Pillows Pillows

Oh, I haven't blogged in a long time.  So much has been going on.  But in between there have been PILLOWS.

I did this quite ordinary one, pretty though, for my sister-in-law.  The embroidery alone took a long time to do.

  

Then I had to get a little crazy of course, because I do call my pillows Crazy Pillows.  

D had warped his loom with some lovely linen and I had some gold thread, so I started with this:

I made a kind of grid.   Some time ago, from Paris, I received a vintage cloth with birds on it in a lovely blue.  The grid just kind of found its way on top of one of the birds.  

The snapshot doesn't show the real color.  It's a vibrant blue.  Because the bird was behind bars, I added some free standing birds...

Only I cut them out more substantially and then glued them in place where they could look in.  I don't have a picture of the finished project.  It seems a little oppressive to me.  Usually I gift my crazy pillows, but because of the nature of this one, it didn't seem appropriate.  It is lovely though, in the study.

The current Crazy Pillow is for my granddaughter and is not oppressive at all.

I started with this:

It's a design from Austria from a book that my daughter and I got on our Memory trip there.

I added a calico that I'm french-knotting the heck out of:

And then, again from Paris, I had vintage laundry tape with her initials on it.  Wow.  Does that pop against the blue!  I only have 10 more rows of initials to put on.

I like the blue and the red and the freshness of it all.  

This is when the fun begins.  I have to have it ready in a couple of weeks.  Then I'm beginning a CP with all roses on it.  Already excited.  That is, after I finish a huge sweater project for my grown nephew.  Ahhhh.

Boo!

We had a memorable Halloween this year.  Our neighborhood is the Go-To choice for hundreds upon hundreds of children every year.  Last year was our first Halloween here and we ran out of candy early.  So this year, I

bought 22 giant bags of candy to be ready.  That's A LOT OF CANDY!!!!!

But what made Halloween even better was Rudder.  He wore an actual costume this year.

Like it?

Here's another view:

He was so proud and happy.  We had him out on his pillow on the front porch with us, and all the children (hundreds, maybe even a thousand) loved on him and admired his costume and petted him.  At one point I thought he might be getting cold and tried to move him inside, but he gave me THAT look.  

My Bacon Dog!  (maple kind)  PS:  We ran out of candy the first hour.  Next year I guess it'll be 44 bags.  

Oh No!

Every once in a while, I have to kidnap D.  (That's the "Oh No" part of this.)  When he has some free time, which is seldom, I whisk him away.  Yesterday was one of those days.  D loves planning and schedules, so it's a real stretch for him to just go with the flow, not knowing where we're going or how long we'll be gone, etc.  I do tell him what to wear...


Yesterday was so beautiful, I took my water-loving D to

East Fork Lake, to swim.  It was absolutely heavenly.  Nice beach.  Not too crowded.  I went for a walk while he swam, and then sat in the shade of the shelter, listening to some really soft pretty Spanish being spoken by the women at the next table.


Here's D walking back to the shelter.

When we left there we went to Renaissance, a lawn and garden ornament shop he knew about in Oakley.  Got a little bubbly fountain for our deck.  Fun!!!


Although D was still algae-covered, our next stop was  

Cumin, an amazing restaurant on Erie Avenue.  From the 

cool New York lighting, to the

Sous-Vide halibut, to D's

Macaroon dessert, the meal was fantastic.  All together a successful kidnapping.  We felt as if we were on vacation!!!!!

Rudder Budder Peanut Butter

Wednesday last, Rudder got his staples taken out.  2 and a half weeks after having major lung surgery (open chest surgery).  He's 13 1/2.  He had to wear a shirt after surgery to keep the wound clean and to keep him from licking.  Never once did he try to lick the wound; never once did he scratch; never once did he have to wear the hated cone.

We knew he'd be better when several things happened.  


When he could climb the steps without falling down.  That happened.


When he would once again try to get the cake mix out of the pantry.  That happened.


And most recently, we knew he was well, when he finally "brought" again...his beloved

All's well with Rudder!!!!!

Back at it

A year and a half, that's how long it's been since I've made one of my Crazy Pillows.  Just before we moved to Kentucky would have been the last one.  


Whenever I'm working on one, I have the next one in my brain and kind of laid out, so I can be thinking about it too.  So a year and a half ago, I had pulled fabric and drawn a diagram.


Finally--in the last couple of days--I've begun work on it.  And this one is a challenge.  I'm taking a Shaker Tree of Life that I embroidered

and adding some Swedish material that I LOVE, which I also embroidered

And am putting those two together with some costly silk that I'm in my madness trying to pleat.  

This is where you tell me that it's going to be okay...that I should persevere...


The next Crazy Pillow?  It's using some antique French laundry tape that has the initials B H on it, so guess who it's for?!?!?!?!  Yip...Bethie!  It could be for Ben, but I'm not sure he'd appreciate a Crazy Pillow with antique French laundry tape.  (might be wrong).

Positive/Negative

As I returned from running errands this morning, it was a pleasure to walk into a "normal" house!  


I could hear D practicing his bassoon upstairs and knew that M was downstairs in his pastel studio.  The dog was sleeping in the living  room, although his purple shirt was not "normal".  After major open chest surgery, he is wearing D's shirts to protect the wound and keep it clean and free from licking aspirations.  (This dog is amazing.  There was only one day where his spirit flagged, and that was just the pain and panic.  Otherwise, he has day by day, every morning, tackled the fresh day with vigor and a will to be the Rudder we all love.)  


Our house guests are gone.  The partying has stopped and mostly everything has been put away.  Mostly.  


The Choir Games are over for us.  


We still need to get M's car back, but for the most part, things are settling into place again.  Our house looks lovely.  There's a spaciousness to the spirit of it.  Seems funny to talk of a house having a spirit, but ours does.  It's like a big airy hug.  S's house has a spirit too; it feels clean and right (you know, like "renew a right spirit within me").  


That having all been said, Tuesday is my day to clean the kitchen from top to bottom and boy am I all over that!  See ya!


Here are pix of post op Rudder!!!

Happy Father's Day

So, as many of you know, my husband, D, is a psychiatrist.  For various reasons, he spends a day a week in service to a Case Management Agency, working with the mentally ill who are homeless or just plain poor.


He told a neat Father's Day story to me this morning.


A young schizophrenic man came to him several months ago, complaining of voices.  After talking with him, D gave him a shot that lasts a month, that is a really good medication for schizophrenics.  


The other day, the young man came in for a followup.  Doc!  The shot worked! I hadn't told you but I had two voices in my head talking against each other, and the only way I could make it work was to make a deal with them.  If I walked constantly from sunrise to sunset, they would be quiet.  And they were.  


After I took the shot, one voice stopped altogether.  The other one was still there, but after about a week, it stopped too.  I went home and had an amazing sleep.


The next morning I called up my girlfriend.  And now I'm going to be a father.


D's response:  Well!   Happy Father's Day!


(The case managers were all like:  oh no a new little baby schizophrenic!)


The young man was so happy that D congratulated him and was happy for him.


I have some amazing fathers in my life right now:  A and Sc and of course my beloved D.  So Happy Father's day to each of you.