Walking for the Cure for ALS

I am posting this to you all as a special request to help me as I help my friend Tammy Brierly, a 17 year survivor of Lou Gehrig's disease – also known as ALS. Many of you know and love Tammy and read her regularly at The Daily Warrior. The normal lifespan from diagnosis to death usually does not exceed ten years. The remarkable and miraculous Tammy has survived 17 years and still maintains a high quality of life.

On October 25th, I and my family will be Walking for a Cure for ALS, in Sacramento. I am hoping that many of you will be able to contribute a donation to support this cause. Even a dollar or two would help.

To learn more about Tammy, please click http://mylifeasawarrior.blogspot.com/. This will lead you to her blog.

Tammy Brierly's team page at the ALS Walk for the Cure is below. If you click on my name, it will lead you to my donation page http://web.alsa.org/site/TR?team_id=98020&fr_id=5160&pg=team

OR – you can click here to go directly to my page.
http://web.alsa.org/site/TR/Walks/SacramentoWalk?px=2003247&pg=personal&fr_id=5160

Thank you for taking the time to read this. And thank you for any support you can give to this cause.

And, PLEASE, feel free to share this with anyone you like on your emails lists or post to your own blogs. And many thanks to everyone who has already done so.

Best wishes,
Annie

The Story of a Dress

One of my favorite students, Susane, flew into my office today to show off this sweet vintage dress.

Susane is Boho meets Vintage and she pulls it off with great style. She was in Portland, OR this summer visiting friends and she saw this fabulous little 50's era dress in the window of a vintage clothing store. She flipped for it and immediately checked out the price. $100!!! Sobs!! So much for that idea and she walked on with her friend, John, to explore other possible adventures. Well, this week the dress arrived in the mail, a gift from her friends she had been walking with. How loving and sweet is THAT? Susane brought it to a dressmakers and had it altered to fit her. It also came with puffy sleeves, a style that it totally NOT Susane. So off with the sleeves. If you click on the pictures, you will see that it is a sheer fabric shot through with ribbons. She wears it with a flesh colored slip so the details of the dress aren't lost with a black slip worn beneath.

I just HAD to share this insanely cute dress. It brought such a smile to my day when Susane walked in wearing it. I hope it brings the same to you.

Memory-Making, Apple Hill Style

Apple Hill Fall 2008 - time for more memory-making with Barb and Jeff. This year we added to our embrace of friendship when Tammy (Daily Warrior) and her husband Dave joined us. Here are the men below. Left to right Jeff, Dave and my Don.

And here are the women - left to right Me, my daughter Krista, Barb (Jeff's wife) and TAMMY.

Twenty-four years ago, Paul Jones came skidding and dancing onto the human scene. A month later, Krista swam in and the two of them after much squabbling, became best friends. This past summer, Paul and Amanda married and now they are three best friends.

I'm always on the look out for things that are old and worn. This Ford F-500 is from the side of an old flatbed truck parked outside of the Fudge Factory.

Don and Dave, mano y mano.

A tender moment between Dave and Tammy. That's sliced, caramel covered apples.

Krista. "Nuff said. She's my best girl. And, as she would say, "I'm your ONLY girl."

Red pepper in Jeff's garden.

Family portrait. Jessica (Tammy's daughter), her husband Josh with little TK on his shoulders. Dave and Tammy with Nikki comfy on Tammy's lap.

Apple Hill explodes with humans and their dogs. We were part of that select group this year. Here are two of Tanner's friends, little long-haired chihuahuas. The brown one, full grown, is about half the size of the black one. Much friendly sniffing all around.

We will be seeing Tammy and Dave again the end of October when we join them on the Walk to Cure ALS. Here's the link to Tammy's blog for more information. There is a link within the blog to become part of Tammy's team.

Apple Hill teaser - TOP Something to Share

There is so much to post about Apple Hill this year. It will take some time so here is a teaser featuring our TANNER. Tanner is a Chihuahua/terrier mix. He went on his first trip away from home this weekend. The drive up was a bit disconcerting for him and he got carsick towards the end of the drive. However, the drive home was much easier on him and he was a veteran traveler by the end of the weekend.

Once there, he did a meet and greet with Barb and Jeff and we determinedly kept him away from the cats. Apple Hill put him in proximity of lots of strangers and other dogs. He managed it with great style. No shivering puppy is our Tanner.

Don had to do some doggy watching for a bit and he reminded me that I had promised him that he would never have to hold a small dog in public. Well, you can see the worth of that particular promise. In the end, though, he didn't mind because he LOVES his little grand-doggy.

Stay tuned. More to come.

The Saga of a Demi-Purse - Part I

I don't suppose one would usually associate the word "saga" with the crocheting of a small cotton purse. Blame it on me staying up until 2:45 this morning to watch "The Pathfinder" a epic and bloody pre-Columbus tale of Vikings versus the indigenous locals of the "undiscovered" New World. MY tale is without blood, not even the prick of a finger with a needle, but saga it is nevertheless.

Like all good sagas, this one started out innocently enough this past May when I receive Carrie Sullivan's great crochet book, Carry-Alongs. Filled with lots of purse patterns, I was almost instantly enchanted with the Demi-Purse, aptly named because it's a small purse , perfect for holding a cell phone, i.d., debit card, thin camera, and lipstick. (Now you know the necessities of MY own purse). Anyway . . . I chose to use the yarn Carrie identifies for the pattern. I really wanted this to come out just right. I found an online source and after three months of communications and patient waiting while the stock "was just about the arrive", I finally gave up. Two weeks and one new online source later, I got my yarn - Louise Harding Nautical Cotton.

This little charmer of a purse has two separate pieces to make the sides. I suppose with some changing of the pattern, one could make it one long piece to fold in half, but I'm unwilling at this point to forge my own crocheting pathways so I stuck with the pattern. Above is one of the sides, unadorned at this point with the overlay stitching.

Side now with overlay

And both side here with overlay stitching.

With the addition of handles and lining, this sweet little project will be complete.

I'm off to Placerville tonight to enjoy a weekend of celebrating all things apple with our longtime friends, Barb and Jeff. It's approaching Fall and the apple growers of Apple Hill are starting their seasonal rush to fun, food, crafting and frolics. Read more about other trips here. Also, my poem to Apple Hill memories and friendship here.) There is a yarn and crafting store in Placerville and perhaps I will be able to sniff out my purse handle there. Barb is an accomplished seamstress so even though I own a simple sewing machine, I'm hoping the whilst there, I will be able to beg some help with creating the liner.

The Color of Red

Blood of sacrifice

Doomed Schindler's child

Flash of anger

Throb of hurt

Sunset on sunflowers

Flush of forgiveness

One Single Impression - Seeds

The seeds of beauty are everywhere.

Old buildings,
Worn down by time;

Old statues,
Worn down by the touch of entreating hearts;

Old flowers,
Worn down by the passing of the season;

Old hands,
Worn down by hard use.

But still they stand, still they support, and
still they embrace.

Spreading the seeds of beauty everywhere.

TOP offering this week - Autumn Conversation

The first crisp glimpse of autumn breath said hello to me this morning as I stepped outside my front door. Coolness washed against my face and for the first time in weeks my brain seemed to leap into high alert. It is morning and it feels like morning.

I notice the moisture on the windshield of my car, no early morning heat to burn it off. I notice the quietness of the birds. The calling and crying has abated for another season. Now is the time for preparing for the season of rest, each bird now secure in its place in the order of things.

There is a brightness to the air and my thoughts turn to the comfort of a season that always seems to wrap me in the softness of an old quilt. Sipping my morning coffee at House of java, I stare out the window between lines of thought and dream of approaching Fall - the smell of burning debris from late summer's harvests, the color of orange as pumpkins peek out beneath green waiting for their trip to the October mazes that are starting to appear along the backroads. I think of the surprise apple pie that appeared on our counter last night and the cinnamon smells that filled the kitchen.

I am in a flurry of digging out and "burning" my own debris, putting a certain order to things along with the birds, preparing for lots of quiet time to continue with the photo projects, crocheting the bathroom curtain and starting the purse I've wanted to start all summer long. The yarn is finally on its way.

So morning creeps in, work waggling its relentless finger my way. The coffee is cooling. Time for a warm-up and one final boost of strength to start my day.

A Peaceable Place

I like to drop in from time to time at Eyes of Wonder. I always leave from my visits there feeling genuinely at peace and refreshed. I'm not sure what the family's religious background and it's really not important but I suspect they are Mennonite. Please click here for something very extra special. If you have not enjoyed a visit with these lovely people, please be sure to give yourself a wonderful treat.

In Memorium

Tuscany outside my kitchen "window'

From August 31st post

. . . And finally the kitchen wall has been painted. Kris pitched in and between the two of us, it was completed in a matter of hours (over a period of a couple of days, of course). Nothing I do is ever accomplished in a straight line. But except for some sealing of the paint on the door frame, the painting is finished. Once the mural that is to be mounted is added, it will be complete and I'll share the pictures here in a few days. . .

Today (September 6th)
. . . the door frame was clear coat sealed and the mural went up. My kitchen is very narrow so it is pretty difficult to get a straight-on photo of the mural. This shot was accomplished after a lot of trial and error. Mostly error.

The overall effect is a bit one dimensional but I believe I will have a solution for that. I'm giving the mural about a week to settle in and then I'm going to add some aging to the wall around the "window" and the corner of the wall. I think it will add the depth it still needs.

One Single Impression - Spectacle

What I saw last night.

A glimpse of pink fluff

peeks through the sheltering rough.

Surprise. Stop. Look. Smile.

San Francisco morphing

The Monday pilgrimage to San Francisco morphed in a BIG way. We ended up in Hayward at one of the local malls. How, you may ask, would this happen? After all that is a pretty big switch. The short and easy answer would be about destination. Krista has been dying to visit the Steve & Barry store at The Cannery. We Googled directions and found that there were several of these stores throughout the Bay Area. Gas being want it is, we opted for the shorter trip. In the end it was a good idea. We liked the store. Definitely a good marketing idea for very affordable, trendy clothing styles, but definitely NOT the reason for a road trip to San Francisco (especially when you have already been to The Cannery countless times.)

As it turned out, Kris didn't get anything but I did (if you can believe that). I saw a long-sleeved t-shirt for Don with a humorous image on it. Not the sort of thing he would wear out in the world but definitely fun and good for warmth as the days progress into Fall and Winter.

Kris perusing the jeans. They didn't have her size. Bummer.

We finished things up at Starbucks, kicked back for a bit and then headed home. It was a perfect mother/daughter/friend day. Nothing to scream about but the weather was divine and the companionship was the best.

I knew that once school started again that I would have a lot of problems coming across my desk. It doesn't help that I also received a very distressing phone call from a friend. Suddenly I feel like I have an anchor around my heart.

Yesterday I was enjoying the cool breeze that had descended on the valley and the way it was playing with our bedroom curtains. How I wish for this lightness of heart for my friend. School and work has its ups and downs. I can deal with that. The soreness of a friend's heart and her life is another matter.