Make Magic!

I've been doing some quilting since I retired almost five years ago. I also have an interest in Mixed Media. However, I have had too many doubts about my abilities. I've been reading a lot though, and I'm not alone. Not everyone can be published artists. I need to just do what I can and enjoy the process and whatever comes out of it. It's mostly for me anyway.

I've also been doing research for my family tree. I've been finding a lot out about my paternal uncle. He was a ventriloquist and magician. Howie Olson, aka Chester LeRoy. Howie learned ventriloquism from my grandfather. Howard Olson, aka The Great Chesterfield. They both had an interesting life. (More info in later posts.)

Anyway, while reading about Mixed Media, I thought it would help me to have a theme. As a result, I've decided my theme is MAGIC. Ventriloquism is the magic of voice, and since my uncle was also a magician, I thought I'd work with that somehow. The Magic of Art, and so much more. It will give me some direction for getting started.

Can’t wait to get started! I need to have a quilt done by mid-March before I can start on anything else though.

Spring has Sprung! No wait . . . & There's a New Roo in Town!

A week or so ago it was very spring-like. There are green buds on some of our trees, and some of our fruit trees have blossoms. Love it! Then, the rains came. Cold & windy. Had to build a fire again. I made some fire-starters the other day. They smell good and they seem to work just fine.

I've been having fun this past year doing some canning, making our own garam masala, liqueurs, and more. It's so much easier now that I'm retired. It's amazing how the time fills up though.

Got a new roo a couple of weeks ago. (roo = rooster) He's beautiful! We lost our only 2 roosters in November of 2009 when three bears attacked our chicken coup one night. According to Fish & Game, it was a mom & her two 18-month old cubs. Apparently they had been in the area for a while. Too bad we hadn't known. Anyway, when Frank brought the roo home, I walked down to the chicken coup with Frank, the roo, and our two dogs. Woody, our Border Collie, ran away to hide when he heard the roo crow. Tootsie, our Chihuahua, wanted to get the roo. Even the next morning Woody ran & hid from the roo while Tootsie barked at the roo.

I have lots to do. A quilt for one. Off to work!

My, how time flies!

It's been forever since I last posted to this blog. Life gets busy, and things get out of hand at times. A lot has happened since my last post, but I don't want to go over that now. I came across a blog last night that was by a woman who grew up with a magician father. Since I've been doing research for my family tree, I've been finding a lot of information about my Uncle Howie, and just a little bit about my grandfather. Both were in show business. Howie was a ventriloquist & magician. My grandfather, Gramps, was a ventriloquist. Anyway, I thought it might be a good idea to add what I find about Gramps & Howie to my blog. That way others can see it. Oh, I don't expect most people to be interested, but I'm finding that others in the "trade" seem to be interested in this stuff. I've had some great help from strangers. Perhaps I'll get more if they see my posts, and perhaps my posts can help others. I have other things to do now, but I'll start to post my notes & photos here in the near future.