Our adventures in California

We spent the past week visiting friends in Irvine, California. We are sort of extended family and what is really nice is that we are really part of the woodwork. They do not need to entertain us and we do not impose on them other than for a bed. We have been friends for 51 years. I love to cook so when I have been visiting lately, I treat them to meals they would never make for themselves.

On our agenda was to go down the the San Diego Zoo and the Long Beach Aquarium. Ned and I both love to spend time with the fishies and walk the zoo. As an added bonus this time I got to see the exhibit "Kimono as Art, The Landscapes of Itchiku Kubota". I wish I could have spent more time looking at these absolutely fantastic works of art. They did not allow pictures but if you Google it, you can find some videos with his work. Amazon sells the book for $30. Treat yourselves.... buy it. You will drool over it. It closes tomorrow in San Diego but will be in Canton, Ohio from Feb 8- April 26, 2009. If you are anywhere in the area, do yourselves a favor and go see it.
For those who are into food the menu included: Quesadilla's with goat cheese and roasted pepper sauce, 7 types of onion soup, risotto with asparagus, oven steamed snapper with black bean sauce, Spanikopita (with my special cheese combo), brisket, guacamole, and chocolate mousse. I love having people to cook for. Lots of good wines went with these meals.

I even got to sew the sleeve on my Black and White piece (see old post) and hand delivered it to Annie Copeland who went out of her way to meet us one morning.

The only bad news is that we picked up my kitty from the vet ( we thought he just had a respiratory infection) to find out he might have either a kidney stone or a malfunctioning kidney. He is 15 years old and really my baby. The next week or so should give us a better idea of where he is. He is in great health otherwise. The respiratory infection crops up every 5 years or so and is treatable.

I am in the process of working on a piece that includes some of the black shibori dyed pieces I had done. No photo yet.

Here's to a great new year. I tend not to do resolutions because I never keep them but I do have goals for myself this year. The first is to try to focus more on my work and not get so distracted. The second would be to try to both sell and show more of it as well.