Thursday, December 30, 2010

puts it all in prospective doesn't it?


i can't get this out of my head.
after viewing this a few times, i will admit, things that bothered me before aren't anymore.
but now i got a WHOLE new batch of things to worry about!

i wonder, does this mean we humans, we on earth are really insignificant....i mean in the scheme of things? or does this mean that we are being educated and groomed to take our place in the universe?
or does it simply mean (if everything you see is a projection of your mind) that our minds are ever expanding?? WHERE is a good quantum physicist when you need one???
i think i shall watch this video again.

first off happy new year to you all
bernie's sick again, with either a terrible cold ( i better not get it) or the flu or something...he is of course going to work daily.
we got a midwinter thaw here so i am going to dump big pond and give the two upper pens small sorta tubs (concrete mixing pans, just large enough for 7 gallons and one duck)- i hope to clean the basement and the night crates as well as retarp the two pens near the house...i could sure use two more small draft proof pens near the house which i doubt is going to happen-- i am planning on dumping all my manure in the garden beds

also, the seed catalogs are coming in the mail.....i know leek seedlings are at the top of my list this year. i want to dry a few pounds for winter use as homemade creamy leek sauce is to die for.
tomatoes for drying, salsa and fresh, peppers as always. BEANS BEANS BEANS.......i hope for a better freezer harvest.
cucumbers...... i need a lot more as my nephew cleaned me out of kosher dills!

we've also switched phone companies after all these years..... verizon finally screwed up so badly that i've had it and we went to the cable company for internet and phone!
same phone number though

now here is our 'holiday' gift..... actually it was on an obscenely low sale so i got it, them.........the SET----- amazing huh? how long have i been drooling over them? that big one is 5.75 quarts, the little ones a bit over a cup.... i paid less for the set then i would have for JUST the big one, (a LOT less......... wow) and got free shipping to boot....i had wanted the matt black which is the commercial ones, but at the price i paid.....well.....
and if cookware could be sexy......... THAT is sexy.... (and ignore the humble and slightly dirty stove top it is sitting on.....at least you know that this cookware will be used, loved, washed, and appreciated so very much
i waited so long for it
oh and the little ones........ timbale recipes...... or desserts, like individual peach cobblers
anyway, as soon as bernie can taste again, it's going for it's maiden voyage..... i got a roaster waiting for this..... and most likely i need to find some fresh leeks (hopefully local and freshly pulled) for the event.

the other thing that arrived yesterday was angels.....in the mail!
they are wonderful, and i put them on the tree, i intend on getting more..... they actually were delivered before the holiday but we've not been to the post office to get packages so they sat.
i gave one to my postmaster to watch over him......... he's a wonderful man and an asset to the community. not only does he watch over us and the mail, he is on our search and rescue squad.
(and the most honest man in the universe- he returned a very large sum of money in cash that a person lost......if anyone deserves angels watching over him.........our postmaster does)
anyway i recommend this link to you all if you'd like to get some of the angels for yourself.
i got the sets of small ones (the tie on ones) to hang on the tree and the set of small santa's, i am hoping to get all the rest of them to do a tiny tree in them.
now christmas i found is more fun for me without the hype......without the gift stress... i found that just doing what i enjoyed and not anything else (sorry about the cookies, that i did enjoy but the mixer was weak.....and with the surgery etc......well you know......) well that made me happy.

so now it's 6am
my fire is burning brightly
i need to get either back to bed or get dressed for the day
and i wish you all a happy new year
(and i got the dentist tomorrow)




Sunday, December 26, 2010

snow? really? we live in the snow belt....what a concept!

however there isn't any snow..... oh ok a tantalizing flurry here and there....
i occasionally wake up to a dusting..... but other then that ....nope nada
meanwhile the SOUTH gets snow
paralyzing crippling stop everything SNOW
i'm thinking mother nature is got pms or senile dementia after all these years (or maybe the axis of the poles have shifted enough to really send us spinning out of control)

ok well maybe it's a good thing? maybe not

now how was everyone's holiday?
i had a good day, in spite of bernie being grumpy.
i talked to a few close friends and my beloved sister in law (even my nephew texted us eventually....although i am still annoyed with him, i do still love him dearly)
we had a very nice dinner thank you very much.
and bernie got to actually watch some tv on the computer (hulu.com)
we kept warm
we played with cats and watched budgies
hugged a few ducks
petted chickens
no we did NOT exchange gifts..... for a bunch of reasons, one of which is, we really have a LOT of stuff as it is, and no room to put more......and another is..... outside of a kitchen and a large addition, we really don't need anything
bernie was a bit grumpy about no presents but he had to admit that he doesn't need anything either.... if we need or want something we usually can just afford to buy it

now today right now, bernie is tossing wood up on the deck.
i don't think we need anymore in the house as i am again tripping over it...... (and this is WITH the new inside log rack, -i am going to get another one for 'cold' wood)
i do have to say that this wood while not quite dry or seasoned enough is a nice mix of hard woods. a lot of apple, cherry and birch and some serious oak, maple and hickory logs,.......
as soon as i can i am going to order about 9 more cords..... 3 cords at a time and get it stacked up onto actual racks not pallets
it would be better to have it sooner rather then later and still order the seasonal cords in the summer.
bernie disagrees but i think it would be better to put a two year season on them
i can see how much better it burns, less ash and all.........
which reminds me i need the ash bucket dumped
ok so now bernie is grumpy again as he realized that he has to go to the feed store
ahem, i did mention it friday ...............................

now today is my sister in law colleen's 50th birthday
we are going to call her and sing very very loudly and very very badly
hahahaha
i wish they lived closer
i would bake her a cupcake cake ( giant cupcake shaped cake)
her and i get along wonderfully, we tend to think the same way and enjoy the same things

well bernie the grumpy is going to the feed store
so i am going to get the wood in for him while he's gone
oye
he's getting bagels on his way home then
ttyl

Friday, December 24, 2010

merry christmas to all, happy holidays to all

first off, yesterday my mother in law was rushed to the hospital. after a lot of phone calls, i finally got to speak to her.....she sounds weak but alert and should be returning to her assisted living facility today.
i asked her if she's been getting my weekly letters and she said no, and that she didn't get her hat either that i sent. i am not sure if she's confused or what as then she did said she got the hat.
colleen called down there as well, and she asked colleen, 'how did you find out i was in the hospital?'
when colleen said 'bina', my mother in law seemed to remember who i was.
i have to call the guardian and tell her about this

meanwhile
it's a bit before 3:30am, i couldn't sleep so i'm down here and while down here i am stoking the stove.
i ordered a half tank of oil to be delivered next week
and i ordered a staub 5.75 oval cocotte that comes with two small individual cocottes ( a promotional set) for an unbelievably low price as well. for less then i would have paid for just the oval by itself!
it's not the matt black that i wanted but a deep burgundy..... but i really wanted the oval for roasted chicken
i still have a chef's pan to replace and a few 4 quart long handled saucepans and then i am pretty much done with pots and pans (except to replace two small nonstick for eggs)
i am going to start on knives next, i still need a boning knife, and a 6'' chefs, plus maybe a serrated edge for tomatoes and bread. i decided that i will also add a second paring knife as we fight over the one we have now.
oh and a bundt pan....ours finally crapped out (gee we got it used and that was almost 35 years ago)
and i still need to replace the kitchenaid that bernie dropped. it is on it's last leg, as even the repair wasn't enough to save it.
i would like to have our 'morgue' table lowered about 4'' if i could get someone to cut that down off the legs for me. it would make my life a lot easier.
if we EVER get the kitchen done, i want some lowered counters. like 28''.

now i hope this finds all of you peaceful, happy---surrounded by love, laughter, good things to eat and warmth.
i wish for you all new year wishes of easier lessons learned, feelings of security and just the right amount of solitude to collect your thoughts, without feeling lonely; small unexpected delights, occasional flowers and a ton of icecream!

happy holidays everyone

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

the lunar eclipse

has started
i'm down here stoking the stove and periodically watching the moon disappear slowly
i look out back in the blue silvery light and can easily see how our ancestors saw fairies, and demons lurking just beyond the shadows.
not to mention wolves
i also feel a slight thread from my DNA to theirs
some of the mystery and wonder that they felt, in watching the night and the planets.
at that time of course they didn't know that this was a planet.....
although they did know a lot more about moon effects on us
i wonder what we all would do if our technology suddenly just stopped?

i also wonder about the miracles that surround us.... in this very technology that would have looked like the most powerful magic to our ancestors
i can't help but wonder if this technology is to prepare us for even more freedom as entities
or as consciousness taking our place in helping with the unfolding fabric of the universe?

more and more lately i have been envisioning a model of the universe and the souls throughout it as an interlocking membrane of light, with pinpoints being the souls and direct but interconnected lines between everyone/everything

i've also found that at this time of my life, i am truly starting to see things that were put into motion when i was 20
things like how i think about art, about living a quality life
things i believe about how people and families need to interact to stay healthy
being in your 50's, despite the pain and aches, does lend a bit more clarity to life
i am starting more and more to see people as here for an education
that being physical slows it all down enough for baby steps
and as we progress it shows in technology
now while we are concentrating on that area.....relationships and social functioning is neglected but i believe that the pendulum will swing back and that area will be addressed

i also wonder that if it all came to a halt today
how would we function?
how would we keep warm? without gas to power chain saws
how will we fell enough trees to burn wood?
where will all these trees (enough to heat everyone) grow?
obviously something needs to be looked at here
and what about elderly folks who can't axe down a tree then haul it and split it etc?
do we just put them out to die?
losing possible accumulated wisdom?

gee i swear i need to get more sleep....now these questions will keep me up long after the stove is warm

PS: sorry flicka and everyone, time got away from me
i'm sort of in a half sleep most of the time right now......the midwinter sleep deprivation time is very early this year.......... and prolonged

Thursday, December 16, 2010

5am and i said i was going to sleep in today

stoking the stove
yup
when it's this cold overnight, (and it will get colder in january/feb)
i get up at night to stoke the stove AND get up early as well, so when i feel i can catch some zzz's i go back up and try
this is the 'sleep deprived' part of the winter
i am doubly concerned this year as i know that stack of wood out there is not seasoned enough, it's still pretty wet, and hissed when i tried a couple of logs off the top
i am going to have to break into that stack this week....(actually this WEEKEND)
wet wood doesn't give a lot of heat, it expends most of it's energy turning the water to steam which means a cold fire
which means creosote buildup, which in turn means lack of draft, and possible chimney fires
i wanted to get at least another 6 cords and put them up to season for next winter, bernie says we don't have the room........i say we can't afford not to
so early spring i am ordering cords most likely 9
i am also thinking of adding a biomass stove (pellets, corn, barley etc), ideally that would be a furnace in the basement but i am not sure if that is something that's made yet.
and a three day burn would be a very good thing on that-as long as the hopper didn't clog
anyway, i was going to go sleep in today
most likely i'll go up in a little while and try to catch some sleep
i'm starting to think i better turn off the phones when i do that
yesterday i was woken up
folks don't realize that this weather has up all night, and they are used to me being up by 5 normally.....
but i do need more sleep right now since it's broken up all night
and that mean going back to bed at 6 for another 4 hours..........
so be it

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

i been thinking about different people in my life

and how they move in and out of my life
i always quote that saying

'People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. When you figure out which one it is, you
will know what to do for each person.
When someone is in your life for a REASON . . . It is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend, and they are! They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrong doing on your part, or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die.
Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realise is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered. And now it is time to move on.
When people come into your life for a SEASON . . .Because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace, or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount
of joy. Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.
LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons; things you must build upon in order to have a solid  emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person, and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. '

i swear as i grow older i find that more and more true. i have had relatives move in and out of my life, bernie always says to me when they move out of my life 'they got what they wanted, it was time to move on'

i often wonder what exactly i am to learn from that
and that it is a lesson on a cosmic level i have no doubt.
but i just wonder what it is exactly?
could it be that even if we are related, if there is no real connection there it doesn't matter?
or is it......
we are truly only connected by love, and we don't get to chose our relatives but we FIND our real family in friends?
or is it........
maybe their times and lessons in my life ARE over and bernie is pretty much right (cynical but right)
the odd thing is that somehow if i really want to know, i find out stuff about them and their lives.
maybe that is an 'ask and ye shall be answered' thing or what
finding me isn't too hard, but you actually have to look a bit with the right information i think.
and they have

i sometimes think of the gatherings when i was a kid, there was good and bad.
i cherish the times here when family and close friends have gathered around our very cramped table in the living room and ate and laughed and talked.
they are tiny shining bright spots in my life
and i so could have that weekly or even daily
but maybe then i would not appreciate them for the very special gifts that they are......moments out of time.

anyway, it's 2am, and that's what i am thinking of while i wait for the wood stove to heat enough to go back to bed
(tomorrow it may be parallel universes at 2am........who knows where my mind is half the time. it's not always easy being me)

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

it hurt

I HURT
bad
yesterday was worst then the first time and i am still in active pain
it was so bad bernie even felt sorry for me
meanwhile i gave him my plague

midway through the dentist had to shoot my mouth up in the front, which hurt and tasted aweful
on the way home it was so bad it felt like my teeth and face had been cut with a broken bottle
and then punched
right now it's down to just feeling like i've been punched a few times
this one was really bad

oh man

i'm downstairs with the wood stove, even though bernie built a fantastic fire for me this morning....i could and should have gotten more sleep
oh and the phone line is still out with that hum
i used bernie's cell briefly to call into the voicemail and the only message was from the phone company inquireing about how satisfied i was with their 'solution' to my tech call on friday
huh?
what EFFFING solution
i don't have a phone!

i may end up ditching them and getting a cell.......... but no land line then

meanwhile i am tired right now
really tired
i ended up drinking like a quart of eggnog......i couldn't eat so i drank eggnog
not the best thing i have done lately

i long to get back to drawing, which i am hoping that now that the worst of this is over i can do....the periodontist said that i can call the regular dentist and start the rest of the work, the fillings etc.
i think we're going to have to look into a bridge or something so i can chew as well.
i only have two molars left that sorta almost meet to chew with.
oh well, such is the joys of aging

today the phone company is to come fix the line
i am hoping that we get a nice guy, the last guy that came was a doll. ( the one who picked the loop up when the tree fell on it)
the one before that a jerk
i hope they also come early, because then i surely will go back to sleep
and wish for tomorrow to be a less painful day

Monday, December 13, 2010

rain and rain, and more rain......oh yeah and RAIN

so here is to flooded duck pens
wet wood and if we aren't careful....iced over paths when the temps plunge again

today is the second periodontal thing
oye
i am going to take theraflu daytime and tylanol
the first for my nose
the second for the needles
i am not looking forward to this
although the folks there are wonderfully kind
it still hurts

in budgie news we got a new toy for them yesterday
so they spent about 24 hours doing the 'budgie death stare'
now they are all climbing it, exploring with their beaks. (it's a parrot thing)
i love to see them stimulating their little brains.
they are just such a funny lot of tiny birds to watch go about their daily lives.
bernie loves to watch them too
i never did finger tame them but that's ok, they seem very happy as they are
i put music on for them too a lot of the times, listening to them chirp along.
they prefer something happy with a bouncy beat.
i wish i could let them out of this big flight cage to fly around the house but between the ceiling fan, woodstove and three cats.....it's not too safe
so they got their big flight cage and a lot of climbing toys, i hope that is enough for good cardiac health for the little guys

i need to finish getting my holiday 'cards' out
i would have finished last week but got sick as a dog (i really hate being sick or in pain so i whine A LOT)
tomorrow is the phone company to fix the line problem
any time from 9am to 7pm
so it's wednesday for the post office
meanwhile i need to find some mindless waiting room and shaky hand knitting for the dentist
oye

Saturday, December 11, 2010

2am, 6am they all look the same in the dark

i wasn't expecting the sleep deprivation part of the winter for prior to the actual winter...




it's been so cold that i've had to get up at about 2 am to stoke the stove, and then come down when bernie leaves to make sure there's enough wood in it

he can't do the 2am as he doesn't get enough sleep as it is

i think we are going to start going up at 8 maybe that will help him?



i am sitting here right now, listening to my budgies chirp and watching my cats soak up the heat of the woodstove (and feeling sorry for my red sore plague ridden nose)

i put some of the celtic woman caroles on for bernie who promptly went out to the post office and the feed store!

actually it's pretty peaceful right now in spite of my plague

i was also chatting online to a wonderful friend of mine in Sweden about this time of year, and how she longs for the return of the sun and the light.

i realized that really the rituals, holidays, celebrations at this time of year were originally designed to help us all THROUGH this time of early darkness.... and limited light

i can also see why the Christians hooked so much Son stuff on the Sun stuff
it does seem to so seamlessly play off each other (man them Christians had GREAT PR)

i think that this time of year tends to lean a person towards introspection. and as a species over the millennium we've developed ways to cope and survive.
however i do think maybe this introspective period is a good thing, maybe even necessary to our development as a species as well as our soul growth

now i will go on record saying i really dread the holidays, as mom died on the solstice and the last time i saw my dad was the 10th anniversary of my mom's death..... and evelyn 'notthemomma' also died on the solstice
i miss them all terribly.....but really i shouldn't as they do visit, and for them it was a birth to the other side.
so that got me re-examining the older rituals.
from folks tuned into the change of the seasons and the light.....
how tuned in do you have to be to be able to tell within a DAY (less then an inch of change in the noon light) without all our modern instruments to the changes of the earth?

now what if some of the great philosophers were right, ??? what if is it 'so above so below'
and this is sort of a classroom reflecting our inner world as well as the after worlds (quantum physics tell us there ARE parallel universes)
sort of a fractal spinning off endlessly......?
seems to boggle my mind but somehow seems to fit
and religions? where do they fit?
to me they are attempts to help map out the essentially unmappable.
and the great teachers or 'god's' of these religions..... teachers, guideposts......
maybe a resting place to catch our breath and decide which way we as a species want to develop next?
what if it is all more fluid then we realize?
and the physical world is sort of the brakes on the fluidity until we mature enough to handle the total chaos of it all?

any way for me it's all connected as well as all disconnected ( it ain't easy being me)
i always feel there are half truths and full truths that i can not put into words, let alone draw...... that somehow i am missing the conveyance of information that is sitting right behind but i can feel and sense.

now how does all this fit into the holidays? well it's that time
of introspection......and that is what we are to try and understand
some of the great mysteries of consciousness
where did we come from?
where are we going?
and how?

Friday, December 10, 2010

bitter cold and it's not even christmas yet

what is going to happen at the end of january -beginning of february?

well today bernie is speaking to upper management (at upper management's request)
about my health insurance.
they are going to work a way for us to afford it
so i should still have health insurance
bernie had canceled it, but was called back and told not to that today he would be filled in on what is going to happen.
for me this is a miracle as we can't afford that much for insurance, and i was pretty scared as my health isn't the best.

right now i am watching the cats all lazying around the woodstove on the floor.
i need to clean the ash out later today
monday is the next periodontal visit, and i looked last night, ......sure enough it would seem like it works a little. we'll see monday what the dentist says.

i am a bit better today. yesterday was horrible, high fever, chills, i couldn't see, headache, stuffy nose, STUFFY HEAD, you know how it goes
i had to put the ducks out and so i was out side in this cold.....it sort of helped me!
i am not feeling great but i think i can function a bit today
although since it's this cold, i have to get up at about 1am to stoke the stove
and then i get up again at 5
so i am pretty tired.
ok make that really tired
bernie wants oil in the tank so i can sleep through the night but the studio never does get warm with the furnace. and i hate to hear the furnace kick on so i think i would still get up and come down to do the stove

today all i plan on doing is trying to rest
i do have to get to the post office, but that may wait until tomorrow

i would like to bake us a few cookies just for us for the holidays if i can..... we'll see
it may only be snickerdoodles or something easy like that

ok i have to go now
i am still very tired

Thursday, December 09, 2010

can you spell P L A G U E

it's beyond a cold into plague realms.
complete with red rudolph nose
headache
eye ache
sore achy body
runny nose
sore throat
you know the works....with a cherry! (that would be the dripping snot)

and this morning bernie got the stove going, then came up to kevetch that he wants a tank full of oil so that it's warm when he goes down
that so isn't going to happen
as soon as i get a bit better i'll get up at 2am and stoke it

that one nice chunk of wood he had the other night in there would be nice to have a cord of just for over nights
but i got it going good now, he put two little splits in with one larger log, that will only get you an hour in a coldish stove.
i threw more in and got the chimney thermometer up to 400.....it's going good now

i dreamt of budgies last night....i dreamt i had an english one (in soft pastel shades of green and yellow) that was so tame it sat on my finger, but i didn't have cage space for it so i had to sort of 'hang' it on my shirt cute huh?
and i also dreamt that my little shit of a cat thaddeaus peabody wandered out with the ducks and chicken in the morning
so today i have some stuff to pack to go out
it was supposed to have gone last week
oye
it may not get until saturday with this plague...but the good news is that it's so cold out, any germs will be long dead on it!
ok i think it's time i go
i got green stuff coming out of my nose
and i can't breath much
i wish NO PLAGUE on any of you...................... (but a bit on a few of my enemies)

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

it's that time of the year

when we find out about new medical insurance
and we found out that it's gone up about 6 times what we are paying now.
so we found out, we won't have insurance unless something drastic happens
it will take our food budget, and our utilities and some extra that actually isn't coming in to pay it
so much for that
i do agree with a national health care but to allow the insurance companies to do this prior to all that is terrible
i am not sure this is what the government had in mind

and why they (bernie's job) do this every holiday season to us i will never know

and while we're discussing other crap stuff, i found out that i am not going to be able to go to the stroud manor luncheon that i was invited to....... there was a problem with the tickets, not being confirmed and something else.
but hey, i got the periodontist monday so maybe it's ok?

in more pleasant conversation, i woke up at 4am to a very nightly warmed house and still an open flame in the wood stove. to say i was happy .........well i was thrilled.
so i stoked it up and it's going good now, good enough that i can go back to bed if i'd like
(and i am thinking of it)

today i have to do a butt load of dishes.
mostly pots, (i was busy painting so didn't get around to it)
bernie still hasn't found the rest of the paper that he moved off the printer stand and 'put somewhere' including some of the card stock i really was looking for.
someone remind me of this when next he tells me i am disorganized
remind me how he took all the paper from the printer stand that i use in the printer and hid it somewhere in the studio (most likely under wool)
as well as how he put a moth infested piece of felt in the unspun roving bag.....

gee maybe i better go back to bed? hopefully get up on the other side later?

well he did put the tree on for me, it does look so pretty.
and i see that the fire can possibly take one more log so i should be fine for like 3 hours sleep!
since it appears i am coming down with a cold maybe that is a good idea?

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

i finally refound it!

i am not much of a tv or movie person, however i do love 'what dreams may come'
it's got everything!
dalmatian, paint, art, an amazing toy diaorama of heaven and an enduring love story.
first everyone dies then they all live happily ever after
the visuals are like being inside a tiffany window
anyway i finally found (online) a clip that includes marie's toy diarama of heaven....i would sooo love some stills from that but at least i got to see it again.
it fascinated me

lots of things fascinate me
miniatures
birds and birdcages
fish and fish tanks
i think i like contained visuals
maybe it's a boundry thing?
the cage, the tank, the frame saying 'here, this is the border, nothing more nothing less inside'
i know i like my work better when i border it
now that doesn't mean to not color outside the lines
but at least some things have definitions

or some other bs like that.

yesterday when i put the ducks out.....falstaff went on walkabout
up to the front of the house and the VERY BUSY road
scared the shit out of me.
i saw him just as he was climbing the front hill
i chased him and got him to come back to the lower driveway.....
he was so upset that HE RAN into the A frame pen
except i had been planning on putting him out back in the big pen so that the little girls could have the upper pen and a bath
and i was so right to be scared as we were awoken at 4:30ish this morning by a nasty accident next door....
someone hit the neighbors mailbox and trees
oye
flashing cop cars all over but thankfully no ambulance so i suppose that no one was hurt
we didn't look

now it's cold here
really really cold here
i am blowing through wood
so i have to bring a lot in today
also
i have some mail to get ready for today
i want to paint a bit more
put some of the decorations up in the living room
do dishes and make some pork with acorn squash.... (i have high hopes....we'll see how much other then painting i get done)

i am trying to let the muse lead me...... since i need more drawing painting time, i think when i don't go 'away' to paint or something i get a bit drifty anyway....
i notice i get less and less done and i get space-y-er......
is that a word?
ok coffee is done
stove needs more wood
ducks need out and my drafting table calls me

ok the link for donna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crPfnLR2bVs&NR=1

Monday, December 06, 2010

thank you all

i wasn't sure if anyone would like those ornaments i do
they are/were an sort of way to use up scraps from doll making, i would dye all the silk ribbons for the dolls and the tiny roses were all leftover from triming dollhouse doll hats!

i am going to see how much workbench time i get after the holidays
i'm still not totally sure about etsy for crafts it is so crowded now.


well it's about 5:30
i'm stoking the stove
bernie got it started but didn't put anywhere near enough wood in it
so good thing i came down
i put a hefty log in and am waiting for it to heat
i really wish i could go back to bed though, i need a wing chair and ottoman in here i think

this week i have a dream class online on the 8th, it was free so i signed up
i may have that historical society luncheon on the 9th
lesley won the tickets, but jen's dog ate our two
so we'll see

i am still slowing getting stuff to send to that soldier in afganistan (he was just home on R&R to see his family, and is now on his way back) i hope to get the last stuff this week so i can send that out.
i should send it all down to his mom to pack it up as she really packs things tight

let's see, right now at 5:30 am i can't think of anything else to write !!!!!!!
so i'm going to say have a wonderful day to you all

Sunday, December 05, 2010

da TREE .........'tis UP



here is our tree, bernie put it up with me directing....he forgot the strands of pearls (which i need to restring, they are very expensive vintage faux french pearls all hand dipped that my mom used to embroider on wedding gowns) there are a lot of my handmade ornaments.
i make tiny 2'' boxes that are the right size for expensive pieces of jewelry... padded inside.... hahahaha
out of silks, satins, velvets and velveteens. With imported vintage laces and trims (yup totally insane.. it's leftover stuff from dolls)
i also make silk ribbon embroideries....on silk with silk velvet backings, my handmade rayon tassels, and my hand dyed silk ribbons....

silk ribbon embrodery grapes

acorn box, silk satin, velveteen
there are other ornaments like delft painted blown eggs, and small dolls etc, but these are what bernie put on this tree (mainly he couldn't figure out where the hell he'd put all the other stuff)
so there you have our tree, and a small sample of what i do around here...... besides drawing, dolls, canning, baking, cooking, knitting, annoying folks.... and playing with the animals.
please leave me a comment ok? my friend lana wants me to open an etsy store, which i have been thinking of...... but i am not too sure about doing crafts for it...i think i can sell prints of my drawings and paintings however so anyway.....you all let me know ok?

Friday, December 03, 2010

it's friday.....my this week went FAST

today i have to run back to town to finish errands i didn't get done yesterday due to traffic.
there were a few fires and accidents so instead of sitting in long lines of cars....i figured tomorrow is another day
i have to get to office max for padded mailers and a shipping tube
to kmart for some christmas balls (cream colored if i can find them, clear if not)
and then to the po as i have stuff to go to sweden ( it's long overdue and even though i made a box i wasn't sure it would make it over there......sooooo i need to buy a tube mailer)

the duck pens are still soaked.....there isn't too much i can do about them until the ground drains
today is malcom's day with the pond...
the ducks got a reprieve with the pond due to the rain
as we brought the hoses in for the winter
i can maybe keep a small concrete tray pond in rotation but by the house but the wadding pool that they use out back........no
and this spring i need to pick up a few more ponds for them

i am not doing holiday cookies this year
between my mouth and the not too healthy kitchenaide........well it just ain't happening
(it should have been started already anyway)

we did however get the studio opened enough to get a small table and chairs in here
and when i get the drafting table, my desk, and some small bookcases up on wheels things will be easier for me
we are going to put a tree up this year.....IN the studio
this house doesn't have a good place to put a tree.....
we've tried it in front of the arch in the living room
in front of the windows (no room there)
in the studio ( it doesn't show from the front then)
i know a solution would be a few small trees.... a half tree or narrow one in the living room in front of the windows.......
one in here
but really i don't have that much energy by the holidays
we were supposed to scrape and paint the front entranceway but never got that done
(WHAT did we DO while bernie was off?)

anyway this year we'll put a tree up....... we didn't last year (except my halloween tree)
that is if bernie can find where he put it.....
i don't know what he does with stuff like that
and i am pretty sure i can't lift it down even if i knew where it was
oye
so what are you all doing about holidays? are you?
do you?
what do you do?

Thursday, December 02, 2010

bernie's back at work

for two days then he's got the weekend off
it's to snow over the weekend so we won't be stacking this wood any time soon
he stoked the stove up for me before he left
but i came down anyway

thankfully we did get a good start on the studio
maybe due to the horrific rains we had
i didn't go down the basement yet though to see how bad it is down there

really i think that bernie needed this time off, not just to rest but he's been going pretty much flat out at work for three years. i think that the down time helped him

well i don't have much to say today, i most likely am going to set myself down at the drafting table.
i am pretty sure that the father christmas illustration that i see so very clearly in my head is not going to get down on paper, which is a shame but something WILL get down on paper even if it's a pumpkin or a black and white fantasy woods drawing
(compete with tiny beings peeking out...... i don't know how they happen though)
i am realizing that when i am not doing something creative and/or absorbing i whine..... a LOT
and yet if i am doing something good i could fall on my head and not really care much


now as an aside to vicki in ut, i wish your dh luck, .. maybe he can start a small pt business based out of the house? and i hope something good (work/money wise) happens to you by the new year, so you'll have some ease of mind

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

flooded pens again!

yup rain,
good news: it filled my ponds up now that the hoses are away
bad news: my pens are flooded and my property is floating down hill

bernie put the ducks out today for me
tomorrow he goes back to work (i think he can't wait)
he got to see part of what i go through with the rain here
he's not happy
malcom is however estatic.....he's playing in his pond

this morning someone from bernie's job called before 9 am woke me up.......gee thanks
and it was something that could wait until either later, or tomorrow but naturally this person being so important and all......... had to wake me up
damn

ok now today's edgar cayce quote ( i 'like' the edgar cayce quote thing on facebook)

Official Edgar Cayce Page

But stay close to music, close to those things of the art and artist temperament. For these bespeak of those things of the spirit. For, as music is of those activities that span the differences, so is art an expression that reminds one of those things that may attune the mind oft to the realms easily forgotten. 3253-2

hmmmmmm think someone is trying to tell me something? i'm thinking... yeah.

actually drawing has been on my mind a lot lately, so we need to get this drafting table straight or i am just going to have to get a table top easel.....(which i may need anyway, but at least for now my drafting table surfices)
i have gotten a clearer picture of this project in my mind
so maybe it's time to make up a dummy book?
could be

meanwhile it's pouring out
so bad that the path to the pens looks like a waterfall
the woods out back are hard to see through the rain

ok, i am doing a lot better now with my mouth thank you everyone who inquired or sent me get wells
i get to do this all over on the 13th again (minus the extraction)
then i get the bridge or denture or implant or whatever
now today it's hurting
actually it's hurting pretty bad right now
but i think it'll be ok soon
i hope so as i was invited to a luncheon at our local historical mansion next week

bernie goes back to work tomorrow and i think he can't wait
what are we going to do when he retires?
oh my....... find him a job?
add on some rooms to the house ? his and hers?
i am thinking
ok i have to go as this is actively hurting now