Weekend Outing!!!!

Hi everyone!!!

Come along and

join my 

weekend adventures with me!!

I started off the weekend wandering through one of the local antique stores in town.

I took a few photos

of some of the highlights.

This store sells new items and some antiques.

Here's a 

 very cute white bed...

Gold highlights everywhere....

Birds and pine cones......

Tons of pillow arrangements...

Lovely dishes....

I really liked the colors of this display.

More pillows...

and a really neat sofa.

I had fun wandering through the store.

After the store I set off to the lake.

It was a very windy night so I settled in

to draw a quick little lady.

My little people drawings are little lake 

people characters.  Note, she is complete

with a salmon skeleton, and fish hook hat.

 She is wearing a warm coat, because it's 

still only about 18 degrees out during the day.

I decided to take a walk in the morning.

 I came across a creek that had frozen over

and had flooded the surrounding trees in ice.

It's very beautiful, but slippery.

Lots of sticks and vegetation

 are suspended in their icy

homes.  They are stuck until the warm weather frees them.

There are little sprigs and pine cones laying about everywhere.

Up above the shoreline the wind had blown

some fish bones onto a soft mossy bed.

And in a tree I noticed a beautiful Eagle feather.  

Even the lichen in the  trees looked tangled and

tired from the high winds. 

It was a cold walk along the shore.  My only company

was a distant car out on the ice.  

A very determined ice fisherman.

I noticed that he had left as I hiked into the woods.  

I guess the cold wind

forced him home.

You can see all the twigs on the old trail from the 

high winds from the previous evening.

On my drive home I noticed that

Cook Inlet still had

a lot of ice floating about.

Our days are getting longer, so the sun

will soon win

and make it disappear.

My weekend came to a close with a beautiful

sunset.

Warm Thoughts!

Seems like so many places are still stuck in a deep freeze.

Cold temperatures, snow, freezing winds, and ice.

I thought I would post a little watercolor that I made

to help warm up our thoughts for green grass,

flowers, and warmer temperatures.

My son and daughter are both off at College.
One is in Idaho and the other is in Oregon.
It's snowing in both places today!!!
Thats rather unusual
for this time of the year!

In Anchorage this morning it was a warm 8 below zero!!

Maybe if we all put our minds together and think warm thoughts we might just succeed
in sending old man winter away!!!

Ok, all together now!!

Think warm fuzzy sunny thoughts, ha, ha

Grab a nice warm quilt and get cozy!!

And don't forget that awesome cup of hot chocolate!!

Be safe and stay warm!!!!!!

Textiles My Biggest Weakness!!

I love textiles!!!  I stuff them in every little corner of my world.  

It doesn't matter where...

there is no room where they 

don't have a special spot.

I have stitched up many of them myself.

I have also given many of them away to friends

for little presents from the heart.

Some of them are vintage

This is a mini quilt that I made several years ago.

I also made this cute little dishtowel...

I like to stitch up dishtowels with faces,

they seem so cheerful to me.

Sometimes I think they can be 

very amusing

like this little pair...

And even practical like this little door hanger that

I cross stitched for my children when they

were babies.

I love textiles they are such a wonderful reflection of who we are.

Treasures from my weekend in Idaho!

I left Alaska for a few days to visit my son in Idaho.

I was on my way to watch him run at a track meet 

at the University of Washington when I noticed a sign that said,

 "Estate Sale"

Since I was early and almost at the University 

I decided to stop and see what they had for sale.

This is where I found

"Deary Dot and the Squee"

A really sweet children's book that caught my eye.

I love all the illustrations! 

It's super cute!  

I examined it a little closer after I bought it for 2 dollars and found out 

that its a first edition that was printed in 1916.

I was thinking maybe it would make great framed pictures...

but then I found out it is really rare...

so I will have to keep it intact.

The book has a great little story that's 

written in a poem style.

So what's a Squee?  It turns out to be a green underwater monster 

that wants to have the little girl for dinner!!

She of course gets away with the help of a flying fish.

I found this Alaskan license plate at the estate sale.

Why buy a license plate?  Well, this one has extra special

meaning to it.  You see 1964 was the year of one of  what many long time Alaskans refer to as the "Good Friday Earthquake"  I was a small child living in Anchorage when that quake struck.  I will never

forget that day.  That was one of the longest days of my life.

I am very thankful that I didn't want a Easter Dress!  My mother wanted to buy me a new dress, but

I said I didn't need one.  Since then I have never wanted a Easter dress.  The Penny's building was

totally destroyed and part of girls children section fell into the street.

We had after shocks all night long...it was just like being in a boat out at sea.  

Memories

come in all sizes and shapes

like this 

license plate :o)

Another little treasure I found at an antique store was this little duck shaped bowl.

And a tiny paper box.  Even though it's stained I still love it.

One can always find a way to use a little box.

A soft blue bowl....no second thoughts on this....

it will make a great soap dish.

Miniture Quilts At School!

I was teaching at Hanshew last week and ran across these cute

little miniature quilts hanging in a classroom.

They are all very tiny about 6 to 12 inches across just to give you

an idea of their overall size.  My dear friend who made these 

tiny little treasures gave me permission to post these.  

I especially love the first one because you don't need to be a 

great quilt maker to put this together even in a weekend.

The tiny little pieces are attached with buttons and big

embroidery stitches.  

The second one is a cute little heart

And the last one has embroidery to help emphasis the face.

Makes me what to get out my scraps and start 

quilting again!!

Maybe I will make my own version of the first 

Quilt!  If I do, I will be sure to post it!

A Little Free Time

Only a half day of school today!  

That means I get a little free time for myself.

I'm going to take a nap, in the middle of the day! 

What luxury!

Shouldn't we all have time for a siesta?

We could learn something from other countries.

I had a little time to look through the British Country Living Magazine.

and found this 

wonderful living room.

I love the sofa!

It looks really cozy...a really good place for my nap! 

(Note:  this is not my photo...I just got watermark happy and accidentally marked

this photo from the magazine...that's what happens  when your tired)

Anchorage has been very cold again.  We were down to 3 below last night.

Really gets me yearning for springtime and the return of all the birds.  

Can't wait to hear them sing again.

Well, off to my midday nap!!!

Super Tired!

I'm super tired today!  Private lessons sometimes end late at night and there are so many things still left to do in the day.  I taught at three schools this morning, Chugach Optional, Fairview Elementary, and Lake Hood Elementary.   Travel time to each school was only about 10 to 15 min.  and this means standing in front of the class and teaching!!!  The kids were terrific!!!  

They all wanted me back, so it was worth it!!!

I am so.......

Dreaming of spring break and summer vacation!!!  Yearning to find time for making  cards, painting, and gardening!!!

I taught at Hanshew yesterday and one of my friends who teaches there has tiny miniature 

quilts hanging in her room.

I will post them when I have more time.

Maybe tomorrow!

Until then take care~~

Pot Holders! Wonderful Kitchen Textiles!

Pot holders...

So many shapes, sizes and colors!!

They are the flowers of my kitchen!!

Green, red, blue...they are an endless source of 

color and texture!!

I love them....

They can be used on walls instead of art. 

Many of them are so whimsical.

pretty greens...

pinks.......

soft turquoise...

Isn't this wall cheerful!

And they come in so many fun shapes.

Here is one of a pair of little pink 

dresses...

I like to group them together and put them on plates in my kitchen.

Great impact!!

The designs can be endless and really fun!!

Once you start collecting them it's really hard to stop

maybe that's the best part!

Here is another little dress, complete with flowers.

It sits contently on some pot holders that my daughter made

for me when she was little.

And little pitchers, so cute....

The colors are beautiful when they are all mixed together...

 I love this little face!

The flowers of the kitchen

will always bloom

and add color and warmth to your surroundings.