Cat Costume

Airus loves the "cat" costume I made for him and he insists on wear ing it whenever possible!
He happened to see a preview of the musical "Cats" that was attached to one of his videos and he has been fascinated with the character "Macavity" - one of the rather over the top cats in the muscial. This is what he wanted to be for Halloween, so I agreed to create his costume.

I discharged black terrycloth knit to create the patterning. The long hairs are eyelash yarn hand sewn in place and the lightening painted on the front of the costume was done with metallic fabric paint. Airus is 3 years old.

Puerto Penasco - Shrimp Gumbo!

During our week in Puerto Penasco, we ate "in" each evening. We went to the fish market each day to select our shrimp and/or fish for dinner. To keep things interesting, we tried a variety of ways of fixing it.

I did most of the cooking. My choice. I have a lot of food allergies and if I am cooking, I know I can eat it.

The picture above is the Gumbo I made using fresh peppers, tomato, parsley, bay leaf and onions from the market. I made a traditional southern style roux - by browning the flour in oil until dark as a copper penny. Since I don't eat wheat (and neither does sister Shirley), I tried using corn flour. It worked perfectly!

After the base of roux and vegetables had simmered all day, I added the fish and shrimp at the last minute - until cooked through. Then served over rice and garnished with cilantro. The fish in this dish were the ones we caught on our fishing trip! Yum!

Puerto Penasco - Low Tide

Is there anything more fun for a bunch of Montana girls than a beach walk at low tide?
Maybe not.

Because the tide here is so gentle, the seashells are often quite intact, so hunting for them was great!

And how about this picture of my 80 year old mother wading in the warm waters of the Gulf of California? She is not a water person - so pretty cool to see her out there enjoying herself!

I loved the play of the light on the shallow receding water.

Puerto Penasco - Sunrise

The sunrise on the beach in Mexico was just as delightful as the sunset. Since I am usually the earliest riser - I had the pleasure of enjoying the brilliant colors in solitude.

The rooftops added a nice dimension to the view.

And the neighborhood looked lovely in the light of dawn.

Puerto Penasco Sunset

One of the most fabulous features of the location of the condo at Los Conchas is the southern orientation, which allows for enjoyment of both sunsets and sunrises!

This series is from our final evening at the beach in Puerto Penasco.

Red Summer

This past summer, my 22 year old daughter, Michelle was invited to join a all female crew on a fishing boat in Alaska's Bristol Bay. The fishing season is brief - lasting only as long as the Sockeye Salmon are running, but the work is extremely physical and demanding.

Michelle suggested I read the book, but she wanted me to wait until after she was done and safely back in civilization. I ordered the book through Amazon and took it along for the plane ride between Montana and Arizona. It was the perfect book for the trip. I was able to finish it on the return flight!

Red Summer is no literary gem, but it does provide a good overview of the process of net fishing for salmon. It helped me understand exactly what it was Michelle was doing during the 6 weeks that she was out of contact.

Beach Sand - Sea of Cortez

One of the most delightful things at the beach in Mexico is the wonderful patterns in the sand during low tide.
During our visit in October, we had the extra treat of low tide at sunrise and sunset, so the play of light on the sand was exquisite!

By the way, the water was a warm 86 degrees!

Bunting for Breckin

Baby Breckin is 6 months old now and the weather has turned chilly. I have traditionally made a polarfleece bunting for every baby of a friend or family member. I spent several hours in several stores searching for the perfect yardage. This green stripe said Breckin to me.

I can't wait to see him in it!

Livingston Cultural Art Center - Delivery Roadtrip

I was honored to be invited to participate in an upcoming textile art show at the Livingston Center for Art and Culture. This non-profit group has been in existence for about 10 years, with a gallery presence at 119 South Main in Livingston, Montana. The textile show, called "In Stitches" will hang for the month of November.
You can read more about the other featured artists here.

The curator had requested delivery of the artwork today, so I drove 2 hours each way to personally deliver my 5 pieces.

I made the trip alone. I've not had a lot of alone time in recent days, and I hoped to be able to use the time for creative thinking. Instead, I found myself experiencing a rather eerie deja vous melancholy. I lived in the Livingston area for 10 years from 1979 - 1989. Not the happiest years of my life. Those were the early years of my adulthood. An unhappy marriage. All kinds of stress, isolation, destruction by fire (the school where I was teaching as well as the big fires in Yellowstone Park - essentially our backyard), life threatening complications with the birth of my first child, etc. . . . Anyway . . . . .

Livingston is known for having extreme wind and the wind was unbelievable today! I found my car being buffeted by the winds all the way there and back.

I've not been in downtown Livingston for many years. It has not changed much from the time I lived in the area. Many of the same businesses are there. The wind still blows. It is a beautiful area, and I once passionately loved the Paradise Valley. I tend to remember the area fondly for its wonderful scenery. Today, I realized how glad I am that I no longer live there!

I stopped along the Yellowstone River on my way out of town to snap these pictures.

Beach Time

I didn't take any of the pictures in this post.
The photo above was taken by the housekeeping staff who arrived at the condo to clean before we were gone. This was our last moment on the beach at Las Conchas.

All the other pictures in this post were taken by Mom.
Her birthday gift from all six of us was her first digital camera.
She did very well with it. Her pictures are terrific and I think she enjoyed it.

The pelicans on the beach were fun to watch.

A short walk from the condo, the mega sized beach mansions begin to appear. These are amazing structures . . . . most of them empty during the week we were there.

Zapotec Indian Weaver

A favorite stop in Puerto Penasco is the Zapotec Indian Rug Weaver shop. I have a Spanish style stucco house with wrought iron railings, and I am gradually collecting rugs for my floors.
This time, I purchased an 8 x 10 ' rug to go under my dining room table.

Five members of our group purchased rugs from him!
They are beautiful - this tribe creates these rugs directly from their own sheep.
Shearing, carding, dyeing, spinning and weaving.
There are a few tiny bits of plant matter in the yarn - a wonderful keepsake from our trip.

Las Conchas Condo

High tide at Las Conchas beach. This photo was taken from the condo patio.

Here is the view of the condo from the beach. (below)

The patio was a favorite place to hang out.

Coffee on the patio at low tide.

Fishing in the Sea of Cortez

We booked a fishing trip one morning. It was calm and clear the day we went out in the "African Queen".

The view from the boat was fabulous!

Everyone who tried caught a fish. We had enough for a couple of meals!

Puerto Penasco Fish Market

Puerto Penasco is a very old fishing village. The shrimp in the Sea of Cortez grow very large, and they are so fresh, sweet, and tender - it is amazing!

The area where the fish market is located is along the waterfront, and there are a number of statues scattered around.

The fish vendor stalls are located directly on the waterfront. Someone could come right up to the door with a boat and unload. I don't think they actually do that anymore, but it offers a beautiful view and a fresh breeze.

We ate fresh fish and/or fresh shrimp every day for dinner during our 6 day stay. One of us went to the fish market every day to select our dinner! Fun and delicious!

Lunch at Mary's in Old Port

Our first full day, we went to Old Port, to visit the fish market, tourist shops, and dine at Mary's.
The little village is built right on the rocky shore and the waves crash against the waterfront fish shops. I took the photo above from a fish vendor's stall.

We climbed the stairs at Mary's, to dine on the upper level patio, where we had a great view of the busy street below on one side, and a seaside table.

Our group enjoyed Mary's specialty - fish or shrimp tacos.