Hello Again!

WHEW! The last week or so has been rough. (As is my way, I am classically understating things here.) The short story is I did 3 days of IV steroids last week which knocked me flat. I spent the next 5 days in bed, really sick and I'm still dealing with fallout. On a positive note, while I've been trying to recover, my peeps came through for me in the best way possible: they donated to my NMO fundraiser page and helped me exceed my goal! I can't tell you how loved that makes me feel and how deeply grateful I am. THANK YOU! 

Anyway, enough about cruddy diseases! Let's talk art and life!
Here are some things that are going on my summer to-do list:

The Sea to Sky Gondola: This is a brand new air tram that takes you above The Chief in Squamish. It opens May 16th and I think the tickets are reasonably priced. One of the things I am excited about is that you can buy a season's pass for your dog! When we were in Whistler last, I wanted to do the Peak to Peak with Indy, but dogs weren't allowed because it's a Provincial park. The Sea to Sky Gondola allows dogs on leash on designated gondolas and $15 from each $25 dog pass is being donated to the SPCA. It's totally win-win. The dog pass is a season's pass, so that's exceptional value for your furry friend. You can choose to hike up the mountain and then ride down or you can ride up, hike the trails at the top and then ride down. (Which is what I want to do.) Here is a post about it that has some beautiful photographs of the views. There is also a free app that has all kinds of useful information. I am *so* doing this! I already have 4 fellow adventurers who want to go with me. 

(The returns from Deb's exchange.)

Sewing/Quilting: I just completed an exchange with my friend Deb and her merry band of needle artists. It made me realize that I miss working with fabric. (I began my artistic life as a textile artist.) Handwork has become so incredibly hard as the neuropathy in my hands has gotten worse, but I can still rock the sewing machine and I have a walking foot (for machine quilting) so perhaps it's time I put that attachment to good use. My goal is to make some things from my Textiles and Fibres Pinterest board. I am especially enamoured with the strip quilts. Some of the ones I've pinned are in such pretty colourways.

Reading: I've been reading alot of e-books via my library using an app called Overdrive which was recommended to me by Penn. I've mowed through James Patterson's Alex Cross series and have now moved onto his Murder Club series. It's great for someone like me who reads 3-4 novels a week because I don't have to leave the house to pick up or return books. I am still borrowing books from the library, but this keeps me going-I'm never without something good to read. I am keeping track of what I've read and what I want to read using the Goodreads app. It's super helpful!

I am sure that this to-do list is going to grow, but it's off to a good start!