I Need A Garage

I found out earlier today that it’s been flooding in Iowa - in fact, right down the road from where I have family in Black Hawk County. I don’t read the news, or watch the news, so I was completely unaware there was a disaster area in progress (Aunt B, I talked to mom, she says you’re fine, good to know!!!). I was looking at the news and seeing a lot of places I know that were under water. Very disturbing. I hope the water dies down and gets back under control.

Black-bellied whistling ducks in Jennifer’s back yard.

So yeah, I really need a garage, but all I’ve got is a parking lot, so I’m down here at my mother-in-law’s house borrowing hers. There’s decoupaging going on. I wish I could show you my hands right now. They are covered in primer, Mod Podge and polyurethane varnish. Yum! When it’s done, I will have some cool furniture, but at the moment it’s all sticky and drying in the garage. I have to say, though, that I am lucky to have a handy husband, or I would pprobably be wearing my decoupage project. This is not neat, and requires 4 hands.

Grapefruit in progress.

Jennifer, my mother-in-law, attracts wild animals like the rest of us attract mosquitos and flies. Did I ever mention the parrot that landed in her back yard? The raccoons and deer she used to take in? The squirrel that was sleeping in her bird feeder? The pregnant cat on her front step? I think I posted a picture of some ducks that have been hanging out every night here, I saw them this evening.

There’s some crazy plants around here. Jennifer’s grapefruit and tangelo trees have started to go nuts. This is the subtropics, after all, and citrusy things do really well. Then again, all her plants do really well. Her neighbor also has the green thumb I’ve always wished I had. She has a serious talent for placing flowers.

Hope you and yours are having a restful weekend. We’re having fun with animals. Jennifer has two dogs (a pug and a Lhasa Apso) that our dog usually “herds” when she’s here, as she’s younger and more energetic. However, this time we brought little kitten, who’s giving everyone a run for their money (including me). See you tomorrow! I’m off to apply more acrylic to my decoupage. And hopefully, I’ll try to avoid fumes, and all that nonsense.

The weather, and other unpleasant facts

It’s 10:44 pm, and it’s still 86 degrees outside. No kidding. Ugh. The weather people tell me it is supposed to be 98 tomorrow. Now that it’s June, I know the weather isn’t going to do anything but be gross until October. All I can do is hope for a lot of rain to block the sun and try to balance my air conditioning bill against personal discomfort. You’d think I hadn’t grown up in the subtropics with all my complaining about the heat, but I just can’t seem to reconcile myself to being baked.

<–That’s my most recent painting. I’m experimenting with shapes and painting the negative spaces instead of the object itself. This is a technique exercise, just to try to see objects differently, to understand better how things are shaped. I like how it turned out, and I’m going to try more like it.

Summer calls for several things, craft-wise. I’ve put away all the blankets I’m making, and switched to things that aren’t hot to sit under. I have a couple of big crochet projects I’m planning (one left from last year) and a bunch of experimentation with fabric.

But first I have to put my house back together.

One thing I had to do for summer was move my sewing machine downstairs. Heat rises, and this apartment has craptastic insulation. No force on earth is powerful enough to make me stay upstairs during the day in a Tejas summer. Migrating my space has been this weekend’s production, and in fact we dragged the rest of the house into the evil reorganization vortex. I think Jeff and I moved all but 3 pieces of furniture over the last couple of days, a painful process.

Fact is that I feel as though I’m supposed to be moving right now. For the last 8 years I have moved every two years for school purposes. Big, go-to-a-different-city moves. Plus the natural upheaval of 5 years of thrice-yearly college semester changes. I wonder if I’m not having withdrawal, if the furnishings aren’t my way of making up for not being able to make a big change this year. After so much constant, regular change for so many years, I’m actually finding it more difficult than I imagined to continue in the same city, same house, and same job for a third year. I know people do this staying-in-one-place thing all the time, but I’m just not feeling it.

Anyway, another result of the shuffling-furniture project is that I have some new colors in my abode. The way I decorate takes my frequent redecorating into account - I have a primary color in here (brown) and then I use lots of colorful accents. This is a much less expensive way to make sweeping changes quickly. The red in my main space has given way to bright green. My front room has moved on to include orange and blue. I have three new sets of curtains to make and some pillows. And I have Plans for a couple of tables involving a combination of lacquer, paint and paper.

Thus begins summer. Jeff, of course, says I’m causing too much trouble for myself, but what would be the fun if I didn’t?

Fleurs and a Personal Challenge

Aaand, spring ….. go!  Aaaah, I love spring so much!  So much so much so much.  Flowers have to be the best thing ever.  April in central Texas has to be the most beautiful thing.  So, I have made a resolution.  I am going to pick five pictures and do something art-and-or-craft-ish with them.  Dunno what, but I’ll do something.  OK, and Picture #1 doesn’t count, because Audrey is just adorable.

#1 - I love the delicate white and the blue of the sky, and the rich greens, and dots of flowers.  That’s the best.  This was so wonderful in the breeze, the petals fluttering about.

#2 - Indian blanket.  I chose this because this daisy-ish flower is one of my very favorites, but also because of the many textures of this shot, from the petal veins to the spiky bits in the center, to the soft and delicate aspect of the petals.

#3 - Have to research what this flower is.  I like the blue/yellow element, and that there are several blooms on a tall stalk.

#4 - Strong color, simplicity of elements, strong shape, slight petal texture.  Clarity of color, mostly.

#5 - I like the varying shapes in this picture, from the stalk to the long, slender, dark leaves, to the flowers with multiple types and colors of petals, to the darker red unopened buds, and of course the dark, sunlit browns of the ground.

Interested to see what I’ll come up with.  I think I’m going to have to get out some floss.  Maybe some special fabric … hrm …