More spirit dolls and too much rain

It's been awhile since I've made a spirit doll, and it's too hot (106) to do anything outside, so this afternoon I'm working on a trio of dolls.

These are a little different because I pieced together scraps of my embellished cloth. It's fun!

I think I'll do more in the kimono style that I used on the lavender doll.

They're fairly time consuming, so I took a break to do some beading on a little art piece that I'll stretch over an 8x10" frame. I was thinking of moon energy, moon goddess, and a little house in the woods when I made it.

This is how I store scraps of fused fabric -- ironed onto the paper side of freezer paper. They peel right off and still have the fusible web on the back ready to be adhered to another piece of fabric.

Now the bad news. About a week ago we had a major monsoon storm that dumped 1.5" of rain in less than an hour (that part is good because we needed the rain) and a bedroom window leaked badly (the bad news). Water ran down the INSIDE of the window and poured onto the carpet and molding.

My homeowners insurance sent someone out to look at it and I'm waiting now to see if they'll cover any of the damage.

My back yard looked like a lake and hail bounced all over the place.

After all that, these flowers from my yard and from friends are sure appreciated, and I love how they pick up the colors of my garden quilt.

Have a colorful day.

Friends and food on the Fourth

I know a lot of people (including myself) are disappointed right now because of the recent  Supreme Court decision against women's reproductive rights. Many aren't celebrating the Fourth because of this, but I still wanted to bring together friends, food, flowers and all that is good. After all ...

"We have only this moment, 

sparkling like a star in our hand 

-- and melting like a snowflake. 

Let us use it before it is too late."

            -- Marie Beynon Ray

One of my first Tucson friends, Beth (left), 

and one of my first Gig Harbor friends, Nancy, 

who just moved here.

So let's start with the cake! It's the chocolate Texas sheet cake that I've been making for decades as I've moved around the country, and now it has a new following in Tucson. We decided to salute the cake before cutting into it.

Crustless green chile quiche

Black bean and corn chili-lime salad

Fresh fruit

Pasta salad

Tomato salad

Turkey meatballs with marinara and mozzarella

 

And yes, there was wine ...

... and flowers from my yard

After we ate, we walked the short distance to a city park that was having a laser light show. I couldn't get good photos, but the coolest part was when a fog machine layered fog over the crowd and reflected shimmering colors and designs in the air. Our little walk might have burned off a few bites of that cake!

Have a colorful day

Making small art

 

The gallery where I show my spirit dolls is having an exhibit of small art no more than 80 square inches. That has spurred me to make some small textile collages to wrap around 8x10-inch stretched canvases.

Here are the first two, which I still have to stretch  over the frames.

I pulled out my painted silks and sheers, glitz and glimmer, beads and embroidery threads.

I ordered a package of MistyFuse to fuse the sheers over one another.

I did some big stitches with two strands of embroidery floss and sewed on a lot of gold beads.

I love to leave long gold thread tails that shimmer in the light. I've been doing that on my quilts for well over 20 years.

I have mixed feelings about the "face" on this piece. I think of it as Monsoon Man, blowing wind and rain across the desert during our summer monsoon season. But I'm not sure how viewers will see it.

And speaking of the monsoon, our skies have been filled with big clouds promising rain, but not much has fallen in my neighborhood. This is the view from my street yesterday morning.

Have a colorful day

It's cool again!

Yessiree, there was celebrating last night! My new HVAC system was installed yesterday and I can finally relax in comfort in my own home for the first time in almost two weeks!

It was a big production, with a crane pulling up to the house at 7 a.m. to lift out the old compressor and deliver the new one. They had to get it over a rock wall with no gate, which is why they needed a crane.

Then a crew swung into action and got everything hooked up and tested while I sat outside in the shade because it was 95 degrees inside. By 1:30 it was pumping blissfully cool air into the house and by 5 it was cooled down to 77 degrees.

The night before I stayed with Beth and got lots of love in the morning from her dog, Sunshine, on the right, and a friend's dog, Lexi.

And before that I stayed with a friend across town for a few days. Here he is "orchestrating" the monsoon sunset. (Actually, he was taking a picture.) We didn't get rain in that part of town, but we had plenty of dramatic clouds. When the monsoon rain finally comes it will cool things off outside.

Have a colorful day

Happy Summer Solstice and Monsoon!

Summer Solstice!

About 5:30 this morning, 

west (above) and east (below).

In Tucson, the summer solstice means it's monsoon season! We celebrate rain here in the desert like people up north celebrate the longest day of sunlight on June 21. 

We get excited when there's a buildup of clouds in June because it means that rain for a hot, thirsty desert is on the way! Our monsoon officially runs from June 15-September 30, but obviously the weather doesn't follow that exactly.

This is my third summer here, but I haven't experienced a "normal" monsoon yet. The first summer we hardly had any rain, so it was called a "non-soon." The second summer we had record high rainfall -- about 12 inches versus the average six, with a lot of flooding and leaking roofs. This year they're predicting a wetter than usual monsoon, and the rain has already started.

The monsoon begins when prevailing winds switch from the west to the southeast and bring moisture in from the Gulf of California and Gulf of Mexico, which brings rain and some very strong winds. Most of our summer days begin clear and warm, then giant clouds develop in the afternoon and tower over the mountains.

 

The clouds dump huge quantities of rain in a short time in a concentrated area, and these cloudbursts create strong winds, lightning and flash flooding. Our dry river beds become raging torrents, and sometimes water carries away vehicles when they try to drive on flooded roads. 

The temps can drop 10-20 degrees during the rain, in my experience, from in the 90s and 100s down to the 70s and 80s. Even the upper 80s can feel blessedly refreshing after a high of 110.

The welcome rains also bring a second wildflower season in the Sonoran Desert. 

Wildflowers from last summer's monsoon.

In addition, the rain brings out bugs and other creatures, like this tyrannosaurus rex eating a traffic light at the corner of Grant and Tanque Verde last night! Actually, this guy is there year round in front of a McDonald's. I took the picture on my way home from watching the new "Jurassic Park."

And speaking of hot weather, here's an update on my air conditioning situation: It's a stifling 94 degrees in the house, slightly lower in the bedroom where I have a portable cooler, and I have three more days before the new system will be installed and life will get back to normal. I spent the weekend at a friend's house but didn't want to wear out my welcome so I'm home again. Maybe I'll tap another friend tonight.

Have a colorful day