Winter................will it ever be spring!

OK, I'm trying to practice gratitude, positive thoughts, serenity etc., but I just don't like winter.   It doesn't like me and I don't like it.  If I'm to find a positive, it would be that last night we had fresh new snow and quite a bit of it, so everything is clean and covered again.

This has been a bad winter for icicles.   We hardly ever get them and both levels of our house have lots of icicles.   The one on the left end of this picture is actually 2 icicles - they had grown together and actually came down almost to the bottom of the window.

A lone clump of  grasses that surround my birdbath in the front yard.   Behind it is the concrete bench - both of these adorn my usually beautiful front yard - at least during the warmest seasons of the year.    I miss my front yard....and all the flowers, the rocks, the stones, the grasses.......all the beautiful textures of summer.

A view thru the gazebo to the shed at the back of the lot.  

Stress Can Kill You.......................

..............please, don't let it.   If your body hurts, listen to it!    Don't try to push through it and don't ignore it.   How do I know?   What I thought was an appointment for a luxurious massage, turned into more massage therapy for a painful shoulder.   All the muscles of the neck, shoulders and one arm were extremely tight.  I had been complaining of shoulder pain thinking it was something like rotator cuff.   Now, I'm not so sure.   I know I tend to hold stress in parts of my body - but this was way more than I was aware of.   Don't be a hero and think you have to work and keep going and ignore pain!    It's not healthy.   Listen to your body and investigate what could be going on with your life that has taken up residence in your body!

Here's a restful picture.........    I find water to be very peaceful.   This is a nearby park where I walk in the summer.    I need to visualize this sort of thing more often!!

Thought for the Day!

I cannot believe that the inscrutable universe turns on an axis of suffering;  surely the strange beauty of the world must somewhere rest on pure joy!.....Louise Bogan

Beaded Dress a/k/a "Eye Candy for Kathi"

I call this "Eye Candy for Kathi" because she is always showing her "finds" from the Salvation Army Store (a/k/a Sally's Boutique" ) here in Batavia.   A friend brought me this dress this morning that she had found and she knew I liked beading things.   

Look at this beaded dress!!!   Isn't it absolutely

gorgeous!! It is teal colored sequins, some lace and lots and lots of beading!    Look at the next few pictures to see a close-up of some of the motifs.   This will absolutely have to find its way into some of my art quilt endeavors!!!   (Given that the size of the dress contains only one digit, it will never find its way onto my body for sure)

Group Flower

Our little art quilt group (& yes we do have a name, although I'm not sure I like it and I can say that since I picked it), is doing a group flower.   The flower is called "convolvulous" and the picture was divided into 5 sections with each of us interpreting it in our own way.   3 of us have finished - Sharon on the left, mine in the middle and Kathi's on the right.   Sharon painted some of her fabrics and used light blue satin ribbon.   Kathi used snippets with netting over all and then machien stitched for highlights.   Mine has appliqued pieces and is all-over beaded for highlights.   I also put a bug charm in the center.   I think it will look really neat when it is all done.

Happy Valentine's Day!

My Valentine Flowers - aren't they gorgeous.   I was so surprised to see them sitting on the table when I got home from a guild meeting yesterday - 3 days early!!!!!!

Challenge Quilt Award

OK, so this is a repeat picture posting of my Challenge Quilt for our guild - but I now know that I won a Machine Quilting Award for this quilt.   I quilted water motion & circles where the crystals are to indicate ripples where the dew drops fell.    I still love it.