Saddened but Still Trucking On

http://www.gazettenet.com/Larry-Kelley-killed-in-Belchertown-crash-8178835

Above is the link to the Daily Hampshire Gazette online account of Larry Kelley's death. I am shocked and saddened to lose a friend. I didn't always agree with his Republican politics, but he was a good man at heart and showed a lot of kindness to little old ladies like me. A lot of people will miss him a lot.

~~ Saturday

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Tina's Blue Vase

Yes, I went to another wine and canvas with Teri Magner. My painting is above (sitting on my couch). I absolutely hated the painting when I left at 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday. In disgust, I tossed my painting on the floor of my car. The next day, I was early to work and brought it in with me. Sometimes things look very different in daylight. Well, it still was just a bunch of blobs of paint, but it started to look better to me after I took a black sharpie to it. I think the details really helped.

Below is the original that we were copying. It's a pastel, not acryllic paint as we used.

Redon's Blue Vase, courtesy of Google

I like them both. They are both different, but I like both. 

Yes, I know that you have seen Palm Springs Night on the top, but this was supposed to show you that I actually do finish things. Most quilters have many UFOs (Unfinished Objects), but I do finish some things -- really. So I snapped a few completed items.

Jeanne and David Harlow's Creation

Well, o.k., so I didn't make this, but I did put it up on the wall! This is one of the items I bought on the Shutesbury adventure.

This is just a table decorative piece. I had thought it was done and then I realized that two of the triangles are hand quilted. Ooops. Guess I'll be finishing that soon.

This one is definitely not finished. After bordering the original Chinese print with silk, I am hand quilting around the flowers. I did finish one of these (spring flowers/fall leaves) and gave it to YaoYao.

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~~ Oops, I did it again! I drove Nancy and me to the Francine and Sterling Clark Museum in Williamstown. I was delighted to find that the new exhibit was Japanese wood block prints. Since I already knew a bit about Hokusai from the exhibit in Boston 2 summers ago, I had an even greater appreciation of the other artists' works. I do not like the modern ones as much as the ancient (1800s).

And the rest of the museum -- was like seeing old friends again. The 14 year old Degas ballerina sculpture with the gauze skirt and silk ballet shoes, Rodin's The Thinker, countless Monets and Van Goghs ... it was a feast for my eyes. Of course, my favorite is and always has been the John Singer Sargents there. It was a very satisfying three and a half hours.

And what could be better than Chinese food for dinner? I got home a little after 8:30 p.m., having left at 11:30 a.m. I'm thinking I'll sleep well tonight. 

(Luckily, it was close to 50 degrees because the Mowhawk Trail -- Route 2 -- is twisting and winding and steep. So even though everything melted, it still was in the low 40s when we left and I did not have to negotiate ice on a mountain road.

Good night all.

OK, You Can Stop Now

The snow that is. It can stop now. 

It has been snowing since before 9 AM and it's 3 PM now. I'm typing very slowly as my fingers thaw out. I was just out roof raking. 

For those of you sissies in the South, or if you're newly from Noo Yawk City, a roof rake is a flat aluminum rake on a LONG stick. And you use it when all of your neighbors are telling you that the weight of the snow will collapse your roof. It took me 20 minutes to put the three sections together -- the little button that holds the section securely in place did not want to stay depressed as I inserted the next length. I did try it without securing the button only to have the rake get stuck in the snow on the roof and the section pulled out. Adrenalin kicked in and I tugged that sucker off the roof.

Before any Roof Raking

I did what I could to the garage and around the front where the picture window is. Then I went to the right of this picture to get the roof over my bedroom. That's when I discovered the untouched snow reached almost to my knees. Oh, right. Guess we had gotten the actual 12 inches on the last storm and we now have 3 to 4 inches.

Apparently Someone Forgot to Bring in the Amethyst Glass Birdbath

When I was done, my body said, "Fool! You are NOT going to the rear of the house even if you can stand on the little deck." For once, I listened to reason and here I am, conversing with you.

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So today has been full. I went to church and as I walked in, I was coughing, so the greeters (and people I know) backed away as if I were typhoid Mary. That's o.k. They were convinced that I was sick and I didn't have to do that dumb handshake of peace. I think that was devised by big pharma to make sure every Christian makes every other Christian sick, thereby needing lots of prescriptions and over the counter medicines. 

After church, knowing that it was snowing merrily, I hoped that the organist would play a short piece so I could scoot out quicker. Nope. Then again, we're all New Englanders and this is just another blip.

Most of you know, that if snow is predicted or if it's snowing, it's mandatory to go to the supermarket and buy bread and milk. Well, on this low carbohydrate way of eating, both are off my list. I did, however, have to go to Aldis because I needed to cook for the upcoming week. I love that store! I spent $70 and got what would have cost me $140 at the other supermarkets in the area. By the way, if you eat such things, they had generic rice krispies for $1.79.

I now have two roast pork roasts dusted with garlic powder (I cut it in half and will freeze half), 4 baked chicken thighs with Montreal seasoning, a crustless mushroom quiche and roasted brussels sprouts. I froze 4 chicken thighs. I still have to cook cauliflower, broccoli, green beans and hamburger (might be meatballs). But I'm going back to Netflix and possibly a nap.

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The violence and court plots of Versailles on Netflix have begun to pale so I went in search of something else. 

I watched Woman in Gold and I highly recommend it. I seem to love anything with Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds -- and both are great in this movie. 

It's the story of Maria Altmann, an octogenarian Jewish refugee who wants to reclaim some paintings stolen by the Nazis when she lived in Austria. The main painting happens to be Woman in Gold by Klimt. Her family had commissioned Klimt to do the painting of her aunt and, in fact, her father had given Maria the jeweled necklace shown in the painting after her aunt died at an early age. (The Nazis took that too.) The movie is condensed because there was a long legal battle. The Austrian government now considered it a national treasure and they did not want to give it back.

I won't ruin the ending for you, but I found it to be a very gripping story and one that we should pay heed to. Many of the economic and social events that led up to the Nazis seizing power are mirrored in today's times. We must never forget.

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After that movie, it was hard to find something to keep my interest. But now I'm watching a 2016 series called Frequency. I don't know if you could call it sci fi, but a modern day detective talks to her father -- 20 years ago -- through a ham radio. The two of them are trying to catch the same serial killer. The problem is, every time they correct something in the past, it makes something else worse in the future (2016). I guess it's a thriller because it sure keeps me guessing!

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Mom said she's sick of seeing this but I am not going to fix the mistake. She said, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right." To be honest, for me, this is right. Just a little off, you know?

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Outside of Mom's door at Thanksgiving (Palm Springs, CA). I needed more color. It's still snowing at 3:45 PM.

Small Enjoyments

I really love the polka dot Jamberry wraps! This was a week ago. Today ... who knows?

But first, some friends and I are going to the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center in Vermont. It should be a nice leisurely drive in 26 F. weather with the sun shining brightly on us. A report comes at the end.

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Last Saturday it was a meandering drive up Rte. 202 to Rte. 2 to Athol. We were going to the Market Basket (a supermarket) because they advertised eggs for 69 cents/dozen. Wouldn't you drive 22 miles one way for that? No? Well, I figured that if I saved $5, I would cover my gas. Of course, I don't think I used $5 in gas. Today I'll be filling up with gas for the 4th time -- and I've had the car since November. I do love my hybrid!

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Yesterday was one of those days ... it's the little things that get you. I went in for routine blood tests -- fasting. This time I remembered and drank water before I went. (I had a phlebotomist speak sharply to me because I was dehydrated and she couldn't find the vein. Hmpf!) That was also lucky because the doc had ordered a urine analysis.  So I dutifully grabbed my not Tiffany cup and went into the powder room. I missed. Completely missed. How is it that I have done hundreds of these things and I miss?? I have to go back on Monday. She gave me a clear plastic bag for the cup. I declined the giant sign to hang around my neck reading "BRINGING IN PEE. STEP ASIDE."

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Pouf Parade Progress

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Yesterday ended very well, however. Cyndi gave me a ticket to see/hear the Post Modern Jukebox company at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton. It was wicked cold walking from the parking garage at the Thornes Market, but it was well worth it. They are fantastic singers and musicians. And the tap dancer was a marvel and a ball of energy. They performed for almost 2 hours straight and it was wonderful.  Thank you, Cyndi!

(Tap dancing is my all time favorite -- even more so than ballet.)

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Brattleboro Museum and Art Center

It didn't take Ann and me long to figure out that we had gone right past Nancy W's house! I had written her address down correctly, but I had it wrong in my head. I'll have to remind Ann of her co-pilot duties because she should have re-read my notes. (I had the museum address and 6 top restaurant picks in Brattleboro along with Nancy's address on a piece of paper.)

We chatted along nicely until we reached the Brattleboro Museum. It's a former train station and as you walk in, the first thing you notice is the marble steps leading to huge windows which look down onto train tracks. In fact, while in the classroom/poetry area, we suddenly heard train crossing bells and I wondered if it were a motion sensitive sound effect. No, as I looked out the window, I saw the gates on a train crossing going down and that was followed shortly by a passenger train. People got off the train, the traffic backed up onto a picturesque bridge, and then the train left. It was very exciting.

The first exhibit, called Luscious (a celebration of paint), spoke to me. I think they knew I was coming. Here's one of the paintings from Luscious.

Yes, that's what you think it is: two jelly doughnuts!

Loaded by Lauren Olitsky

Loaded really is loaded with fabric strips, strings, glitter, paint applied with a trowel, paint splattered, etc. Ann wondered how the artist knew when it was done and Nancy W. agreed that is always a problem. I know when it's done -- I want to start deleting things!

Minis -- Approximately 5 inches square -- with texture from the Open Call exhibit. I didn't get the artist's name

 Our favorites from the Open Call NXNE 2017 exhibit were by Elizabeth Panzer. My favorite was Queen Anne's Lace which is an archival pigment print. Another of hers which is just stunning is poppies in a double exposure archival pigment print.

Change Your Mind by Crolyn Enz Hack

This picture of Change Your Mind only shows you half of the installation. If you look above and to your left there is a tube connected to a huge suspended "flower" made out of lights and mesh. The purple that you see is painted screens and fabric wire. It had its own little room, so you were surrounded by the sculpture!

Radishes by Tina Swift (taken in Athol, Massachusetts)

from Windows to Creative Expression: Young Poets and Artists from the Poetry Studio

I forget which installation this is from but it's netting that is used to cover tobacco in the field. The stitching, which is not easy to see is a silver thread. It's much prettier and arresting in person. My photo does not do it justice.

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Tomorrow, Sunday, is the Super Bowl. I have to have all of my housework done by then so I can watch the commercials. I do like to watch the end of the game, but the game itself is really too long for me. That might be a good time to be sewing.

Before that however, I have to figure out how to do the knitting club, a church annual meeting, and a lecture by the Irish Club. I'm beginning to realize that I still love history (whose ever it is). Of course, the tea and scones after could be part of the attraction! And the live Gaelic music ... (insert big grin in anticipation).

Hmmm ... Guess I'll have to put my laundry in first thing in the morning. They really hate it when I go to work in my underwear.