Fall Is Here, Tree Cutting

 After the long hot, dry summer, the cool mornings are a welcome change. It's been an exciting month with dreamatic changes in the look of my property, and mornings on the front porch have been enjoyable. My trees and those next door had me almost hidden from view until you were right in front of my house. A large maple had been dropping dead limbs dangerously close to the house. Tom Dayon with Dayon Tree Service worked three days cutting trees, raising the canopy, grinding stumps, hauling away debris. The process was captivating to watch, and the crew were skilled using the backhoes, cranes, and other machinery. Needless to say, it was entertaining to watch. 

Before, view from street

Before, view from street approaching house

Before, view from street

Before, closer view (house is in left side of picture)

Before, closer view

In front yard

View from street

Taking down Swamp Maple

This tree kept dropping limbs near house

Hauling debris

After, view from street approaching house

After, from street

After, from street

After, view from porch

Cat news--Elizabeth and Rahrah have recovered from their serious UTI health issues and are doing well, approaching their 10th birthday next month. The scratchng post has become a scratching log and both are putting it to occasional use, not as popular as Elizabeth's cat tree now that she feels like climbing again. The orange mama cat is settling in and stealing my heart with her talking and rolling on the garage floor for petting. She joins me on the front porch some mornings. I must give her a proper name soon. 

I love kids' art and got permission from my young friend Elizabeth Rigney to use her drawing I had saved that her mom (Bethany Rigney) had posted a few years ago. Here is Ellee's Gruffalo in the Jungle.

In progress; Ellee's drawing in background

Ellee's Gruffalo in the Jungle

I enjoyed seeing friends at the MQA Fall Gathering in Biloxi one weekend, followed by a Betty Press class on iPhone Pictures back in Hattiesburg at Singing River Art Studio. Betty shared a wealth of information about the iPhone. The next weekend was our quarterly Southern Fiber Artists meeting in Madison. Jackie Watkins again hosted in her home, and Charlotte Timmons shared instructions and tips on fabric collage.  

Last week I tried a first-time decorating of a sugar skull for a Day of the Dead display. Hector Boldo and Jacqueline Gonzalez Wooton hosted a display and silent auction at Main Street Gallery to raise funds for the newly formed LatinX Art Association. I cut out and applied fabric leaves to my skull. Twenty skulls were on display, and the variety of techniques used was amazing! Here are some pictures. Sorry I can't give credit to the artists who decorated them. Enlarge to see details.

Poster inviting artists to decorate skulls

Painting a sugar skull was definitely a first for me. I've been gathering fall leaves and making art using these--an activity with which I'm much more comfortable. 

4x6 leaf pictures with mats

September is Done

How welcome that first day of fall was! We're having some mornings that are cool enough for coffee on the front porch. 

Elizabeth, My Almost Perfect Cat gave me a real scare with a UTI for several days and spent a week at the kitty hospital. She is home again and happily climbing to the top of her cat tree as well as watching for the orange outside cat through the window. Rahrah is spending a little time on her new scratching post--when it is on its side.

Elizabeth on her cat tree after two weeks

She growls at the orange outside cat

Rahrah trying out her scratching post with a little catnip enticement

On the quilting front, I finished quilting a donation quilt featuring duck hunting scenes. 

Then I finished four small exchange pieces for my Southern Fiber Artists group. These are 8" x 10".  I was running late for June, July, August, and September, so it feels good to catch up.

A real leaf, preserve with gel medium

Leaf printing 

Stitching added to this crab

Weaving technique with horses

Mississippi Book Festival and A Fall

Our OLLI group 

This was my first trip to the Mississippi Book Festival at the capitol building in Jackson and surrounding grounds and streets. Anything outdoors in August generally holds little interest for me, but after hearing it widely publicized on Mississippi Public Broadcasting and the online news publication Mississppi Today by writer/cartoonist Marshall Ramsey, I chose to go with a group of OLLI friends from Hattiesburg on Aug. 19. Even with all the advance information and recommendations, I was still amazed and overwhelmed at the wealth of information and offerings we found there--something for everyone's interest, prompting us to make long lists of books to read later. 

Linda and I in the hallway planning our day

Virginia Magee Butler, panelist on author biographers

We studied the festival guide to plan which panel discussions and author talks we wanted to attend and the locations for each. The presentation on Civil Rights was especially meaningful, moderated by Pamela D. C. Junior, the recently retired curator of the Two Mississippi Museums, and featured three authors, Devery S. Anderson, A Slow, Calculated Lynching: The Story of Clyde Kennard, Kathleen W. Wickham, James Meredith: Breaking the Barrier, and Alvin Hall, Driving the Green Book: A Road Trip Through the Living History of Black Resistance. 

My good friend Virginia Magee Butler, author of Becoming Ezra Jack Keats, was a panelist featuring author biographers.

For Food Pavillion, Food Trucks, Authors Alley, and Booksellers Row, we had to leave the building and face the 100-degree heat. Walking on the sidewalk after getting a book signed, I stumbled on a little curb (walking into a small bit of shade behind a monument for a rest before continuing up the steps into the building). Falling happens so fast and I can only think I am being as careful as possible, but obviously this is not true. Help came quickly after the first person asked, "Are you okay?" I was taken by a vehicle to an ambulance, then to Baptist Hospital, where the cut above the eye and bruises to my face were addressed and a CT was done. There is a fracture of the cheekbone which will heal without intervention, and the cut was glued shut.  I saw my opthalmalogist in Hattiesburg and spent about a week at home in my recliner with pain medication keeping me fairly comfortable, and feeling is gradually returning to my face and teeth. This event has been quite troubling and humbling, prompting lots of introspection. Lying on a stretcher in an ambulance at any age is tough, but at 87, it is especially sobering. Friends and family have been loving and attentive, and I hate like everything to cause such drama and worry.  

The cats were quite pleased to find me in the recliner so much and took turns keeping me company. Rahrah's ultrasound after her surgery does not show any more stones forming in her bladder and I'm hoping the new recommended food will be good for both of them. Although it is still being ignored, I bought a 32" tall scratching post from Chewy that I'm hoping Rahrah will find more attractive than the door facings. It took Elizabeth a month to like her cat tree.

Rahrah's turn on my lap

Halfway through August

Weather and plants--After the hottest July in history, August is more of the same. I missed a couple of days watering my hostas. A large tree has dropped another limb, luckily not damaging the roof.

Hostas suffering from heat and lack of water

Another Broken limb

Cats--The little ginger mama cat is a permanent resident now, running to me when I open the garage door to feed her. Her last two kittens disappeared before I could trap them. She enjoys some petting and is quite talkative. 

I just call her Kitty

More kitty adventures when I discovered Rahrah had a UTI and bladder infection and needed surgery to remove jagged bladder stones which obviously had her in a lot of pain. She is a real challenge to medicate and usually requires help. After the surgery and a couple of days at the vet hospital, she is doing very well. 

Rahrah feeling bad

Julie comforting Rahrah

Feeling fine, being my helper

Elizabeth keeps watch over any possible back yard activity. But mostly sleeps. She waits for me under a chair in the evenings when she knows it's nearing bedtime. 

Waiting for bedtime

Sewing--Southern Fiber Artists are working on an 11-piece project to spell out MISSISSIPPI. Here is my P, highlighting our state's strong connection to music.

Charlotte Timmons, Michele Martin, Leanne Green, Julia Graber

Art--The 2023 SMAA show at the Lucile Parker Gallery at William Carey University opens next week, August 22. I entered a stitched Burlap Linen Flower.

Burlap Linen Flower, 18 x 21

The Invitation