Christmas at our Home, (thank you Dad!)

My Dad's Christmas Cactus has been blooming for weeks now, and does not seem to be slowing down.  This is a very large plant that sits on the East side of my living room in front of the patio door.  I love it,  it reminds me of my Dad all year long  with just the bonus when it blooms.  

This will hang in my new home!!

This is one of my favorite quilts.  This quilt was started probably more than 10 years ago.  I had thought I would make it into a quilt for the bed but once I pulled it out to work on it, I decided it would look best as a wall quilt.  The photos below are a few close ups of three of the blocks.  A UFO done!

Hunter Peak Fire…...

The fire across the road from our Crandall Property.  We started on our garage and this was a pretty common view for the long weekend we were up there.   The mountain looks dark but I think that was because it was in shadow, at the bottom of that dark we watched firefighters clear wood, brush, trim trees and put in portable ponds of water to save all the homes that are there.  Fortunately, the fire was soon contained and all those cabins/ homes were safe.  Our property and future home is across the road from this fire, just a few weeks before this, Whit Creek Fire could be seen from our home 6 miles from Cody.  Worry, worry worry! 

Ahhhh… a straight up rainbow!

Today is my brother John's Birthday.  He would be 63 years old. (I think)  Sometimes I really believe that those that have gone before us are speaking to us.  I hear the song "Dance" and I think of my sister,  I see a heart, and I do find many rock shaped hearts, which I cannot resist picking up, those I think of my Mom.  My Dad, it is the raven flying high above my head.  But the rainbow is my brother John,  seems he can brighten the darkest days for me with a rainbow.  Are the dead talking?  I believe!!  This one is aimed straight up to the heavens.  

Sunrise is always so pretty on my walk

Another beautiful sunrise on my walk.  I must admit this was during the Whit Creek Fire, so the sky lit up at sunrise and sunset.  The Whit Creek Fire was very destructive to the land but it sure made for beautiful skies.

Denali Mountain in the Alaska Mountain Range

 The center mountain, the big mountain is Denali, or previously called Mt. Mc Kinley.  We had the wonderful opportunity to take this photo in Talkeetna, Alaska, on our trip to the Denali Highway.  

Fun in Alaska

We spent a week in Alaska having fun with John and Emily. This year it was September,  a little rain, a bit cooler and less sunlight than those July and August visits.  A fews days of that week John drove us on the Denali Highway.  I think Alaska may be the only state with a dirt road they call a highway.  It was beautiful.  We saw lots of glaciers, a few caribou, hundreds of hunters,  and beautiful scenery.   We enjoyed the lodge we stayed in, the bird hunting, hiking  and fishing.  But most of all we love spending time with John and Emily!!

Again….

Same owl,   sitting on a post across from the Cody canal.  This is why I love to walk early in the morning, every morning.  

This is Gods Grace!

This owl is somewhere on my walk nearly every morning.  I am always looking up, and around just to see this beauty.

She is getting so big!

Several weeks back I went to visit my Grandkids,  I was thrilled to get to watch this beautiful Granddaughter do her gymnastics.  She has come a  very long way from hitting her head on the kitchen floor doing a cartwheel to the balance beem.  So proud of her accomplishments!

My favorite 3 year old!!

This little guy is just a sweetheart and reminds me so much of his Daddy when he was this age. 

Ruger is fine!

Our Ruger,  looks great in this photo.  But… as we worked on our new garage last Teton, our little hero girl nudged and nosed Rugers nose.  That was unlike Teton,  which made me really look at Rugers face.  His eyes were back in his head,  so all I could see is the bottom white.  His underlids were up over his eyes.  Obviously,  something was terribly wrong.  We dropped everything and headed the 50 miles into Cody to the vet.  We do not know what he ate, poison mushroom maybe, although I cannot find any where we are in Crandall.  "Poisoned or drugged"?  we just do not know,  But we are feeling very blessed.  24 hours after the crazy, Ruger was almost back to Ruger. 
The vet did blood work and gave Ruger a very large dish of charcoal.  

Whit Creek Fire Aug 2016

 This is the Whit Creek Fire.  This photo was taken on Weds August 3rd.  from the So. Fork.  It was heartwretching.   

Whitt Fire sunrise

As I write this, ( August 9th, and you will see published a week from this Thursday, that is the lazy blogger in me, planning ahead) the Whitt Fire west of Cody, is now 75% contained.   Many of our friends and neighbors up the South Fork as well as North Fork of the Shoshone River, have been displaced at times, lost homes,  now have  beautiful land turned to ashes.  We pray for the firefighters, (close to our family and  heart) as well as those that have loss because of this fire.  On that note, smoke and ash from that fire has given us the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets. 

The building begins….

We officially start our future home with the garage.  The top photo is Russ and our friend Steve up on ladders finishing the framing.  The 2nd is the OSB applied to part.  We now have all the OSB on, and next weekend we will put the roof trusses on and the OSB for the roofing.  This has been a very long time in coming to.  Next spring, the house!!!

Heart Mountain Exhibit has moved...

This is the Heart Mountain exhibit!!  22 Quilts, 17 artists. We moved this exhibit from the HM exhibit hall to the HM theatre.   All have been donated to the Heart Mountain Foundation.  It will one day be a traveling exhibit with hopes of educating the public on the illegal imprisonment of over 100,0000 Japanese Americans during WW2.
The Textile Artists of the Greater Yellowstone are the artists of these beautiful quilts.  After visiting the Heart Mountain Center many times we put those impressions into these quilts.  They are moving, they bring tears to many of the visitors.  And… it will soon be a book so you can bring all these quilts home.

Bear # 2-- "Where is Waldo?"

 This is the close-up of "Where's Waldo"   

Not yet finished….  I plan to make a small "Waldo" with a magnet on the back.  I want to be able to move "Waldo" around.  I have already put lots of metal objects on this bear so a magnet would allow me to move "Waldo".  My hope is that my Grandkids can have a little fun finding "Waldo".  This bear has literally 1000's of small items from silver spoons to old aspirin tins, beads, buttons and jewelry.  Long way to go before it is finished,  another cabin project.   

"Penny"

"Penny" is 1 of 2 fiberglass forms of a bear.  Last fall I started placing pennies on this form with E6000 glue.  I worked on Penny at our cabin for most of the fall.  I ended up with a little carpal tunnel and tennis elbow.  Those pains took most of the long Wyoming winter to heal.  This was caused because I bent the pennies to fit the form. I finished her up this Spring and  have now grouted her with black grout.  Russ cleaned most of the glue off the pennies.  I still have a little more grouting to do on the bottom edge.  Then… I will take Penny to Cody Paint and Body for a clear coating and it will be a permanent part of our new home in Crandall.  Love how this girl looks,  she makes me smile every time I look at her.

Just for fun!

Fire and Fences and Hanging by a Thread

Awesome news,  Fire and Fences and Hanging by a Thread have been juried into "Abstracting the West" a show at the Wyoming Territorial Prison.
The show is from June 30th until I think end of September.  

Fire and Fences

 This is the close-up.  Almost all of the items with the exception of the yarn and threads are pieces found on our property in Crandall Wyoming.  Homes burnt to the ground in the 1988 Yellowstone Fires.

I really like this piece.  Not my usual fiber art. I like "real".  I also like thread painting.  I think the objects speak to me. As you can see from the previous piece, done  "inches" or as those are 1 1/2" inches,  I do like using little stuff and found objects in some of my pieces.     This is the 2nd piece I chose to enter in Abstracting the West,  a juried show.  

Hanging by a Thread

It looks like it floats, but it actually is hanging with fishing line.  I thank my friend Kathy Lichtendahl for photographing this piece.  I have entered it in a juried show, Abstracting the West.  If juried in, it will hang in the Wyoming Territorial Prison in Laramie Wyoming  pretty much all summer.  The only prison to have actually held Billy the Kid.  
 I should know this week if it is juried into this show.  
In making this piece I used many of my Dad's hat pins a few coins and other items he had in his nightstand.  The maps I cut up were also found at his home.   So,  although I have put a price on it, it is a hefty price, because I really do not want to sell it.  But if I do and get what I ask,  I think I can sell it without guilt.  
 I actually have another piece I have entered,  I will feature it next week.  So,  check back. 

Heart Mountain #2

Ruger loving those awful stickers!

Leave it to Ruger to love the stickers.  Yes!One of the 1st times we took this crazy dog to Crandall he ended up with his face full of these tiny awful stickers.  Funny thing  was he liked them,  so he rolled and rubbed himself full of lots  more of  those stickers.  We do laugh a great deal  at him. 

Snow Angel and Sand Angel

Sand Angel

 Snow Angel

Olivia our Granddaughter made the Snow Angel Christmas time 2014.  We were in Crandall, Wyoming.  We spent time sledding and she just layed down and spread her wings.   I was also very surprised when she did the wing spreading and angel making in the sands of Cancun Mexico.  We are looking forward to our next family vacation.  A wedding for her Uncle John and Aunt Emily??? Maybe.

Teton as a puppy!

Teton as a puppy.  We adopted Teton when she was probably 4 years old.  She is now almost 10 years old.  She has a funny personality.  She howls with me every morning as we get ready for our walk,  she is a bit selfish with her show of affection but she has the wettest kisses when she wants to share.  I do not think any of my friends have entered my home without her nose going for the crotch.  (very embarrassing for me)  She loves other dogs but has to fight with them the 1st meeting,  she seems to be fine after that 1st showing of who she thinks is boss.  I knew her when she was little and I love her as a part of our family.  This will not be the "art" photo of her I make, but I do love it.  I just find the photos from our part in her life more meaningful.  She has been lots of fun.

Artist Reception for The Textile Artists of the Greater Yellowstone at HMWF

This is a photo taken by Claire Cella a staff member of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation. Those 2 beautiful children are my grandkids.   It was taken at the Artist Reception for Textile Artists of the Greater Yellowstone and honored guest Naoko Yoshimura Ito.  Ms Ito was interned with her family as a teenager. Her quilt expresses a touching story about the time she spent at Heart Mtn, but also of the "Letting Go" of the hurt and pain that many Japanese Americans felt being inprisoned without trial by a country they loved and called home.  

Kodiak Griz

This is another shot from our trip to Denali National Park, Alaska.  Think maybe I should be putting these on at the time of the visit but it is fun to re-visit these photos.  This was taken very far away and he still looks huge!

Denali

Last summer on our annual trip to visit John and Emily.  We went to the  Denali National Park,  we took a small plane up to see the Mountain formerly known as Mt McKinley and  now known as Denali.
Most days visitors are unable to view the mountain because of cloud cover.  We wanted to make sure we saw it, and it was breathtaking!

The Doghouse

When we started planning out little cabin in Crandall.  I designed the cabin much different than Russ did.  I planned the bath to be on one side of the cabin,  Russ chose the center.  YES,  he chose the bathroom to be in the center of the cabin! Another huge difference in the planning was I wanted it set away from all the trees,  Russ put it so near trees that we had to trim huge branches to put the porch roof on. ( not a single  part of my plan was implemented) OK, that said,  because of these choices I have always called it the Doghouse.
Our dogs love going to the cabin so not all bad.  I did have to tell that story to tell you why Ruger is the photo I chose for this weeks blog.  I want to fill that little "doghouse" with thread painted dogs.  Our dogs!  And Ruger is my next thread painting for the cabin.