A Little Light Housekeeping.....

"Hello! Mom cleaned today when she wasn't sewing for Pastor Steve."

"Would you like to come in and see? I don't have guests often, but am happy to offer some honey treat...."

 

"Everything is so nice; I just have to show it off a little!

You don't mind, do you?"

"I should be humble...but it looks so nice and I like company!"

"Mom says you all make her smile, so I'm smiling back at you too!

Thank you for popping in thru the blog~~I wish it was in person and I would sing for you!

Say, do you TWEET???

Sincerely, Sweet Pea"

Well, in between my assigned duties of laundress, charwoman and seamstress, I was also birdie-mom-housekeeper.

I shot the first photo just to put on Face Book; it never got there because *little one* flew right down to the front perch to check out what was going on. She has no fear.....I wish she had a little, due to the single leg situation.

Some day, she'll hop right out that door....

And now I have to fly the coop and get back to work! ;-)

Pax.... 

An Unexpected Visitor & Tomorrow's Blog Giveaway!!!

Good Tuesday morning to you all!!! After another bout of the head doing the hula-hoop last evening, and no blog reading or work accomplished, I feel pert as the robin on the wire!

It is, for the first time, and exquisite morning here; the studio door is wide open, there is a breeze and the leaves are rustling on all the trees, much like old-fashioned silk petticoats piled deep under fancy skirts. It is a delight to sit and write!

I have a lot of photos that have not made it to the blog of late; usually a quick juant in the evening around the house or down the road a bit is all that I need to find something lovely. The light as the sun begins to set allows me to pick up delicate colors in a true fashion, such as the pink of this dog rose. I dearly love these.....their scent is totally different from any of the old fashioneds or from hybrids that have retained their fragrance through the hybridizing process.

Occasionally, there will be one that is almost pure white, either through mutation or the difference in soil nutrients.

Two delightful things this morning; first, the photo below has been posted in the Indiana Weather Service Photo Gallery! So my endangerment of life and metal implanted limb has paid off again! heehee.....It takes so little to amuse me......I am a real weather geek. *sigh*

Second, as I sat beginning to load photos for this post, a humming bird flew into my studio through the open door, hovered for a few seconds (which I am pretty sure equates to *standing still* in hummingbird speak), looked all around and then flew out. That was the best "Good Morning" I think I could have gotten. In all the times I have had this door open, the only thing that has come in is of the undesirable insect variety! LOL!!! (no Yard Man either Ulrike!!!)

Tonight I will gather the names I have for the two pieces below for the giveaway, and get them ready for random picking tomorrow morning. I have been amazed and excited/delighted with the response to this and am anxious to see to whom's homes they will go! Hopefully whoever gets them will love them too!

The time has flown since I made these and posted them.....where has June gone? Is it just me? It seems the month has been washed away by all the rain....30 days gone, disappeared with little to show for it and even less tangible work in my studio.
Oh, leaf count for those keeping track---today, it will top 100 so I can breathe a sigh of relief as soon as I have the next two sets of pattern stitched and out. Then I will cut them and proceed with other parts for the wallhanging.
Again, this post has been all over but that is my life right now. A balancing act, or better yet, one of juggling.
If you haven't signed up for the give away, today is the day to do it!
And I have to say adieu and get off to work....I hope you all have a wonderful, creative day with a few pleasant surprises thrown in for good measure!

Pax...

"Cap'n! We Got No Power!!!" --or-- A Lost Day In The Dark........

Okay, it's a bad, cliche, Star Trek pun, but it aptly described most of my day yesterday. I had just zipped off an e-mail, had a few more that needed attention and WHAMMO! No electricity.....at least, not in the studio. I was frantically pulling circuit breakers and trying to figure out what the *H* was going on and called my electrician. Tom is a SAINT.....I'm freaking, sure the house is going to burn down and he calmly says "I'll be there is less than an hour...."

In the meantime......the remaining power goes out and I decide NOW is the time to call the local Electrical Co-Op and sure enough, they had issues. (and so did I because that meant, no pump, no shower, no toilet-flushing and two parakeets that were FURIOUS their radio had gone off.....yeah, don't mess with Da Boyz music!)

So now I get to call Tom back and tell him it is an REMC issue and he can charge me for bothering him if he wants...he just laughs. I told you, he is a SAINT!

Moving on, the birds became an issue, so in desperation to amuse them, I first tried DH's acoustic guitar (kept mashing my boob plus I cannot play guitar), then my bass (which I can play, but it is electric, so really, there was not much sound), and finally, a concertina which I CANNOT play, but it was fun noise so the birds were happy. I guess we were all Pirates for a while......

And speaking of Pirates, then DH calls and I got to take the property taxes into town and drain the booty bag to stay on the land another year!

Does this give you an idea of where my studio time went????

Thus, I am loading some cool pics from the Zumi for you to enjoy---and believe me, it is waaaaay better than me trying to play the concertina! HA!

I love what it does with photos that would otherwise be nothing.......

A kind of quirky take on the huge wisteria.....did not get the purple color

but love the halo effect!

A scarred trunk of a white pine that had considerable rosin showing...

My lilac...electrified! Make sure to click these to enlarge!

Otherwise you miss some of the great graininess and

odd colors!

Another of the Tulip Poplar....my gosh....it looks like magic...

....And a bee's eye view, looking up through the wisteria branches....

Just amazing, that little tiny plastic camera.

And now I am off to try and get a little caught up from yesterday's reverting to the dark ages. Or I am just *off*......take your pick!

And also, before I forget---which happens a lot around here, unfortunately---warm WELCOMES to new followers! I think one more and I will have hit 90! (who'd have thunk it....???)

I wish for all of you to have a glorious, bright, Zumi-surprise-full day!!!

Pax.

Of Birds, Moonflowers, and Interrupted Nights.....

(copyright Charlene Crowder 2008, all rights reserved)

I had not planned to be writing a blog post at 4:38 a.m. Once again, this was one of those nights that life threw me a curveball and it was either swing with it or get hit. I had awakened to get a drink--after good sleep--thought I would get up for a moment, as I have done every night since coming home from hospital, was in the kitchen and suddenly my blue budgie went berserk in his covered cage. Which lead to the green budgie going berserk also......and *Mama Budgie* uncovering the boys, with their light on, talking them back to their senses for 20 minutes. Oy. I love those birds, but...........!!! There I am, up and trying to get life calm.

Up long enough to now be wide awake and craving coffee.

Thus, here I sit, enjoying the quiet after the *children*got over their little nightmare, having some warm java and thinking of New Orleans and warmer weather and my cousin, Charlene (who took the beautiful photos posted; click on her name to be transported to her website....you'll love it!) who may be planning a vacation there. Charlene is an OR Nurse, but is a stellar photographer also and is always sending me pics she has taken. She does art fairs, custom shoots, makes prints and cards.....the woman amazes me. Four cats and the most hilarious stories about them. She could write a book.....if she had time!

I can't recall when she sent me the moonflower photo I have at the top, but she knew I loved them.

She is the *other extreme* of family--the GOOD side. The fun side that you wished you lived closer to, so that you could have coffee together and shoot pics together and laugh and have a glass of wine and tell bad stories till you couldn't see straight. LOL!!! (she shares my sense of humor and also the need to speak her mind, not unlike your blog-mistress!)

Charlene is so talented as a photographer and I would love to post every pic she has sent me but don't want the chance of them being snagged since she makes good money off them.

She inspires me........I hope in some way I have inspired her.

Yesterday I made it to the wet studio long enough to do two things:

1)  I covered two 4"x4" canvas panels with a neat B&W print paper

--and--

2)  Discover that the chair I usually sit on is too low, so I am going to have to get DH to switch it out for me.

Yes....I have a few ideas for heart-related items and HAD to smear some medium and get my fingers all messy. I truly AM alive!!! :-)  Hopefully I can continue with said panels today and maybe, in the next few days, have a real piece of art again to post! Oh! How wonderful that would be!!!

Sewing is still the big conundrum, and I am going to have to wait until after the surgeon visit to discuss that one with him. I am not taking chances of doing something incredibly stupid! I also don't want an Ortho Surgeon yelling at me, as he is very very nice, but I think if provoked...well.....still waters and all that...... <:-)

(copyright Charlene Crowder 2008, all rights reserved)

So here's looking at you, gentle readers! Maybe life at Chateau Lockard is beginning to get back to normal, maybe I am close to making art again and ready to feel completely alive as opposed to half way---of which I am not complaining! (actually, all things considered, I feel pretty good)

Now if I could just get the birds to sleep through the night.......oooooohhhhh.......children!

To you all, wishes for a lovely day, good creative time and of course....

Pax.

Down for the count.....

"Mine....all MINE! Don't even come close...."

(equal time for my other little feathered fire-ball, Johnny, who I dare not open the cage door to photograph or he will be gone! he is ALL ATTITUDE, the exact opposite of Joey, and a handful. dive bombs me when I feed and water him, then sits and laughs. yes LAUGHS. especially when he knows my head hurts. Oy.
can I pick them or what????? and that's it for today.....)

....Sorry folks, no art, no content, just another sickening migraine that makes it interesting to even try and SPELL! (let alone see the screen and type words and not drivel....) And that's after taking the meds!
I'll be back with you all tomorrow; I hope that everyone's weekend is good, and fun, and above all else restful!
And now, to find two large boulders to place my head between and squeeze it flat...... ;-) .....kind of like the Three Stooges.....WOOOO WOOOOO WOOOOO!!!!!!
Until I can think, and you are better served with photos , art and writing---as always---

Pax.

A quick P.S........better this a.m. but still not functioning. Going to hide someplace dark and quiet today (or try to). May just go sit in the cellar in the wet studio and stick my head under the table....LOL!!!! Don't think I can stand the lights yet to work........WAH!

Day out for lunch........

"Oh my! This is sooooooo tasty!"

A quick PEEP from me before I have to go get *beautiful* (quit laughing.......) for a lunch out with a friend.
And WELCOME to another follower, though she's been a lurker I love her anyway! heehee!
Spent most of the day yesterday in the studio actually getting some work done on the Advent banners, but it's nothing I can photograph at this point. Still just pattern making, readjusting sizes, adhering fusible to fabrics, ironing (lots of that)....I mean, this is the not-at-all exciting part as far as photos go, but it IS exciting for me because this is when I start firming up in my mind's eye how they will look. Rooting through my massive stash of fabrics for a few shimmery pieces to highlight the silks......it's beginning to get a little interesting.
Plus I was able to find some fringe to complement the BOLT of fringe I bought already that I was not satisfied with.
My profit margin on this project????? I'm thinking zero. Just as long as I don't go in the hole......and they'll look good, and that's all that matters. Grace UMC's sanctuary will be beautiful for Christmas!
So little Ms. Socialite is outta here to start fixing her feathers and do the complete make over thing before stepping out into public. I don't want to be arrested for indecent exposure; i.e. face sans make-up!!!!
Have a good day, and yes, that's my sweet little Joey in the pic, not the blue-demon-fireball Johnny who tries to take a slab out of me every time I clean his cage.
Sigh.
Children.
With or without feathers.......... ;-)

Pax.

Delightful gifts from friends.....

Before my *Grand Adventure*, Dolly, one of my friends from the Pacific Northwest, sent me a package of wonderful tidbits including these amazing feathers. I so love feathers of all sorts and collect them and stash them and occasionally they get pulled out for use in fiber art.
However, these were of such spectacular color, they deserved to be preserved first as photographs, and then maybe I will draw or paint them before they are turned into something fiber-wise.

For the life of me I cannot remember what type of bird they were from and truthfully, the pics do not do them justice. I am hoping that maybe clicking and getting a close up will give you a better idea of their glorious texture and color.

It never ceases to amaze me how creatures of the wild are given such beautiful plumage and we, as humans, seem to drab ourselves down as much as possible. (except, of course, for your dear authoress.....)

At the present time Dolly and I are commiserating via one of our on-line groups; she has had surgery on her right hand and of course that is her dominant side and then there is my little bit of nonsense.......

So here is a toast to "Magoo" and "Peg-Leg", may we recoup soon and be back to our normal, feisty selves causing havoc and mayhem and just in general being artists!!!

And by the way, shooting these pics this morning is the FIRST creative thing I have been able to do since the accident.

And it felt wonderful!

Now get out there and take advantage of the day to be creative in whatever manner you excel! Or Peg-Leg will be coming after you.........very slowly, but the threat is still there..... :)

Odd things....and how did it take so long to make a tri-fold???

Yesterday was a productive day banner-wise, in getting more of the linen canvas cut and primed, and the pieces that were dry got letter outlines on them and the beginnings of the paint/medium coat that sort of gives it the rough plaster wall look. (sort of......)

So why, you may ask, do I have a picture of a trifold brochure and a pile of, well, beany-things??? Or maybe you know me well enough not to ask because I collect all sorts of natural things. Anyway, these bear a story.

I staggered out to the mailbox yesterday morning early in PJs and bunny slippers, to put a letter out to post and got looking at the wisteria seedpods. I picked one, rubbed the fuzzy layer off and thought, hmmmmm, these could be used for something. So I picked a handful, brought them in and dumped them on the computer desk. Then, in between waiting for linen to dry, I began the trifold.

I assume for people that are trained in this area, a trifold is no big deal. However, I use two different word processing programs, and naturally one won't import to the other, so I was having a devil of a time getting what I wanted, where I wanted it and getting it all lined up. By the time I was done, I was more efficient at doing it but was less than impressed with the time it took! I took a "Town Break" to look for fringe, came home, the linen was dry so started painting again and doing e-mail and talking on the phone all at once and still, the wisteria seedpods are on the desk.

This morning I come out to uncover the birds and I look across the floor and there are pieces of seedpods and seeds. All I could think of was a chipmunk got in during the night. (we have a lot of the nasty little vermin here....) I was about to freak out, fearing *da boys* might have been attacked--they were quiet--and then I noticed seeds and pods on the chair under the cutting table, down the basement stairs, on the sewing table..........grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiinnnnnddddd........the brain works slowly pre-coffee.

These things had EXPLODED during the night, being in where it was warm enough! So now I have pieces and seeds to be creative with, which is okay, but not what I had planned!

There again, that's creativity in a nutshell---not what you plan. What can you do with it now? Think outside the box.

Or POD, as the case may be!

And now to the worktable. Adieu!

Too much to do......

(boring post alert!!!!!)

....And too little time today, so this is short. We have the meeting of our art group tonight, the Community Artists Co-Op (scroll to the bottom of the page and you can see us *in the flesh*). We are not a traditional artists co-op; we don't own/rent a building for gallery space or pay monthly dues or schedule time sitting a gallery. We chose the name due to our rural location and the use of the word "Co-Op" among the farmers. One person helping another. One person sharing what they have with another member. Networking, building a group of people who can rely on each other and have a good time together, and learn to produce art--or hone skills they already had. It has been successful as this March we will be starting our third year.
So today I am doing the agenda addition about their first showing in a gallery. This is the group I spent most my holiday getting a nonprofit status in place for. We do a lot of charitable work for the community, sufficient that we can fit comfortably into the non-prof slot and be able to have some of the benefits. I'm pretty excited about the rest of the year, once we get the show out of the way!
But for today, it's peck, peck, peck here and then try and squeeze in banner work.
I need a double of myself----one to sew while I type. Surely that option is available........ya think???
Or I will be learning to schedule time better, and sleeping in is NOT going to be part of that routine!
If anyone would like to apply for a slavery job in my studio, please do so! The pay is nonexistent but the birds are entertaining!!! (not so much the owner of said studio....)

PROGRESS!!!

Things are going fairly well. If you read "D-Day" then you should recognize the following photo as the wall-of-doom, uncluttered. The chair still needs the seat and arms upholstered, but that is for Spring. Just close your eyes and pretend that it is done in a lovely fake leopard print......yeeeeaaaaahhhhh!!!! (because that's what I have for it!) I bought some sheer curtains to hang over the shelving area--really neat . A white b.g. with these intense bright circles on them! FUN! It should help to keep the stuff on the shelves clean. (yeah, right, Anne. you bought them because you loved them and that was the only place to put them....)

While we're at it, I am including the cleaned out bathroom, which is excessively small, so the angle of the photos are wonky. Yes, I did the tile floor. That was not a pleasant job for someone with long legs......I could barely walk, plus it ended up costing me a fortune. Every piece, hand set........

I sponged and wiped the walls with a bronze paint, then stenciled silver Fleur-De-Lys. I painted the baseboards fancy too; don't know if they show up here.

So finally, since 2001 when this studio was constructed, I will have it all in order.

Which means the top half will fall apart any minute!

This is the back of the basement, which is overflow storage and has turned into an efficient area. Before it was just junk piles on a little plastic table (useless!!!!) and then on the floor. Now it is stuff actually worth keeping and up and in something of a state of order.

I did the small quilt on the right wall when I was working in a fabric store years ago. Uh huh, like having an alcoholic work in the liquor store.

I quit for my bank account's sake.

And I still wanted to have a place to live...... ;)

Now, the sad part of all this is I have DH home all next week,so I suppose my progress will be bits and pieces as time allows. I do a lot better with whole days to slave away!

Okay, enough.

Wow.

You got to see my latrine.

Have to go water the parakeet before he pulls his bowl off the side of the cage.....

And the winner is......

.......Marion Barnett (artmixter) of Dereham, U.K.! She guessed correctly---the photo is of poison ivy berries, safely encased in the ice. We have tons of them along the fence rows, and they are a good source of food for the wild birds. Alas, that means that after they have, ummmmm, *digested* them, they usually end up in my yard, as new little plants I get to pull out. :( And that frequently entails a trip to visit my dear doctor for a big nasty shot and I don't mean the tasty drinkable kind either.

At any rate, Marion, I'm proud of you for your keen eye! And gentle readers, if you'd like to see some cool stuff, check her at artmixter. I believe she has a book out about the uses of Lutradur, co-authored with another of the FiberPirates, Dijanne. You girls rock!

Since it is Christmas eve, I am a little rushed today, so perhaps later in the evening I can make a post season-specific. Mixing poison ivy with Holiday Greetings just didn't seem RIGHT.......ah yes, I hear some of you saying "It's more right than you think!"

My DH and I do Christmas alone, and it is fine, but there is that longing for the whole company/family thing.....until we do it once in a blue moon and then need to come home and hibernate! To quote the Grinch; "MAX! Fetch me my sedative!"

(I'm not THAT cynical...really.....heehee!)