THE END AND A NEW BEGINNING.

Oh boy!
I sure didn't do a very good job with this blog did I!
Well a new year starts in 3 days so I will try again.
I'm at home.  Have been here for what seems like forever.  Haven"t been to KC since the first week in December.  The shop will close tomorrow for almost 20 days.  It will be inventoried, cleaned and maybe some re-arranging done.  Then reopen on January 19th.
After much discussion I will be going back for another year.
I was more difficult than I expected, going to KC once a month for at least 4 days at a time.
But I like all my partners and it is an outlet for my work.
This past year I started entering my Pastels in hurried shows.  Most in KC.  Had a painting accepted in every show I entered.  My friend Rich, who is an expert at this tells me that's a remarkable thing.
So I will continue doing this for this year.
I have one coming up on January 6th.
I also joined the Mid America Pastel Society.  The meetings are in KC and I probably won't make many of them but they are a connection to resources I can't find any other way.
I am also pursuing joining a Gallery here at home.
It's snowing today.  I'm finishing off end of the year things with the business and waiting for new pastel paper to come.  The paper I've been using is no longer available so I need to find something else to use that I can put pastels on in the way I'm used to working.  It should be here Saturday or so says the tracking.
Ok  to post this and then see if I can do better in the new year

Back to Kansas City in a week

My turn to work at the Gallery again.
This time I'm taking new items.
I've been working on them for the last two week.  I work.  Then I need something I don't have so then it's order and then wait.  And sometimes wait and wait.
Except this time.  I ordered from a place on line Retro Cafe Art Gallery  www.RetroCafeArt.com
They have lots of interesting things and their ship time is wonderful!  About 2 days to me.
I made a Santos doll.  My version .  Not a cage doll but a box doll.
I ordered more arms so I can make more if she sells
Keep your fingers crossed for me
Linda

A week with a tragedy and a laugh.

It's always good to be back in your own home. I in your own bed. With your own routine.
I love my children and with the Grandkids, there's always something going on.
This trip involved tragedy and death.
The back of the kids house is mostly windows.  They have a yard full of trees.  They have birds.
Last Friday was a beautiful day in KC.  My son and Grandkids were on the deck enjoying the back yard with all the blooming trees and flowers when BOOM!  A robin hit one of the windows and fell to the ground, it's neck broken.  The Grandkids saw it die.
When I arrived back at the house that evening my Grandson, who's almost eleven and as tall as I am, asked if we could talk.  Now he's just about the nicest eleven year old you could find anywhere.  A true gentle giant with a very tender heart for things smaller than he is.  He told me he had seen a terrible thing.  A very awful and sad thing.  He told me he had seen a robin die that day.   He told me he had picked it up, very gently and placed it carefully in two plastics bags and carried to the trash can.  Tears were running down his face and my heart went out to him.  He said he placed the dead bird carefully in the trash can and then sang the National Anthem to honor it.   And by then he could hardly speak for the tears.  We talked about things dying and that it wasn't the only robin in the yard and that the robin's family would miss him but that their lives would go on. They would lay eggs and have this years babies.
The next day my Son followed my husband to the Gallery.  The two men were going to put in a new sink with a faucet that actually shut off.  They looked things over and decided what they needed for hardware and off they went.  They returned a bit later, laughing.
My Daughter-in-law and Grandkids has been under the deck getting the deck furniture out and suddenly there was a snake!  A HUGE snake.  Four feet long and very black!  My DIL called her husband, while he's at the hardware store ( her ring on his phone is Liar! Liar! Liar! ) and she demands he come home instantly!  Right NOW!  And take care of the snake.  He's 45 minutes away. He says by the time I get there the snake will be gone. The reply was I DON'T CARE!   He calmly says go find a neighbor to take care of the snake.  Twenty minutes later he gets a call, the snake has been killed ( I don't approve but....) and so now all he needed to do was get rid of the remains. O boy!
The sink goes in as all these projects do after several trips to the hardware store and three times longer than planned.  My son heads home to do his Saturday chores and as he walked out of the shop I called to him to ask what was for dinner that night.  Any guesses?   Yup.  He said "Looks like snake and robin"
I love my children.

Back to work

Part of my part as a partner in the Gallery in KCMO that I joined the first of the year is to work in the shop a few days a month.
Yesterday was my first day.
Not too bad.  Everyone who came in purchased something.  No so today.
Tomorrow I will post pictures of things my partners create.
See you then
Linda

Things that kept me busy since the first of the month

I certainly didn't think I'd be this long in getting back to fill you in on what I've been up to.

We leave this week for KC.  Next Monday will be my first week at work in the Gallery.

I've been working on things to take to the show at Red Cedar Gardens in Stilwell Ks.

This little guy was on of the tiny framed watercolors I was planning on taking to the show.  But it occurred to me that I would not change the things I had at Eclectic's before Mother's Day and it might be nice if I had some quick gift items in my space. So this tidy little Bunny is going to KC and I will make another one, or two, for Red Cedar,

I came home from running errands one day last summer to find this beautiful moth wait ing for me on my gate.  I took a quick pic of him, or maybe her, with my phone.  It was so beautiful. I hope, if it laid eggs, they made it through the winter we had and I will see more this summer.

A tiny pot of pink geraniums.  For the longest time pink was the only color I bought.  My Husband always wants red.  That's how we have a climbing Eden rose with canes of red roses in the middle of it.  He wants red so I left two of them.

So these are three of the 12 tiny watercolors that are going with me to Eclectic's this week.

I'll have to do more for Red Cedar.

Today it was almost 80 here so for those of you who can still see snow out your windows, hang in there.  Spring is slowly heading North.

The Preening Crow

Back home....

I've told you I joined a Gallery in Kansas City.  Each month there is a meeting of the partners where we discuss what needs to be done to keep us in business
This time I also went for training so I can now start doing my part by working at least 3 days a month.
Lots to remember.  Lots!
So now it's back to working on the next thing on the list.
I have to make more miniatures for the Etsy shop.  Most of the ones that were on there went to KC for 2 months.
Then it's taking good pictures of the rugs I showed you in the last post. And putting them on Etsy.
And make some more Cabinets of Curiosity and get them on Etsy
Oh, and I was accepted to an Art Show at Red Cedar Gardens. In June. More about that later
So...I'm off to work.
 I did not forget you.  Just busy
And sorry no pictures.
I'll post again soon.
Remember you can see Spring from here. One of my favorite garden centers opened March 1st!

Linda. The Preening Crow

The best news

My Daughter-in-law is on the mend. She should be able to go home this Saturday.  We did a face to face two afternoons ago.  We were both so relieved to see her looking awake and talking to us.  She still has antibiotics to take and her Doctor decided the best place to do this was in the hospital rather than at home with a huge puppy who is going to be so happy to see her Mama again that I hope Mama is up to the love.

Just a couple of pictures of what will be coming to the Etsy shop when their edges have been finished

I can see this in a kids room.  Everything white but the rug.  And it's hanging on a wall.

This one is not going to the Etsy shop.  I sold it as I was working it.  I just wanted to show it off!

Have no idea where the sun flash came from.  Sorry.

I've been calling this Patty's rug.  Patty is my best friend's big sister.  She LOVES, I mean LOVES primary colors.  I usually don't use that many primary colors in my rugs. Except for a few red worms I cut just to have enough to do this rug, all the strips in it are worms left over from other projects.  I was surprised.  Surprised that I had that many primary worms to work with.  This is also a large rug.  Measures 40" long.

They will go into the Etsy shop at the end of the month so check them out.

Ok, back to work.  I made the mistake of deciding that I would change everything I had at Eclectic's in Kansas City every other month.  So I'm working like mad the rest of the month to get things ready to go.

Enjoy the February thaw for as long as it lasts

Linda  The Preening Crow

Some things in life happen

That change all other things in your life.
One of my Daughter-in-laws is in the hospital.
This is day 8.
My son finally convinced her to go to an Emergency room and thank God she went.
She had a simple Strep infection that blossomed into something that almost took her life.

It is very hard to comfort your grown child when they are 13 hours away and you can hear how worried they are by their voice.  You don't want to tell them what you've been researching on the web knowing that what you've read will only bring more worry.
I finally decided to just say "yes, it's what I've read" and leave it at that.

It has been a rough 8 days.

We think the worst my be over now and she can begin to deal with her recovery.
We're not sure what this will mean but I'm fairly sure her life will never quite be the same.

So sorry for no posts and no pictures.
We are taking it all one day as it comes.  With luck something that begins to feel like normal will happen sometime this coming week. So check back

All prayers are more than welcome

Linda
The Preening Crow

The birds are happy we're home!

Snow, snow and more snow!  We ended up snowed in, in Kansas City for 2 1/2 days.

I did manage to get hooking done after the mad dash to Liberty for wool.  But the half day we were there yesterday, I spent making Valentines boxes with my Grandkids.  Should have taken a picture of my Granddaughters.  Pink, of course , with hearts and flowers and flower wand and space for her 3 - D heart flowers that were going on it as soon as Mommy stopped at WM on her way home from work to bring green pipe cleaners.  Mommy said it was going to school with a note attached saying "I did not make this"   She said she was afraid the teacher would get ideas that she was able to do things like it and she'd end up having to make something else and she'd fail miserably!  I love my Daughter-in-law and how her mind works!  

My son was left with directions on how to turn a box into a cool race car for my Grandson.  With no hearts on it, he said.  I told him the girls would think he was geeky not to put hearts on it and his reply was they already did think he was geeky and that was fine with him!  He's 10.  Wonder how much longer that attitude will last?

The birds missed us.  The were totally out of food.   

The two large blobs at the edges of each picture are my beautiful Boxwood balls I've been working on for 8 years.  Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer so I will go out and gently remove the snow from them and keep my fingers crossed that they pop back.

I'm just marking time till spring.  If all goes as normal, I will be uncovering my garden again in a month.  I hope.

Stay warm and dry.

          I wrote yesterday that I would show you what I was trying to get more wool for.

And yes, we are snowed in.  Started this morning at about 8:00 and is still snowing and the wind is beginning to come up.

I can see a deck railing and it looks like there is about 5" of snow on it.  I don't plan on going outside to find out.  I'm sure the weather guys will tell me tonight.

So, my latest projects.  The first on is called "Rabbit's dance"

I'm not letting you see all of it.  But I will explain the problem.  It's supposed to be night.  I had a blue gray picked out for the background.  When I looked at the fabric before I cut it I thought it would be a nice soft blue gray sky.  Nope!  It turned into the most beautiful sunny day sky you could ever ask for.

So back to the drawing board.

I buy most of my wool from a shop named "American Whatever" in Liberty Missouri.

To get there it's a 3 to 3 1/2 hr drive from my house.

From where we are now it's only half an hour so I took advantage of being so close.

I took both problem rugs to Sandy and asked for her expert opinion.

Her solution on this rug was a darker blue.  I wasn't sure at first but now that it's in, I'm happy with it.

The second rug is closer to being finished.  But not until I had most of the background in did I realize two of my colors were too close in value to each other to come off correctly.

I have a friend who is color blind.  I find this fascinating.  I am

 such a visual, color based person that to imagine what his world looks like just boggles my mind.

I have learned enough about what he sees and does't see to know that to him there would be nothing but sameness in the center of this rug.

His wife, my friend, and I worked out the black surround idea and it helped but I still wasn't happy and I had hoped the outside edge would be black.

So, Sandy to the rescue again.

She had a great idea for the whole design and a good choice for the outside.  

I'll tell you that solution.  I bought a brown and black plaid!  Can't wait to see what it's going to look like.

But I'm going to surprise you with her other solution when the rug is done.

So, more pictures to come

Stay warm and dry.

The snow is a pain but we really needed the moisture.  My garden is happy and with luck, I'll be uncovering it in less than 2 months!

The Preening Crow

Lesson learned.  Never listen to Husband, always follow what Self says.  And when Self says "take charger for computer" even though Husband says " you can use Son"s" ignore him!

We've been here for 4 days.  Son has been using his the whole time.  My computer went down to 3% and was sending me nasty notes implying it was going to self destruct if I didn't plug it in.  I figured I'd use Son's after he left for work this morning, knowing he has several and thinking he uses one at home and one at work and thus doesn't have to take one back and fourth.  As Son says "there you go thinking again , Mom"  Went to plug this in.....no charger!

Now, sending Son a text does not always get a response but I was thinking again and figured it might be worth a try.  Yeah!!!!  Extra charger in Family room.  I am saved.

So I'm back blogging again. No pictures today.  Rushing to get out of here to go to a rug wool place to figure out what colors I need to finish two rugs before we get snowed in.

I'll post pictures of the rugs in progress tomorrow.

Stay warm and know where your shovel is.

It's cold today.  Cold for here.  

And cloudy with freezing drizzle.  I hope not too much ice because we're not home.  We're in Kansas City because tomorrow we will attend a reception for new artists at the Gallery I joined the first of the month.

This is my first set-up for my space in the Gallery.

I plan on changing it every other month.

I have watercolors.  I have one of my hooked rugs.

There is one of my pastels on display. And three of the Cabinets of Curiosity.

                                                  

                                                   I made things for Valentine's Day too.

First time I've done that in a long time.

I have a dear friend, notice I did not call her an old friend. She doesn't appreciate me calling her that, even though she is.  Her Birthday is on Valentine's Day.  So plan is to make her one of my creations for her birthday.

Enough for now. 

 We're at the Grandkids house and they just got home from school so I need to

go talk to them to see what's been going on with them.

They're nine and ten and more fun than just about anything else I know.

Stay safe and warm