Bad Bugs.......

Yeah, this pretty well describes my current condition. (and I have no idea where the image came from....something I dug out of the cobwebby corners of the computer) I'm not sure if that IS me, or if that is what is IN me, but either way, it's just not a *Happy Anne* time.
No studio work.
None.
Able to knit a bit, but the socks I thought I would have finished for today aren't.
Phooey.
The socks I though I might have started aren't.
Phooey.
Thankfully had enough leftovers to feed DH and myself, and still a large pan of bread pudding that I could live off of.....though a bit of hard sauce would be sooooooo nice! ;-) Maybe more than a bit.......
I can't even think up anything funny to whine about other than the fact that I am pretty sure a bull elephant sat on my chest and left a calling card behind.....that is precisely how I feel.
I hate being sick!!!!! I am an impatient patient!!!!! I want to be well (okay, as well as is normal for me....) RIGHT NOW.
Geez.....I can't even get a good rant going......someone put me out of my misery........
At any rate, I hope those reading are well and making arty-creative-things and generally enjoying the fine sunny days left, and I'll suck it up and put my big girl panties on and shut up. Have a good one; and take a few minutes of that and pretend you're me making something, okay?

Pax.

No computer, no photos, no content......

So why am I blogging? Because I miss it! (and you too, gentle readers!)
I am hoping that by tomorrow the computer problem will be solved, as in ---my computer HOME and WORKING and back at my own keyboard where the number of times I have to use the backspace key is less than the total number of keystrokes in the post......We do get accustomed to our own set ups, don't we? ;-)
I have three pieces of art to be shipped, one needing photos and blogging first. I'm losing my mind not being able to get them UP HERE and then OUT to the right people.
I guess, at the very end, I have to sort of blame DH for getting me started on this thing---I didn't think I wanted a blog and now I can't function properly without that post in the a.m. the same as not having my coffee.
Today is the dentist (just a cleaning) then tomorrow back to Warsaw to the other doc to prove the knee is mobile. I'm thinking HIGH HEELS. With very pointy toes. And bunny slippers on the way up, to drive in comfort! Yes, I guess I am Maxine, except with two parakeets and not the dog. Boy will I be a pip when I get older.....I can see it coming and there is little I can do to stop it! HA!
So anyway, I'm done whining to start out this sunny Monday morning, when I should be reveling in a nice bright day and just suck it up like a big girl. Hope you have a good week and that you have pictures and interesting things to put up........sniff, blubber.......
Now go be creative and do something wonderful!
Pax.

Run Through The Wringer....

....I'll tell you right now folks, I don't think there will be artistic content in today's post. Acerbic humor maybe (hopefully!) but I feel as though the art has been drained from my body. I feel like I should be living in the above photo----in this grey, windblown, desolate shack with the bottle trees out front.

They are, as far as I know, a Southern Thing. I have always wanted one. The original purpose was to ward off bad spirits. Blue bottles would have some water put in them, and they would be hung in quantity from trees. Evil spirits, being inquisitive, would go into the bottles and not come out. The modern bottle trees--and yes, you can ORDER one.....OY!--are just a variety of bottles usually on a rebar welded shape. Not the same.

With the goings on lately, I think I could have used a yard surrounded by real old fashioned blue bottled trees. And maybe a moat and a few bear traps. Can't get into it right now, but I am sure that some evil spirit has sucked the artistic soul out of me and I am a black and white walking shell.

Today is the first day I have had off in, oh my gosh, I don't know how long and I wasn't going to post but discovered I had a new follower and thought "Get thee off thy lazy pouting rear and DO IT!" So a very hearty WELCOME! to my new follower and usually my posts have more depth or at least a good rant or sometimes, if we're all lucky---ART!!!!

I know I am rambling today---the photo I posted is a favorite of mine. I don't know why other than it expresses a long gone era and it has a quality of, hmmmm, almost that feeling when you walk by a cemetery at dusk. There is mystery that you want to investigate but not too much. There is back story but you're not sure you want to know it. It, in some ways, reminds me of the poorer areas of my grandfathers farm in Virginia, where he moved when the TVA took the land they lived on . I do recall he built a small, small house (we would call it a shack by today's standards) until the family could settle and get a proper home built.

Maybe that is what I see in this---a legacy of people surviving anything.

Which of course circles back to me and my whining. And that's what it is.

I think I will go cut roses off my old fashioned shrubs and bring them in. And then go to the wet studio and clean things. Purge. Throw things out. Start anew. Burn some of my candles to clear the air, smudge the place. Do whatever necessary to refresh my inner artist.

On the other hand, since two of those things involve FIRE, maybe I should just get a spritz of air freshener and call it good!

I love seeing firemen in all their get up, riding those big trucks.......but not in my driveway! LOL!!!

So from me to all of you, may you be protected from everything that dries your creativity, may I be your little bag of gris-gris, shielding the inner artist and drawing away the distractions.

And may you step out of the black and white and into the world of full color creativity!

Now get thee off thy rear and go have a productive day!

Or make gris-gris and send me some........

ISP Problems.....AGAIN!!!

(No, really, this is NOT me...really!)

Writing this Sunday afternoon as I have no idea if I will have internet tomorrow. Have had no e-mail since Friday afternoon late---several important things out there I'm waiting on and have no idea WHEN it will be back up. Omnicity ISP service is USELESS. No tech support on the weekends; NOTHING.

I am NOT a happy camper and really don't care who knows. Believe me dear readers, this is the censored version of how I feel, because I am sure the real deal would melt your monitors and St.Peter would be telling Gabriel to get out the huge "Asbestos Tome"........AGAIN.......(sigh).....with my name on it. I am quite sure there will be a very large section of Purgatory named after yours truly.....

I am so fed up with dealing with garbage you pay good money for. This country has no conscience or morals or work ethic for that matter, since I am on a mini-rant. Just grab the money and RUN!

Okay......that's out.

Whew!

Sorry.

When you live in the middle of Podunk Nowhere getting any sort of service is next to impossible. I would move except for a few things, being, my DH's job, probably ending up somewhere WORSE, and of course---there is this heinous collection of 24 years of two pack rats with high I.Q.'s and no common sense to throw anything out. (it's not good...not at all...)

I'm pretty sure my next move will be to the cemetery.

I wonder if they have broadband there???? Hmmmmmmm......... ;)

May your week start better than mine, and may you forgive a raving lunatic!

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday........

.....yep.....that pretty well describes it! You can consider that a big yawn or a scream or just hysterics because any one will fit.
I started the day out with, basically, three things to do. And then enough time to come home and rest and then maybe head for the cellar and a little art. Somewhere along the way, I got way off that track. I had four stops in Peru, the first time (note that--first), five in Logansport, then realized I had forgotten COFFEE, so back to Peru and home. Still okay---throw the groceries in the fridge and pantry, then rest.
Nope.
Forgot I had a pile of paperwork to start on, then e-mails to answer, then business e-mails, then escaped to the tub but took the phone, so was taking calls while soaking, then back to the computer and somewhere along the line I thought--gee, I have a headache. Had forgotten to EAT.
Yes. I forgot to eat. That's something for the Guinness Book of World Records because Anne and food have a very loving relationship.
Was so tired I actually had to work on some simple art related items to keep myself awake before heading back to town for the circus banner priming and then came home and crashed.
And today is PT, early. And while it makes me feel better it usually leaves me exhausted. So once again, I'm going to try and come home and rest and then make some art. (because I have things in my head that need to get out onto canvas!!!!)
Any bets on this??? ;)
Aw shoot.....I have to cook tonight too. I sooooo would like a maid for a week........
No art content--I hope everyone else is having good productive days and that today is one of them!
I'm pretty sure that's a scream pictured above........
P.S. Save the photo to frighten varmints off from your attic or basement.......

What IS THIS????

Did I not, the other day, say Spring must be on the way?

This doesn't look at all like Spring to me.

In fact, it looks more like the return and revenge of Old Man Winter!

This was what I woke to yesterday morning. It was still dark when I opened the garage door for DH and yes, it was snowing and yes, some was on the twigs of the bush honeysuckle and I saw that.......

However, when the sun came up and I saw---once again!---my poor magnolia covered with snow and icicles, I was heartsick. Almost every year it gets frozen, snowed on, wind battered, you name it. In fact, the one year it bloomed completely out (and was GORGEOUS!!!) DH said, "How long have we had that tree because I don't remember seeing it before".

Well he was right because I get this in full bloom about once every seven years.....

So for those of you who live in the South and have those marvelous white Saucer Magnolias, I flat out envy you! Just once would I like to have a few to float in a large bowl of water inside, to put on the table at Easter, to walk in the yard and smell the sweet lemony aroma that only a magnolia can produce.

Let's face it. I live too far North.

I suppose now that I've griped I need to be creative and do something art wise that will be a bit of balm for my soul.

You too! And I hope you don't have SNOW, which---by the way---is a four letter word!

Have a warm, good, artsy, creation filled day!

P.S. I hate to admit that all that snow did provide the opportunity for me to get some beautiful photos from the porch. Yes I was good. I just stayed on the porch and shot what I could.......

Le Bas Rouge....or Anne's insult to injury

I am hoping the French translator I used was correct---some things sound more elegant, more gentle in French. There is a certain panache to what is really being said.
And Why, might you ask. is there a picture of a red, glowing lamp in this post?
Weeeeelllllll, one thing has to do with the other. This is not an art post---this is a "Joys or adventures of recovery" post.
I am, on a good day, allergic to numerous things, and have lived with it so long that when I go to visit a physician I can blither out the meds by heart and tell the dentist not to use this or that----it's just life.
HOW EVER.
Having never had surgery before, I was dumped into a world of items that I was clueless as to their ability to do odd things to me. (and not in a fun way either.....)
Tuesday I was cleaning up--a bath pretty much like the budgies take because the incision cannot get wet---and I kept feeling what appeared to be welts upon my nether regions. So I waddle into the front hall tree, (the nearest full length mirror I have) and sure enough, I don't just have a massive allergic reaction to where the dressing was taped on and ripped off, taking skin with it, I am red EVERYWHERE.
GLOWING.
Like the little lamp in the photo and the red wall behind it. Up my back, down my legs and blisters the size of my thumb.
---An Aside---
I cared for my ailing parents everyday for three years through numerous surgeries, critical health problems, cancer, just plain gross things, etc and have seen a lot, and for the most part, not much bothers me. Take that into consideration....
---Back to adventure---
As I was standing there, I just started crying because I knew this was NOT GOOD. So we made a trip to my Doc, and when he looked at it he said, "I have never seen such a massive drug allergy reaction in my life." (me either....) Then he asked how PT was going and I said "What PT???"
So now here I am, on steroids to get Le Bas Rouge cleared up, spent most of yesterday with the Physiotherapist and the home health care nurse and also allowed some time to whine and feel sorry for myself.
Or maybe that's the Medrol dose pac working on me. Who knows. I think I feel better. This is just crazy.
I miss my art terribly and cannot get to any of it.
And my e-mail has only been working sporadically, so my link with the outside world is interrupted.
So to close with a bit of self deprecating humor, I quote from the old standard.....

"Shine on, shine on Harvest MOON, up in the sky........"

I kind of think you get the picture.......or at least as much as you need to. Some things are better left under wraps!!!! ;)
Love and art and creativity to you all, and thanks for the cards and well wishes. They do mean the world to me.
Now go be creative and use the day well!

P.S. And please, have a laugh at this!!!!

Monday Update

I have managed to do two incredibly STUPID things today.

First I somehow deleted all my songs from my *Just Jazz* player. Way to go, Techno-Whiz. Not messing with that again today...nope.

Second, I laid open my left thumb pad with a razor blade trying to scrape something off the propane tank. I really needed THAT.

I'm going back to the cellar and try and get a few painting minutes in. I got sidetracked dropping a phone line down there, then cleaning crap (well, junk actually), then, yadda yadda....giving away fabric, etc.

I just want to go to New Orleans.........boooo hooooo.......... :(

February Dumps

This happens every February; I just go straight into the dumps, and frankly I should plan it on the calender so I could work around it! HA! On the up side, I have diligently stitched on the banners and have a few more feet of braid to do, so that will be finished this morning. And that means they are ONE BIG STEP CLOSER to DONE!!!!

To strictly poke fun at myself, I am posting this pic that was taken a couple years ago at a friends studio. I had brought lunch up, got to the door and slopped a huge cup of tea down my jeans! Soaked. And it was winter, and in an old building with nominal radiator heat and I couldn't sit there in wet pants, sooooo....So that is why I am wearing the "shirt and apron"---so charming, especially with those winter legs and my Chucks and anklets! Sex goddess I am not. Anyway--I am pointing to a little guy on the door that says "Let the art out" and I think that is all I need to do:

LET THE ART OUT!!!!!

We all need that, don't we?

Let your art out today and think of me.

Short and sweet........

Should you, gentle readers, be wondering WHY the author of this blog would post a popsicle, it is because that is ME. After an hour plowing snow, I have extremities that don't feel right. In fact, when I came in the house, I had as much snow on ME as I had plowed outside. The Abominable Snowgrump.

I, to put it bluntly, am frozen.

And I have to work, as in sew, so thawing out better be in the cards soon!

Better post tomorrow......when I am warm and fuzzy.

Or at least warm. At my age, fuzzy is frightening. ;)

P.S. I got my small painting I was working on pretty much finished yesterday. And one heel knit into the Jack Sparrows and the second heel probably half way there. WHOOOOOO---HOOOOO!!!! Those will get posted as soon as they are off the needles and on my tootsies!

Totally Wasted......

....DAY yesterday. (Ah ha! Not what you thought, eh??? naughty, naughty!)

Tried sewing and the hands gave out so resigned myself to menial chores about the house.

Well.

That stunk, so found an excuse to escape to the neighboring town, but on the way discovered that---as usual---the highway dept. had sort of FORGOTTEN to really clean the roads. (RANT ALERT!!!!!) For heavens sake! It's WINTER, it's INDIANA, and we can't get the roads cleaned??? Am I missing something? Every year you would think that this white stuff that falls from the heavens is some sort of great miracle of Nature, never before experienced and so peculiar that NO ONE knows what to do about it. (be prepared---same rant will happen in August, when we are having brown downs because it is extremely hot and humid and the electric departments are---OH MY!!!!---shocked at the weather and the rate of electricity consumption......grrrrrrr.......)

A dud trip to town, witness to the aftermath of a bad wreck on the way home---yes, it was on the finely cleaned road previously mentioned, and then DH was on the phone with MIL when I got here. AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

I'm crawling in the parakeets cage and HIDE.

I don't even have a good picture to put up.

I need to go throw a fit and then seek custodial care. And then sew more pearls.

Nope, I'm wrong about the photo---here is one that pretty well describes how I feel today!

Contrary to popular belief, this is NOT my normal clothing, but how I feel frequently.........

That is, however, my car behind, with the custom flames.

Devil girl. Look out!

Why yesterday's post was so late....or how I spent my day and please kill me!

Sometimes real life gets in the way. Yesterday was a good case of that. With an impending blizzard, DH and I decided a snowblade for the John Deere was just the thing and I hot footed it off to get the last one they had for my model tractor.
The girl working there says, and I quote "It takes some putting together.....but it's not overwhelming."
Okay. I'm a handy-chick and don't back down from a challenge. No problem! I've fixed, built, plumbed, mortared, plastered just about everything. Done concrete, done roofing......I've pretty much done it all so this wasn't anything I thought much about at the time of purchase.

SIX HOURS LATER......

Yes, six hours of physical HELL, I have the blade together, the mounts on, the deck off, the weights in place, my back out, my shoulder killing me, and hands not working. I literally can feel nothing other than PAIN.
And one more day away from the banners.
All I can say is it had BETTER snow!!!!!! ;)

P.S. It works.......went out in the dark and tried it on the driveway, and nothing fell off. But I do have a few left-over parts.......hmmmmmmmm..........