MonkeyBoy goes to the Zoo/ Baby Fix

Here is my Monkey Boy. If you haven't already figured it out, we use many nicknames here. We are not comfortable with names on the blog, but even at that, we use all the nicknames you read here. So this fella here, known as the Fine Young Man, is aka Monkey Boy. Even as a tiny infink he used to have such a strong little primate grip, I swear I could have let go, and he wouldn't have fallen. As he got older, he would wrap his littl e arms and legs around you, whether in the sling or not, and hang on for all he was worth. So there ya' go, why we look for any and every opportunity to photograph this child with statues of primates.Ok, so here we are, all of us, at the zoo. First stop was the African Savanah. You can see the Girl's Piano Teacher Lady holding her son, (whom I call Abe on the blog) in the bottom corner there.
Here is the Fine Young Man. He was so happy to see Abe, and did such a good job looking after him while we Mamas talked a bit. Piano Girl called while we were together, so that was cool. I got to relay all the good bits to PTL, and FYM got to talk to her, too.
Here's a picture of Abe. He had just woken up, hadn't had lunch yet, and wasn't quite with us yet. He has such a sweet face, I couldn't resist. By the way, Abe picked out his own hat. It is as orange as can be! Notice the ever-present Engines (Abe at 23 months old, is in love with all things Thomas.) in both hands, and the teddy bear. Also there is the ever-present lovey- a bear named "kitty".
Here is my favorite photo of the whole day. This is how these two spent most of the zoo trip. Notice how patient and relaxed the FYM is- when he is in service, he really shines. These two play Thomas, read stories, and eat snacks together every week while Piano Girl has her lesson. They are14 years apart, and yet, enjoyed a playdate together. This is one of the bonuses of homeschooling- here is the answer to the socialization question. Life is good.
TTFN,
LB

Dangerous Book for Boys Part Deux

This one is even better! Now I REALLY want to get this for my Boys.
LB

Dangerous Book for Boys

Check this out. Now I want this book.
LB

Picture of the day, no idea of the blinking #.

I visited the Butterfly Garden at the Woodland Park Zoo last week for the first-ever time. It is just as cool as the butterfly house. I was taking pictures instead of drawing, and kept getting pics that looked like the butterflies were the flower. This is not the best quality photo, but it is cool for the image itself. I have been looking for an image to use in a triptych challenge (more info soon), and I think this might be it. Without further ado, I give you

The Butterfly Flower.

TTFN,

LB

Tidbit number correction: THis is #17.

Tidbit: I am simultaneously being Boy's life coach, decluttering the house in fits and starts, and trying to post these picks. I have our Classical Ed. meeting tonight, and the College Match Guy is talking. Boy is going with me, we will stop by Gramma's, Boy will spend night at Gramma's, play with his Boy Cousins, hopefully do a bit of school in the morning, a chore for Gramma, then will be picked up by the B family and spend Wed. afternoon with them getting started on the kids' summer volunteer project. Which means I can have a few hours to myself Wed pm! Bear with me. It may take me a few days, but I have pictures and posts of lots of stuff for you! Treehous remodel, zoo trips, MonkeyBoy, Cute Baby, and Fibre Art are just a few of the things I have to show you! TTFN, LB And a shout out to Amy- I am not sleeping and panicking at night again. OK to give myself permission to go down to the studio for a couple hours instead of laying in bed awake?

Tidbit #15: Not sleepy and it's almost midnight!

You would never guess I am going on 3 hours sleep. So far, one of the few things I am finding frustrating about creating art is that I get so excited, happy, and joyful that I find it hard to sleep. I feel challenged, and my brain is working overtime. It is more fun than studying latin, logic, or the progymnasmata, I can tell you that!!
;-)
TTFN
LB

Hiya people!

I am here, working hard on a special project in the studio. I have a bunch of photos to post, but the Boy is using the computer to work on a history essay, so I will do a post later. Just wanted to let you know I hadn't fallen off the planet.

Oh! And did you hear that Amy had her baby girl? If you haven't yet, go check it out- she is a firecracker baby!
TTFN,
LB

Well what a surprise.......

As Nan said, "I can't imagine what 100% looks like!"

87%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Mingle² - Online Dating

Silk/Bamboo Fusion part 3

Well, here they are! The finished product. I took these pics in the studio (read dark basement) about midnight, so they may not be quite as bright in these pics.

I learned a great deal from this experiment! First off, I need to make sure my fibers overlap more- there are some small "holes" in them, so they wouldn't work too well on their own. But- I was looking, and I think I could make the holes a bit bigger, and lace some silk yarn through the piece.

The pink and the light blue are the bamboo fibers- they are beautiful, but Sue was right- they don't have the sheen of the silk. Still beautiful in their own right.


I love the colors on this one, but see the iron marks? This was the first one I ironed (to set it). I had to use a really thick pressing cloth (piece of cotton batting) to not get the iron marks on the other pieces.
This one is two silk "hankies" with skeleton leaves between them. I love its delicate look.
Here is silk (the yellow-purple) next to bamboo.

Now here is where the bamboo shines. This is the blue one in the picture above. I did it with just two very light layers. In this photo, I am holding it up to the light- look at the lacy texture! Can you see this as a sconce or a lampshade? Or a candleholder? Cool!!!
Ok, there you go. Now it is off to bed with me. I hope I can sleep- it is hot here!!
LB

Computer Dolt Questions

Questions:
Why all of a sudden do I have these big long spaces at the bottom of my posts? I try to delete the space, and it doesn't happen.
Also, how do I change a label? If I want computer nerd to be instead, computer dolt (it fits better- nerd somehow implies I know my way around a computer and nothingelse!), is there a way to change all of the posts with that label to the new one?
LB

Playing with Paintsticks

Last week I was experimenting with my Shiva Paintstiks. These are quicker-drying oil paints in a crayon form. The point is to eventually use these on fabrics- I would love to make some oilcloth rugs. But for now, I had some canvases, so decided to play a little. Here is my workstation:


This is not a great pic, and there is only one layer of paint on it, but I will show it non-the-less. I want to post all of my art endeavors, whether they are good or not. For these, good or not doesn't matter, as I was using something brand new, and exploring techniques. I was trying to achieve Asymmetrical balance in my design. This was an assignment from Art Quilt Workbook. This is done on a 5 X 7 canvas.


The next thing I tried, on a 8 X 11" canvas, was to play with a ghinko leaf. First, I checked my old nature study sketchbooks, and found some drawings of ghinko leaves.


In the top corner of the canvas, I used my woodless pencils to draw the first leaf. These do not work as well on gesso-ed canvas as they do on cotton. The other two leaves I did as contour drawings. I did not do so well on the symmetry of this piece, and at this point, they look like blue brocoli rather than ghinkos, but the beauty is that this is still just the first layer of paint. Hopefully I can do something with this.


I tried for a close-up, so you could see the pencil, but it"s not very good.
What is good, is that I have no fear. I am putting myself out there, and that brings me one step closer to truly being an artist, and not just a wanna-be artist!
TTFN,
LB

What's in your bag?

Hey LB!

Who me??

Yeah you! Whatcha' got in your bag?

Well, I have some watercolor pencils, and 2 boxes of my fave woodless colored pencils. Also have some lip balm.

I have my pencils, an eraser, one big sketch book, and a tiny one, my Art Quilt Workbook, and an old bus transfer.
And to be honest, this post is an excuse to show two things: the Dude wanted to see a picture of my mural with me in it, so he could get the scale of the design better. I haven't painted on it in months, though. It needs some work! I also had a request to show off my short, short hair.

I also used to love it when people would do those what is in your purse posts. My art bag is as close to a purse as I get most of the time, so I thought this would work.
LB

Silk Fusion part 2

Okay, so in the last post, you saw how I laid out all the fibers. Once you have your two layers of fibers, you cover them with another piece of screen, and then you use a brush to soak them thoroughly with soapy water.



I let the soapy water sit a while and really saturate into the fibers. Then I took a clean sponge and sopped up some of the excess liquid.

Then using a dry brush, I applied Jo Sonia's textile medium. It only takes a little bit of this to cover the whole piece. Now the fibers are soaking wet and milky-glossy. At this stage, I hung them on the line in the shade to dry. It is supposed to take up to 10 hours to dry, but it is almost 90 degrees out today, so I am hoping they will be dry by bedtime. See how the medium is dripping off? For some reason, the chickens thought this might be something tasty, so I had to go throw them some grain to get them to not perch on the line, or peck at the puddle of goo on the ground.
From left to right: Pink bamboo fibers in screen fabric, soy silk in screen fabric, bamboo in tulle, soy silk in tulle, and last but not least, 2 silk "hankies" with skeleton leaves between them.
I promis to post pictures tomorrow when they are dry. I have to say, I am feeling proud that I am actually doing some art! As I said before, this is not a tutorial. For that, you need to talk to Sue B. Now down to the studio- someone I know is having a birthday on Saturday, and I need to get going on that gift!
LB

Silk Fusion part 1

Hi! Well, instead of just sitting around missing her, or fussing at the Boy to do his schoolwork every 10 minutes, I decided to enjoy the beautiful day and try my hand at Silk Fusion. I bought all the stuff to do this in April, and have been studying the method and looking at other's results for a couple of months now. For my tutorial, I used Sue B's tutorial over at Fiber and Stitch (look in the free projects section) and I also refered to Cloth Paper Scissors, Issue # 4, Fall 2005. First I gathered all my supplies, and set up on the back deck.

Here is what the soy silk roving (this is a waste product you get from making tofu! It is space-dyed. It is very soft, like a big long cotton ball. You start with this:

This is bamboo fiber: It doesn't feel so soft, but it is very pretty. When you pull the fibers apart, instead of being long and straight, like the silk, they are shorter, and almost curly. I bought this at the same time, so thought I would give it a try. This is a beautiful color, blending from hot pink, to a pale orange.



You use tulle or another screening fabric to hold the fibers together while working with them. I used both tulle (it's orange-colored), and a heavy screening fabric that the Dude used to repair the screen doors. I did bamboo and silk on both screens, so I could see which I like better. I am concerned that the screening fabric might leave a pattern on the silk fabric. We shall see!

So, you pull off some fibers, and lay them overlapping in the same direction, on your screen. Aren't the colors pretty? This color is called "Sun and surf" and I thought it fit well.



Then you lay a second layer of fibers down, in the opposite direction, like this.
To see what happens next, read the next post. Why oh why am I only allowed to post 5 pictures at a time with Blogger?!?!
LB

Three letters came today.

Head on over to Piano Girl to read her letters. I am not sure I could handle it if she wanted to go to high school there. I am not handling her being gone very well at all. Sigh.
LB

Update: Other news

In other news:
I was getting dressed the other morning, when I happened to look over and see Catkin drop a MOUSE on my bed. A few shrieks later, and the Dude has disposed of my "gift". You can be sure that after telling Catkin thank you, I proceeded to change that bed and wash all the linens, faster than you can blink. I will try to get a picture of Catkin today, but with the Girl gone, he rarely leaves our bed these days, and Papa is fighting a nasty headache today.

The Boy made beautiful french toast last weekend. I noticed Papa bought some good-looking raising bread. Me-thinks there is french toast in my future, that I don't have to make!

The Boy also took the bus, transfering once, to his friend's house yesterday. I let him, and yes, I worried about him; and yes, I took time for myself, fitting in laundry and blogging in addition to a nap.

Still no letter from the Girl. I am hoping for one today. I need to write her tonight. I miss her. I am also enjoying my time alone with the Boy. I think he is, too.
TTFN,
LB

Organization and Decluttering Update.

When I am not directly schooling the Boy Scholar, I have been cleaning and decluttering in 15 minute timed sessions. While he reads or does a Grammar lesson, I tackle the Girl's room, or the bathroom. As Patty says, "You may get overwhelmed if you try to do something for an hour, but anyone can do anything for 15 minutes." Both of us are making progress.

In the studio:
I recently read Organizing your Craft Space (I linked to an excelent review) by Jo Packham, which lead me to another of her books, Where Women Create. In this book, Ms. Packham shows the studios of many different artists, and how their spaces work for them. I am lucky to have the space in which to create, but I still need to keep going on the organization. There is one more round of plastic drawers to purchase, and one more layer of boxes of cards I can consolidate. I still need to put label tags on everything. But even then, it is much more organized than other parts of the house! My biggest problem is putting projects away. I think if I do another round of organizing down here, there will be room for another table- I have umpteen different projects all happening at the same time!

The rest of the Basement:
Tons of work to be done here- lots of stuff to be donated or recycled. Decisions need to be made about keeping magazines, beta videotapes, albums, school-teaching supplies, and toys. Good news is, I have a whole wall of shelves, bad news is, they need to be decluttered first.

The mudroom/laundryroom/pantry: This room was filthy, but I am making progress. All laundry that can be done has been, rest is in baskets. I have found the floor, swept it, and taken out garbage and recycling. The Shelves need to be organized, and the microwave, washer and dryer need to be cleaned. I can't find my duster, but there are some big ol' cobwebs in here, too.

The Girl's Room: First layer of stuff off the floor. Filled two bags with clothes for donations, and another with garbage. Re-organized clothing in closet and drawers. Lots more to do in here, but I have 2 more weeks!

Our bedroom: I have gone through all my clothes, and re-organized my part of the "closet". All linens are washed and put away. This big room is where my paper hell is- I need to go through a lot of paperwork, chuck most of it, and file the rest. There is potential room for a writing desk and chair up here, but lots of junk and clutter do be rid of first.

Okay, that's it for that.

Chicken-sitting

Taking care of the Girl's chickens has been good. This is hard work! I think we will be visiting the Seattle Titlth Garden as soon as she gets back. The day PG is due home, they are having a chicken/garden fair. We will miss that, but I think it will be good for her to have her chicken interest to offset the intensity of her piano work.

Ok, so here are some pictures of the mean and nasty blueberry blossom eating chickens. Not really mean and nasty, so much as dusty, but that's okay.THis one is either Goldie, or Chicky-Boo, and no, I can't tell which one is my bird, and which one is the Girl's. They are both golden-laced Wyandottes that look the same to me. Anyway, which exact chicken it is of not the issue. The issue is that she is underneath my blueberry bushes- the bushes my family has been giving me for the last 4 years, on my birthday.

This one is Lucy. Miss K, from our nature study group named her. Lucy is a white-laced wyandotte. Look at the way she is just sitting there, like she owns the whole bed, not just this one poor, berry-less bush. Darn birds.
Now this darn bird has a story to tell! This is Ida, who is some kind of white chicken. (Yeah, Yeah, I know the Girl would know her breed.)

She was out wandering the yard on about Tuesday, and when it came time to put the chickens in, she was no where to be found. The Men took to the road, and I searched the back yard. All we came up with were feathers rom a pile two houses down the road. We thought for sure she had been carried away. I wondered how I was going to tell the Girl I lost a chicken on my watch. Anyhow, the Boy and I slept in the following morning, so I didn't get out to the chickens till about 10 am. Who is waiting at the gate, but Ida. I picked her up, and it looks like she is just missing one row of feathers right down her breast bone- no blood, no teethmarks. Whew! Boy did I luck out- now I have a cool story to tell the GIrl, rather than an admission of guilt from the chicken-sitter. And again, I say, "Whew!".

TTFN,

LB

Tidbit # 14? Hi there!

Hey all. It has been a weird week for me, but I want to do some updates, and the Boy is gone, so I can use "his" computer without him breathing down my neck. He has been working on learning study habits this week. We started back at 15 minute timed sessions, he schooling, me cleaning. By this morning, he was working for 2 30 minute sessions witha five minue break in there. Not too shabby. He is still struggling with writing and grammar on a daily basis, but he is making an effort. The one on one is good for him. I still struggle with his constant noise making. At some point the child will get that silence is a good thing evry once in a while. Hopefully he will get that life lesson before I did. Sigh. It's all good. So while you go get your tea or java, I will load some pictures, and let's play catchup! TTFN, LB

Tidbit #14: FiberPlay 2007

Want to look at cool art? Visit Fiberplay 2007.
TTFN,
LB

tidbit #13- busy!

I'm here, just been doing stuff instead of blogging. My goal is to have catch-up posts on all three blogs by Wed. Hopefully by then I will have lots of pictures and even a letter from the Girl!

Thanks for all the kind comments lately- I have been in the studio, have cooked and cleaned, been chicken-sitting, and teaching. It was a lot easier to do a lot of blogging when all I was doing was sitting on my bum in the recliner, with the laptop and a cat.
TTFN,
LB

Random musings

Every Sunday, I get the Joggles Newsletter in my email inbox. Every Sunday, I read the wonderful descriptions of new products. Every Sunday, I put a bunch of art supplies on my Joggles Wishlist. But I haven't been creating anything. I don't feel like an artist- I feel like an artist wanna-be. I am not better than my son. I am constantly telling him if he wants to be a scholar, he needs to work- hard. He struggles daily with this. Are we inately lazy? What aspect of our selves (specifically those little voices in our heads that don't seem to want us to be successful) are we letting stop us? What does it take to be a doer, and not a gonna-do-it-someday-er?

One thing stopping me lately are these damn allergy headaches. I am okay during the middle of the day, but by the time I go to bed, my head is jut throbbing, and no amount of over the counter drugs seems to help. When I wake up, the pain is dulled, but it doesn't seem to ever ease up. It has been a month now of daily allergy symptoms/ headaches, and it is slowing me down. I feel extra cranky, too.

Now, I realize in the scheme of things, that this is an excuse for not creating, and making things happen. Whether my head hurts or not, if I want to do/be something, I have to do/be it. Onward and upwards.

The Papa Dude is fetching my Mama right now, she will be here any minute, and will be raring to go. There is a huge pile of clothes on the couch waiting for her, and lots of laundry still to do. It is misting outside, so we will be giving my poor, sad, tired excuse of a dryer a workout insted of hanging the clothes on the line today. There will be no lying in bed for me today. I best stop thinking and complaing, and get on with it. I am alive, and that is a good thing to be.

TTFN,
LB

Me/Not Me Meme, part 3

Last one for awhile, I promise! So far, it has been fairly materialistic, this meme. I honestly think most of you knew I am not a diamonds kind of gal, anyhoo. Let's move into the kitchen, shall we?

Not me.

Me.

Not Me. (Damn allergies!)

Me.

Okay, the men are ready for supper and so am I. Later Gator.
LB

Me/Not Me Meme, part 2

Hey! You came back! You must be ready for round two! Hey now, what did you expect me to be doing while being anxious about my traveling child? Work in the studio? Or do the dishes? Nope. Not me. I am too busy engaging in mindless entertainment- just for you!

Not Me.

Me.

Not Me.

Me.

Thus ends round two of the Me/ Not Me Meme. Do I have time for one more round before my menfolk take me out for fish 'n chips? I think I do. Are you happy or sad?

Me/Not Me Meme, part 1

I recently saw this done over at Debra's Design Studio. It cracked me up. She was able to do the whole thing in one post, but Blogger will only let me have five images per post, so I will do it in fits and starts.

Me

Could have been me.

Not Me. Ever.

Me. (sorry it's teeny. click here to see my green ones.)

Not Me. Ever.

Gee-willakers! Now wasn't that fun and revealing look into the psyche of a woman who calls herself Needleroozer?! Aren't you just so glad you stopped by? Stay tuned for part 2!

She's there!

None of her luggage is, but that's okay. She sounded so grownup and excited. I guess I should be posting this to the Piano Girl blog. I will do that tomorrow. Right now, I am just going to be glad she is there and her adventure begins!
LB

Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

The Piano Girl text-messaged me at 2:30, and said she was at O'Hare, but I haven't heard from her since. Waiting, waiting, waiting.

I am sitting here, paralyzed with mother worry, unable to move from my recliner. The cat wrapped around my feet doesn't make it easier. So, I have spent the last 3 hours visiting new blogs and adding them to my sidebar. I now have 75 blogs listed. Good Lord, what have I done?!

More when I know she is safely ensconced in her cabin at Interlochen.
TTFN,
LB

Friday night update

Well, the suitcases are packed, and by the front door. We have washed her hair about a gazillion times, and it looks fresh and shiny. The shoulder-length cut suits her. She fell asleep in both her Papa and my arms, while I sng all her fave lullabies. She woke about an hour later, when Papa began to snore heavily. She is tucked into her bed now, anxious and excited all at the same time.

Papa and the Fine Young Man fixed a beautiful steak dinner, but she barely touched it. She burst into tears at one point, and sat on my lap for awhile, before she could finish eating. Funny- sometimes she seems so big, but not tonight.

The Boy and I are doing better now, though he seems more somber than usual. I think he is really going to miss his sister.

My alarm is set for 5 am, her plane leaves at 8:30. I will update again in the morning. Right now I will go do my best to sleep, though it feels far away at the moment.
TTFN,
LB

Aaarrrrggghhhh!!!!!!

The Girl and I are trying to get everything washed and packed today, while she is feeling anxious. She needs lots of attention and help doing things today. The Fine Young Man seems to be at a loss for something useful to do on his own, and I think he is a bit jealous of the attention the Girl is getting. So, I have had him clean the kitchen, and the bathroom.

I sent him out to mow the lawn, and he comes in telling me there is a problem. He poured oil into the mower, then thinking it wasn't the right oil, he dumped it out onto the driveway. Sigh. Now what oil there was in the mower is on my driveway, and he can't mow the lawn. And now, he took litter from the cat litter pan, to put on the huge oil slick in my driveway, and there are cat turds on top.

I find it hard to believe that in primitive and past societies, he would be considered an adult at the age of 15. Sigh. Someone tell me he will grow up. Please. And someone tell me the Girl will be fine traveling on her own and won't puke in the lap of a flight attendant.

I wish the Dude was home. Good Lord, help me get through this day without saying the F word- again. Yes, I admit it, I freaked when I saw the oil in my driveway. I am such a bad mom.
LB

Allergies, hairballs, and cupcake wrappers, oh my!

Hi. I'm not sure what is up with me today- all day I have felt run-down, lethargic, and exhausted. My allergies are really bad, I think that is part of it. I think part of it is anxiety about PG traveling in two days, and no, I am not ready for her to go. We haven't started packing yet, but now have some suitcases (borrowed from PG's piano teacher) to use for the purpose.

I need to be in the studio, but it is just such a mess, I am quite uninspired. I haven't been down there for weeks, what with all the PG projects I have been doing, and unfortunately it shows. There are about five big piles of stuff that need to be organized or donated. The floor is a mess, needing to be vaccuumed thoroughly. And I have decided that Amy is right- in order for the kids to do a better job at scooping the cat litter and keeping the area around it clean on a regular basis, I need to move the litter into one of their rooms! The downstairs pantry/storage closet doesn't have doors yet, and is in an alcove right near my studio.

The other issue is that various people and felines come into my studio unbidden, and leave messes in my space. There are cat hairballs under my sewing table, cupcake wrappers and the cupcake bottoms (you know, the part without the frosting) laying on the floor, as well as loose Lego and KNex pieces. A certain young man I know is going to be spending a great deal of time this weekend helping me clean up these messes!!! I am planning on spending the whole weekend (you know, while I am worrying Saturday while my baby Girl is in the air) down there cleaning and getting ready for Monday.

I have been hearing a great deal about two particular ladies who help organize studio spaces, or have amzing studios. Here is one, Lois Hallock at Clearview designs, and the other is Carol Taylor. Check out Carol's studio. I saw it in this new mag I picked up- Mark Lipinski's Quilter's Home. This is a wierd publication- not sure I will pick it up again, but it was worth it for the glimpse into Carol's studio. I am inspired, and hope I can get my studio space to work as well for me as hers does.

That's all I got for now.
TTFN
LB

Tidbit #12

For Pamela:
When I googled sunshine, I came up with this blog, For the Birds. Her name is Jen, and although she hasn't painted for some time, she has some old ones on her blog. I think they are just beautiful.
LB

Wow! Wednesday already?!

This week is going fast. I don't have much news, just more of the same. Yesterday, we got all the paperwork and checks mailed in. I touched base with the good folks at Interlochen. We folded a couch full of laundry. The real fun was when a friend of mine stopped by last night, and we all sat around the kitchen table till midnight eating strawberry shortcake and chatting. I had a hard time falling asleep, even with 2 Benedryl, and am up early after about 3 hours of rest. Sigh.

Today we do what is hopefully the last of our shopping for Piano Girl, then we start packing. That's it. That's the plan. Hope your day goes well.
TTFN,
LB

New post up at Piano Girl

Just thought I'd let all y'all know I posted over at Piano Girl. I'd like to know what you think. Thanks again for all your support! Love you.
LB

I Hate Shopping

Golly, do I hate it! 4 hours in the mall, with oodles and oodles of people who all look like they do this for FUN! Yuck! But our neighbor gave us some monies for clothes, and the Piano Girl does leave in less than a week, so we needed to get some stuff.

We bout 4 pairs of shoes, including our families first pair of Crocs, the 2 most modest swimsuits we could find ( tough job!), 2 pairs of navy blue chino pants, and 2 of chino shorts, a navy blue skort, a green tshirt, 2 pairs of gym shorts, 10 pairs of undies, and a pretzel (had to be the worst pretzel I ever had) and lemonade for sustenance.

We still have lots of stuff to buy, but I think we will be ordering it from Interlochen. Polo ans sweatshirts, etc. all with Interlochen plastered all over them. I will make sure to buy them huge, and she can just wear logo shirts this fall!

My wonderful Dude told us he was going to just drop us at the mall, and run errands and then go home. Instead, he was at our sides 30 minutes later, and stayed the whole four hours! He carried our packages, helped me find the right sizes, and kissed me on the forehead to keep me calm when I started to get cranky with all the nutso people who seemed to be enjoying themselves walking directly in front of me as slowly as humanly possible.

What an amazing man he is! Those who know me know we don't celebrate mother's or father's day here, but instead choose to acknowledge each other whenever given the opportunity. But I told my Dude I give him 3 gold stars for all his help today.

TTFN,
LB

Art Content- Fabric postcards and a book review

I found this list of tutorials and how-to's all on fabric postcards courtesy of Sharon over at In A Minute Ago. I have just recently discovered Sharon's blog, and am loving it. There is always some good conversation going on there, or good art or a new blog to look at. I love that it is a mixed bag of stuff- lots of art content, which I love, but lots of other good stuff, too.

Anyhoo, I keep saying I am going to do art daily, but then I make excuses that my busy life (ie: these gol-durned kids, specifically) gets in my way, and I let that story stop me. I need to be creating, and can really tell this is missing in my life. I am so less cranky when I am making art! So, this summer, I am challenging myself to spend a couple of hours and make a small piece of art (fabric postcards and ATC's are nice and small and easy to do) daily, starting June 25th.

Books:
It had been my intention to read through and do the exercises in The Artist's Way, but even with AmyJo as my integrity buddy, I didn't do it. I think I will just finish reading it and not worry about the exercises.

Robin over Quilt Antics blogged a couple of quotes from the book, Marry Your Muse (see the Hana post a few posts down) . When I read the description of the book, it kinda sounds woo-woo, even for me, but I would like to check it out. I haven't been buying any books (or anything else for that matter!) as every spare penny has been going to the Piano Girl project, but if money were no object, I think my cart at Amazon would be filled with art books. There are a ton of fun artsy quilty books out right now.

What I *have* been doing is working through the exercises in The Art Quilt Workbook by Jane Davila and Elin Waterston. Once I have photo -posting capabilities again, I will post some of the things I have been working on. I absolutely love this book, and the exercises are simple and not overwhelming. Many of the assignments are small 9 x 11 sized quilts- small enough to actually finish! At the end of each chapter is a list of links to modern as well as classic artists whose works utilize the concept focused on in that chapter. I love this feature and find it inspiring to see how differently artists interpret these concepts.

So, once we have Piano Girl safely delivered to Interlochen the end of next week, I plan on spending a good portion of of my days devoting myself to my own art and education. Yay for me!
TTFN,
LB

I'm here!

I'm here, and things are better today. I will try to post later today- I have a bunch of photos, but the photo program is on the FYM's computer, which is not working at the moment. Lots going on today- lots of Piano Girl work to get done.
LB

Sun and Storm

This was me yesterday. Totally me. Not what had happened, not what was said, but me. I was choosing to be an angry, nasty, emotional storm cloud who spewed out hard, fat hailstones and sharp, pelting rain down onto those closest to, and unfortunate enough to be the earth people around me. Everything and everyone was wrong. I wouldn't look inside myself to see what was triggering the storm- I just became one.

As the night was ending, the storm cloud that was me had spent itself and I had begun to clear the air with the earth-people around me.

When I awoke this morning, my sky was beginning to clear, still some dark clouds; and there was a great deal of debris around my house to be cleaned up.

All day, I thought on my life and my choices. I was open to the possibility of a muse, maybe in the form of a bright sun cloud to help me clear the air. The storm clouds stayed at bay, but the sun was behind drab grey clouds The storm had subsided, but the remnants still remained. I lived a day filled to the brim with life errands, kept company on my car rides by gentle wind, reminding me of all the earth and sky people who love me. I thought and breathed.

When I picked my son up from school this afternoon, all the thoughts of the day became words. I poured out my heart to him, owning that I had been a raging storm, and sharing how fierce and protecting a mother has to be when given a new sky baby. She keeps them safe and shows them how to weather out a storm. After a time, though, the sky baby learns the ways of the earth for themselves, and wants to begin traveling on its own, whatever the weather brings. Sometimes it is hard to let go- you forgot your umbrella. No thanks, mother, I like the rains. I may also chase storms once in a while.

Mothers can't help but want to make the world safe for their babies, but all babies grow up and learn how to handle life's storms by themselves. I realized that the eye of yesterday's storm, the calm, scary spot in every storm, was that I was struggling with letting my baby grown up and make his own choices. I was trying to control what he did and what happened to him. I realized this is not empowering for him or for me. As hard as it was, I had to give him his own life. I will watch over him, and support him all I can, but he has to start living his own life.

As I finished telling this child, who is still my baby but a young man at the same time, how much I loved him, and that I was ready to let him go, the sun came out from behind the clouds. As my son smiled at me, the bright rays of the sun came out and warmed us. Upsets and storms happen, but if we are willing to look hard at ourselves, and are willing to let go of stories behind them, we can see the powerful people we can become. And we can choose to let our own inner light shine as bright as the sun, instead of choosing to be a hurtful storm cloud.

Tonight my name is Alexander

This is how I feel today. It just went from bad to worse, then got a bit better, then went terrible, then went horrible, then bounced back up to bad, and now it is bed time. I have to admit to looking forward to sleep so I can wake up and do it with much less upset tomorrow.
LB

Wallace Falls

Saturday, we went with a group of friends (my fellow coaches in the Self-Expression Leasership Program I was involved in for the last 3 months) up to Wallace Falls. It was a tough hike for me, I was huffing and puffing, and really struggling with shortness of breath most of the way up, but it was lots of fun, and it really made me realize how much I miss hiking, and that it would be a great goal to plan another hike near the end of this summer, and to actually be in better shape so I could really enjoy it more, and go farther!

It rained the whole day, but it wasn't a big heavy rain until we were almost finished, so we didn't mind at all. We do live in a temperate rain forest, after all! Rain comes with the territory.

Here is the view of the falls from the bridge that is about a half-mile from the first of the three levels of the falls.

Here is the view from the first level. There is a picneic shelter there, and this is where I stayed while the kids went with a bunch of other folks to the top two levels. I sat and ate yum balls, drew in mysketchbook, and enjoyed watching chipmunks, and talking to the other woman who didn't climb to the top. It was serene and beautiful.

Here is a picture one of my friends took from the third level of the falls. The kids were so proud of themselves for making it all the way to the top!
So, they hiked a total of 11 miles, and I did a total of 5. Not bad for the first hike of the season!

LB