A computer crash

Why is it that I tell all my kids to have back up for their computer but I didn't do it for mine?
It is old and I've been gently using it when I need to upload photos and document my art work.
Yesterday, through email, I was asked to write another article for Quilting Arts! Yes, exciting, right? I could hardly sleep thinking about what I needed to do today. I got to it early this morning, organizing my samples to send and doing a few more while taking photos of the process.
I worked at my kitchen room table in a sunny spot. Everything went well and I cleaned up.

I uploaded my photos to my computer to make sure they were good. I went to make a cup of tea to sip while I sat and organized the photos. When I got up, I caught the camera cord which in turn jerked the tower. The screen went blank and now it won't start!!!
I took some deep breaths, checked out my plants on my deck, and called my husband.

A line full of clothes makes me happy and I tried to let the sun after days of rain calm me but I may be freaking out! My husband who looks after most computer problems, said to wait for him. At the very least he can take the hard drive and retrieve the info.
All I can do is sit here numbed.

I turned the power bar and the computer off while I wrote this. It has booted up!!!

An Arty day

Despite waking at 4:45AM this morning with running sinuses and taking Benedryl and tea back to bed with me, which then made me groggy for half the day, it turned out to be a satisfying day.
When I finally dragged myself out into the rain, I made my way to a friend's house for an art show.

It was positively magical!

One artist and designer, Karla Branch drove the 9 hours here from Montreal for the show! I took the natural dyeing workshop from her last fall when she was staying with her dad here in Bathurst.
She now has a little shop in Montreal where she paints canvases and repurposes and natural dyes vintage silk and wool clothing.
I purchased this beautiful silk blouse that I've had on since I got home.

The show was at recycling artist Nicole Boudreau's home. Her husband also contributes his driftwood framed mirrors and fish sculptures one of which is hanging on the wall in the above picture.
Sarah Branch also had her very unique pottery.

By the time I finally made it home and I'd had a quick snack, (they even served tea and homemade cookies), I was so tired that I stretched out on my sofa with a couple of magazines and my hand sewing. It wasn't long before I had nodded off. Both my husband and I were napping when his brother arrived and convinced him to go golfing. By this time the rain had stopped. It is still cloudy and damp and I'm quite sure their feet will be wet. I was invited but wet days on the course are not for me.
Truth be told--and we won't tell-- I was content to let my husband go. I dragged out my sketchbook and colored pencils, put on some music and did a quick study of some allium that I picked from my garden this week.

That's not my paint water by the way, it's my glass of milk. Sometimes I have to be careful not to dip my brush into my drink.
I used colored pencils as this is one of those cheap paper sketchbooks. I like them to quickly sketch out ideas for fiber art.

I wondered how it might look with a bit of background design screened on with acrylic paint, so I took it to my paint table and scraped a bit on around the flowers. By this time it is getting a bit dark outside and the I Pad has really picked up the yellow.

It's not as bright a yellow as it seems but that would be ok anyway-- it's an experiment.--and once translated into fabric, would likely be quite different. The final step was to add some blue watercolor over top.
What I do is to let all these ideas rest in my sketchbook and one day I'll be leafing through it for fiber art ideas and something will light a spark.
I've done the allium before but in the vertical position and thought it would be interesting to do them horizontally.

I shall gave to clean this up a bit before hubby comes home. Truthfully, he is very tolerant of my artistic messes that seem to end up in every room in the house. At least he has his 'man cave' to himself.

I've managed to cover the whole coffee table!

Tomorrow once I've made a Father's Day breakfast for hubby and decided on supper, I'm hoping to get into my sewing studio to finish up a couple of things. The weather forecast is not good so that's where I'll likely be.

Binding my cosmos runner

Wow, yesterday, I was on such a high after my weekend away that I hardly stopped all day. Yup, I paid for it last night, kept awake by pain--I over did with my bits of gardening. Vowing to take it easier today, I did put in a few more pansies and seeds, puttered a bit arranging pots and recycled glass, and then came inside.
The deck is under construction and being expanded when my husband has time. Being unable to do my usual veggie garden all around and climbing the rails, I had to resort to a few pots.

Little things like fresh cut flowers as they come into their season make me happy. The apple blossoms have fallen like snow but the allium are in full bloom and the lilac trees are nearing their complete fullness in the next couple of days. There is an order and a repetitiveness to nature that makes one anticipate the small changes each day.

Before coming inside, I set out my latest mushroom like piece assembled from thrift store glass pieces.

 Like my first piece, I've also added a small solar light inside. It was glowing very prettily last night on the deck; I look forward to seeing it in the garden tonight.
Inside, I can view the little garden from my kitchen and sewing room.

I've been listening to soft music, watching the birds bathing and eating the apple blossoms while puttering. This little garden angel that I made at a friend's cottage a few years ago has been pinned through the wings to my bulletin board ever since.

Seeing my garden coming alive again must have inspired me to tack on her wings and add a ribbon hanger.
I have finally gotten my art work ready to put in the shop downtown: I'm going on Thursday, so I finally got the binding on this table runner which I will take with me to hand stitch down.

I was just running a new piece of elastic into the waist of PJ bottoms when I snipped the end of my finger Ouch! I'm typing this with it tightly wrapped in Kleenex. Time to take a break!
I'm connecting to the Needle and Thread Network.

Weekend visiting my daughter in PEI

I've come through a very challenging few months health wise and I learned this weekend that there is light at the end of the tunnel.i went to visit my daughter who has just begun her BEd at UPEI.
On Friday night she took me to the opening of an Art gallery/restaurant/furniture and clothing store called The Dunes. It was crowded, very artsy, people dressed in lots of funky clothes, and they were circulating wine and finger foods.
The couple summers on the island and winters in Polynesia. There are many things from there in the shop besides a gallery of local artists.
The gardens really took my breath way. I hardly knew where to look.

The living quarters are in this section and was open to the public for this night only.

This is their view.

Those are infinity pools which run all across the front and can be seen from the second floor living area.

I recommend a visit if you're on the island.

As it was overcast Caley took me shopping on Saturday and we ate lunch at my sisters new cafe called the Thoughtful Squash, located in Mount Stewart. Caley had a burger from local beef and I had squash soup with a side of root vegetable chips. All homemade and yummy.
After a nice walk on the Charlottetown promenade and lunch with my mom and her husband, I left for home.
This was the view that I met when I arrived.

Not anything like the fantastic gardens at the Dunes, but still it is my little piece of Heaven and much appreciated. Today the blossoms are falling like snow. I arrived tthe perfect time.
Fleeting beauty that must be savoured in the moment.

I purchased this pretty batik yoga mat from the Dunes. Perfect for meditation and some yoga moves. It sure looks pretty in my living room too.
I finished my day today with a fresh corn and black bean salad and homemade iced tea. I steeped some loose green tea, chilled it, added a fresh squeeze of lime and a dash of honey.
Compared to a few short weeks ago, I'm feeling so much more optimistic. My neuropathy is manageable. I'm so excited to get to some projects, I don't know what to do first!
Shortly I'm going out to do some gardening. I'm looking forward to getting to some sewing and painting, but it will have to wait for a rainy day.

Apple blossoms, waxwings, and recycled glass solar lights

Every year just as our apple tree is bursting into bloom the waxwings arrive. I'm never sure if they're sampling the nectar or actually eating the blossoms. We always have plenty of apples regardless so I won't begrudge them. They seem to have a soft pink hue on their breast and would be very pretty if not for the bandit like mask around their eyes.

I went out the other night after posting about my recycled glass feeder with the solar light inside and tried to get a picture as it was getting dark. The solar light  works!

I can't wait to try more!
 It took me 3 tries to figure out how to turn off the flash. I confess that I am very lazy about reading and learning to use all the features on my camera. I have a Canon Rebel Eos and I barely know the basics! There are just so many things to learn, aren't there? I really must.
One thing I learned in my reading about photography once was to take lots of pictures and you're bound to get one good one. This is how I got the next one of the apple blossoms. There were a few that were not so great. Digital is so fun!

 I'm just sorry that I am leaving my yard just as things are coming into bloom. I'm going to visit my daughter in PEI where she is going to university. (I can hardly believe I can write that after she spent 3 1/2 years in Korea). I think the lilacs might be out when I get back though; isn't that what is lovely about summer? It has its own phases of flower and plant growth.

A tiny flower study

It seems as if my time is eaten up by too many things lately, a sign of spring and the gardening season, I guess. Today, I felt as if I flitted from one thing to another ever since I got home from yoga. I had to make a run to the grocery store, water new plants, pot a plant for the front step, do supper preparations, get some work clothes ready for my husband, and I even squeezed in cutting the strips for a small binding.

On the way home from yoga picked up a nice potted plant for the planter on my front step. All I needed to do was transfer it from the hanging pot to the square one. Easy, peasy.

Finally, I decided it was time to slow down. I made a cup of tea and grabbed my sketchbook and paints.

It's just a quick little study of my first picked flowers of the year, forget-me-nots and bleeding hearts, but it did slow me down at least.

Upcycling glass

With some warm weather finally here, I've been spending more time outdoors on sunny days and until it gets too hot for me.
After getting my housework done this morning and hanging out the bedding, I put together a small bird feeder/bath for my garden. I've been collecting cheap pieces of glass from the second hand store as well as yard sales and I have a couple more pieces in mind.

I'm waiting before I put more together though because I glued the top of a solar light (without its stake) into one of the vases, and I want to see if it works tonight.