Good Day/Bad Day

The day started off real well... found out my stepson is in Kuwait on the way home from Iraq, YEA! We can sleep better now. I also got back to working on my Geisha piece and was making good progress when I noticed my cat was after something in the hallway. Since he is usually a wimp I wasn't too concerned but I did get up to look. SNAKE!!! I am DEATHLY afraid of snakes and I could feel my blood pressure go through the roof. I managed to think quickly before panic totally set in and tossed a trash can over it and added a rock on top for good measure. I never even saw what kind it was. I then called the fire department which, thankfully, comes and removes them. The snake was about the width of a pencil and about 18" .. but it had coiled up so I am not sure of the size. I left the room when it was removed and I did not ask what they did with it. I suspect it is in pieces in my garbage can. They told me they thought it was a red racer which is not poisonous but I am still a basket case no matter what it was. There are days (like today) I wonder why we live out in the dessert.
It is going to take me hours to settle down.

On another note... while I was in CA attending the IQA show, I took some photos of the bark on some of the trees. I thought they were rather interesting so I am posting them here.

IQA Long Beach

I have returned home from several fabulous days attending the quilt show in Long Beach, CA. While this show is not as large as Houston, I can see it happening in a few years. The exhibition of all the quilts and fashion was, as usual, top notch. Karey Bresenhan and her crew put on a first class exhibit and the reception for SAQA and QA list members was lots of fun. I got to meet people I would never have otherwise. I finally got to meet Jamie Fingal who is such a hoot. I caught up with her for a few minutes while she was creating a new wardrobe for her mice. I also volunteered some time at the SAQA table ( I learned how to work the credit card machine). The SAQA exhibit was truly awesome and pictures do not do the quilts justice. I was able to spend some time talking to Carol Larson who seems to share some of my opinions and also met some other big name (to me) quilt artists.
Unfortunately, I am not able to post pictures so what you see here is my "masterpiece" from Make It University where I took a short class from Rebecca Gill of the fantastic Stewart Gill line of fabric paints,etc. I love that paint and have been adding to my stash for the past 2 years. I picked up more thread from Superior, some more Misty Fuse and Transdoodle from an overworked but smiling Iris Karp, a few polished wooden buttons, and I found some wonderful old carved wood blocks that I will use for stamping. I also broke down and bought a pattern for a handbag that I saw some woman carrying around that has lots of inside pockets.
After dropping off my girlfriend (we drove) I met my DH for dinner and had a well earned chocolate raspberry martini and blackened Tuna. Yummy.

Day trip to Sedona

We have escaped some of the heat in Scottsdale and have been staying up in Prescott. It is lovely here.. sort of like a New England town in the middle of the dessert. The The foliage is very diverse up here including an apple tree in the yard. Today we took a side trip up to Sedona. I love the beauty of the place and I managed to get some nice shots of the red rocks. It should have been cooler there but the temps topped 100... warmer than Prescott and the folks were bitching and moaning. The Mango sorbet I had was wonderful.