Heading back to the O.R. and more news

Well, I just found out today that I've torn my rotator cuff that was repaired in August and I need another surgery to fix it again. The injury happened three weeks ago when I lifted my suitcase into the overhead bin when I flew out to visit my parents.

So, to cheer myself up on the way home from the doctor's office, I swung into Trader Joe's and bought candy and flowers for myself. The surgery probably won't be until after the holidays -- they haven't called yet to schedule it.

In the meantime, here are some other colorful things in my life since I last posted:

I bought eight of these perforated solar lanterns to add atmosphere to my back yard and I'm really enjoying the light that they cast.

We've been having glorious blue skies and temperatures only in the 70s, so I've been hiking almost every day.

Beth brought her dog, a Wheaton terrier named Sunshine, on her first hike with us this week. Sunshine likes to walk around her neighborhood, but this was a whole new experience and she was nervous. But she was a trooper.

The desert is bursting with these little yellow flowers. I'm not sure what they are. They look like little daisies. And the saguaro below looks like it's giving a hug!

I repotted my kalanchoe in a colorful Talavera pot and bought a new fall wreath for the front door.

I watched Nancy's dog, Charlie, for a day and he never took his eyes off of me. And Nancy took me on a ride in her golf cart for an author's talk in Sun City. That was fun!

I hope to get back to some creative stitchery soon. Oh -- I forgot the best news! When I saw the ortho surgeon today, he also gave me a cortisone shot in my left thumb to see if that would ease the arthritis inflammation enough that I can hand stitch again. I'll know within a week if it's going to work. If not, the only solution will be surgery on that hand.

Have a colorful day

Trees and mountains

I made four of these tree blocks and now have to decide what to make with them -- a wall hanging, placemats, tote bags, pillows????

I also did another hike, this time to the lush Sabino Canyon on the east side of Tucson. Can you believe this is in the desert!?

Do you see the little deer in the photo above (and his mother's backside in the shadows) watching the humans wading?

A few minutes later he decided to join in the fun!

The clear pools were so inviting that I almost took off my hiking boots and socks to wade in the water, but I was too lazy. Instead I stood in the cool shadows and enjoyed the scene.

Back on my side of town, the Catalina Mountains showed their different moods over the last few days:

Tomorrow morning I'll be hiking in them!

 Have a colorful day

Fall brings art and hiking

 

The arrival of fall and cooler weather in the desert (meaning highs "only" in the 80s) brings the snowbirds and hiking. And snowbirds mean my spirit dolls are finally selling again at Absolutely Art Gallery. I'm bringing six more to the gallery this week and that will clean me out. Time to make more!

"Night Energy II," "Night Guardian," and "Full Moon"

"Protection," "Harmony," and "Dawn"

I know the snowbirds are arriving because I'm starting to notice more license plates from places like Ohio, Michigan, Washington and Canada. Pretty soon a big chunk of license plates in the state and national parks here will be from outside of Arizona.

The cooler weather also means I can FINALLY hike again!!! This week I hiked in Catalina State Park and the Tucson Mountains, and tomorrow I'm going to Sabino Canyon. Yay!!! This saguaro giving a hug is from this morning's hike 

Some year-rounders hike through the summer, but they start before dawn and that's too early for me.

These two pictures are from my favorite trail, Canyon Loop in Catalina State Park. I love it because it goes along this lovely creek. My petroglyph rock is also there, near the creek.

Hiking reminds me to savor the moments, look at the plants, listen to the birds, watch the clouds and appreciate all of nature.

Have a colorful day

Family fun in California

Just got back from visiting my parents, who at 90 and 91 are still going strong in their LA home with no outside help except for housecleaning. My dad made two pies -- even the crumb crusts were from scratch. The triple chocolate one was specifically for me, and I think I ate most of it, and the other was a delicious cheesecake pie with cherry topping.

My brother and sister and her husband were also there so we took turns fixing dinner, although my dad made a killer meatloaf for the first night. 

Every night my parents -- married almost 70 years -- sit beside each other on the couch with my dad's arm around my mom, lights low, music on.

Besides family time, there were the beach, museums, shopping and a lot of walks. We hit Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Long Beach and San Pedro as well as a lot of walks on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, where my parents live.

Hermosa Beach with rainbow lifeguard station

Redondo Beach

These are the cliffs on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, my favorite place to walk. I killed my calves the first day climbing this staircase on the peninsula, and they didn't recover for four days!

We also enjoyed a lot of art. My sister, Terry, is an artist and her husband also enjoys going to galleries and museums, so we spent one day at museums.

This is a small part of an amazing 200-foot-long mosaic mural in San Pedro. It was made by artist Julie Bender with help from 300 locals and includes an array of images and mementoes designed to capture San Pedro's essence and history. Here's a link to an article about it: a-collage-created-piece-by-piece-over-two-years-spectacular-san-pedro-mural-is-unveiled-at-last

Terry posed next to another mural, this one for the Sirens coffee and tea shop -- "Where coffee and tea meet the sea."

This is the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach. I love the giant fork and knife!

Then we went to the Pacific Island Ethnic Art Center.

My favorite part was the garden outside with a koi pond and beautiful flowers.

We also went to the Maritime Museum in San Pedro, but I forgot to get pictures. (I guess because it wasn't as colorful as the other two.)

It's always fun to browse quirky shops in California, although I only bought postcards.

Back at the ranch, here's my parents' backyard and the sunset view from their living room, a far cry from our house where I grew up in Pittsburgh!

On the flight home I saw a rainbow as we approached Tucson and then I noted a new sculpture exhibit outside the airport. Home again!

Have a colorful day

Sorting through the memories

While recovering from shoulder surgery, I've been sorting through photos going back to the late 1950s. I've now filled eight albums (over 4,000 photos), plus set aside hundreds to give to my kids and other relatives! And I still have 17 more years to go!

The project took over my cutting table and the dining room table, but when you live alone, who cares? Most of them were in the original envelopes from when they were developed, but since I switched to digital they're not so organized.

Here's a sewing related one. That's me at age 32 and nine months pregnant with my daughter, embroidering her baby cross-stitch memento.

And this is my mother with my first child, Keith, in 1986 at my apartment in San Antonio.

Here are both kids when we had to live in a hotel in Manhattan, KS, until we could find a house to rent. The Army had transferred us there from St. Louis, but there was no housing for us on base and since it was a college town rentals were slim. We finally found a house, and I was ecstatic but I think the kids were sad to leave the hotel pool and playground.

Here's me as a kid, studious as ever.

And still studious in high school, shown here when I was working as yearbook editor.

 

I wrecked my grandmother's old car in 1976 when I had a reporting internship with a newspaper in Pennsylvania. I was driving back to the office from covering my first school board meeting. I was preoccupied with organizing the article in my head when I turned (on a green light but not a green arrow) right in front of an oncoming car. No one was injured, but my editor made me write the accident article the next morning and the police got a good chuckle when I showed up at the station to get their report.

Here's a happier college memory: my roommates and friends gathered in our apartment for a party in the '70s.

These next ones are from 1985 when I went on an Outward Bound sailing trip in Florida. That was both fun and challenging.

Here's another sewing related memory. This is part of a quilt that I helped a fifth-grade class make, based on a Kandinsky painting. It was auctioned off at a school fund-raiser.

Fun sibling memories! Above are my mom and two sisters decades ago. My mother, on the left, is now 90!

And this is my brother and sister looking stylish at my house for Christmas 1987. Those photos were actually sent to me last night by my other sister. We were all sharing old photos via text, and I had never seen these two but I love them!

Finally, the sunset is from last night, the last night of our official monsoon season (June 15-Sept. 30). You can see the rain falling over the mountains to the left. And this morning was sunny and crisp for my walk, a perfect start to October!

Have a colorful day