Hot! Hot! Hot!

Internet sources say it's 94 right here, right now. UGH! It's bloody awful! Those same sources say it's going to be 61 by Friday. How in hell does that work???

Well, it's better than being in Michigan with Michele, where it's currently 36 with snow flurries. Not my cup of bourbon either.

Worse yet, I could be with Rekha in Kanpur, India, where they're headed for 105 later today (probably coupled with 105% humidity, to sweeten the deal.)

I guess I'll just shut up.

Bitch, bitch, bitch... never happy... that's me, as my January 29 post will attest. Did I REALLY want it to be April? What was I thinking...????

One down, four to go...

Here's Virginia's round robin block with my border added. Thank goodness for cheater cloth, and for that small "emergency" stash of fabrics I'll never use - they were a perfect match! I'll exchange Virginia's piece for someone else's at tomorrow's meeting and start all over again. Not stressing so far...

New Round Robin

My quilt guild, Vallejo Piecemakers, started another Round Robin last month.

This is my center block, and, after visiting five other quilters, I'll get it back in July or August with five fabulous, exciting, creative, inspired and, hopefully, flamboyant, new borders. I got so uptight the last time I participated in a round robin (my first), I could hardly enjoy the process, but this time I'm very laid back about it. So laid back, in fact, that I haven't even started working on Virginia's center block yet, and it's due back in her hands on Saturday. Guess I'd better get busy. First, though, I need to fix myself a Jack 'n Coke and stare at it a bit longer.

Here's Virginia's block:


Adorable, eh? About as far away from my style as it's possible to get, but then... that's part of the challenge, isn't it?!

The Joy of Rescuing

As most of my friends know, I'm an inveterate rescuer... I'm a schlump for anyone or anything in need. When I was a kid, I drove my parents wacko by bringing home injured birds, lizards, cats, half-dead flowers, broken toys, battered books, etc. As a teenager and young adult, I marched and protested for or against every just cause or unjust social issue out there. I adopted houseplants my friends had all but killed and nursed them back to health; the same with sick fish from their aquariums. Later, my rescue efforts even extended to a couple of good-for-nothing-low-down-dirty-rotten-scumbag men, with the completely predictable, disastrous results. Fortunately, I gave up that vein quickly, but the desire to rescue still burns hot in my soul! I adopt damaged cats, rescue dying plants from supermarket nurseries, save spiders in the bath tub, and throw a few bucks at every animal rights cause that hits my mailbox.

Recently, World Vision found me and now, Goddess help me, I'm even rescuing kids. The number of kids in need of food, health care, clean water, clothes, shoes, love, attention, and other kinds of help, both in our own country and abroad, is staggering and heartbreaking beyond measure. Thanks to World Vision, I'm now making a difference in the lives of two children. Two out of approximately 236 gazillion kids in need ain't much, but it's a start.

AMY lives in Senegal, and is twelve years old.


REKHA lives in India, and is eight years old.


For a small monthly sponsorship fee (auto-deducted from my checking account so I don't even miss it), I, along with other sponsors, can help children with things like health care, education, clothing, better food and clean water, and, in the process, help their entire community become more self-sufficient. It's almost impossible to believe a mere $30 can go so far. I get the pleasure of writing to them and sending them silly little gifts like colored pencils, drawing paper, hair ribbons, balloons and stickers. They write back to me and keep me apprised of how they're doing in school and life in general. All of this I do from the comfort of my own way-too-comfortable lifestyle. Oy... it makes me feel like such a mentsh.

I can't recommend this happy, painless process enough, and urge everyone to adopt a kid and start gathering your own very rewarding warm fuzzies!

Viva, Bach!

Johann Sebastian Bach
b: 21 March 1685 - Eisenach
d: 28 July 1750 - Leipzig

Bach is the absolute hero of my life. His music feeds my soul, and if I were unable to hear another note of music by any other composer for the rest of my life, I wouldn't feel I was missing a thing. His compositional output was staggering, the quality of his music is unparalleled, and the variety of styles is unbelievable. His music is as mathematically complex as it is beautiful, and is the most enjoyable to play of any I've studied (and that's a lot of music, folks!) I was blessed with a piano teacher who started me out on the music of Bach, instead of scales and other boring crap that drives most kids away from piano lessons before they even get a chance to appreciate what music is all about. Sincere thanks, Mrs. Durham - you worked my four-year-old ass off that first year, and for the next twenty years, but it was worth every keystroke! You and Herr Bach gave me a musical foundation upon which I built a wonderful career as a pianist, harpsichordist, organist and singer, and I'm very grateful to both of you.

Elvis revisited

Elvis was really torqued when he saw the picture I posted of him on January 28, so here's one that's a little more "refined". With him is his inseparable companion, Dmitri, who was featured on December 4.

Another dose of high impact entertainment...Cat watching

Our beautiful little ebony daughters, Patty, Maxene and LaVerne, enjoy a bug watching session from the music room window. Alessandro, Frederick, and an unknown cat under the blanket, watch from a respectful distance. Scheesh... it looks like a window washing session is waaaaay overdue! Or not. Maybe I'll just stay true to my "I hate housework" lifestyle and wait until it rains again.

Today's Hero: Beth

As Elizabeth Vandervennet - Principal cellist for the Vallejo Symphony Orchestra.

As Gingerbread Candy Monahan, in the fabulous Rosin Coven, the World's Premiere Pagan Lounge Ensemble.

I've loved the cello since infancy, when my father first introduced me to the instrument. For reasons known only to him, he stopped playing when I was very young, and his cello lived on the top shelf in his closet for many years until, one day, it disappeared. I was told it had "been sold", but was never told why. Alas, somewhat typical behavior for someone in my strange family. I've been a devoted cello "follower" for years, with Julian Lloyd Webber being at the top of the heap of my favorite artists of this wonderful instrument.
My far-and-away favorite work for the cello is Josef Haydn's fiendish First Cello Concerto, so I was delighted when the Vallejo Symphony programmed it this season. Last night, it was excellently executed by the orchestra's principal cellist, in a performance that had the audience spellbound, and then out of their seats and on their feet, roaring and screaming, at the conclusion. Kudos to Beth!!

A Zen sunset for a cold Winter's day...

So much fire in the sky for it to be so cold on the ground! Again, I have to qualify my use of the word "cold"... meaning, it's cold to ME, but not necessarily to my friend Michele, who's enduring life in the sub-zeroes in Michigan, or friend Heidi in Germany who's experiencing the same. "California cold" is a concept only a native Californian can grasp. Whatever... I'll be glad when it isn't so "cold", like as in April or so!

Things to celebrate today...

Want an excuse to party tonight? ... to pop open a bottle of 2000 Moulton-Rothschild Pauillac? ... or, perhaps, to finsh up that bottle of Southern Comfort, while you listen to Janis Joplin oldies?? Consider celebrating one of these Red Letter events...
Today, January 28, is:

*Bald Eagle Day
*National Kazoo Day
*National Blueberry Pancake Day (you probably should have taken care of this one at breakfast, unless, like my Mother, you think pancakes are a perfectly acceptable dinner...)
*National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day
*Fantasy Island Day (Debuted this day in 1978)
*International Make Your Point Day
*National Serendipity Day
*Runic half-month of Elhaz begins (The rune Elhaz signifies power and sanctuary [Ooooooo])

What are you waiting for???
Get out there, boogie down, and...
Let . It . All . Hang . Out!!!

Happy Birthday, Wolfgang...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
27 January 1756 - 5 December 1791

Mozart is another of those fantastic composers who, alas, isn't on my "favorites" list, simply because I've long since passed my saturation point with his music. I wouldn't dare deny his greatness, and truly love his operas, masses, and late piano concerti. He was a child prodigy, composing at age 5, appearing before Emperors and such at age 6, and concertizing in France and England with his famous father, Leopold, and child prodigy sister, Nannerl, at age 7. In his short lifetime he wrote an absolutely staggering amount of music... 41 symphonies, 27 piano concerti, 7 violin concerti, 27 string quartets, 25 piano sonatas, 33 violin sonatas, 20 operas and musical plays, 16 masses, a requiem, and dozens of other works. If you haven't experienced his music, do give it a go - all of it is good, and much of it is excellent!

The day I've dreamed of for 8 years...!

Oh, I LOVE this picture! That helicopter contains "Lonesome George" and it's about to lift off and carry "'W" back to Texas and, hopefully, a life of total obscurity, from whence he will fade away into the sagebrush and cows and never be heard of again. We had to wait too long, and too many people, polar bears, wolves, whales, environments and endangered species had to suffer before this moment finally arrived. Now, I'm not a prayin' woman, but, let me tell you, I'm praying right now that this wonderful country I love so much, will NEVER, EVER have to endure another embarrassment like him again.
Let the healing begin!
Amen!!!

Waiting for Spring...

George, my landscaper, and his crew got my rose garden "up and running" last week. It doesn't look like much right now, but, come Spring, I'll have 18 beautiful hybrid teas and one florabunda struttin' their stuff. I got a wild mix of reds, yellows, purples and oranges, lots of oranges! Normally, I only grow hybrid teas, because they do best in this area, but I couldn't resist the one florabunda because every picture I saw of it knocked my socks off! It's called "Cinco de Mayo" and is a blend of lavender and orange - one of my favorite color combinations - and I can hardly wait to see it in action! Here's the nursery website's picture of it...


Here are a few others I got:

Leonadis

Black Bacarra

Perfect Moment


Is it Spring yet?????

Here's what was in the boxes...

The New Grove's Encyclopedia of Music & Musicians...
29 volumes
25,000 pages
29,000 articles
20,000 biographies
and yada, yada, yada...

This should keep us off the streets and out of trouble for the rest of our lives!

Happy Anniversary, Thanksgiving, Chanukkah, New Year's...

This present to ourselves cost us a bundle, but it's the gift of our dreams... something we've wanted for years, if not decades, and we finally decided to spring for it, since we're not getting any younger! Stay tuned while we get it unpacked...

YAY!! I sold a quilt!!

I just got a call from Pieced On Earth, a shop in downtown Vallejo where I have some of my quilts on display. Janet, the owner, told me she sold one of my quilts today. Very cool! I'm happy!! This piece is called "Vernal Awakening", and is part of a series of pieces depicting the seasons. It's made of hand dyed and batik fabrics.

Uh Oh...

My husband is always yelling at me about spending too much time on the Internet. I didn't realize he might be right until I got this message today...

How to scare the crap out of your human...

1. Find a nice patch of sunlight.
2. Roll over onto back.
3. Go into maximum "stretch" mode.
4. Don't move a muscle, even when human approaches.

Garden Doldrums

Such a discouraging time of year for gardeners this is... too cold to stay outside more than ten minutes, too wet to just stand around and water (my favorite gardening activity), although the wet ground makes it easy to yank weeds, it's too cold to do that for more than ten minutes, et cetera, et cetera...
This is what I have the most of these days...

I gotta hand it to my tomatoes, though; after the Christmas Eve storm I thought they were done for, but that's not the case. They may look like hell warmed over, but, thanks to the day or two of sunshine we get between storms, they keep on keepin' on. They actually taste good, too! There's enough for salads at dinner, and there's nothing that cheers up a winter salad like tomatoes from just outside the back door!

But wait... here's a hellebore that seems to be surviving... I guess there's hope.

Diana Triumphs!

In mid-December, we noticed one of our fur-babies was loosing weight. Then, about a week before Christmas, she stopped eating... bad news. We took her to the Vet where they did some blood work, and the results were exactly what we didn't want to hear... highly elevated Creatinine, BUN and Phosphorus... all signs pointing to kidney failure. She also had what they called a "massive" bladder infection. They immediately put her on IV fluids and antibiotics and tacitly indicated we should prepare for the worst. She was in hospital for six days, during which time repeated blood tests didn't show any improvement. The day after Christmas, after yet more discouraging blood work, we brought her home, and started administering the fluids and antibiotics ourselves. We're old hands at this, having had four previous "kidney cats". Almost immediately, she started eating again, and acting like she was feeling better. We were hugely heartened. Over the following days, she continued to eat well, returned to her usual social self with the other cats, and became seriously more affectionate and demonstrative towards us, in spite of the fact that we were poking her with needles and ramming pills and other objectionable stuff down her throat twice a day. The day after New Year's we took her back to the Vet for another round of blood tests, and the next day, received the astounding news that the Creatinine value was down by half, BUN was at "high normal" and Phosphorus was in the mid normal range.YAY!!!!! We're to continue with fluids and antibiotics for another month, and then return for another round of blood tests, and this time we expect a complete recovery. However, if you feel like sending healing thoughts and mojo in Diana's direction, they would be much appreciated!

Christmas Eve

Last night was The Best Christmas Eve in memory! For the first time since 1954 - that's over 53 years, folks - I didn't have a Christmas Eve gig! After last Christmas Eve's hair-raising nightmare, in which the perpetually unprepared music director at my former church job attempted a full-blown Christmas Cantata, complete with choir, bell choir and instrumental ensemble, without once rehearsing the entire group together, I was a totally wacked out nervous wreck. Even though things, mercifully, came together and the show was pretty decent, I swore I would NEVER subject myself to that level of blood-pressure-raising insanity again. After a series of further unpreparedness episodes throughout the first part of the year, culminating in the biggest "Fuck You" I've ever had thrown at me, I decided I'd totally and irrevocably HAD IT with that level of frustration, and quit that stupid job in August. Hence, last night's delightful Christmas Eve! The husband and I stayed home and drank champagne in front of a roaring fire, whilst petting cats and listening to schlocky Christmas music on the local Classical music station (some of which was tacky beyond belief... whatever happened to taste???). At about 11:00 a storm blasted through the North Bay, upending 90-gallon trash containers and blowing anything not tied or weighted down all over the yard, and quite successfully finishing off my woebegone tomato plants. The evening's sunset, or lull before the storm, was absolutely gorgeous, though...

New additions to my art collection...

I realize calling the small selection of original art I've purchased over the years (mostly from local artists who are my friends) "A Collection", is a bit presumptuous, but I love supporting artists by adorning my home with their work, interspersed with my own. To me, it is, indeed, "A Collection", and if that makes me sound like a snob, so be it!
My latest additions are two small pieces by Laura Cater-Woods, and represent one of the many directions I want to go with my own small creations... to wit, lots of embellishments in the form of beads and machine and hand stitching.

Hidden Spaces
Hidden Places

Aren't they gorgeous?! I subscribe to Laura's sort-of-weekly "Idea To Image Museletter", a short, but inspiring jolt of beauty that's always a delight to find in my in-box. Subscribe here and you can be inspired too!

Cats staying warm...

Alessandro and his little sister, Lucia, definitely have the right idea...

Happy Birthday, Ludwig...

Ludwig van Beethoven
16 December 1770 - 26 March 1826

Not my favorite composer, but there's no denying his overwhelming influence on Western Music (that's Western, as in Western European, not Country & ). As a musician of the pianistic ilk, I've been buried in Beethoven most of my life, and long ago reached my saturation point. Too much of 'most anything, no matter how good, is still too much. Too bad for me, because even I will profess his music is stupendously excellent. I think I'll go celebrate this momentous day by listening to some Bach... of whom, in my opinion, too much isn't enough!

If you don't like the weather, wait a minute...

That's been a popular, and true, saying around the Bay Area all my life, and today was a perfect example. After a cat-freaking deluge around 2:00 a.m., we awoke to "scattered clouds" and a bunch of weirded-out cats. At 10:45 I looked out the kitchen window and saw this rain cloud barreling across the top of SF Bay, headed straight for us.

Five minutes later we got royally pelted. Ten minutes after that, it looked like this...

Ten minutes later we got pelted again, this time by hail. Now the cats are completely freaked out. I can hardly wait to see what's in store for the rest of the day - sure glad I don't have to go anyplace today!

Staying Warm...

It's been pretty cold for the last few days (well, cold by my wimpy standards, anyway...) It was a six-cat night on my bed last night, and the cats are getting inventive about how to stay warm during the day. This is Elvis's method.

YAY!!! Romanesco is back!!!

I'd never seen, or even heard of, one of these things before last January when Riverdog Farm sent one in their weekly veggie box. Since then, it's become my favorite vegetable, though they're impossible to find in any markets around here. Besides being delicious, it's the most beautiful vegetable I've ever seen... almost too beautiful to eat! It looks like an intricate forest of Christmas trees, or like a 3-D puzzle, with the pointy bits being made up of pointy bits, which are made up of pointy bits. It's a member of the cauliflower family, and tastes a little like cauliflower, only much richer. You can steam it, or boil it, but that's too ordinary for something this elegant. I usually turn it into a frittata - break the bulb into small segments and saute in (lots of) butter in an ovenproof frying pan (I use my trusty 8" cast iron fry pan), with some chopped onion and garlic. Lightly whisk 4-5 eggs and pour into the pan and gently stir until the eggs begin to harden. Generously sprinkle in some Feta cheese, stir a few more times and remove from heat. Sprinkle liberally with shredded Asiago (or Parmesan) cheese, and put under the broiler for a short time. Mind it carefully, as in, don't run off and do any other task, as it will burn very quickly (and trust me, few things smell worse than burned frittata!) Remove from broiler and let it sit for 5-10 minutes, then slice and serve. Mmmmmmm...!

Three Peckered Billy Goat...???

Obviously, organic coffee is going off in a whole new direction! I was standing at the coffee shelf at the El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company the other day, reading the "poetry" on the side of this package:
"A brew that is too placid
may leave your billy flaccid
But three willies on a billy,
is that too many for a nanny?
If not, then your billy should sup
from the cup that keeps him up.
So fill up his cup or apply as a lotion,
then kick back and enjoy his three-stroke motion."
Whilst trying not to make a fool of myself by laughing too hard, a little old lady looked over my shoulder and said, "Oh, Honey, you have to try that. That shit's good!" With a recommendation like that, what else could I do? I bought it!

I decided "that shit" was too special for my ordinary old Braun coffee maker, so I bought it a brand new pot...
Made for each other...!
And, by the way, That Shit IS good!!

Plugging away...

I got the dolls "framed" for the newest Q.I.P. (Quilt In Progress - see December 5 post). I used some of my hand-dyed solids from Primrose Gradations. I really like the way they look, and now wish I'd used solids to frame the huts and trees, but I don't feel like un-sewing and starting over. I'll make it work somehow - I love a challenge!

Always Remembered...

John Lennon
10/9/40 - 12/8/80
Musician - Songwriter - Artist - Peace Activist