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Monday, April 09, 2012

Spring Break...

...sigh.

Another Spring Break comes to an end.

I've been absent from the stitchery for a while.  Life has been huge lately.  A major relationship change resulting in a new, fresh emotional and spiritual outlook has led me to spend a lot of time reading and writing.  My little internal sparkler pretty much burns hot all the time and if it starts to flicker, I have the means to fan the flame on my own.

Sweet.

Not much stitching going on.  I have been prepping for this piece.

Josephine Wall's Spirit of the Wind, Heaven and Earth Designs


I have a number of pieces to work on linen, but the sheer number of stitches on this one hints that I will be at it for some years, probably long enough that linen will be a challenge for my aging eyes, so I bought a piece of 18-count Aida for it.  The design goes nearly the full width (minus framing margins) and nearly 2/3 of a yard in height.  I'm putting in a grid now.  I don't, usually, but I think I'll be glad I took the time with this one.

This is the second BAP ("big ass project") in my stash.  I've had the other longer (David Armstrong's Pumpkin Pines)  but this one wins for sheer emotional impact.  I'm not going to bother with pictures of the gridding process (yawn) but once I get into the color will post progress.

Anyway, Spring Break highlights.


Just before the break began, we  were hit by a rare spring storm.  Cold, with LOTS of rain (thank goodness) and this view from the driveway on my way to work.  We get this view MAYBE once every two years.


The weekend before the break it was time for the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles Mighty Pipes concert at the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles.  The historic preservationist part of of me was breathless over this church.  From the outside, "magnificent edifice" is too tame to describe it.  Once inside, there were simply no words.  Even the camera couldn't capture it.  This is what we saw before us...

 ...and this was behind us.

And we were surrounded on all sides by breathtakingingly beautiful windows.

I took my mom to this concert, and we weren't disappointed, although for a large chorus this may not have been the best venue.  I guess I was lucky that I tend to enjoy the low ranges more than the higher, because I could barely hear the tenor section.  Nevertheless, they were awesome as usual.  My favorites were "Imagine" (John Lennon) and "Bohemian Rhapsody" (Queen).  Levi Kreis was their guest performer and blew Mom and I away.

I have one more concert in my series.  During my birthday weekend this year (a tad earlier than last), it will be a country-western concert featuring guest Leann Rimes.  Have to decide who my guest will be.  Hmmm...

I spent one morning pulling grass from a sideyard planter.  After a couple of hours I heard excited calls from the backyard.  My son and his girlfriend had been cleaning up the tortoise pen and uncovered this clutch of eggs.  I'm guessing it represents two years laying, as the first six were broken (and smelly) and underneath the cleaner six on the top.  He's going to try to incubate them, but we're not hopeful that these will hatch.  We ARE hopeful, though, that we will "catch" another clutch this year that will hatch.


In the garden, the flowering quince is blooming.  A thousand words worth...



And yes, we can grow lilacs here.  This one is "Declaration," one of three released over the last few years by the National Arboretum.

 
Great color, smells wonderful and looks fabulous with my favorite apricot-colored roses (like "Brass Band.")

My developing self seems to be more drawn to the sea than before, and I was happy to get to spend a couple of hours sunburning my feet this past week.



I spent important (and fun) time with family, but mostly I read.

This book...

Also reading The Field, also by Lynne McTaggart.  Brilliant!
...is a world-changer.  It's kind of a hard read, but I'm still recovering from the shock and excitement of what I've learned.

What I've taken from it:  the reason the world seems so screwed up is that we all keep complaining about how screwed up it is.

It's time to watch Tom Shadyac's I AM for a dose of curing attitude.

Peace.

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