Well, I Better Get Started

I held my newest thoughts for art quilts --- or just art made with fabric --- in my hands and hit the Tea Leaves button and here was my reading:

Reading No. 30 The Higher Powers have provided you with all the gears. It may therefore be as well to engage them sooner or later, otherwise you'll merely be making a series of attention grabbing, but ultimately futile, pooping noises. :) Whisper "I love you! I love you!" to the whole mad world and get going

So there you have it. Pooping Noises.

I am reading Elizabeth Gilbert's EAT PRAY LOVE at the same time as I am having these images of very plain, rather zen pieces appearing in my head. I also found appropriate fabrics for said projects at the recent fabric yard sale. I've never made anything like these "visions". Totally not me. Or am I mistaken about what is me????

Some Things I'm Thinking About

:: Had lunch with a friend whose mom is in the first stages of vascular dementia. When do you step in and take away her freedom? And if she lives far away and you are afraid to call--and find out what? She talked and I ate my lunch.

:: Why have I borrowed so many good books to read and so little time to read them?

:: If I lie and tell my husband it was raining and I couldn't cut the grass --- would that be a really bad thing to do?

:: My neighbor across the street has squirrels in the walls of her kitchen. They are getting into the house somehow and have gotten into the spaces between the wall studs. The scratching (loud) is about to drive her insane. Orkin wants $325 to set traps for two weeks with no guarantees. In other words, Orkin doesn't want to catch any squirrels.

:: The last of the four library volunteers I so patiently trained last month, called to quit this morning at 8:45. So on my day off I shelved all the returned magazines and one full cart of non-fiction.

:: I finally broke down and went to the grocery store. On Tuesday I had macaroni and cheese (Target's boxed set) and yesterday a bowl of reheated, leftover rice. There was nothing but saltines and butter for supper tonight if I didn't go buy something. I was nodding as I read Aunt Purl's grocery adventures. I came home with sweet corn, cereal, pizza dough, cheese, cherry tomatoes, milk and peach ice cream. Is there a meal there???? I think I was going for pizza. the trifecta of carbohydrate meals. Macaroni, rice, dough. My husband isn't home.

:: I turned in one of the reference assistants who worked Saturday. She brought a small tv to work and watched the Red Sox game. Unprofessional Conduct Unbecoming To The Library Profession. The head reference librarian was upset. Then she started laughing. It is pretty funny.

:: A friend is having a fabric garage sale tomorrow. Do I go and buy stuff? Do I stay away?

:: Do I make pizza now? Later? Have beer with it even if I'm home alone?

Something Funny

I've had this very funny email for so long, waiting for the right moment to share it. Bloggers are having some troubles with their computers so maybe you'll get a chuckle out of this. It was sent to me by Marianne in Germany. Sent to her by a very clever and funny Dutch guy who worked with my husband back in the 80's. We refer to that working experience as "the good old days". It was International Corporate and these guys were "cowboys" traveling the world 100 plus days a year. They had no rules--just "guidelines" -- and had to get the job done. Very creative. Crazy.
So here it is:

Subject: COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT

You have to be old enough to remember Abbott and Costello, and too old to REALLY understand computers, to fully appreciate this. For those of us who sometimes get flustered by our computers, please read on...
If Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were alive today, their infamous sketch, "Who's on First?" might have turned out something like this:
COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT


ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: Thanks. I'm setting up an office in my den and I'm thinking about buying a computer.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: No, the! name's Lou.
ABBOTT: Your computer?
COSTELLO: I don't own a computer. I want to buy one.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: I told you, my name's Lou.
ABBOTT: What about Windows?
COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?
ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?
COSTELLO: I don't know. What will I see when I look at the windows?
ABBOTT: Wallpaper.
COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.
ABBOTT: Software for Windows?
COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. What do you have?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?
ABBOTT: I just did.
COSTELLO: You just did what?
ABBOTT: Recommend something.
COSTELLO: You recommended something?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: For my office?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!
ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.
COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let's just say I'm sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?
ABBOTT: Word.
COSTELLO: What word?
ABBOTT: Word in Office.
COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.
ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.
COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?
ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue "W".
COSTELLO: I'm going to click your blue "w" if you don't start with some straight answers. What about financial bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: That's right. What do you have?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?
ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.
COSTELLO: What's bundled with my computer?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?
ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.
COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?
ABBOTT: One copy.
COSTELLO: Isn't it illegal to copy money?
ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.
COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?
ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!
(A few days later)
ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?
ABBOTT: Click on "START".............

Latest Work?

This is my latest collage. I got a stack of magazines which had colored pages of text. I like using blocks of text as a texture and the color is an added feature. The "three" is not part of the collage--but now that I see the two together--I'm liking it. The three is for the booksale banner. Every year the dates have to be changed on the over the street banner. This year I thought I would try changing it myself. Yeah. I'm such an optimist.

Work at the library today and tomorrow and then I have the evening feeding shift at Chez Cat. I just got the "using the door key" tutorial. It's an old house and an old door.

My political future isn't looking good. In order to "run", I must stop working at the library. The library is funded by the Town, so I am technically a "town employee" and therefore cannot run for office. I had lunch with a friend yesterday and when I told her this she said, "well, you certainly can't stop working at the library." She is correct. I LOVE working there. Have you ever had that kind of job. Where, the instant you began working, you knew this was "your place"? My favorite part of the library (other than the books) is the people I see there (most of them) and the wonderful conversation we have during the day. The homeless and the mentally ill are not my favorite part of the library situation but I can get past that most of the time.

I'm reading the latest Jennifer Cruisie book "Don't Look Down". It would have benefited from more editing. One scene goes from morning to night to sunset in a few paragraphs. I don't enjoy reading a book that no one took the time to read for mistakes. So now we have authors who don't read their books, chef's who don't taste the food (TopChef), and Survivors who don't know how to start a fire. I guess I expect too much.

Gardening On My Mind

This is my back "Stoop" where I do most of my garden thinking. I can sit here and look out and watch my husband working in the garden. I can even shout out instructions from here. He can't hear them, but I still do it. Pretty, huh?

My husband added this multi color spinning thing to the garden this morning. It's very windy today and the thing is going to spin it's way off the post and into someone else's life. South west of us.

Last year was our first garden. We had infertile sandy soil and it took 3 years to "beef " it up with cow manure, leaves, grass clippings, shredded library paper and compost. Last year we made paths and had raised beds--a wonderful garden. This year my husband is using wood he salvaged from a barn that collapsed to make raised beds. Keep the dirt from migrating into the paths. That big green, leafy stuff in the upper right is my rhubarb. Every house in Maine has a few rhubarb plants. And a lilac.

In honor of Sonji and every other homeowner who happens to live on an attractive scenic street...... the kind of street dog walkers like to visit every morning, while walking their dogs. We have a new "yuppie" development going up across the road from us. Houses , big houses, on 3/4 acre lots (they say---looks smaller to me). The sides of the houses "rub shoulders". Rather than walk their dogs in their own very compact neighborhood, they cross the busy road and walk in ours. Our big houses are on 1.4 to 4 acre lots. Lots of elbow room. Wooded areas between the houses. Big lawns. Stuff we paid good money for and like to keep clean. What we need is a big locking gate at the end of our street. Yeah. A big gate. Maybe a guard house. Maybe the National Guard. Patroling.

The Things We Do For Love

My Buddha. She/He sits on an antique table next to my front door. I tuck blooms from my garden under the front edge. I went out this morning--I'm up early for a change---and snapped a picture or two for my readers ( I think there are more than two of you). I'm up early because we are pet sitting for our daughter and she likes the cats to be fed early. We also have to go over in the evening to feed them again and visit. Last night my husband went over and fell asleep. The cats took turns sleeping on his lap.

I had one day off at the library this week---signed up for a marathon of work--and spent most of that day laying around. I did manage to pack up the set of dishes I gave away. I've been trying for years to give this cute set of dishes to someone but no takers until Wednesday of last week. I was actually trying to get rid of a sectional couch we picked up second hand in Europe and when V said she wanted the couch, I said "How about some dishes?" Hard to tell who was more giddy with delight. V or me.

My husband is working on framing the raised beds in our veggie garden with old barn wood. He has two of the eight beds done so far and I am going to plant butternut squash seeds on June 1st. ( my garden calendar says that would be the day to plant) Some of the newly planted raspberry bushes show buds. Some do not. All the blueberry bushes have buds.

Spring is later here in Maine and my tulips are just blooming. Aren't they nice? I took an overhead shot so you wouldn't see the chicken wire all around them. Deer like to eat tulips.

I'm about to make some "Famous White Biscuits" (famous cause they never get brown) for breakfast. I already made coffee and cut the grapefruit in half. We're going to read the paper, eat breakfast and see how they day will unfold. Hope your day is wonderful.

Tick Doc

I spent the morning at the medical center. Having a *bullseye* bite checked--to see if it was the dreaded Lyme tick bite. Then to the lab for a Lyme panel---blood. Then to the Orthopedic doctor to made an appointment to assess the arthritis in my right hip. Geez. I'm getting to be a Geezer! The photo above is a detail shot of the jungle quilt at the library. The bullseye circles do look a bit like my bite. I took digital pictures to help me with the smaller quilt commission. I had forgotten how I made the circle flowers.

The over lighted shot of the library floral display I do every season. Mostly silks but I twist and bend the branches to make it look realistic. The *weather* conditions in the library make it very difficult to have fresh flowers or even potted flowers last longer than 3 days (optimum) so I have moved on to fake. Or green foliage. If you look closely you can see paper blossoms ala Martha the Stewart. I like whimsey.

Now I'm going to rest up after my blood test and watch television until it's time to go to work. It's still raining here in Maine so there should be exciting news photos of our under maintained roads and bridges washing out. We have the highest taxes in the nation and NOTHING gets done correctly here. The popular fix is to slap an inch or two of asphalt over all the roads and add new paint stripes. It lasts as long as the tourist season. First plow pass in the winter and the asphalt pops right out. Or the sandy soil underneath washes out and the road crumbles. We have bridges and dams ready to rip--- should be a bumpy weather week here in Maine.

Got to Run

Just a very quick post today. No flooding here in my part of Maine. No sun either. The window repair guy is coming around noon and then I have to dash off to work--with my Thermal Heat Wrap on my poor aching back. I'm taking the Red Poppy quilt to exchange with the Dahlia--and I was going to keep the Red Poppy for myself. I'm kind of bummed. I'm also taking my camera to snap some pictures of the library jungle quilt. I don't remember what kind of flowers I made for it.

Husband is off to take daughter's lawn mower to be repaired and his car for an oil change. He's hoping to get back in time to supervise the window replacement. This is going to be interesting. sort of a "tag team" day. My oatmeal is ready----see you later!

My Weekend

Friday's collage. Made up of those postcards that fall out of magazines, tracing paper, envelope lining, some ink. I kept it simple and stopped myself from going any further with additional materials or techniques.

My visit from the "past" with some of my crazy quilt embroidery (framed) got me to thinking about these unfinished pieces. This looks like interesting television watching work. Keep the hands and mind busy. (And out of the candy jar)

Kathy's cards (Marden's) got me hunting for my own stash of cards. I have to cut the square hole in the cards for the little quiltlet but why not. I made this tiny (2.5 by 2.5 inches) tulip for my card. I'm all about the dotz. Yesterday my daughter and I "hunted" for a cutting template for these squares in a scrapbook store, Joann's and Staples. Then we had lunch. Last night I tried to cut the squares with the tool we purchased. I'm returning it this week. I did better with a ruler and mat knife.

A commission quilt in progress. We have a set price and I am keeping track of my time and do not want to spend more than 10 hours on the whole process. So far, at four hours, we have this. She wanted something *exactly* ( don't you love that?) like the large jungle quilt I made for the library, with all the same animals. Of course, I had to re-draw them, freehand --smaller. And I had to make a REAL EFFORT to get the value thing down. So all my additions to the very busy background (made from the scraps of the original quilt) had to be either light or dark. No medium. Still have to topstitch all edges and make more leaves and flowers. The other tiger needs the rest of his legs and they both need faces. The giraffe needs a tail and those nobby things (horns) on his head. Everyone gets eyes at the end. The clock is ticking.

Editor's Note: I don't use WU. I cut and glue plain old fabric and it takes less time than ironing WU on the backs of all the fabric etc. Plus, the fabric feels like fabric. Not stiff.

Because I woke up Saturday with a terrible pain in my back which limited my activity to sitting, I finally got to read a book, Savannah Breeze by Mary Kay Andrews. This is a follow up book to her first novel (my favorite) Savannah Blues. It's a good read, for me, and has romance, junking, decorating and some cooking. What's not to like? She's also written "Hissy Fit" and "Itty Bitty Lies". My next read is "Don't Look Down" by Jennifer Cruisie and some guy. Not sure I'm going to like *tag team* writing but I'll give it a try. I now have a stack of five books to read--after what seems like months with nothing good to read. And I'm working every stinking day next week. What was I thinking??????? My husband purchased some of those "Therma Care" heatwraps for my back so I can get through my shifts at the library without crying. When I get home I can take two Aleeve and space out on the couch.

Today, it's not raining YET. Maybe we can plant trees (two)--I guess I'll be watching my husband plant the trees -- and for supper, at last, the homemade pizza I've been promising to make since Thursday. There's beer to go with the pizza! Happy Mother's Day!

Value Blind

For a while now, I have been having problems with my fabric art. So, I have been avoiding it. This morning in my weekly letter from Robert Genn (http://www.painterskeys.com) he referenced a biological difference in artists. Some see value. Some see color.

"There are also those who see values
and those who see colours. This time I was paying special
attention to the value-colour conundrum. Neurobiologist
Margaret Livingstone in "Vision and Art: The Biology of
Seeing," makes some interesting assertions about the disparity.
Apparently the perception of colour and the perception of value
take place in vastly different parts of the brain. Just as in
left/right brain function, some folks have one faculty
developed and the other not. Great variations exist throughout
the animal kingdom--many animals do not see colour at all. It
starts with the rods and cones--the receptors within our eyes.
The cone-info (colour) goes to one part of the brain--the
rod-info (value) goes to another.

In my observation, value painters are likely to have patterns
happening early on in their paintings--often within a few
minutes or even seconds. Colourists, on the other hand, often
start out in a wishy-washy way. These color specialists often
end up with what I call "equal-intensity laybys"--handsome
effects, often in warm and cool. This (sometimes automatic)
"razzle-dazzle" was not really practiced until the beginning of
Impressionism. One sees that the picture-making process and
appreciation are undergoing evolution--in many different
directions. Also, different artist's brains are wired
differently. And some of us may be handicapped."

So my problem isn't being caused by the weather, inattention or sloppy work. Now that I am working more--it's showing up more often. (I still have successful work--just not as often). I am all about color. I chose the colors and then the subject. Value--the grayscale--has always been hit or miss. I will have to write a thank you note to Mr. Genn. And, get back to work!

Work is Love Made Visible

A little Easter collage made on the road. I had no idea the little colored triangles on the blue rectangle were going to want to be bunnies. But they did.

Yesterday's collage. As usual. Too much going on. It's okay. Nothing extra ordinary. I was not feeling very good yesterday. Dizzy and like I wanted to throw up but didn't. Everyone at the library is sick. Coughing, stuffy nose, post nasal drip, and feverish. Just what I wanted. Not.

Lunch yesterday was good. No arguing. "A" liked my Tulip Bowl but agreed with me that my BBQ Salad Bowl lacks focus and has no lights and darks. All medium. I used to be "excellent" at contrast. What happened???? "A" also liked the Wasabi fabric I painted but didn't know what wasabi was so the *reference* was lost on her.

Speaking of Lost. I thought we were supposed to get more answers yesterday. We didn't get any. Last week was super exciting and then this week another dud. The TopChef reunion show was hilarious. All that "peacock" behaviour. Good thing the knives were packed up. And Tiffani. Dave should have slapped her when she tried to take his tee shirt gift away from him. I mean really. The host said "Dave, we had this made for you" and as she hands it to him, Tiffani jumps up and grabs it, saying, 'I want it". She should change her name to "Bitch" and be done with it.

Tonight is Survivor. Will Terry the Pilot make it to the final three? Will Danielle? Then we have to wait till Sunday for the two hour finale. Oh, I can hardly wait to see if Cirie can go to the top without doing any of the challenges, hardly any work---just smiling her way to a million dollars. If they had been listening to me--and they never do---they would have voted her out in the first week when she was "afraid of leaves". Well, she has *outwitted*, *outlasted*, and we'll see if she has *outplayed*. I think she may just win. Too bad they didn't send her to Exile Island. Now that would have been good tv.

Nutz and Boltz

This is an example of the type of vacation photo I come home with. I just like the way it looks. I'm tired today, so no charming post. I worked, I ate left over Chinese last night and then I watched television. House and a repeat Criminal Intent ( Law & Order). Today I have a lunch date with "A" of the little art group I sort of belong to. Readers may remember that the last time we met--months ago--things didn't go so well. Am I a glutton for punishment or what???

Yesterday was slow at work but quite interesting in quilt content. First, the owner of one of my quilts came in to ask if she could "exchange" the quilt she had bought for another. This was interesting. She had always liked the smaller quilt but said her husband didn't care for it--so she purchased a larger, more complicated one. Both flowers. I don't want any one to own a quilt they don't care for--so I agreed to the exchange. Her reason--she is moving from her large home into a smaller "retirement" condo.

Second, another patron came in with a newly framed piece for a graduation gift. It was something she had started in a Crazy Quilt class I had given ages ago. Two of my quilt chapter members hadn't finished their small samplers and I offered to complete the embroidery work for them. So after all those years, here was handwork I had done, framed and looking very beautiful. I knew I had done it but it was difficult to go back to that time. I was very honored to have my work become a college graduation gift to a gifted needlepointer. Hope she likes it.

Third. I have been "teaching" a fellow library staff member to quilt. Between patrons we will discuss technique, stitches, placement et all. So this new quilter has made wall hangings, a king size bed quilt ( with an emergency call on New Years Day, 2005---her first attempt to machine quilt. I remember her 10 year old son saying "she's been in the chocolate", as a warning to me), several baby quilts, a quilt for her Mom and one for her father's second wife.

Finally, she wanted to try hand applique. I found a pattern of flowers and leaves with simple rounded shapes for a first project. We sat in her kitchen on a snowy morning working on the first block. She is a perfectionist. Hand applique the first few blocks can be a serious challenge for a perfectionist. So for the past year or two, she has been making a block every once in a while. Last night (while we were working) I got to see the finished quilt top. Four by five, so 20 appliqued flowers, sashing and a border. Perfectly done. And she tells people I am her teacher. Has nothing to do with me. Well, I do encourage her. And compliment her work. That's important. Now she wants to hand quilt. So we will learn to do that together--since I have never hand quilted a bed quilt.

Both of my library staff students have made lovely bed quilts. I have not. Isn't that odd? I do have a king size pieced top, basted (by the three of us) but as yet--not quilted. I do enjoy basting quilts with these two new quilters. Makes me remember why I love the process.

Too Much

This is my 100th post. Wow. I have been thinking. Now that we have the internet and instant gratification in chatting with people, learning things, seeing other people's work--is it too much? My work gets very confused when I have been blog surfing. I have all these images and ideas rumbling around in my head--I even see little slide shows inside my head as I am falling asleep (does that happen to you?) Is this why other ring members take "blog vacations"?

I have to keep chanting "make it simple" or "make it clean" when I paint or design a piece. I'm unconsciously trying to do too many of the new things I've been exposed to on the blogs. Makes me remember that the great Impressionist movement was created without very much communication between the artists. I see. I want. Not always the best way to make good art.

Right now I feel fragmented. Painted fabric. Paper collages. Watercolor fruits or vegetables. Acrylic canvases. The written word in my journals. One leads to the other. So I am doing a number of things---and not very well.

I liked it best this winter. My red pear waiting for me each morning. My salad plate with blobs of watercolors. My canning jar of water. My pad of paper. After breakfast, I would paint my red pear. Then go on with my day.

For a while, the morning writing in my journal was a good start. But then I began to add a small collage every once in awhile. Then some altered photographs. Then some colored pencils. Then some water soluable oil pastels. Then some erasers made into stamps. I wasn't chanting "simple" loud enough. And now I'm to the point that nothing satisfies for long. And I am always looking. For the "new".

Too Much.

Wastebasket Collage

I am just so *into* using waste basket materials for collage. Old sales receipts, those annoying postcards in magazines, and bill envelopes with cool interior printing. Here is the one I made yesterday with a glue stick, on watercolor paper (heavy, stiff watercolor paper). I usually use the glue stick in my journal with lightweight papers. On the heavy paper I like to use my "Yes!" paste. But I can't remember where I put it. So I used glue stick and there are ripples and such.

I made this one while on vacation out of those magazine postcards. I had quite a stack of them collected in just the 10 days of vacation. And there were a number of identical ones so I could do some designing with color. This is clickable for a larger view. This collage is personal. I'm going to be 60 in September and I feel like I'm looking out over a fast diminishing "future" and I want to make good choices in how I spend the last third of my life. Not that I have wasted the first two thirds. I've had a very interesting life. No complaints.

This morning on CBS Morning Show, they interviewed Paul Simon. "Still Crazy After All These Years". That's me, too. Perhaps I should rename my blog?

Yesterday was a very slow day at the library lending desk. The weather was delightful and the local ice cream stands are open for business. Mainers love ice cream. My favorite is Cote's on Maine Street. I love the strawberry. It has large chunks of berries in the ice cream. They make it themselves. I figure out how good the summer is/was by how many times I have stopped to eat ice cream. While I was at work, not working, I was thinking I should be out eating ice cream with everyone else. This paragraph sounded like Andy Rooney on 60 Minutes.

I'm going outside now to plant my 12 new raspberry bushes (they resemble small sticks with roots) and my four new blueberry bushes (more sticks) and my Wu Peng tree peony (big stick). It will be years before they actually look like fruit bearing plants. Gardeners really have to be optimistic. I may start my remaining Sun Gold tomato seeds. Last year I started too many and had a huge tangle of plants in the garden. This year I'll have too few. I feel like Goldilocks.

Some More Pictures

Yesterday I mentioned a book in my journal pages--The Art of Fabric Books by Jan Bode Smiley and my favorite pen- Sharpie Ultra fine Point Permanent Marker. Deborah wanted to know the title and brand. Perhaps if she keeps after me, I will learn to add these particulars to the post. Maybe not. Blogger decided to place my pictures in strange places this morning and rather than try and figure out how to move them--I'm just going to "work around it".














Above we have a journal page from the trip with plans I have to do "things" to my house this spring and summer. Of course I have more plans than money or time. I do want to get the shutters painted so there is some green on the house. My house used to be pale sage green and then I got the bright idea to change the color. I had no choice after that--my across the street neighbor jumped on the chance to paint her house my old green color. I chose a color from the Martha Stewart Prison Collection. Shortbread. Now I'm sure this is a great color. In certain kinds of light, it is gorgeous. But that light doesn't occur all that often. I'm hoping that as the sun, rain, wind, and algae work on the stain it will turn into the color I wanted. We can all have hope. Right?

To the left we have an art shot of a tool kit--rachets I think. I just loved the graphic look. My friend Kay was taken aback at my choice of photo subjects. Her pictures are of people, plants or babies. I took pictures of her new sink, the inside of her fridge--so much food--and my cup of green tea mixed with lemonade--her special brew. No pictures of people. No babies. Kay has lots of grandbabies--three under 6--and they came over alot while we were there. I was always happy to see their mom come get them. The last picture I had for you got deleted somehow and I have to shower and eat breakfast and go to work so--another time.

Journal Pages- Vacation

All of these images are clickable for a larger view. I'm not sure what I wrote but it can't be anymore personal than what I write here can it? I've been writing in the journal everyday. I was hesitant to do this because I had read comments all along about "morning pages" being one long whiney session. I'm not interested in whining. At least, not everyday.

Now this is the type of collage I make in my journal using scissors and a glue stick. I think the paper was from the morning USA Today the hotel gave us. After reading the paper I cut out sections with colors I liked--or graphics and just started cutting shapes and glueing them down. I repeat my new mantra---*simple*-- while doing this because the "more is better" thing is so not working for me.

This is a *map of my day*. Things didn't happen in exactly the order drawn here. I would forget about something and then insert it and try to make it all fit. After doing this, I saw that a day when I would have said---"I didn't do anything" was really a very full day of activities. I think that can be said of most days that go unrecorded.

Yesterday was my first day back to work. So tired when I got home. But I made supper. My favorite cherry tomato (frozen ones from my garden) pasta sauce and then my friend Monika in California called and we talked while she drove around and did errands. She had been to Trader Joe's to stock up on stuff for her cleaning lady. After that, I had 15 minutes before Kay called for our weekly chat while we watch Survivor. All my friends have unlimited free long distance. I don't because I live in north buttcuss six thousand feet from the end of a naval base runway (no cell service). So they call me. Works for us.

I am considering running for a town councilor office in the fall. Politics. Nasty playing field. But if nice people like me don't get involved, who is going to change things???? I'm thinking about all the ramifications. Feel free to comment.

So Happy To Be Home

I had a few photos in the camera but not that interesting. This is from my journal. I wrote in it every day and some days I even got around to making a collage from whatever was handy. The only supplies I brought with me---glue stick, scissors and my favorite black pens. So this uses receipts, newspaper graphics and envelope lining.

I took along some of my painted fabric cut in various width strips and a few pieces of commercial fabric "go withs" also cut up. When Kay and I eventually had a day--yes, only ONE day--to work on fabric things, I made several log cabinish shapes and Lordy! they came together into this. No trimming. Can you just *not* believe it? Of course I don't have a clue what to do with it now. About 24 by 36 inches.

A Camelia bloom. In Kay's garden. In Georgia, the spring blooms are gone and the Iris have gone by also and all the flowering trees have flowered. It was in the 80's most days.

We burned brush and logs and roots and vines for two days straight. That fire was HOT! And my husband installed two storm/screen doors, one air conditioner, a sink, faucet and disposal. Everything works. Only one or two leaks and they were dry when we left. He really is a Helpful Hardware Man. Good thing he works for ACE. We also planted one bush and four dogwood trees. But it's fun to do these things with friends and be helpful.

Kay and I did get to shop in four quilt stores. Now that I am starting to "paint my own" the commercial stuff wasn't that thrilling. I did purchase a small stack and one book. I also made my monthly "bowl" quilt which, as usual, does not have much contrast. Why am I stuck in the mid tones? So I will get out my trusty paints and make the background lighter. I think this time I was limited by the small amount of fabric I had with me.

The *bowl* is full of Barbeque Salad. Lettuce topped with barbeque pork, cheese and tomatoes. I used the house sauce as my "dressing". Died and gone to heaven. We actually consumed barbecue most days. I have the stains on my clothes' fronts to prove it. And I am nearly a vegetarian. A lapsed one when I get near barbeque, I guess.

I was so happy to sleep in my own bed last night. In the complete darkness. No nightlights or floodlights shining on the windows (why do hotels do this?). And I won't even discuss the strange sight that woke me in the middle of the night at Tricia's brand new lake house in North Carolina. I thought it was a ghostie but calmed myself down into thinking it was a projection device showing Winnie the Pooh. It could also have been the two bottles of wine we drank. Or the moonlight????

I'm BACK!

Two weeks. Some of it flew by and some did not. We had a near miss of a traffic accident---it was either not our time to die or not the drivers of the freight train of 18 wheelers that would have crushed us under their wheels. It was my husband's fault. As we re-entered traffic--from the grassy center of the highway---the truckers laid on the horns, yelled and gave us all manner of creative hand signals. We must have scared them to death. As we ran out of asphalt and headed for who knows what----my life did not flash before my eyes. It was very quiet and I think I said "Oh!". I don't know whether I will volunteer for another "road trip" any time soon.

On my return, moments ago----see how much you all mean to me?---I checked my messages on the answering machine and sometime in the past two weeks a panicked co-worker tried to inform me that the library board is trying to replace me. Can you believe that? I started laughing. No one can replace ME!!!!

I don't have the camera hooked up for pictures. So tomorrow I'll have a picture of my flowers, some fabric or something. Can't wait to read all your blogs and see what I've been missing.