Category: Albuquerque

February 9, 2016

Playing a little hooky, creatively

It’s Tuesday, a perfect day for playing a little hooky. I know it’s also blog-duty day, but maybe we can fudge that a little in the name of unbelievably nice winter weather and creativity. Especially when I think of what I wrote last week vis à vis creativity and my re-burgeoning need to write.

This morning, while the kid was at work and the husband was out at some doctor’s appointment, I took up pen and paper and set forth to write fake stuff – fiction, that is – once more. I gave myself a prompt I’d collected (I keep them on my Pinterest page, if you’re interested) and wrote till I heard the garage chimes ringing that Tom was home. It was a good start. Tonight the journal comes out after the dinner dishes are cleared.

The afternoon hitting 60 degrees here in west Albuquerque (sorry to all those who might be finding their own climate a little chilly), after lunch Tom and the dog and I headed down to the Bosque (the forest along the Rio Grande) to check out the local wildlife. Got so warm, I had to take off my sweatshirt.

The Rio Grande as it flows through Albuquerque. Those are the Sandia Mountains in the background. I’m thinking that I’ll have to do a landscape piece sometime soon. See, playing a little hooky is good for one’s creativity.

Tonight it’s back to pulling loops. My March 1 deadline to have this current piece done is quickly approaching, and there’s still some project infrastructure I haven’t figured out. Just trying to get the major hooking done first.

Praying that the old Clairol will come through for me... — Praying that the old Clairol will come through for me…

Tomorrow’s creative endeavor: Early this morning, before I sat down to write, I did my monthly-or-so coloring of the grays. I hate dying my hair. Hell, I haven’t even tackled dying the t-shirts I hook with. Tried a new shade. And changed to L’Oreal when I had been a Clairol kind of girl. Very bad idea. I’m a natural redhead. Or I used to be. Currently, I’m more Lucy meets a violet crayon; the box called the color it “Ruby Rush.” Yeah. Made a call back to Maurice in Rhode Island: “What do I do?!!!?” Then took a trip to Walgreens to pick up the old Clairol. Back to the dying board tomorrow.

How’s creativity going for you these days?

January 20, 2016

Nature as inspiration

Tynan having a grand old time in the snowy Sandias. — Tynan having a grand, old time in the snowy Sandias.

New Mexico is a great place for nature. It was a big reason for moving to Albuquerque; that is, we wanted a more outdoor lifestyle than New England’s winters afforded us. (And I hated being cold for six to eight months straight.) Make no mistake, there is winter here. We’ve had snow a couple of times now, and morning temperatures are usually in the high teens to lower twenties. Makes for cold walks with the dog in the Bosque, the forest along the Rio Grande.

The Sandias as viewed from our neighborhood in the west of Albuquerque. Winter hiking and skiing are excellent on the other side. — The Sandias as viewed from our neighborhood on Albuquerque’s west side. Winter hiking and skiing are excellent on the other side.

Monday was a big, bodacious day in Albuquerque with lots of sunshine filling the sky. Tom and I packed the dog and some gear in the car and headed around to the other side of the Sandia Mountains. Winter abides more forcefully there. They even have a ski area. One of the last big storms dumped about 21 inches of the white stuff on the slopes. And on the trail we decided to hike.

I had considered bringing my snowshoes, but Tom needs new ones, so they stayed home. No worries. The trail is a popular one. Other “snowshoers” and hikers had blazed the way creating a nice hard-pack. Boots were fine. Of course, if you stepped off the trail, you dropped way down to at least your knees. And your boots filled with snow.

I spy a nature-inspired abstract mat here! — I spy a nature inspired abstract mat here! Check out all the bore holes.

I always take my camera (i.e., phone) with me when we go, hoping to find something nature-ific that might inspire a rug or four. We weren’t disappointed yesterday. Clearly, there’s been a fair amount of evergreen dieback in the forest in the Sandias which is actually part of the Cibola National Forest. But as the trees decay, they make for the most interesting subjects to study, if only aesthetically. I was quite taken with the one in the photos. It might have a future in fiber.

After our most pleasant of snowy, winter hikes (it was about 45 with the slightest breeze), we wound our way up to the Crest of the mountains. By car. Much colder with a wicked wind, from there we could look out over Albuquerque metro area and to other snow-covered mountains to the north, south, and west. Very impressive.

The view from Sandia Crest looking to the southwest. Our house is somewhere to the right.

Then it was goodbye to the snow and the cold. A quick 40- or so minute ride down the mountain and through the pass and we were home, on the city’s warmer west side. Tired, we opened a bottle of red wine and toasted our good fortune. Next week we’re off to the west (by only a couple of miles) to further explore Petroglyph National Monument.

I know that nature inspires many of you when you hook, paint, write, and make other forms of art. Please share some of those marvelous creations.

PS – I’m off this weekend to Tucson to attend the hook-in put on by the Old Pueblo Rug Hookers there. I’m told it’s an eight-hour drive. Four of us from the Adobe Wool Arts guild are going. Hope to have lots of pics for you next week. In the meantime I’m off to the liquor store for a bottle or two of chardonnay to share with the ladies.

January 13, 2016

It’s been all about organizing

It was finally time; organizing had to occur. Welcome to the closet that Laura and High on Hooking now share.

If you read last week’s post, you’ll know that I’m energized going into 2016. I’m in a new house in a new town. I’ve been cleaning it up, clearing out the final moving boxes, and organizing. I’m looking for a job in Albuquerque. A resume or two have actually gone out. (Will let you know if anything comes of them.)

Like I said, the honeymoon is over, and I’m embracing life in New Mexico. Even if it’s cold. (At least the sun came back. Yea!)

I'm feeling so much better now that everything has a place. — I’m feeling so much better now that everything has a place. Although it’s quite the climb up to the top when I need RED (hidden in the green basket).

One area where I was dragging involved both my closet and all my hooking gear. The latter includes, but is not limited to: a small wool stash; a considerable t-shirt stash; magazines; twill tapes and other ancillary materials; felting “stuff”; pads, rulers, and other art items; sewing and other sundries. Stuff, in other words. A fair amount of it.

Maybe I was psychologically resisting making the final transition to the new house. But I have this utterly fabulous walk-in closet, and because we elected Tom to be lord of the very nice and very large office, I got that closet. It’s a fair trade. I can still keep a small desk and bookshelves in the office, but because it’s so very public given the home’s open concept, it was never going to make it as a studio/hooking containment zone.

Don't those little shelves look like they were made for my hooking needs? — Don’t those little shelves look like they were made for my hooking needs?

Anyhow, for whatever reason, I hadn’t gotten around to organizing High on Hooking’s real estate. Last weekend, I finally went there. And I’m damned glad I did. You can see the results yourselves. The closet has shelving perfect for most of my bins and baskets. (I tend to organize by color.) I picked up the little metal shelves at Lowes; they fit perfectly under my shirts and sweaters. Sweet!

Then I turned my attention to the laundry room off the closet. Oh, I did forget to mention the laundry room? It’s much better than my old one. (It didn’t figure into the office-closet negotiations because I perform a family service in there. And I let Tom store the light bulbs in the the cabinets. On one shelf.)

Everyone needs a laundry room like this one. Isn't that counter the best? — Everyone needs a laundry room like this one. Isn’t that counter the best?

The best part of the laundry room is the counter. At almost six-and-a-half feet, it’s awesome! The bins under it contain GREEN, BLUE, and GRAY/BLACK plus my laundry basket. I ran out of bookshelf space in the office (a topic for another day), but you can see that my Rug Hooking, ATHA, and Fiber Art Now magazines found a perfect home atop the counter there along the back corner. And I still have room to fold laundry!

Now that the organizing is done, it’s back to the job search. Although the new rug on the frame is calling.,,

A tease. This is the beginning of the rug that will, hopefully, find a place in the Albuquerque Fiber Art Council's April show. — A tease. This is the beginning of the rug that will, hopefully, find a place in the Albuquerque Fiber Arts Council’s April show.

Are you one of the lucky ones with a whole room or perhaps a cozy, little building devoted to your hooking endeavors? If not, how do you deal with your hooking stuff? A corner? Spread throughout the house? Either way, please share pics below.

January 6, 2016

Finding the new normal

Christmas and New Year’s are over; it’s time to get back to normal. But what if you don’t have a normal anymore?

That’s me these days. We’ve been in the new house in the new city in the new state for over three months now. It’s winter in the high desert. And, uncharacteristically, it’s been cold as New England (usually is) and kind of…wet. Today it can’t decide. I hear the rain pouring down onto my flat Pueblo-ish roof and, out the window, see snow flaking down too. It’s not a pretty sight. Forget seeing the mountains; they’re a distant memory having been shrouded in clouds the past few days. Bring back the sun!

Building my new “normal.” (Photo by tome213 at rgbstock.com.)

But back to the point: The honeymoon’s over. It’s time to integrate into community, to stop comparing and contrasting New Mexico to what we left, and to find the new normal. With no family here, I need a new “posse” bad. That’s going to take joining various groups here. To that effect, I’ve already got the the Adobe Wool Arts Guild and a church. It’s a good start if you ask me. These groups have networked me to the Albuquerque Fiber Arts Council, the Old Pueblo Rug Hookers down in Tucson (I’m off to their hook-in later this month), Albuquerque’s BioPark, and a couple of church committees, including, hopefully, a new food pantry to work at. Registering with the SouthWest Writers is on my list for later today.

Still, it’s not enough. Plus, I’m feeling rather cooped up in the house. Oh, and the bills aren’t going to pay themselves. Sure, Tom’s retired, but I’m only 51, too young for that sh%$!!! Its time to find some meaningful work. Or at least something that’ll pay for the groceries (and that pool we intend to build this spring!). So, it’s hi-ho, hi-ho, off on a job search I go. Unfortunately, Albuquerque’s got some unemployment issues. Not sure what I’ll find, but at least it’ll let me meet more people.

I was spoiled by my last job, running the food pantry back in Massachusetts. I loved the job, its flexibility, and especially the people. But, like I said, I’m looking for the NEW normal. Although I recently re-did my resume, I haven’t looked for a job in years. Guess it’ll be another adventure.

Anyone else jumping back into the workforce? Have any tips to share? Contacts here in Albuquerque? I’ve got an eclectic background, and I can use all the help I can get.

December 30, 2015

Here’s to hooking in 2016!

Just stopping by to dash off wishes for a wonderful end to 2015 and a hopeful beginning to 2016. It’s been a busy hooking week, though, ironically, I don’t have much to show for it. You see, I have to get a rug started for the Albuquerque Fiber Arts Council‘s April show. I believe I mentioned this before. Crunch time is coming. The theme is “Colors of New Mexico.” Designing this thing is giving me angina. I swear, I think about it in the shower, at 2:00 a.m. when I should be sleeping, when my kid’s begging me to go to the movies. I’m pretty sure I know where I’ll go with it now, but it’s still making me drink.

Behind schedule poinsettia. — Behind-schedule poinsettia.

Then I spent one whole evening pulling out most of my almost-completed poinsettia. In my attempt to do a little shading, I used colors with hues much too close to one another. There wasn’t enough contrast between them so I was left with a merlot-colored SPLAT. I’ve since started hooking with more of a rosé and a pinot noir. I think it helped.

Okay, I’m in a wine frame of mind. Whoopee! It’s almost New Year’s Eve, you know. Not only that, yesterday Tom and I went out to lunch then made a little field trip to a local winery, Gruet, which specializes in making bubbly in the Champenoise tradition. (It’s illegal to call any sparkly stuff champagne, so I’ll be technical.) We wanted to pick up a bottle for tomorrow night.

Um, we were more than successful. A lovely, young woman poured tastings for us and two other couples from Dallas and Portland. We had a great time talking wine, what it’s like to relocate to Portland (Oregon, hookers, not Maine!), Airstream trailers, vanilla lip gloss, and what-have-you. An hour and a half later, Tom and I were wine club members. Lucky you: If you’re thinking about visiting us here in Albuquerque, we’re apt to pop open a bottle for you.

Please share any hooking you might have managed to do this holiday week. If you didn’t get any done, who cares?!!? My wish is that you spend the rest of the week relaxing and enjoying friends and family. There’s plenty of time to work in 2016.

Happy New Year!