Chilly February

 

 My first February on Whidbey Island has presented a little bit of everything. Some snow flurries this past week, with enough snow to cover the ground and the rooftops and frost all of the trees for a half of a day. That was followed by some sunny but very chilly days, and then today I was surprised by a rather remarkable hailstorm, with pea-sized hail stones bouncing merrily off of the deck. I wonder what March will bring? 

 

Speaking of crazy weather, my former home of Sonoma County, California has had a crazy weather week, with a rather significant snowfall where it never, ever, snows. My sister sent me this picture of her front yard in Cloverdale, which is a few minutes north of where I lived, and which is known for being the hot spot in the county. Very exciting!

My days have been filled with work, mainly - but I am trying to get better about making some time each day for something creative. I'm thinking a lot about balance these days, and trying to ensure that snarly litigation isn't consuming all of my brain. 

Yesterday I felt the need to get out of the house for a bit. I fashioned a lunch date for myself -- a visit to the nearby Dairy Queen for a take-out lunch, which I took to a nearby quiet beach for a scenic break. The Dairy Queen is the only fast food restaurant on the south end of the island, grandfathered in when zoning laws were enacted prohibiting them, I think. It's kind of funny how ordinary fast food can feel like a real treat when it's not easily available. 

 So I enjoyed popcorn shrimp and fries and a fountain diet coke while I sat in the car, breathed the chilly air, and read my novel. (I was reading "The Hotel Nantucket" by Elin Hilderbrand, about another favorite island.) It struck me as funny that I was reading about a Nantucket summer while enjoying Whidbey winter. And in case you're wondering, the popcorn shrimp was surprisingly good.

Of course I got out and spent some time roaming the beach, gazing out at the snow covered mountains across Puget Sound and poking around at scallop shells. 

I had the whole place to myself, except for a bald eagle that cruised by overhead. It was lovely and peaceful. 

 Before I left, I could not resist leaving a quilted heart for someone to find. Shhhh! Don't tell! 

Back at home, I got back to work finishing some donation quilts. My new quilt guild has a lot of donation programs, and so over the last few weeks I've cut and sewn triangles to make a few little quilts for the neonatal intensive care unit at an area hospital. Apparently they are in need of baby boy quilt-lets, so I pulled pastel blues and greens and turquoises and have had a happy time getting them together. I finished quilting them yesterday and binding them today.

I usually hand-sew bindings, but for baby quilts that will be washed frequently, I opted for machine sewing the borders -- and how satisfying to get the binding finished so quickly!

 For another use-up-the-scraps project, I have been cutting squares and triangles to make colorful bears paw blocks. I was inspired by this picture, which I found on Pinterest without a source...

 

It has been on my "want to make" list for quite a while, so I mapped out a plan:

 

 

I've started in cutting and sewing. There are a whole lot of half-square triangles for those bear claws, so I think I'll be working on this for a while. But the bright colors make me happy and it makes for fun, mindless sewing. I love revisiting scraps and remembering where I used the fabric before. Some of it has been in my stash for quite a few years.

In other exciting news, I made a delicious recipe for lasagna soup that turned out really well -- another great cold-weather soup recipe for winter rotation. As odd as it sounds, serving with a dollop of ricotta cheese on top really added to the creamy lasagna sensation. 

I have dipped back into a bit of sketching and watercolor painting, thanks to a weekly zoom class with urban sketcher Becky Cao. Wow, am I rusty! But I'm having fun. This morning's class was a challenging scene of a Vancouver cafe -- with a person, even. Very fun.

Drop a comment and let me know what you are doing to keep yourself happy this month! I'm off to get dinner on the table (another soup night!), so ta ta for now!

 

 

 

 

What's Getting Me Through

There are times in one's life where things just feel ... hard. Sad. Sluggish. And I've been in one of those periods for a bit now. 

It didn't come out of nowhere. In the space of a few days, I learned of the very unexpected death of a cousin who is not that much older than me. I learned that another good friend is having serious health challenges, not the least of which is a level of dementia that requires a move to a 24 hour care home. This time of year involves anniversaries of some very difficult experiences as well. And those things have long echos, I have realized. And then there is the news. I haven't even been able to tune it at all, it is just so discouraging.

So this has been a time of coping, of accepting, of putting one foot in front of the other, and trying to find the pockets of pleasure and contentment in each day. I live in a beautiful place and I am proud of myself for having gotten myself here. I have a lovely daughter and a comfortable home. I have two happy dogs and two curious cats who keep me smiling. I have wonderful friends who appear in my life every day through phone calls and texts and emails and social media. 

Several bloggers I follow post regularly about the things that are saving their lives at the moment. (You can go check out Anne Bogel at Modern Mrs. Darcy and Katie Noah Gibson at Cake, Tea and Dreams -- they are both wonderful writers.) In this time-of-the-weird-mood, I have been thinking about what has been getting me through. 

Reading, of course. I've read two novels I highly recommend -both from favorite writers whose books always seem like gifts.

Sewing, also. I find piecing so meditative sometimes. Last week, I pulled out a bundle of fabric that a friend had passed on to me when she was cleaning out her sewing room. "I love the fabric," she said, "but realistically I'm not going to get around to making anything with it." It suited my mood on a drizzly Sunday to cut it up and sew it together with a very simple free pattern, and as soon as it is quilted and done I will send it back to her. 

Long arm quilting provides another regular pleasure. I was so happy to get this Skip to My Lou quilt all quilted, and I had a great time doing it. I am slowing getting reacquainted with the tricks of long arm quilting.

I sit most of the day to work at my computer (which, I confess, has been part of my recent cranky malaise, too.) So I've decided to get up every 60-90 minutes and do 15 minutes of quilting at the longarm. Machine quilting as exercise! I'm making slow progress, and making some pretty wonky feathers on this scrappy donation quilt, but it feels good.

What with packing and moving house, I've not sketched or painted for AGES. And by ages I mean well over a year. So I decided that I needed to do something to get back to it. I signed up for a 4-session zoom class from Becky Cao. She is a sketcher I've followed for a long time, because I love her loose, spontaneous sketches that capture bits of her daily life.  So, after a big of a search in my house for the supplies (where did I put my watercolor kit? Where are my pens? Has the box of sketchbooks been unpacked yet?), Sunday morning found me at the computer sketching along with Becky.

It was a really good 90 minute session. And although I sure felt rusty - yikes, how to make those watercolors go where I wanted! -- I was pleased that I touched paint to paper again. I'm already looking forward to next Sunday morning. I'm thinking Sunday morning would make a good regular sketch time after the class is done, too.

Mainly because work has been so busy, I've mostly been home inside. But I did take a trip off island last week to run errands and to meet a friend for lunch and do some shopping --and at long last get everything completed to get an enhanced driver's license, complete with maiden name and new address. What a paperwork tangle that was. The twilight ferry ride home was lovely.

This past Saturday, after the usual recycling center visit to dump still more cardboard, I took myself out to breakfast at Whidbey Donut again. They do excellent scrambled eggs, and I enjoyed my coffee and book in front of the fireplace.

Oh, one more thing bringing me much pleasure. Last week, Caroline and I took our cats to the vet for routine checks, and I snapped this photo of Maybel and Kaya hanging out in their carriers in the car.

 That photo instantly made me think "Somebody's going to emergency, somebody's going to jail" from the Eagles' song "New York Minute" -- and from the West Wing episode of the same name.  That, in turn, caused me to find and rewatch the West Wing episode -- it's episode 16 from season 2, in case you are wondering -- and it's one of my all time favorites. Sam relies on "the magical powers of a clean shirt," CJ has a "woot canal" and considers the social inequality of cartography. 

That episode made me so happy that I've started in from season 1, episode 1 to watch them all again. What a pleasure to spend some time with these smart, funny characters each evening. 

I went on a hunt to find some funny, cheerful cards to send a friend -- and came across this one. Kind of summed up my mood. I've sent it off to a different friend, because I know it will make her laugh too.

 So, friends, that's what's getting me through. How about you?