Patt with Two T's

We left the Serengeti and are now at Ngorongoro Conservation area. We saw the Olduvai Gorge today and saw amazing artifacts that made Matthew drool, including Lucy, whom I remember hearing about when she was discovered in the '60's. She was tiny. I felt a little better today, but by the end of the day, after being in the dusty car ride from 6:24am till almost 6pm, I was ready to lose it. Also physically...I raced into the bathroom at the hotel as soon as I could. The next few days will be shorter--Adam has figured out we don't like the long car rides. He only had to see my face around 3:00 to know that. So since we have better Internet, I'm mainly posting some pictures with captions tonight. If you're interested in where we're staying, which has a phenomenal view, look up Serena Lodge on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater. Outdoor shower at the Kubu Kubu Camp--looks awesome except when a breeze blows the water off you and you freeze. Beautiful vi...

  The days are blending into one another, though tomorrow promises to be very different because we’re leaving the Serengeti for Ngorongoro and staying on the rim of the crater in a lodge.   But I digress…..   Our second tented camp, Kubu Kubu, is lovely, but for a couple of major things.    The outdoor shower looks awesome, but I took my shower after settling in and before dinner, and if you’re not standing directly under the waterfall shower, you get chilled. And when you’re finished, it’s really chilly! Matthew was going to shower after dinner in the dark, but I strongly urged him to reconsider, which he did. He came in freezing and shivering, so it would have been worse later.     Then there are the bugs. Little harmless round things everywhere and in everything. I was about to brush my teeth, but was faced with about 7-8 of them in the sink. They don’t seem to fly, but they magically appear all over. Then there was this giant black beetl...

    I hate to start a blog about travel with flying, but when you begin with a 10 hour flight to Amsterdam, followed by a 7-8 hour flight to Nairobi, followed by what was supposed to be an hour flight to your final destination, which didn’t happen, it’s worth mentioning. And it’s why so many dislike traveling.   Everything was on time until we got on our flight to Nairobi and were delayed on the runway due to so many other planes trying to get out too. We knew we had a short time between flights, so when we had waited about 30 min, then the captain came on to say it would be another 15, I knew we were doomed. Sure enough, the purser came over to tell us we’d have to stay in Nairobi overnight and fly out the next morning.   We stood in line to get new boarding passes for a long time, then were told we’d have to give those to immigration where they’d waive our visa for Kenya, so I asked for a second set. Not sure what we were supposed to do without ...

 I bought a new camera recently and need to practice using it, especially for the blog. I want to be ready for an upcoming big trip. Hoping to photograph lions, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, and more...so guess where we're headed?! I am participating in SVOS again this year--Silicon Valley open studios. It's always a crap shoot about how many people show up, especially on the coast. I'm about done with today and not one person showed up saying they found us through the cumbersome catalog of almost 400 artists we paid to join. I'm debating doing this again next year. Even though I'm home and not sharing my space, which makes it easier for set-up, it's still a lot of work. But if I don't sell work myself, where else? I have pieces in 2 great stores, but I still have many things here. I love what I do and want to continue making more, so moving it along to new homes is important.  I had a goal today of taking photos of my displays and posting them. No ...

  I started ice-dyeing last year and loved it. I was thrilled with whatever came out even if it was a sprinkling of color. The patterns intrigued me and I didn't want to re-dye them and possibly lose the original patterns.   Last weekend, I decided to experiment with a few scarves to see what would happen, especially to the ones that have a design cut into them. They look best when saturated with color. I loved the new effect and noticed the original color had not been replaced. Unfortunately, I was so excited to get started, I didn't take "before" pictures.  I haven't yet ironed any of these, and they'll look even better after I do.  This is a long rayon vest. Before, too much white and after, beautifully pastel color blending. Cotton and silk scarf with similar results. This turned out to be my favorite because it was ok being orange and blue, but then.... I'm not a fan of yellow, and this scarf had too mu...

  Ice dyeing became a new passion about a year ago. I learned it during a brief workshop with my Creative Endeavors group, and I loved how unpredictable the outcome was. The powdered colors bleed through ice creating Monet-type patterns on silk and other natural fibers.    The process takes at least two days. First, all the fabric needs to be washed in a specific detergent--I use Synthrapol--to release all the oils and dirt from the material. Then everything is soaked in soda ash, sodium carbonate, which allows the dye to permanently adhere to the material. Cotton can be soaked longer; silk and rayon can break down in the soda ash, so keeping it timed for about 30 minutes is important.    While these are soaking, I set up 6-8 tubs and lay out which colors I want for each.    Once it soaks and is squeezed of excess liquid, it's laid in a tub on something that keeps it off the bottom of the tub, like a cookie rack. I have used aluminum baki...