Posts made in July, 2005

The Rose Nursery

The Rose Nursery

Looking back at my last entry, it seems a little Six-Feet-Under-ish but that was certainly not the intent (although I do like the show). The reason there are always a lot of roses at our family events is because of the Ninomiya’s nursery. For many years, my cousins have run a huge rose nursery business just outside of San Francisco, but recently retired. When I was little, I would visit...

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Sunnyview in El Cerrito

Sunnyview in El Cerrito

The day after our family renuion, there was a memorial service for my grandmother who passed away this spring. Her ashes now rest by my grandfather in their joint plot in Sunnyview at El Cerrito, just outside of San Francisco. After the service, we climbed the hill to look out at the ocean. We left armloads of the Ninomiya’s roses on the grave, and Russ took this photo of my nephew...

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A Crafty Bunch

A Crafty Bunch

No family reunion is complete without everyone showing up and sharing their talent, right? My family has always been a crafty bunch. Gary and Greg brought their guitars, and Tara sang. There were homemade jams, jellies, and pot scrubbies galore. Mari was wearing a very cute yellow tshirt with appliqued fish in Japanese fabrics. Karen brought her knitting bag in progress, and Cathy brought lots...

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We’re Baaaaacck!

We’re Baaaaacck!

Early, early last Saturday morning we flew away from the sweltering midwest heat to California — Monterey and San Francisco, to be more exact, for a big family reunion and few other side adventures. Here’s a view of the Bay Bridge as we drove across it on one our art-seeking side adventures in Oakland. More photos of art, knitting, flowers, and family to...

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As I was driving to yoga class at five-thirty this morning, I passed a man on a bicycle. From a distance, he seemed to be weaving down the middle of the road. As I got closer, I saw that he wasn’t wearing a shirt, and he was smoking a pipe. I don’t know why anyone would smoke a pipe while they were riding a bicycle at 5:30 in the morning, but I thought it was a strange coincidence...

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Illustration Friday – Karma

Illustration Friday – Karma

PaMdora briefly thought about naming her new puppy “Karma” so that depending on what the puppy did, she could say, “Good Karma!” or “Bad Karma!” I also wanted to use this drawing for Illustration Friday because orginally I was going to include two puppies — the good one and the bad. But ran out of...

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Doggie Names

Doggie Names

This morning I sat outside and sketched the new puppy, but she moves around so much it’s difficult. She’s really happy outside — the family we got her from kept all their dogs outside, so that’s all she knew before coming home with us. Yesterday Russ fixed all the questional areas of our fence, so now it’s easier to let her play outside all she wants. Our last dog...

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What’s My Name?

What’s My Name?

Evidence was found in the house early this morning that there was a teddy bear abuser on the loose. But who could be to blame? Not this innocent little puppy who spends much of the day sleeping? Who takes long naps in her food bowl? Oh, now that she’s awake, we still think she looks sweet and innocent. But I still think teddy bears should beware. We’ve been thinking for two days...

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Illustration Friday – Metropolitan

Illustration Friday – Metropolitan

Haven’t participated in Illustration Friday in a while, but I promised myself that I would do my next one in fabric (not drawing.) So here it is: I free-cut the fabric, and improvisationally pieced and fused. No pattern! Don’t know if I’ll quilt it, but it would be fun to define the cables on the bridges in thread. It’s a nice size, 44″ by 34″. I don’t...

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Natural Dye Workshop

Natural Dye Workshop

Over the weekend I took a two-day natural dye workshop. It’s kind of a local thing, the Springfield Fiber Artists get together every summer to do a dye workshop lead by one of the members, and Marty did a great job this year showing us what she learned at the Missouri Fiber Guild workshop. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I really had a great time. We used natural dye extracts...

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