Knitterly Warehouse Sale

This morning was the yearly warehouse sale at Knitterly in Petaluma.

Unfortunately, I was charged for two skeins of Noro Taiyo instead of one, so my bargains weren't so much of a bargin. Oh well.

Marin County Fair 2009

One item from my list of goals for the year was to enter something, anything, in the Marin County Fair. I had entered a couple of cross stitch items several centuries ago. One received a third place ribbon.

This year I entered six items. Only two were completed by the application deadline. I had to create titles, styles and dimensions for the remaining four. It forced me to have a deadline and a format. The two scrapbook pages took days. For reasons unknown to me, I entered two rubber stamp pieces. I hadn't done a full page stamp pieces in years and it was never one of my strong points. My "Stormy Weather" piece was actually a draft and completed from start to finish in about ten minutes two days before deadline.


So image my surprise when I saw a blue ribbon on it.

It took me a while to find my work. The displays were in no real order other than color.

Four were displayed together.

And my lone knitting project was in the Christmas display. There was a pink display where I would have expected it.

Final total:

First and Second Place, Adult Hobbies, Miscellaneous, Rubber Stamping

Third Place, Adult Hobbies, Miscellaneous, Heritage Scrapbooks

Third Place, Adult Hobbies, Miscellaneous, Outdoors Scrapbooks

Third Place, Adult Hobbies, Knitting, Hat or Cap

Fifth Place, Adult Hobbies, Miscellaneous, Paper Arts

Ribbons for all entries - woohoo

Where Did June Go?

Somehow June went by and I missed it.

On the belly dance front, Rising Stars performed at Aneena's student night one of my favorite shows and for the first time at the Marin Art Festival. We sort of have an official photographer. We saw his pictures of us on flickr from Rakkasah West this year and who came to the Festival just to take our pictures.

Craig's Aunt Bea was in town from Boston. Being Puerto Rican, Craig's parents took Bea and the two of us to Sol Food. I worked a block away from Sol Food and we were always ordering takeout. Even if you only get the limeade it is worth the expense.

Last week we took our first vacation in six years! We went to Sacramento to the Aerospace Museum of California, the California Railroad Museum and California Auto Museum (planes, trains and automobiles).

And of course, Suzie Burger located in a converted gas station. At least they spelled the name correctly.

We traveled Highway 49 through the Mother Lode from Auburn to Coulterville. In my continuing support of the LYS, I stopped at Auburn Needleworks in Auburn and By Hand Yarn in Sonora. I did pick up a small skein of alpaca and wool grown, dyed and spun by a local artist, Mountain Lady.

We stayed overnight in Jackson,

did a side trip to Volcano

And also found the Lincoln Highway marked in Vacaville and Auburn.

Model Trains

We went to the Golden State Model Railroad Museum in Point Richmond today.

Sign outside in the parking lot.


Downtown old Oakland representing the trolley system


Oakland Depot


Oakland SP Yard

Altamonte Pass

Somewhere in the Sierras

Fremont

Sun and Fun

Yesterday was a busy day for us. We did an eleven mile bike ride at Rush Creek, went swimming and had dinner at the in-laws.

Views from the bike trail.

We decided to take a rest today. Other than being a little tired and sore, it is foggy and cold today.

I went to the Belly Dancer of the Year this afternoon (plus a bit of shopping at the East Bay art supply stores). This year is a new location in at the Dougherty Valley Performing Arts Center in San Ramon. This is not an area of the East Bay I have been to previously. All new buildings, homes, golf courses, schools and roads. I had to leave early, so I don't know who the winners were. Hopefully, it will be posted soon.

Tribal Fest 9 and Treasure Island

The past weekend was Tribal Fest 9. I have been going every year (and performed once) for several years. This year the weather was the star. In the mid 90s. As the vendors are primarily outside - in the sun - it only took a few minutes before I was sweating. I actually found a good seat inside and stayed put for about three hours.

Fellow Rising Star troupe member, Teresa and her wonderful solo.

I want these costumes:

Unfortunately, not a true color, they were gorgeous shades of teal.

On Sunday, we went to a "conversation" with Zoe Dell Lantis Nutter as part of a series honoring the 70th anniversary of the Golden Gate International Exposition. I have now found the idea place to beat the heat right here on Treasure Island.

Golden Gate Bridge from Treasure Island.

Zoe Dell Lantis Nutter was one of the "Pirate Girls" for the Exposition. She was the most photographed person in the world in 1938-39 and was recently voted an "aviation legend" by the Aviation Hall of Fame. She was absolutely fascinating and talked for over an hour. I am sure she could have gone on longer. She has had the most interesting and intriguing life.

Zoe Dell Lantis Nutter

A display from the museum to represent what Zoe Dell's dressing room would have looked like.

Pan Am Terminal at Treasure Island, San Francisco

Inspire Me Thursday - Umbrella

I have not been immediately inspired by topics on Inspire Me Thursday - that is until the current challenge of "umbrella". I drew the layout in two minutes from reading the topic and completed the piece later in the evening.

I was thwarted by my evil laptop with posting this piece. Last week it decided to go ballistic on me but calmed down by the next day. However, my mouse stopped working which is not that unusual. The touch pad was just fine, so no issue. Very wrong. The USB ports are out completely and I really didn't comprehend how I have relied on them. No mouse, no camera, no scanner. My very kind and understanding Craig came to the rescue and allowed me to set up the scanner directly to his desktop. He runs very complex Flight Simulator programs ("it is not a game but a simulation") and is understandably proprietary about his desktop.