Sunday, April 8, 2012

One Year Later....







I'm back!! It's hard to believe it's been a whole year since I last posted!! In that time I've taught some classes, and canceled many others. We closed the gallery (last Summer) and shortly after I developed this weird abdominal pain...of course, I'm normally the healthiest person I know..so that must have been why ALL of my tests came out "normal" (nothing shows) again and again ( I expected to waltz in..describe my pain and the doctor would wave his wand, proclaim me healed and I'd be running out the door back to normal!) What happened?


Finally..in Oct they determined I had a malfunctioning gallbladder..turns out it wasn't that seriously malfunctioning (but it was causing so much pain) so they removed it..I was ready to hit the ground running..but sigh..I continued to have more pain coupled with a constant flu like feeling. Tests, tests and more tests..all normal. Frustrating. In this case you don't want to be NORMAL because it doesn't solve the problem ..you want them to find it, fix it and kick your butt on it's merry way!


When you go in for a doctor visit..WHY do they always ask, "are you depressed"? because of course..the only answer when you're frustrated is, "Well I wasn't before but I am now!". Five months post surgery, it seems the meds they had been giving me (for pain) simply intensified the situation (which turned out to be a simple spasming bile duct by the way)..so in a sense I was making it worse all these months! Sheesh! So that's it...!

As of mid March I started feeling almost normal again (whatever that was!) I'm happy to say that I've finally crawled out from the quite uncomfortably heavy rock I was under, and I'm once again the healthiest person I know...but not yet back to being the most fit...though I did ride 15 miles on my bike last Thurs and took a hike this morning...so I'm on my way! Wheeeee!

Creatively, these past months have been "dry", for lack of a better word...Like trying to talk with a mouth full of saltine crackers..that kind of dry. I just felt ick and didn't feel like doing anything. Now that I feel GREAT my brain is in creative overload! I want to do everything NOW...because of course, I'm a "now child".

I'm trying to pace myself but am getting back on track with ideas for new workshops (jewelry, mixed media wall pieces embellished with beads, and other wild ideas)....also some upcoming magazine articles...and back to work on my book...THE book...the book that has been in stages of progress for two years now!

I've been helping Lesley, aka, The Fiber Chick in her shop of the same name, in Old Town Albuquerque. Over the last year we've become fast friends and she's such a sweetie. She's mid 70's and creative, inspiring, fun and exciting.

She's even taught me how to knit...and even though I shy away from following the rules and reading patterns (because in my workshops, we don't have a lot of rules) she cuts me slack when I don't want to follow a pattern but just want to play with all of the fun colorful textural fibers....Ooooooooo!! I love just having at it in a freeform way!

Speaking of yarn, the other day a couple came into the shop, and mentioned that their friend (a knitter) had taken bits of her yarn scraps, packed them into a suet cage..and presented it to them to hang on one of their trees... They told me it was like a beautiful work of art...and the birds would pick out their favs for nesting materials! What a brilliant idea!!

Birds are great at freeform, aren't they? Naturals. Their nests (even when just put together with bits of paper and string, vines and cat fur) are always so beautifully woven and embellished.

So...this morning I packed a suet cage with bits of yarn and hung it up in a tree. Check out the photo at the top of this post! Fun with fiber! (and not bran or Metimucil!) I want to make more!! Note...I'm having trouble getting the photo to show on the post...so if you can't see it..please click up at the top (in the big dark area that looks like a photo should be there...and it will appear. I will have to figure out why it's not showing.

You should try this if you get a chance...hang them in trees or on your balcony or porch...you can proudly boast that your birds have the most beautiful nests in the neighborhood!!

It's great to be back...and I hope to soon post more often (than once every year!) with fun freeform ideas (not all just beading) and creative wonderings..

Hugs!! Cindy