This is one of my favorite times of the year. The Virginia bluebells are in full bloom along the Potomac River in Great Falls National Park. Our native redbuds are announcing spring with their brilliant violet flowers, the onions, potatoes and early vegetables are planted in my garden and we are already enjoying the early spring greens and winter onions in salads.
That is not to say we don’t get surprises. Last week, I was teaching my Diamonds class at my shop. We had just begun the class when all of a sudden our shop phone rang, I received one of those alerts on my cell phone and I received an urgent text message from my son-in-law in Oregon (who works on mapping at the U. S. Geological Survey)…all of these simultaneous alerts (including alerts on phones of the students) were telling us that there was a tornado warning for Great Falls and we were to seek immediate shelter.
Now we were all on the second floor of our building and could see the suddenly ominous black sky. We all hastily retreated to the basement of our building which houses the utilities. Space was crowded and we got to know each other up close and personal. It was amazing how, not only calm, but jovial the students and staff were in this cramped and dusty place.
Within 15 minutes the danger was over and we resumed the class. The two Canadian ladies, two from West Virginia, and one from California who had traveled here for the class along with the locals were quite excited to let all their friends know about our little adventure. We did learn that several small tornados did touch down not too far from us.
Working with diamonds is one of my favorite classes to teach and they all made great progress. It is a wonderful opportunity to work on both design and color. Here are some photos of them hard at work and some of the results.
I had our grand daughters plant little personal salad kits in the kitchen. They grew to the size needing to be planted outside and low and behold a squirrel duh them up first day , got any suggestions ? Last yr we had thieving chip monks who took our cherry tomatoes..
You need to put them in an enclosed area where the little critters can’t get in. You can buy large carges (like a big cube) that have mesh on all sides.
Susan this is beautiful !! Great job. I know you had a good time with Jinny (again) I’m not going to say how many time I have taken the class BUT you always learn something different.
I’m so happy to see the photos from the Diamond class last week. What an inspiring experience it is to visit the Studio and to attend a class taught by Jinny. I’m so grateful I could go. I always learn so much. What a joy it is to see the beautiful fabrics and patterns, to talk with the people who work there who are are so kind and helpful, to see what other people in the class are doing, and most of all to learn from Jinny and see her works of art in person! Wow!