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I'm home from Grand Junction- and now have a day and a half to get my mind out of create mode and into work mode. I know next week will be hectic at work.

Friday night I had dinner with Rayna, Jane, Jane's daughter, and Maxine, who was in the first two days of class. We ate at a wonderful Indian restaurant- Rayna had an eggplant dish that even I, the eggplant hater, liked. The food was great, the company fun. I was sorry to see the week come to an end.

I only drove as far as Moab Friday night, to see a good friend who's also a social worker. Another social worker friend of hers from Colorado was also visiting, and we stayed up until almost midnight drinking beer and talking.

I was on the road by 11 am for the three hour drive home, no stops except one to take a picture of the Bookcliffs. And I am exhasted- physically, mentally, you name it. All my stuff was taken out of the car and deposited in the studio- still in the tubs. I'll deal with it tomorrow.

Tonight, it's get the laundry done, eat, and collapse in bed. I hope Rayna gets home safely- last I saw on her blog, she was delayed leaving Junction, and with the snow in Denver, stood a real chance of missing her flight. Not fun.

Maybe pictures tomorrow, but now, all I can think of is sleep.

Packing to Play!!!

I have been in a frenzy today, trying to get ready to leave Monday for Grand Junction. I'll be there all week, taking a two day surface design and a two day quilt design workshop from Rayna Gillman. I have been looking forward to this for months!!

My fabric is packed, most of my surface design stuff is packed-



The black and lime duffel in the back is full of fabric- including ugly fabric I'm hoping Rayna can help me resurrect. My Juki and sewing supplies are in the Tutto. The bin is full of surface design stuff, everything from paints to paintstiks to stamps.



I think I will be packing another one of the bins- I have Wonder-Under, batting, the iron, and the small bin full of sheers and cheesecloth, and other assorted necessities that didn't fit in the first bin.

Tomorrow I'm hitting Home Depot to see if they have any printing stuff I can't resist. Then it's do the last of the laundry, pack my clothes, and pack the car. I'm planning on doing the 4 hour drive rather leisurely, taking time to take photos if the urge strikes. I'll be in Junction by late afternoon, where I'm staying with a friend of a friend.

Oh yeah, and I'll be taking my computer. Hopefully I'll find someplace with wireless access so I can blog the fun.

Here's a parting photo of some goodies I got my first day in California. We passed two bead shops within a block of each other in Laguna, and I made Elaine stop. Here's what I got- apparently I'm still on a red/green kick. But I like 'em all!

Lovely, Sunny, Southern Cal!!!

I am in Orange County, California visiting long time friends for a long weekend. We had a lovely lunch at Laguna Beach this afternoon, and we passed a bead shop that I just HAD to visit. Tomorrow I'm out with anothe friend who also happens to be a quilter, and we're going to an exhibit of Rose Hughes' work, visiting another fiber artist's studio, and a shop that is geared to art quilters. It should be a lovely full day!

Don't think I will have any photos to post until I get home Monday evening. But I am SO enjoying the warm weather, especially after flying out of Salt Lake in a snow storm. Sun, wonderful sun!

More from Reno

Lots more pictures from Reno- on Saturday, we went for a long drive up Carson Pass in the Sierras. I was hoping for fall color, but there wasn't much to see.

But first, we went to breakfast with a couple of friends that I hadn't seen in a very long time. We spent two hours talking over our food, and lots of coffee when the food was gone. Bill and Dawn have wicked senses of humor, and we had lots of laughs talking about our respective children. I made sure Paul got a picture of us before we parted ways--



Then we headed up into the mountains. Just over the pass we found a lake that was being totally drained so they could repair some damage to the dam. It was fascinating walking around a lake bed. Here's an overview, with some fishermen in the distance.



I was surprised at how little trash we could see on the lake floor. We found hollow tree stumps,



and cool rusty stuff.



I got lots of pictures of these mud cracks, I hope to turn some into thermofax screens.



Sunday afternoon, I flew home and decided to try taking pictures out my window. Even in dry and arid Nevada, I saw some interesting stuff. These hills have all kinds of interesting color--



My brother in law tells me that Nevada actually has good soil, but it's impossible to farm without irrigation. It's clear where they are farming from the sky, just look for the crop circles!



A quilt with imagery from aerial photography has been percolating in my mind, so some of these may be used in a future project.

I had a very busy week at work, then spent yesterday at a friend's studio in Heber, waxing and dyeing. But more about that later!

Hiking in Reno

Friday afternoon my brother and I took off hiking in the BLM land above our sister's property. I had been asking them about finding rusty stuff, and they remembered two old abandoned cars up there.

The first part was somewhat strenuous, but the views were worth it.



There have been fires on these hills in the past several years. The vegetation has begun to recover, but you can see the signs of the fire if you look closely.



I also happened to love the sinuous lines of this pinon stump. I took lots of pictures of sinuous sage and burnt pinon.

After hiking up quite a ways, you stumble on this--



It looks like a model from the 1950's, and it has been totally denuded of anything that could be taken.



I knew there was another car up there, so I kept on going. This one really looks out of place!



My brother in law says there was a road here at one point,but I sure couldn't find any evidence of it on this part of the hike.

I wasn't ready to turn back, so we decided to hike to the top of the next hill. It's always further than it looks! But we did make it up to the top, where there is a dry lake. It normally has water only in the spring, until about June. That red dirt on the left center is the lake bed.



That's where we turned around. Here's Paul- and there is evidence of a road up here! Not always easy hiking in that sand!



These hills are home to a couple of wild horse herds. Evidence of their presence was everywhere along the hike- I had to keep an eye on where I was stepping!



Well, blogger is starting to get fussy, so I'll save the rest of my photos for future posts.

On the Road

I've been in Reno since Thursday morning- one day of business, and two full days of playing with my brother, sister, and  brother in law.  I've made the mandatory run to Trader Joe's, found a cool brand new jacket at Saver's (a thrift store), and will trek home with a quart of gesso from Michael's.  Yes, we have Michael's in Utah, but I had a half off coupon that expired before I get home.  Can't let that go to waste.  I also connected over breakfast Saturday with friends I haven't seen in a very long time.  So it has been a lovely weekend.

Yesterday Paul, Kevin, and I drove and did some hiking in the mountains south of Tahoe.  I'll have loads of pictures to post once I get home and get them off my camera.  Until then, this little note will have to suffice.

A Weekend Away!!!

I have been frantically cleaning and doing laundry all day. Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we are leaving for Moab. We'll stay with a friend, hike in Arches, and walk the downtown. I haven't been to Moab in over three years, it will always be one of my favorite places in Utah. The red rocks are glorious, and this time of year the contrast with the emerging greenery is especially beautiful. My camera is ready to go, and I've got my sketchbook and colored pencils stashed in my fanny pack for hiking.

So, no pictures or blogposts until we get back, sometime Monday afternoon since Shannon has to be to school Monday night. But there should be plenty of pictures next week!