Constellation

Last Friday evening Don & I along with our friend, Lynne, attended the opening of a local art gallery/classroom Constellation. Karen Kunc is a local artist who teaches at UN-L and is a renowned artist selling her artwork world wide. She carves a pattern into big pieces of wood (copper is used too but less frequently) then paints the design & presses it onto paper. She will block off areas of a woodcut too & use only part of it in her final design. Lynne has taken classes from her & tried to explain the process. She also makes a variety of books that were on display. It was all a lot of eye candy for me. Beautiful colors. Wonderful patterns. A great addition to the Lincoln art scene.

Uncle Butch

My Uncle Butch is slowly slipping away. He's been battling health problems for a few years now. Facing each obstacle with my Aunt Elaine at his side. Making new friends with each doctor appointment (Butch never met a stranger). Finding humor even when the rest of us would find it in short supply. He had a great summer. Found joy in mowing his lawn with his new riding lawn mower. Teasing the squirrels. Watching the hummingbirds fight at the feeder. I visited in August & took these photos of him reading at the kitchen table. Another small pleasure in his life. Memories to keep.

Huskers

Nancy, my sister, gave us tickets to the Husker game last Saturday. Mike had won them & decided not to make the trip. It was a blustery day but Don & I sat in the south stadium & enjoyed the game. My first game since Bo became head coach. The field looked a little closer than it does with this panoramic shot on my phone, but it still seemed far away. Thanks for the tickets, Mike & Nancy!

the gift

I love having a camera on my smart phone. It came in handy when visiting my cousin, Cheryl, and her family with Butch & Elaine, her parents. Elaine had brought a graduation gift for Peter. She has made it a tradition to give the high school graduates a camera (I love that!) and a photo album. She includes photos of them while growing up. So Peter & Elaine were sitting on the couch absorbed in the photo album & David was at the end of the couch & not sitting still. Finally though even he is interested in the photos too.

Fairmont, Nebraska

Sunday morning.

Sunday afternoon.

I love grain elevators. Every time I visit Dad I pass several driving down highway 6. They're big & imposing. Small town landmarks.

pink blouse

I spent a few days visiting family in KC last week. My aunt, Elaine, helped me sew this shirt in 24 hours. But we were both always busy working! While I sewed she was busy pressing & pinning. I used McCalls 6436. We shortened the length by four inches & the sleeves by two inches. And it fits me perfectly. The front of the pattern claims it is "easy". There are a lot of pattern pieces though. Elaine's mentoring & short cuts made it go smoothly for me. She is such a treasure trove of skill & knowledge about sewing I just know I'll have to go back for another session. Connie gave me some wool out of her fabric stash so I already have another project in mind. I sewed this shirt with some gingham I bought at Walmart. I hope to make myself more of these. I learned some great tips & tricks from Elaine. If I could name the most important it would be to press frequently. Then press some more! Thanks, Elaine!!

88 years

Dad turned 88 today. He's been celebrating with family since Friday. I was able to help with that today along with other family members.

Zombies

We headed to the Haymarket on Saturday evening. It was a perfect time to eat outdoors. We were enjoying our meal at the Oven when we found ourselves watching the Zombie Walk, an annual event in Lincoln. There were a lot of people having a lot of fun with fake blood. And there was a smaller group of civilians trying to "save" us all with their Nerf guns. We didn't see anybody get shot though.

Walmart art

On a recent edition of CBS Sunday Morning I saw where a guy photographed the chips displayed in Walmart. He thought it was art. At first he got into some trouble with Walmart for taking photos in the store but they came around & decided they liked his work & purchased some for themselves. Myself, I enjoy the colors, the typography & fun of it all together. The chips? I need to stay away from them.

dinner table

On my last visit to see Dad I took the stairs when I was leaving as he was too tired to escort me downstairs. I paused on the second floor to peak into the dining room. It is a majestic room with a high ceiling. I was poised right above this table & took a photo. I love photos of tables set for people to eat at. I love photos of people sitting at a table eating. I love tables of food. I love food. Well, you get my drift . . .

May

Another trip to see Dad today. We visited Geri too. An opportunity to see some cousins, Carolyn & Tom, and Gary's daughter, Stacy. A difficult time but we enjoyed some laughs & reminisced about growing up on a farm. Carolyn thought we had the best mulberries. I've always appreciated that our families can laugh & remember the good while enduring the bad. We get through it together. And I paused a moment to notice that the trees are budding. So glad spring is here.

April

I drove out on Friday & visited Dad. We then visited his sister, Geri. She was glad to see us. I was worried about wearing her out & didn't want to stay long but when we got ready to leave she wished we could've stayed longer. We were both glad to see her. The past month has been very difficult for her & her family; we are hopeful that she is healing this time. We've had rain & snow this past week. The grass in town is greening up. The fields & ditches along highway 6 are showing signs of spring also. Finally!

Spidey

Last weekend Don & I dined at a local hole in the wall that serves great soup. The owner has an eclectic collection of stuff in this place. Lots of
hippie1960's memorabilia on the walls & counters. That is part of the restaurants appeal I guess. The table we sat down at had this Spiderman sprawled across the center of it. It reminded me of Austin & Daniel in their younger days. There were super heroes always underfoot. Spiderman was maybe Austin's favorite. If he wasn't playing with Spidey he was drawing pictures of him. So since I had my camera/smartphone in my pocket I took a picture. Not too grainy either for an indoor shot. And we left Spiderman as we found him.

nap time

One of my grainy phone photos but still a worthy shot.

practicing

I treated myself to a smartphone for my birthday so I've had one since the beginning of October. It has a camera but I don't use it much. I have found that if I use it indoors or with low light my photos are very grainy. But still, I don't mind having a camera on my phone. Dad & I had lunch yesterday in Dick's Place & he found several people to visit with. A good photo op.