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100 day Challenge, Aplique, Creative Assistants, Explorations, Felt Work, Hand work, Purple Impinging, Re Work, SAQA, Sisterhood of the Scissors, Understanding Orange

What I See

Hello,

I just had cataract surgery on my left eye yesterday and that has alerted me to how our eyes effect what I see.   Through the eye with the new lens things seem clearer and more blue that the yellow brown that I now see through the right one.  It makes for a bit of a fuzzy mix at the moment.    I have not has the reaction that one of my fellow artists talked about.  She found that she hated the color combinations for some of her past work.  So far that has not been the case with me.   The body seems to be adapting.  It is an amazing machine!

This week I made it to the Sisterhood of the Scissors and the Pixie’s Zoom meetings.  Both were enjoyable .  I also made a trip to the Cabin Fever Quilt show were I had three pieces.    This is an old work that is hand appliqued  that I did for my Dad.   It is double bet sized  and I had pulled it for my solo show to start with,  but found it was far too big.

 

Sharon was demonstrating on the day I went to visit.

 

It was fun to watch her cut each branch and then place it before fuzzing it down.     She then machine stitches over the work too.

 

 

 

 

This is an example of a finished work.

 

 

 

I am following the SAQA  Materials Matter series and this week it was on Wool.  That got me fired up to do a little felting.

It is always good to have places to do handwork.

 

 

 

The  SAQA  100 Day Challenge got attention too.   I cut new stamps  and printed one set.

 

 

 

I realized I was  getting tired of printing on white so I pulled some different old work and printed on top of it  for some of  these.

 

 

 

 

Then I selected two from this purple/yellow group to be the jumping off place for the next little project.

 

 

 

 

 

I even got some of them cut yesterday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Understanding  Orange   I am  only putting in about an hour a day on the  hand stitching so it is slow going.

 

Purple Imaginings   I finished assembling the top of this work  and it is pin based now.  I have not decided how I will quilt this yet so it is just waiting.

 

 

 

 

Creative Assistants    I finished off  16 more of these little guys this week.  There are only 15 in the shot because the last one would not fit on the box top.   There are lots of others in various stages too.

 Rework Project     In my fooling around this week  I decided to add some new surface design to this quilted piece. I had removed the old stuff a few weeks ago.   It is started, but as many things I am not sure were to go from this point, so I will let it set for a while.

 

Keep your eyes open and stay safe

Carol

 

 

100 day Challenge, Donuts and Wholes, Felt Work, Fiber Artist Stitch Club, Finger Lakes Fiber Artist Group, Hand work, Meandering Mind- Examine, Pixies Group, Purple Impinging, Understanding Orange

Staying the Course

Hello,

I  hope you all had the type of Valentines day that you enjoyed.  My wonderful husband got me these roses.  I love how the sun light was on them at the end of the day.

The Finger Lakes Fiber Artists meant on Saturday.  We had a great meeting.  The show and tell is always the best. Pat showed her new work saying that the new studio is so large that her work is expanding too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maureen is working with paint on canvas now as well as her dyeing.

 

 

 

Sharon had a new winter fields piece that is very quiet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Jeanne did a specular graffiti piece  for the Sisterhood challenge.

 

 

 

 

 

Deb had a nice little work she was finishing for her Husband.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Joyce brought her wonderful dolls and her new baskets.  She is working like mad at the moment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the meeting I went with several others to look at the Both Ends of the Rainbow show in the main gallery of the Schweinfurth.      Sharon  had these two pieces in that show  that is up until  March 12.

 

 

 

I also had my fall piece, Leaf Pile in the show.

 

 

 

There was also a Pixies meeting as usual and we had a good time as well.

I keep working on the  SAQA 100 Day Challenge. 

 

I selected two fabrics that I had  printed and built a small quilt using them as my start units.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made special units like the triangles to add a bit of spice.

 

 

 

 

I finished the assembling and started quilting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The quilting gave me the idea for its title.  Donuts and Wholes is what I am going to call it

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Understanding Orange   I am doing handwork on this piece now.  I enjoy this step in a a different way then when I am creating the top.     I will add more machine work when the hand step is done.

 

 

 

 

Purple Imagining  This is the last of the monochromatic series.   It is always slow going at the beginning of the layout process for me.

 

 

 

 

Textile Artist Stitch Club Workshop   I pulled this work out again this week and I intend to complete it.   I think I can do that with a bit of effort

 

 

 

 

Handwork  This piece got berried  under the 100 day project stuff and only resurfaces when I put the paints away.   I think it is nearing  completion too.

 

 

 

 

New Work- felting   I got out Val Holmes book ” Creative Recycling in Embroidery ”   and  got going on some shapes that are not rectangles.  I was really searching for my silk, ( and I did find it) but I got side tracked by the colors of the wool roving in the cabinet.   Now I have two new works to  play with.   I plan to get out the feltier tomorrow.

Stay safe and keep Creating

Carol

100 day Challenge, Creative Strength Training, Envision, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Meandering Mind- Examine, Pixies Group, Presume, Understanding Orange

The Rethink

Hello,

I am facing mixed feelings with my self commitment to the QSDS 100 Day Challenge.  It is not that I want to stop- no,  it is more case  of I having a much bigger bite than I can really chew type of thing.  We are now at day 26 and I have 100 new stamps/stencils. I also have at least that many or more printed fabric units.   If I stay on my original plan I will have double that number before I begin to play with and put anything together.  That part of the idea seems really overwhelming!   So I think I will give myself a break, print the work today, and  hold open the idea that I can at any time cut and print new things to go with or extend and idea that I am playing with.    But  now  I will begin to use/build the fabric I have created.   That seems much more manageable to me and it is my self designed project so I can change the rules any time I want.

The first print of new images are on the left and the mix of old and new images are on the right.

 

 

 

I cut this Ram for the Chinese Zodiac  series.

 

 

 

 

 

  These are the prints from the cut above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second cut for this week was the Zodiac for the year of the horse.

 

 

 

I did not print in the order I cut stamps/stencils due to the workshop over the weekend.   I could cut and listen – but not print, so when I printed I mixed up the order of the images I used.

 

These will be printed later today.   Then I will do some serious thinking about putting some things together.

 

Over the weekend I participated in Interlude on line.  It is the follow up/ introduction  for Creative Strength training.   Folks lead some fun exercises and this is one of my solutions to  a design game we did.

 

On Sunday we did Avatars.  And  this is my sox  figure/doll I did for that one.  She is dressed thanks to my friend Susan who allowed me to raid her stash last summer.    I have not made any dolls in a long time , so  it was a pleasant diversion.

Yesterday there was a FAD meeting in the morning.  Sharon sharded her progress on the three projects she is working on.  She is doing lots of handwork on things like I do.   She started this at the Schweinfurth  Retreat last fall.

The Pixies meant as usual too.  I always find those discussions stimulating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Presume    This work is 36″w X 34″ t.   It is the green response to the monochromatic self challenge.

I really like doing the hand work as a parallel and extension of the metallic inserts  on this project.  Exploration and play is what it is all about.

 

 

Envision   This work is 32.5″ w X 37″ l.     This is the yellow study  of the series.     I am learning a  few things about color with this challenge.

This time I did free motion quilting like my class last summer.

 

 

 

Understanding Orange  is as the name says working with the orange family.  It is almost assembled and I hope to finish that step this afternoon.

 

 Creative Assistants     I did a lot of work on these little guys this week.  I have been watching lots of football and basketball, so lots of handwork is being done.

 

 

New Work  Because I can see the end of the building process for Understanding Orange, I pulled my purples for the last one in the monochromatic  series.   I was surprised by the large number of metallic  purples I have.

I am hoping everyone has a pleasant  Valentine’s day

Keep Creating

Carol

100 day Challenge, Envision, Meandering Mind- Examine, Pixies Group, Presume, Textile Artist Stitch Club, Understanding Orange

Now February

Hello,

I am surprised that we are now in February.  January flew by in my eyes.   I came across a quote by Salvador Dali this week and it is haunting me.

Mistakes are almost always of a scared nature.

They sure do seem to stretch us and make us rethink what we are doing and how things are going.  I, like most folks, have made some “duzzies”.     My Father always called them learning opportunities and I guess looking at the quote in that light they are scared if you use them that way.  I sure know they have lead me down so strange pathways I am sure I would not have explored with out the errors.   Like the time I accidently cut a whole in a finished work.   It resulted in a whole series were I did wholes on purpose and I learned a lot.  It is something I am now rethinking.   Perhaps there may be some more wholly quilts in my future.

I continue to work away on the 100 day challenge for SAQA.  I  was sick for three days so I am a little behind but working to catch up.   I cut a Rooster as my next image for another  Chinese Zodiac symbol.

 

 

 

I did the printing the same as before with the new images on the left and the over printing on the right.

 

 

Next  I cut a Tiger.

 

 

 

 

   I mixed and orange just for the tiger here.   But it reads as red.

 

 

 

The  last thing  I cut  was an Ox for the series.   I plan to print it later today and  cut another creature for the group too.   That will make me caught up I think.

The pixies did meet this week and that is always an up lifting thing.

Progress Report: Presume   All the machine quilting is done on this now and I am ready to square and add a binding.   It will be done in the next day or two.   I learned that doing reflective quilting  creates bubbles in the surface of the quilt if you do not alternate the directions of the path ways with each trip around.   The pressing that out is not fun.

Envision  I finished the hand work on this on   Tue and started the free motion machine work yesterday.

 

 

Understanding Orange   I am almost done building units for this top.  I am still shuffling them around and will soon begin to assemble the units.

 

 

 

 

Textile Artists Stitch workshop  I stared this project in the free workshop a few weeks ago.  I am working slowly away on it  and like  the addition of some solids in it.

Stay safe and Keep Creating

Carol

 

 

100 day Challenge, Blue Horizons, Briar Patch, Creative Assistants, Crow Calls, Envision, Forest Flock, Meandering Mind- Examine, Pixies Group, Presume, Thread Painting, Understanding Orange, Wool Rounds

Opening +

Hello,

  The opening on Sunday was the big event of the week for me.      I was happily pleased by all the folks who came to support me.    Two of the gals in this photo came from over from an hour away  and that was a big surprise.   

 

 

 

 

 

My daughter and youngest grandson came as well .   He is over six feet and makes me look really like a small grandmother.

 

 

With this show I tried to show old work and new as well as show all the different techniques I use. This work in the show is my first Fire piece and it was done about 25  years ago.

 

I put this work in the show to show off my applique skills and my handwork.

 

 

 

 

Granite Grannies is and example of a work that is both painted and dyed.  I did free motion drawing to out line the faces.

 

 Calling Crows is a work that won Judges Choice at the Adirondack Quilts Show a few years ago.   I did it after being awakened by crows at 4:00 in the morning when I was staying in Auburn.

  This work is called Forest Flock.  I machine drew all the little birds  and then appliqued them to the background.  The dark  tree is made from an old black skirt that I felted.

 

 

Briar Patch is a work that came about because I was playing with metallic threads and they suggested shinny berries to me.

 

 

 

Lastly I included the last three studies I did this fall as a part of the Explorations series.   I am in a new phase of this same self challenge now.

 

 

 

 

There were more works in the show , but I did not include them all.  The pictures show of the show were taken by my daughter, Wendy.

There was a Pixie Meeting this week and we shared lots of ideas.  I am continuing to work away on the 100 Day SAQA challenge. Friday I printed these images .   The images on the bottom  are new and the ones on the top are the new blocks over an existing image.

 

I printed new images on  Saturday.

 

 

 

 

I did a Rabbit to celebrate the Chinese New year of the Rabbit

 

 

 

Tue I printed the new images

 

 

 

 

 

Wed I cut these new images.   I decided to do  a Rat as the Chinese symbol because that is my year.

 

 

Today is the twelfth day and an even one so I printed .  One the left are the prints them selves and on the right are them used on top of  another printed image.    I am having fun and learning things so I feel good about this project.

Progress Report: Blue Horizons  This work is 34.5 ” X  38″. I enjoyed doing the handwork on this piece and finished it on Tue.

The   free motion process is also  fun for me.   I have fun dreaming up  images to machine draw.

 

 

 

 

Presume    I am still in the hand work stage here.  I am out lining the metallic’s  like I did on Forbidden Fruit.

 

Envision   I finished putting together the top for this work on Monday.  Then yesterday after pin basting it I did some stitch in the ditch work to stabilize it  so I can do the hand work here.   I am just thinking about the the pattern the hand work will take at this point.

 

 

Understanding Orange  I have just begun this top.  It is number 5 in the Monochromatic Studies of the Meandering Mind series.  I will start using purples when this one is done.

 

 

 

Creative Assistants   I finished off 22 more of these little guys this week.  This  is the most recent bunch ready for the paint and pin backs.   I hope to do a few more faces and add bodies before I complete the batch.

I hope that my readers are stay safe and enjoying the season.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

100 Day Challenge, Blue Horizons, Creative Assistants, Envision, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Fiber Artist Stitch Club, Meandering Mind- Examine, Pixies Group, SAQA, Sisterhood of the Scissors

Hanging Solo Show

Hello,

My big event for this last week was the hanging of my solo show.   There was lots of prep work and I am glad to have had that done a head of time.   I had lots of great helpers – thank goodness.  It still took quite a while to do the job as the group had never hung a quilt show before.  Now I am looking forward to the opening on Sunday.

The new Textile Artist Stitch Workshop is going on this week and I have been following along.   We painted fabric and then cut the work up and put it together in a new fashion.  I am only just starting to add stitch work to the surface of it.

 The SAQA 100 Day Challenge started on Sunday.   That challenge is to do art work every day for 100 days.  Last year I did the black and white figures that resulted in  the two quilts Action and Athletes.  Both of those quilts won prizes in different shows.    My self challenge within the 100 Days is to cut four stencils/ stamps on the odd days of the months and to print them on the even days for 50 days.  I want the prints to be interactive.  At the end of the 50 days I will use the fabric as the start of new work.   I have learned some things about this project already and so it is morphing a bit- but that is what learning will do for one.

Today is a cutting day and I will make new stencils/stamps later today.

 

The piece on the far right is the only one that I printed a new stamp on top a a piece from the first printing.  I need a stronger contrast in color for it to be really effective.

The Sisterhood of the Scissors had a Zoom meeting on Tue and it was fun to talk with those gals.  Yesterday was the FAD meeting and we had a good time too.  Patti showed off the new handknitted sweater new had just finished.    It looks warm to me.

 

 

The pixies topped off my meetings this week.  Robert is doing some real fun graphics and we had fun talking about them.

Progress Report: Blue on Horizons   Do to all the other events this week, I did not have a lot of undirected time in the studio.    I am nearing the end of the quilting on this work.  The mix of hand and machine quilting is fun for me.

Creative Assistants All the Creative Assistants with faces also got arms and backs this week.  Now I need to make more stuffing and work toward the next step with them.

Envision    I am building units for  project.    There is till shuffling going on here. Hopefully the top will be done by the end of the week.

I hope that everyone is staying healthy and enjoying the new year.

Carol

Creative Assistants, Envision, Forbidden Fruit, Hand work, Pixies Group, Presume

Pushing Forward

1 Comment

Hello,

 All my efforts at the moment are to prepare for my solo show that gets hung on Sat.   This is a shot of the post card.  I addressed and mailed out  30 on Monday.  I am excited even though it seems to have taken over my life of late.   I have 18 pieces that I have prepared labels and polls for at this point.   I will spend most of Friday doing one last press of them so they hang  as flat as I can make them.   I have a nice mix of new things that have never been shown any were and a bit of a review of older work.     I will polish up the artist statement and be all set I think.   I also pulled work for the Cabin Fever Quilt show at the Betts Library that opens in early Feb.    I only have three pieces in that show and I have very little work to do except turn in my art for that show.   Koi Joy(  at the right)  is one of my entries for that one.

 

The Pixies were the only group that I meant with this week so there was not a lot of outside in put.  I am glad however as I had plenty to keep me busy.

Progress  Report:  Forbiddin Fruit   This work is 35.5″ X 55.5 “.  It is the first in the mono chromatic  works although it is also my entry for the Red competition for Quilt Surface Design Isolation  that is due at the end of the month.   I did a lot more hand work on this then I intended at the beginning, but the work called for it so I pushed forward.

 

 

 

Blue Horizon    This is the second in the mono chromatic series that is a sub set of the  Meandering Mind series that I started in the Creative Strength Training class.  I am doing free motion work and hand work on this piece too .

Presume    The green work in the mono chromatic series is all assembled now and pin  based.   I am learning a lot about color with these challenges.

 

 

 

Envision  I started working away on this piece on Tue.  Still playing with curves and the mono chromatic thing and having fun.

 

 

 

 

Creative Assistants  I pushed myself to get hair- my third step in the construction of the tribe done this week.  Each of these bags holds about  35  bodies so  I have lots of faces to do now.

 

Handwork  Its time for the Rochester  6X6 show stuff so most of my efforts in the hand department are going in that direction at the moment.  Two are done and two to square and bind.

Finish up  I added the binding to this work so it is done now and I can go on to other things.

 

 

 

 

 

Drawing   I enjoyed the on line drawing class this week.  This is my response to the   Bird- House”  challenge.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

Annalise, Blue Horizons, Creative Assistants, Drawing, Hand work, Presume, Scrap Happy Quilts

Into the New Year

Hello,

I hope the new year is treating you well.   I am moving forward with my many projects and working hard to prepare for my solo show that I will hang on the 14 of Jan.      I spent Tuesday judging for the Scholastic Art competition.  I helped judge Film and Animation this year.    There are lots of great  programs going on and the work was strong.

The Pixies meant on Wed.  I am playing with the new markers that Laura sent me  and shared my image’s with that group. 

The FAD group also meant this week.   Sharon generously gave all of us one of her hand made scarves.   She also shared her newest work in progress.   We had a good time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am doing a five day drawing challenge as well and enjoying that too.   It is good to stretch out those mussels some times.   The assailment for this one was ” Bunny,  Flower”.

 

 

 

 

I stopped at my friend, Barbara’s to drop off a lap quilt for her and she surprised me with a gift too.  She gave me two boxed of her fabric to use or pass on.  What fun.

Progress Report: Forbidden Fruit    I keep stitching away on the extension of the curves that I built into the work.   I am moving along , but it is slow.

 

 

 

 

Blue Horizons    This work is all layered and pin basted.  I did stitch in the ditch quilt in  a few places, but it has not gotten any attention beyond that this week.

 

 

 

Presume   I got going on the mono chromatic color scheme thing with greens this week.  Most of the units are built now and I only need to put them together  so I can move to the next step.

 

 

 

Creative Assistants  I did lots of faces this week and added the backs and arms to those little dolls.  They are turned and stuffed now too so I can add the squeezie paint to them today and  then the pin backs.   All the body bases now have their trim so I can move onto the hair step with them now.

Scrape assembly   I just keep putting in the hour a day on this step of this project.  I can see that there is less in the basket- but it still seems very slow work to me.

 

Handwork   I did a little handwork during a Zoom meeting this week and this is the result.  I think it will go off to the Rochester 6″ X6″ show later this year.

 

 

I hope that the new year is only presenting the types of challenges you want to deal with.

Keep Creating

Carol

100 day Challenge, Annalise, Blue Horizons, Creative Assistants, Creative Strength Training, Meandering Mind- Examine, Pixies Group, SAQA, Scrap Happy Quilts, Sisterhood of the Scissors, Textile Artist Stitch Club

End of 2022 Reflections

Hello,

It has been a full year for me.  I started the year by doing the Quilt Surface Design 100 Day challenge.    That resulted in the two black and white figurative quilts that both won awards.  One at the Associated Artist Show and the second is still hanging as a part of the Quilt=Art=Quilts show at the Schweinfurth until Jan 8.  I plan to do that challenge again this year and do it as printing.   I did a lot of hand work this year response to the Fiber Artist Stitch Club’s mini lessons.  I was distressed by the wild fires in the west and did two different  wild fire quilts this year.    I started Creative Strength Training in March and that proved to add lots of meetings and challenges to my creative life too.  I was glad to be a part of that.  We have  our final meeting on the year on Sat.

I continued my weekly meeting with the Pixies.  We discovered at our meeting on Wed that we have been getting together virtually sense Aug of 2020.   I completed my Childhood Memories series this year.  That was a prompt from Susan.

Happily Quilting by The Lake returned in the summer.  I had two great classes and I am glad to say it will meet again in July of 2023, but in a new location.

The Sisterhood of the Scissors had  their retreat in the fall  and I made three new tops in those five days.  I finished the last one this week.   I had a fine year and I resolve to pass forward some of my materials and  to be a bit more selective in what groups I join this year so I can spend more time in the studio.

 

Progress Report: Analise   This work is 30″ X 31″.   I did the top at the Sisterhood retreat and only finished the hand work on it this week.  I really liked playing with the complementary colors  and that sparked the monochromatic series that I am in the middle of now.

 

 

 

 

Michell’s Project   This little project is 26″ X26″ and is a commission for my friend Michele.   It is going to be framed so it is not a traditional quilting job.   It is made from the neckerchiefs that her dog wore when he was alive.  A  memorial project of sorts.

 

 

Forbidden Fruit    This is the first in the Monochromatic Series. That is a sub set of the Meandering Mind series.  One thing leads to another in my processes I guess.   I started the quilting this week.  I am doing all the hand work  at this point and extending the curves to see how they can interconnect and pull the work together.

 

Blue Horizons     This is the second in the Monochromatic Series.   I finished assembling the top yesterday.

 

 

 

 

New Work  In keeping with the series I pulled all my greens yesterday.  I hope to begin today on this one.

 

 

 

 

 

Creative Assistants  I wrote last week that I will make this my last tribe of Creative Assistants.   It will be a big one as this is the pile of started body bases and I plan to make them all before I stop building.

Scrap Assembly   I continue to strip together my scraps for my scarp happy quilts.  The baskets does not seem to diminish very fast even though  I try to put in and hour at that task every day.  I gave myself a break yesterday and cut the 2.5″ strips I use in the quilts for about half an hour and put a few together.

Do stay safe and keep Creating throughout  2023!

Carol

Annalise, Blue Horizons, Creative Assistants, Forbidden Fruit, Hand work, Meandering Mind- Examine

Happy Holidays

Hello and Seasons Greetings,

I hope everyone celebrated the Solstice in their own fashion.   We sat with our tree, listed to carols, drank eggnog and talked of past days.

After the frantic week I had last week it was good to have a much calmer one this week.  I only had Creative Strength Training and a meeting with the Pixies, both of them are virtual.     My packages are all wrapped and under the tree and I can now just relax and enjoy the season.    My wishes for everyone are good health and quiet happiness.

Progress Report: Sea Dreams    This work is   45″ X 35″ .      I like how the the fish blend into one another even though there are several different taffetas.

 

 

 

The striped eye buttons are from my friend Sharron.   They are leftover from when she owned a quilt shop.

 

Annalise ( Meandering Mind Series  # 6)   This is the last of the series using  complements in tints and shades  without naturals.  I am having fun doing the hand work on this project now

Forbidden Fruit ( Meandering  Mind Series 2  # 1) This work is all assembled now and I am ready to size it.   Then I will begin to quilt the work together.    This is my new challenge using only one tint and shade of a color.  Red in this case with black, white and metallic.  I think the metallic is an over flow from the fish work.

 

Blue Horizon ( Meandering Mind Series 2 # 2)  I just started this one yesterday.  I am still using only tints and shades of blue this time and the metallics, but I think I will stay with just one light and no black.   Navy blue is strong enough.

 

 

Creative Assistants   This is the latest batch of these guys.  I came across an old sketchbook drawing of the inspiration   for the first ones.  The page was dated 1991.    I can’t believe I have been making them sense then.    Thirty one years is  long enough so I have decided this will be the last tribe I build.     I sure have used lots of little  junk to embellish them  and celebrated  lots of events with this work.    Stopping will free up lots of space on my shelves when I pass forward, or trash some of the items that I hold on to to create them , let alone the time.   It will be a sad/happy ending.

   Dog Scarves Project   A friend asked me if I could make a small quilt out of her dog’s scarves.  He passed away and she want to remember and honor him.   I am working away at it.

 

Hand Work  I always have a project were I can do hand work and this is the latest.   It is early , but so far I have only used wool thread.

 

Stay safe and enjoy the season

Keep Creating

Carol