Go Outside!

Today was such a gorgeous day outside that we had to go for a little drive, and then (after the sad Spurs game) a hike.

Here’s Paul on the trail. Of course I picked the super easy one since I have basically been hibernating all winter, and I was panting nonetheless. It’s the elevation….yes…. I’m still adjusting after nine months, that’s it.  Everything is still all dead around here, but in a few weeks hopefully it will turn spring-like. Of course, they are predicting snow later this week, but I’ll take my 68 degree days when they come.

I wore one of the shirts I made a few months ago that I’ve yet to show off, another Built By Wendy 3964 (first version, which I loooove and wear all of the time, is here). See how I am standing outside in this picture? Very exciting. Anyway, I think i could make a hundred of these shirts and still want to make more. I wear them over long sleeves or under a sweater in the winter, and they are nice and breezy for summer without leaving my arms feeling totally bare (plus they don’t creep up like t-shirts, thank goodness). The pattern is kind of difficult but it gets easier every time, and if you do simple things like leave off the bias-cut ties (and put a seam at the neckline with a button/loop closure instead) you can save yourself some yardage. It’s also a great use for the fabrics that I only have a yard of (just about all of them), when I can find two that go together. These two are from Reprodepot– Alexander Henry’s Chickadee and Moda dots.

I also had a  baking urge this morning– I’ll share the results later this week. Hope it’s lovely where you are.

On the Plane

Edit: Oops, I thought I pressed publish on this when I wrote it Monday, but I guess not! Here you go.

I set myself up with an embroidery project for the plane (I must have been inspired by Floresita), and in case I got bored in New York (yeah right) and wanted to stay home. I almost n-e-v-e-r make time for embroidery, it is truly time consuming, but I’ve had these patterns for a couple of years now and I thought it would be a good change of pace. I used a bird transfer I ordered from Colonial Pattern about and referred to their suggested colors and made it up as I went. I haven’t done a lot of embroidery, but I think it came out pretty well.

The guy next to me on the plane asked me what I did with the things I was making. I said “I’ll use it to dry dishes.” And he was incredulous, “No, really, do you make pillows or what?” At which point I said that I could do that, but I just like to add a little bit of color and art in my life even for mundane uses. I don’t think he followed. I guess I might turn this into something other than a tea towel, but if it remains a tea towel, that would be fine with me, too.

In other news, I posted some photos from Wave HIll Gardens. I had never heard of Wave Hill but I read about it on someone’s blog while in New York and thought “Hey, that’s here!” so my brother and I made the trek. And it was a trek- make sure you get your directions straight before you go– although wandering around the pretty houses in Riverdale is not a bad way to spend time. I love that my brother lives in NYC, because I don’t think I could have convinced anyone else to go there with me, even though in reality it is not that far away.  One thing that was good about living in Queens was that I could never be the lazy one (it was bad too, trust me), and I went all over in terms of exploring the city. My theory: yes, it may take an hour to get there, but what else am I doing, really? Once my more adventurous friends moved away, it really started to piss me off that no one would ever come to Queens, and that everyone who lived in Astoria was always flocking to Manhattan. Sigh.

(Photos from a paper flower menagerie exhibit by Jun Eun Park in the Sun Room)

So during my 6-day vacation, I hit 4 boroughs (Brooklyn: flea, Queens: Egyptian food, Bronx: Wave Hill, Manhattan: everything else). More photos on Flickr, of course, because I think that’s all I have to say about the trip. See also Kayte’s post about our visit to the Crochet Coral Reef. 

New York

It is good to be back in New York. I never lived in Manhattan (although I worked in Soho), and I forgot how very crowded it is. I don’t miss that aspect. I have been doing a lot of looking, eating, shopping and being. I never took the time to make small talk with anyone when I lived here, but I have been talking to strangers lately and actually, it’s kind of nice. I will try to do more of that in my “real” life– because I have met some interesting people, and plus, you never know. I was always in such a hurry here, it’s so nice not to be in a hurry anymore.

@ the Museum of Modern Art

Wall Cushions at MoMA

Flowers in Fort Greene (on the way to the Brooklyn Flea)

Pretty houses in Fort Greene

I’m here for a few more days, and will hopefully post some more inspiration when I get home. I actually do miss Montana. I saw a few herds of pronghorn and some strange desert winter landscapes on the way to the Billings airport (I turned to Paul and asked if he felt like we were on Mars), and I’m excited about the onset of Spring. I hope.

All the Pretty Horses plus a sale

Today I took another little walk to see the horses while Paul was in the studio. It was a lovely 40-something degrees today but some of the horses were still wearing blankets (which cracks me up, because I am mean).  They came running over to see if I had apples for them, but I did not.

A few stray ducks from the pond were around, too. I love seeing their little duck tracks in the snow.

 

Here’s what it looks like behind the studios (I love that shed for it’s X shaped doors).

And here’s what was going on inside.

You can see some of Paul’s recent work right here on his very own website.

p.s. I’ve placed my remaining hats in my etsy shop on sale for $20 and $25 — a steal! If you mention that you read my blog, I’ll throw in free domestic shipping too. (Send me a conversation/email first so I can adjust the price).

Brrrrrrr. RRRrrrrrr.

 

It’s cold outside. According to weather.com it’s -1 with a windchill of -14. Last night it was actually -22 (not sure I even want to know about the wind chill). There is lots and lots of snow on the ground and part of yesterday was spent attempting to push Paul’s truck out of the snow. Then I got smart and let him do the pushing- because really, I wasn’t getting anywhere. And oh boy do I feel it today! We did get unstuck, but the amount of snow is a little problematic when it comes to getting around.

Yesterday I (foolishly) thought it’d be nice to go for a little walk out by the studios to see the horses. And little it was- we ran back inside after I could no longer feel my thumbs. Paul’s beard had little icicles (I kid you not) and my glasses were super fogged up from my breathing. Oh, so THIS is the winter everyone was telling me about. Poor horsies- they wanted me to feed them, I wanted to give them blankets. Neither was accomplished.

But I’m happy to report that with long johns, knee high socks plus regular socks, boots, 2 shirts and a sweater, plus  my crazy undersea balaclava, mittens and a parka, I survived the walk to work. Heh. It actually wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be!

It was a slow and crafty weekend…. I did a little sewing, a little flower-loom flower making, a little thinking. I started to tackle the sewing machine bag (because I’m nutty) and I even got around to making enchiladas.  But the most exciting thing that happened was that my sister had her baby boy on Friday night. Everything went smoothly– she delivered in 6 hours with no drugs. Totally amazing. I can’t wait to meet him!

Great Horned Owls

And now for something different.

Last night when Paul came home from the studio he asked me if I had heard the owls hooting. I was watching Mean Girls, so no, I hadn’t. We went outside to see if they were still there, tip-toeing over the ice patches so as not to scare them.

 

Photo from the Hogle Zoo Website.

There were two of these beauties, each on top of a telephone pole, about 2 poles apart. They kept calling and responding, and I could see their white-patched throats. I heard owls growing up in Texas, but was never able to see them so close. I guess I’ll have to go outside at half past midnight more often!

Now I might have to make up some cute owls (like these and these).

Some unrelated things

 

I finally uploaded my photos from Alexa’s visit. We had fun making snow angels on Peet’s Hill (afterwards, we froze). It was really nice to have someone to drag around and forget about all of my million freelancey things.

In other news, I survived the (pretty slow) craft fair and am hoping things picked up after I left- but if not there will be plenty in my etsy next week. I’ll post some pics (if they came out) in the near future. I am going to take a break for a couple of days– it has been a stressful week on a number of levels.

Tomorrow we are going to a memorial for Gennie DeWeese- a treasured local artist who passed away this week at 86. I met her once, and wish I had the chance to get to know her a little better. I can tell she was a real community builder, mentor and friend to everyone in town. She will be missed.

Decompressing

Alexa has left and I’m getting back into the swing of work. I had one very involved crochet project that I wanted to finish by this week, and I’m happy to say that the seams are sewn, pattern written, etc. Not without a lot of complaining on my part, but it turned out beautifully so now I just need to send it off.

Paul and I spent this morning building a little hat tree for my upcoming craft fair. It came out pretty well for me not really knowing exactly what I wanted or how it would work. I’ll have to snap a picture of it in action this weekend.

I’m still catching up and haven’t even downloaded my photos from the week, so for now enjoy these two from Paul’s flickr. We took Alexa to Yellowstone on Friday despite the icy roads and freezing cold (and we survived!). It’s a totally different park in the winter– only one road is open, leaving you more time to observe, and you see tons of animals and few people, instead of the other way around. Below, I was watching a coyote along the frozen Yellowstone river. He was watching me too.

And here was the lovely sunset view on the way home, through Paradise Valley. The sunsets here are simply gorgeous, and this one was accompanied by the moon, which seems to appear earlier with each passing day.

Gary Bates’ Studio Visit

Okay, here’s one more post for the week, before too many things escape from my memory. I’ll be back after Turkey day to show you my holiday cards and maybe even some craft fair setup. Enjoy your holiday!

Last Friday I got to tag along with the grad students on a field trip to Amsterdam, Montana (!) to see Gary Bates’ studio. Gary is a local artist who makes large-scale metal sculptures out of things like bars from old jail cells and boiler parts. A lot of his pieces are kinetic and he says he intends for them to be a pulse on the environment. For example, this spinning piece (for which I don’t remember the name) weighs some ridiculous amount but the way it is balanced means even a small wind will set it spinning. Gary has a telescope in his house aimed towards the piece and he looks out to see what the weather is like based on how fast it is spinning.

His Wind Arc, on the MSU campus, spins only when the wind hits a certain speed (it’s a bent tube, and the spinning to wind speed ratio has to do with how far down he cuts the tube). He said one professor told him that he looks out to see how fast it is spinning to determine if it’s warm enough to ride his bike home, or if his wife needs to come and get him.  He showed us another piece he’s working on that’s activated when it rains a certain amount. Here’s a sculpture on his land, where the mountain silhouette lines up perfectly if you lay on the grass and look at it.

In addition to all of the sculptures, I thought the land was just gorgeous. It’s a huge farm with a little house he built in the middle. I am still so amazed at how beautiful it is out here. I love learning about all of these thing that I’d seemingly never come across otherwise. Living in New York it was so easy to be consumed by everything that everyone is consumed by (the latest this, that and the other), but here I feel like I can breathe, and appreciate each beautiful thing, because I don’t pass a million influences on my way to work every day.

You can see lots more photos and stories of the art and the land (which are so interconnected) on my flickr page.

Go outside!

Yesterday’s weather was gorgeous. I’m not quite understanding how the city can be blanketed in snow one day and70 degrees and sunny the next, but I’m not complaining! It really makes me appreciate the lovely days.

These are some of the leaves popping  up around downtown. They are so pretty!! Most of them are already falling off in droves and rustling around the sidewalks and streets. 

 

I also wandered across campus, where I passed these sidewalk stencils (at a sorority house, I believe), some juicy looking berries, and the duck ponds. The ducks are a little crazy- they all came traipsing over once I sat down to say hello. And begged for bread, of course.

I came back exhausted, but rejuvenated. I need to remember to go outside (for more than ten minutes) more often! More pics on flickr.