In the midst of aches, pains, sweat and tears (albeit with sweet friends lightening the load), the moment of ahhhhh . . .  stargazing, good doggies, clean hair and fresh sheets. And, I got out of bed to testify about that. Happy happy good night.  xoxo

I spent ten hours yesterday packing and moving in the humidity and heat - 86 degrees with a heat index of 93!  Bless Gloria for supervising the two worker bees, several  chromosomes short between them, while I went in search of a truck to rent. They loaded it all up and then we took a 2-hour break. MISTAKE! When I met them to unload at the storage place, it was obvious how they had spent their time off. Beer fumes were oozing out of their pores. Then they saw they were going to have to go up a flight of stairs. Not happy. So, I pitched in and the three of us, drenched in sweat and alcohol fumes, got the job done. I have too much stuff. I let go of a little more every year but still . . . So today, more packing and then schlepping everything I forgot to pack yesterday over to storage. The forecast for the coming week is the same. This is why I go north in April. I am so over Florida.

Anyhoo, I wanted to show you what I and three of my BFFs were up to a couple of days ago. Did you know the African Queen lives in Key Largo? Yes, the real thing. We took a little cruise on Wednesday.

When the boat came in, there was a couple aboard in costume. He even had a bottle of gin and she had a bible.

 Maria and Captain Wayne strike the pose, just like Hepburn and Bogart.

Ok, so flash forward and Florence and Sue came over to help me pack up for the season. Their assignment? To go through two huge boxes of pictures that I've been dragging around and afraid to look at, and get rid of any of he who shall remain nameless.

sorting through pictures

Sue asks Lucy to come up with a stick for the fire and she obliges (really! It was amazing!)

Sunset comes as the pictures burn

Florence brought over her fire pit and it was perfect for a little ceremony. Watching the pictures curl into fire and smoke and letting some of my angst go up along with it. When we were done, I broke out the white sage and we smudged ourselves to get rid of all the bad juju that came from looking at those pictures. It was so good.

ice dyes

So, how cool is this? (no pun intended) I created my own fabric! These have been rinsed once and wrung out. Now, they'll go in the washer and dryer and then to the iron. I think they are beautiful.

Woohoo! Susan and Bob are in town and when Susan is in town, I get to see Paula so double bonus. We all met up for lunch at Snappers on Sunday.

Then, yesterday I went to the much anticipated Fabric Painting Class with Debbie Jones. Thirteen of us spent the day at Mary Lou's house scrunching, sun printing, sponging, stamping, pleating, salting, splattering, twisting, tilting, shibori-ing and my favorite, ice dyeing. I've been wanting to learn this technique and it was a blast.

setting up in the driveway on a hot day

donning masks for ice dyeing

Teacher, Debbie Jones from New Mexico, demo-ing ice dyeing

For ice dyeing, you soak your fabric in soda ash for 30 minutes, wring it out and scrunch it up on a tray over a pan. Then, you cover the fabric with ice cubes. Then you apply powdered dye over the ice. Then the whole thing goes in to the sun. The dye filters through the fabric as the ice melts, making magical patterns and colors. 

the 3 in the foreground are mine, two ice dyeing trays and a sun printing with leaves

still looks like this today.

Now I have to wash and heat set my fabrics so I'll show you the results later on. It was a great class. And, btw, kudos to David for coming by to visit with the girls so I could be away all day.

I rushed home to meet Bob and Susan and Paula and Gloria and David for a stone crab feast and oh it was good. We had about 8 pounds of crab and Paula and Bob brought out the heavy artillery to crack them down on the dock.

And here is a picture of Bob looking just a bit like a creepy serial killer with our key lime pie. Just kidding, Bob, you are a doll. It was deelish!!

So, a busy day with lots of creativity and good friends. Ah, what a life! 

We had a doozy of a storm the other night (and don't you love that word? doozy) with hours of lightening and thunder and rain and wind. Two little worried furry faces appeared at my bedside at about 3:00am so I got up and put Enya on the ipod and tried to get back to sleep. It's the wee small hours when the unwelcome thoughts come pouring in and I finally got up so as to stop rehashing what was and consciously focus on what IS. So. Onward to yesterday where I spent the day in a class called "Funky 9-Patch", taught by the fabulous Mary Ellen.  The Florida Keys Quilters had their monthly meeting first

and then efficiently transformed meeting room to classroom.

My work station. You would know it is mine by the Bali batiks! And Miss Elna, of course.

There is no better way to live in the moment than creating something beautiful. The day passed in a pleasant hum of productivity with like-minded women. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have this outlet.

Well, just when everybody in town was ready to run for the hills up north, BAM the magic wand was waved over the Fabulous Florida Keys and the tourists vanished and all is as it should be again. Actually, the tourists came and went with Easter. It is now possible to take a swim without being hit by a boat, turn on to Route 1, check out in the grocery store and eat at a restaurant. Yay! We had a hot and humid day yesterday so I spent the afternoon swimming with the girls. 

 Life is good.

Happy April!

Here is what Louise Hay has to say to me about April:

New people, situations, and ideas abound this month. I am now focusing on the new beginnings that are in store for me. I reach out with self confidence, knowing that I deserve to have good enter my life.

Bring it on, baby, I'm ready!!

In other news, my friend's daughter is getting married and she gave me a little list of projects and supplies, because "you sew." Well, yeah. I sew cotton. Satin is a whole other animal. Talk about fraying. Give me a nice batik any day. You can keep your slippery satin. Anyhoo, here is what I accomplished over the weekend and I think they look pretty cute.

ring bearer pillow

tea favor 

garters

The picture of the garters don't do them justice. They are lavender and lacy with flowers and ribbons with the bride and groom names. I just have the kneelers left to make. They are getting married on my anniversary. Hope they're not doomed. ha