food, and, oh yes, happily untying my shoes!

It has gotten scorching hot this week, but we are still having heavy rains during thunderstorms.  All this has made the yard extremely green for this time of year.  I took a walk around the house this morning with my camera.

I love the way the sun lights up the woods in places where it can break through the trees.

The swallowtail butterflies are enjoying my flowering shrubs, including abelia, butterfly bush, and crepe myrtle.

Hope you are enjoying life wherever you are!