pool water magic trick

We are coming off a spell of what feels like tropical weather; heat and humidity every day, capped off by violent thunderstorms with torrential rains.

The guy at the pool supply place said all the rain unbalanced the pH so some other chemical thing we do (which is not much) fails.
You can see my alter ego lurking in the algae laden water shown here.

He tested the water and gave me a recipe for adding soda ash and baking soda in the right proportions.

 In a matter of hours, the water was back to Caribbean blue, even bluer that you see here..magic.

not your regular workday

Wednesday is change up day around here.

I spent most of the afternoon with a friend at her neighbors fabulous swimming pool. She house sits for the mansion's owners when they travel, which is a lot. And boy, are we grateful! Sadly, the for sale sign went up yesterday.

I brought these two flowers home with me and by the time I got home I was dizzy with the combined fragrances of magnolia and gardenia. If I had gotten pulled over I would have been jailed for driving while stupefied by scent.

Jake, Colin and my nephew Jimmy

Based, in part, on this photo, my son Colin was called late last night to play a "russian mafia thug" for a few days in a movie being shot here in Atlanta.

So what does a RMT wear? Turns out he dresses like one most of the time so wardrobe (extras have to bring their own) was not a big problem.

Eatsies

I was watching a video of a ladybug who appeared to be playing with some tiny sugar sprinkles. At first it looked like a one-bug soccer game. Then it occurred to me that the poor bug was probably trying to eat the things, inappropriate as they were.

While I was getting ready to back and face the Creatives 
I started imagining that they were bored and hungry so I pitched some food/toys into the story.

I can almost hear the growling and the squeals.

(too much "Madmen" I think)

Father's Day 2013

Bittersweet is the first Father's day without the man who loved you longest of all.

Jimmy and I  announced our engagement on  Christmas day in '76. I was 26 and Jimmy was only 20 and both of our families were mildly freaked out about it.

At some point during the day, my Dad asked me if I knew what the hell  I was doing.  I assured him that I did and he paused and then replied with a grin
"Jeez, I didn't think I'd ever get rid of you."  I laughed then and can laugh now. I did know - back into time and deep into the future.

My Men of Steel spent a fun day together while I dipped out for the day at a friend's house but got home in time to finally get a decent steak off the grill for us.

one minute to next

I snipped those little test stars out of the base and set them in around the Creatives. They are now either food or toys. Looks like home; everyone is busy.

The summer rhythm is paying off.  I finished the top this morning but I want to face it with another piece of white cloth and then hand quilt it just to keep the layers in order, give it a little substance.

I am reading a couple of  "how-to" books about writing. Who am I to sneer or giggle at the thought of learning something from a book, even if the title is "This Year You Write Your Novel"  by Walter Mosley. More inspiration than instruction, I also return over and over to Anne Lamott and Stephen King. It helps to have your own personal rah-rah club when you are writing. Today I read one page, put it down and then wrote four pages of spectacle - spontaneous human combustion is rarely spontaneous. Four pages is a good day.

a peach

Last night the whole state suffered a rash of violent storms with trees downed and power outages everywhere. We here in the holler escaped with some ugly skies and a little rain. Today everyone reaped the reward of a perfect weather day, so rare in Georgia they should be named like hurricanes.

I did spend the entire morning in the studio but not a minute in the stitching chair. I was cutting up and packaging prints to send up to market in NY.

My dear Goodman (on his birthday yet) gave me an idea, the kind where you slap yourself on the forehead and realize that the rock in the path that  you've been tripping over every day is actually a big fat diamond. Time to get out the polishing cloth.

summer patterns

The days fall into the comfortable rhythms of summer.

No matter how late I'm up, I try to get up early before it gets too hot out, and take advantage of the light in the studio for some hand stitching.

Some chores, some errands and then, it's pool time. I clean it, swim and then read until lunch, then I have to nap for an hour and then, the day job until one in the morning. There's lots of time for doing but precious little for thinking.

I had to forsake the studio this morning and spend two hours at the Honda dealership while they did something to the passenger side airbag so it wouldn't kill the passenger.

They  have a big fancy waiting room which was filled with people poking at and mesmerized by their devices or sitting stricken and slack jawed while the gizmos sucked juice from the outlets lining the walls.

I brought the river basket with me and starting working on the Creatives and, although the adults in the room eyeballed me like I was throwing the bones or some other form of voodoo, three little girls lined up very politely and quietly in front of me. No questions, just big eyes in faces full of wonder and giggles when I popped it out of the hoop to show them the whole thing. I have a nice project for this piece that I'm excited to move on asap.

There are lots of stars yet to be hung in the sky and the blue horse waits patiently.

more critters

Sometimes the best things just fall from the sky, or in this case, the shelf.

Sweetie has decided that the back corner of my stash closet is a better option than under our bed for the duration of a thunderstorm.
She climbed up there and made herself some room by pushing a small, forgotten basket of snips out into space.  As I picked everything up, this half dollar sized piece of old cloth said "use me or suffer the consequences" and I had to drum up a body to go with it - in fact there are three new additions to the Creatives.

Another piece is probably in order.

Before I was a telecommuter I used to take stitching with me to the office where it was allowed as long as it didn't interfere with the business at hand. I used to use my cubicle wall as a design wall. I got a LOT of things done there but almost none since I started working from home even though  the work computer is in the studio. The light and ergonomics for hand work is all wrong but that will be remedied soon.

We will be giving the spare bedroom a makeover, boxing up a lot of CRAP and then moving the workstation in. With a few changes to the layout, I should be able to resume the nasty habit of doing three things at once while becoming the night shift neighborhood busybody and some clear purpose will be established in the studio.

work on Firmament

I finally had to put the AC unit in the north window ousting Sweetie from her observation perch. She's migrated to the east facing window co-opting the right arm of my sewing chair.

There's room for both of us, I just have to remember to not put any needles or pins along the right side anymore.

So far, so good, but a long way and many stars to go - most of them half as small as these - to give some sense of scale and depth.

blue horse changing

Before.....








...and after.  I know it won't be this dark after it's been rinsed and dried but a big step in the right direction.

blue horse headway

Pictures first, words later. Right now some pool time before the skies reopen.
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And open they did. There was just enough time to swamp out the tree fall trash and brush down the walls but we are going to need a bottle of Black Death (for algae). no sun and chills set in. 


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This one has been alternately bothering me and languishing for some time and today it jumped out at me that the background of the lower two thirds is insipid to deadly boring. There will be paint or dye or something vigorous to balance the energy of the rest of it. I'll do some digital play before it gets too messy.

I took some to time to do a little goal setting today..interesting that entering shows and making deadlines did not get on the list. There may be a few but I think I'd rather gamble in a casino. Details as they firm up.