Company and The Weather

Untitled original textile art by Judi Kane 21 x 23 framed

More good reasons to wrap up my outdoor explorations when I did: I was expecting overnight guests the following week, and if you saw my "sit and rotate" drawing of my office/guest room, you would know I had some digging out and cleaning to do before they arrived. My company was my late friend Judi's brother and his wife, and they came bearing a gift of one of Judi's art pieces. I was stunned and so appreciative as I only have one other piece of hers.

I thought I hadn't seen this work before but as I was going back through my blog posts to check, I found that it is one that was displayed at her memorial service. The background is one of her hand-dyed cottons, and I'm still studying how she did some of it. She used a lot of ultrasuede in her work and I see some of that here, but I have no idea what that white fuzzy stuff is.

And here she's used some kind of non-cotton shiny fabric, perhaps a brocade, which is texturized to create the flower blossom. She was always heading over to the prom and bridal departments of big fabric stores for unusual fabrics to create just the right effect on her art quilts. Ditto for embellishments and decorative threads and yarns.

Had my company planned their trip a week later, they might have been caught out by an early winter storm as they made their way out of Idaho and along the Rockies to Wyoming and parts further east. Snow at the end of October is not that unusual but at the end of September? That is very rare. The first emergency warnings I got was about high winds starting up about 2:00 a.m. Saturday morning and lasting all day. Later they added:

EARLY SEASON MOUNTAIN SNOW AND STRONG WINDS THIS WEEKEND... .A cold storm system will bring the potential for heavy snow in the mountains this weekend. The most significant accumulations will occur above 3000 feet, however snow levels will lower to valley floors by Saturday morning with accumulating valley snow expected overnight Saturday. Strong northeast winds will also impact the Idaho Panhandle and Northeast Mountains resulting in some tree damage and low wind chills. Backcountry recreationists and hunters should be prepared for cold and wet weather conditions and bring proper gear. Travel across backcountry roads may be difficult at times. ...

Now, I wasn't going into the backcountry per se on my trips to waterfalls but some of the trailheads WERE above 3000 feet so yeah, good thing my hiking is done for the year. I did wake up Saturday to this view out my upstairs window and a short spate of flurries that with the gusty winds didn't really reach the ground. Where the snow stops on the mountain across from me is indeed at about 3000 feet elevation. My thermometer on the back deck registered about 38 degrees and pretty much stayed there all day.

Hidden by the clouds in this photo is Schweitzer Ski Resort, who I am sure was happy to get the early snow. Besides the winds which continued into today, nothing much to write home about here as my "valley floor" did not get any accumulations last night, but less than an hour south of here I've seen pictures of places that got up to 10 inches of snow today, and they are not up in the mountains. Even the nearby Washington city of Spokane registered nearly 2 inches at the airport yesterday. I'm more and more switching mental gears to match this wintry weather! Hot chocolate anyone?