What a busy month! I needed an extra day (29th). We had cold, we had rain, we had temps in the 30s, and temps in the high 60s. My yard is still soggy and has lots of dead limbs and twigs from some winds. These huge old trees constantly self-prune and drop dead branches. The azaleas have had enough warm weather to make them start to bloom, so we're hoping they don't get nipped by a late freeze.
I've enjoyed some OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) classes, like an art class with my favorite watercolor artist Dana Stratton, a class about the trends and what is happening in Christian churches today with Brett Harris (my co-pastor), a talk by Carol Durham about working in an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee. Then we are beginning work on some new church liturgical banners.
Our second Meistersingers concert was last Sunday afternoon--Winter in Blue--some beautiful music by a Norwegian composer and pianist, Ola Gjeilo. The first concert was last October, called Spirituals in Blue. The third one this season will be Mass in Blue--a requiem mass with a jazz flavor--as part of Festival South in June. The words of the traditional mass are there, but the music is exciting and surprisingly fun to sing. Rehearsals will be challenging but rewarding.
In our Southern Fiber Arts group we exchange small (8" x 10") art quilts. Jackie Watkins made one for me inspired by the cover of the Spirituals in Blue concert. I made her piece using real leaves under organza, embellished with silk embroidery stitches.
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| I am holding the quilt Jackie made for me; she is holding the one I made for her |
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| Cover for concert |
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| My art quilt for Julia Graber |
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| Art Quilt Karen Arzamendi made for me |
In bits of spare time I like to work on a jigsaw puzzle on the dining table. The table is long enough that there is plenty of room for meals on one end with the puzzle on the other end. The current puzzle may be far beyond my ability to finish. It's a beautiful scene of Mount Fuji and cherry blossoms. The colors are strong and clear, but more than one piece will fit and look right but I often have to undo sections when I find an error. This is somewhat like picking out stitches or doing what I call the frog stitch (rip it rip it rip it).
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| Elizabeth modeling the ruffle collar I made for Christy's Stella |
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| Rahrah watching out window |
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| Tarbaby wanting my attention |
1 comment:
Great post Martha! I love the Elizabethan collar on Elizabeth - ha! That life long learning program you participate in sounds awesome! I always get so frustrated with large puzzles, I admire that you are so willing to take them on!
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