Around Here

Around here....

It's good to be back home!  

It's took us almost two weeks to get over the jet lag and colds we came home with from Switzerland and France.  The time change coming home from Europe seems to affect us much more than going over there, and we were groggy for over a week.  

Around here...

Five days after we got home I went on a quilting retreat at a friend's house, and spent three very pleasant days with five quilter friends.  I mostly worked on a flower piece I started in a workshop in May.  The basic idea is to start with a photo of a flower and translate it into fabric, not as a faithful, literal reproduction of the photograph, but using the photo as inspiration as you build the flower in fabric.  The process involves making a pattern of the flower petals, and then selecting luscious colorful fabrics to fill in the pattern pieces.  You build the flower on a piece of muslin, as shown in this image. 

And then you place the flower on a fabric background.  I chose this wonderful green batik "lattice," 

I spent most of my time at the retreat stitching tons of lovely thread onto the flower, highlighting ad shading the petals.  Both I and my Bernina sewing machine loved doing all that stitching, so it was very fun and exciting.  I don't have a photo yet because another piece is taking up all the space on my design wall, but one day soon I'll get one made to show you.  

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We've had some very hot days.  Well, it is summer, but still I was startled to see the car register a temperature of 101 degrees last weekend!  Our house isn't air conditioned, but is well insulated with lots of shade, so being at home isn't too bad in the heat.  And it cools way down at night, so we leave all the windows and balcony doors open to let in the cool air while we sleep.  Still, people are already talking of "when the heat breaks," which is usually by mid-August. 

Around here...

Our garden is full of blooms of many types:  Roses, Cone flowers, Shasta Daisies, Hydrangeas,  Day Lillies, Bee Balm and Lavender.  It's quite exuberant!

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It's never a dull moment since there is often something happening in the neighborhood or on the trails.  Early yesterday morning when Ben and I finished a hike up in Chautauqua we were surprised to hear brass instruments playing as we approached the ranger station.  And there we found a brass quintet playing, to the delight and amazement of hikers and other visitors to the park.

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We have a new cat!  Sheba is a stray who had been taken in by a friend who has opened his home as a sanctuary for homeless kitties.  She needed a permanent home, so we took her in.  We didn't know much about her and accepted her sight unseen, only to find out that she looks very much like our beloved Fetcher who died last November.  Having had a hard time in her four years of living, she is taking her time getting to know us and our home and mostly hangs out in the basement.

Photo by Paul Mealey 

Paul calls her a "Ninja cat" since she is very acrobatic as she finds spots to hide in.

Photo by Paul Mealey

But the longer she's here, the more comfortable she's getting, and now we often find her in cozy but not-so-hidden places.  We have high hopes that she'll come to really like it here.  Already she purrs and such when we are around her, and lets us pet her, so that's a good sign.   

Photo by Ben Mealey

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We're getting excited about our puppy, who will come live with us in September.  He/she was born on July 11th, and here's a photo of the proud Mom with her little ones. 

Around here..

It was Paul's 19th birthday yesterday and he was excited that he had a show last night, a local production of Thoroughly Modern Millie, for which Paul is running sound.  He spent the last two weeks working very long days constructing the set with his friend Louis, who is the set manager.  I saw the show last night and it was great fun!