My Friend Buzz

Geez.... where does the time go?? It's about time I get back on here. Life has definately gotten in the way of blogging, hooking and everything I want to be doing this summer. I need to really keep at this blogging because when I come back to it I have no idea what I'm doing.

Thanks for all the comments and encouragement in this venture I'm trying to accomplish with a million other things I'm also trying to accomplish. Over the next few weeks I am going to start introducting my family, my furry kids and my redware plate will be finished this weekend and I'm so anxious to see the final product and I am hoping that poor woman looks better glazed and fired then she looks in the raw stages.

First issue at hand is my friend Buzz. Many of you know of Buzz as I have asked you all for prayers as he took a leap of faith when he was diagnosed with lymph node cancer in May 2007. He went through an awful year and I tried and tried to help in any way I could to pull him through. I hope I did. You also know that I hooked him a Leap of Faith rug which was my first blog entry here and can be seen in the older posts.

Well I am proud to say and happy to say that Buzz is back to life and living it at it's fullest. He is back to his music and new projects and flying by the seat of his pants!!! He is smiling and happy and a whole new person. I cannot be happier for him. He is busy busy busy with so many new things happening in his life. He now has a website on My space. You can see that and see the many new things he is doing by visiting at www.myspace.com/BuzzSaylor. Hope that link works for you.

I am also going to post a picture of this great guy here for you all to see my friend Buzz. I'm so proud of him with everything he had to endure this past year. I honestly do not know how he kept the faith and made it though each day with the challenges he faced but I know and believe in the power of prayer and I thank you all for all the prayers and cards you sent his way. He was truly moved by this gesture from the rug hooking community of people all over the US that did not even know him.

OK... that's about all for this week. Next week I'll try to have a picture up here of my hubby Greg..... I think I'll put up our wedding picture and then after that I'll start with my family and introduce you to my parents, brothers and their wives and then my furry kids. Try to get a rug or two in there too!! Have a great rest of the summer!!!

Many Blessings.... ~Cyndi

She Seeketh Wool

Well I took on a little bit of a new project last week. I went to a favorite potter friend of mine. He was having a little workshop where you could design your own 7" plate. It then stays with him for the firing and glazing and you can then pick it up the end of July. I have pictured here the "rough" plate I did which I hand drew and remember now, I am not a good drawer. After the finishing is through I am hoping to love the plate. Right now I'm drawn. The potter is Ned Foltz and in this area and many areas beyond he is very well known. He does this once a year for his regulars as a thank you. I have several items of his and they are shown in many museums worldwide. I haven't been able to add to my collection as his prices have increased tremendously over the past few years. What I could purchase for $75.00 a few years ago is now well over $250.00+ right now. His items are beautiful and I love redware. I collect from many collectors but some have closed their business and others are gone but redware, yellowware etc. are my favorites. I am hoping that I will be happy when this is fired and glazed and then will use it in my heading. Right now I think she looks a bit like Wynonna Judd or Tina Turner. Way too much hair. I kept trying to "fix" it and it just got bigger and bigger!! It was a fun day though. Greg came with me to make his own plate and I had an idea of a really nice plate for him to make but men have their own ideas and he made an eagle... (not my idea at all). Ned actually loved my plate saying it was very "primitive" which to me meant "Lady you can't draw".... and another gentleman said to me.... "You have to live with it".... which to me meant... "OMG you poor thing".... LOL So there you have it!!

I finally gave Buzz his rug and he was thrilled. He cried when he saw it and read the back of it. Would you believe I had my camera in my purse to take a picture but he was so emotional I forgot to take the picture. I talked to him since and he said he will be glad to have me take a picture of him holding it, so it's just a matter of tracking him down. He seems to be doing so much better physically. Mentally he is still having trouble which is understandable. He's been though so much so keep your prayers coming for Buzz.

I'm still hooking odd and ends and whipping up things that need to be finished off. So for now I will close and wish everyone a great weekend. See you all soon!

hugs
cyndi

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

Well I'm finally back. This blog post is for Alice! LOL... She wants me to blog away and tell you what's going on in my life!! Well I don't know that much exciting is going on to actually tell you about but I thought I'd at least post my yearly Memorial Day Greeting!! Also thanks to all of you that have commented nicely about my rug or emailed me directly. I appreciate your kind words. I put a lot of work into that rug for Buzz. I hope he loves it. And thank you for the welcome to the world of "blogging"!!

I plan to get some pictures up here very soon of my family, my furry kids and some rugs. Greg is working this whole weekend including Monday but he took a vacation day on Tuesday.. Yippee.... Finally maybe we can do something. He's been doing yard work and trying to get the yard to look good since the winter and I am busy trying to wash laundry on sunny days when I can hang it out since my dryer died. Luckily it died during the warm months and I can wait a month or so to get one but seems like all it does is rain here in PA since my dryer died so I am now watching the weatherman every day to see when I can wash and hang. Otherwise I wash here and drag it to the laundromat to use their dryers which is a pain. Wet Laundry is very very heavey I found out when I took 3 loads to the laundromat to dry them!! Much easier getting it home then it was getting it to the laundromat.

I still have not seen Buzz to give him his rug but I'm hoping to insist that I see him this week coming up to give it to him. I've talked to him a few times but he's not feeling well at all. I worry about him but it's all out of my control. Please remember him in your prayers. I'm hoping to get a picture of him holding the rug to post here.

So that's what's exciting in my life. I'll be back soon. I planned to do this weekly but find I don't have anything to say every week. Such excitment here!!!!

Have a wonderful safe holiday weekend my friends. hugs ~Cyndi

Here we go.....

May 7, 2008


Well it's only been a year since I typed that "new blogger" and I still do not know anymore than I knew last year but I'm going to try to give this a whirl. I'd like to share with you a rug I made for a dear friend. His name is Buzz and he has lymph node cancer. He is a full time musician for a wonderful band called Simon Apple. He is their drummer and also the lyricist for the band. Buzz was diagnosed May 07 and had surgery which was successful. He then went through 35 radiation treatments that were brutal. They had to be very aggressive with this cancer. Buzz is 48, same age as me. He had a feeding tube placed in November 07 and still is not eating any real foods. All his meals go through the feeding tube. Unfortunately the affects of the radiation have taken their toll on him. He is also suffering greatly from depression.

I decided to hook a rug for Buzz to give him hope and something that would be uplifting. Now I do primitive folk art so this rug is a huge step out of the box for me. It is called Leap of Faith. First because that is what he took when he put himself into the hands of the caring doctors at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Secondly Buzz wrote a song called "Leap of Faith" many years ago and he never knew it would come to mean so much to him. I envisioned this rug in my mind almost to a tee but not with these bright colors. The colors came into play when I found online a website for Jane Evershed. She had painted a painting called Leap of Faith. I immediately asked her if I could use some of the elements of her painting in my rug and she immediately said yes. THANK YOU JANE!

I probably would have hooked the cliffs in browns but seeing her painting so vivid in color made me take that giant step away from primitive. I placed an apple on the ground where she had a city, the apple being for the band Simon Apple. I then wrote "Leap of Faith" in the beautiful blue sky and put a small bee there since bees go Buzz. The man is leaping from the bare cliff with no life to the cliff with the beautiful tree where there is life and wellness. It was truly a labor of love for Buzz. I then put a beautiful sentiment to him on the reverse. Also Jane Evershed had written a poem for Leap of Faith:

It's Yours, Take it,

Leap like a lunatic

Over the chasm below

Erupting as you go

Your true self awaits you

NOW you will know.

~Jane Evershed

I then took Buzz's song and printed the first verse on the reverse of the rug:

Stand On the Edge of a Moment

Looking out but I never look down

Aware of the chasm before me,

Where the Darkness of doubt can be found

Fear is what has become me

As the time is now close at hand

Praying for someone to join me

On this leap of faith I have planned....

~Buzz Saylor

The hand dyed wools were dyed by Tammy Burks of Skip To My Ewe and it was hooked in an 8 cut. Whipstitched around the edges with 100% wool - navy. I dedicate this rug to my friend...........Buzz Saylor. Each loop was a loop of love, friendship and prayer for your return to wellness. Blessings ~ Cyndi