and the winner is

believe it or not we got this in one take!

contest CLOSED

midnight tonight is your last chance to enter

shopkeeping

I spent the morning digging about in the studio, checking over inventory and putting up some new offering of hand dyes over in the shop.  Even though winter's chill is back in Georgia,  dye days will be on me before I know it -
the  tree frogs said so.

 I'm finally sharing some of the proceeds from last seasons adventures in going crazy with color.

I know that natural dyeing is all the trend and the delicacy and subtlety of the work is beautiful, but for me, I crave intensity in every direction so I flagrantly overdose my cloth with Procion MX..(.the good folks at ProChem bless me each night, I'm sure) and there will be more adventures with soywax as both resist and carrier.  There will be discharging and overdyeing and painting..things that have not yet occurred to me, stuff  I dream about and wake to try the next day as the mood moves me.

the cure for the common head cold

..is a few rounds Alka Seltzer for colds over 12 hours of doing not much of anything. Sleep if you can and follow up with a generous portion of General Tso's chicken to incinerate any remaining germs and sterilize the sinus tracts. Feeling much better, thanks.

Today - a little mending,  a mountain of laundry folding and a lot of Mad Men and Killing.

I was lucky enough to get on board with the pilot of the Killing last year and keeping up with it became quite obsessive.

The storyline may sprawl and wander, the locale would make most folks list "contemplating suicide" as a hobby but the characters and the acting are compelling. Hope the new season will continue to deliver. Catch up if you can.

This was my first exposure to Mad Men. The premise was repellent to me back when it first aired and, although the two episode I watched today had their saving graces, I don't think I'll become a fan unless someone promises me that Draper will drop out and get real.

Back in the real day, I was the teenaged babysitter observing on the fringes of many of the lives portrayed in this series. The  hypocrisy and desperation of the characters was like bad BO they all stewed in under their suits and shirtwaist dresses.  Society and advertising were still struggling mightily to steer young women into bunny costumes and/or the indentured servitude of marriage with all of it's buying power. I won't start in on my rant about the United States of Advertising. I refused to buy into it back then and still opt out at every opportunity.

spring excitement

I keep picking this one up and looking for what should come next but not finding anything. Let's stick a fork in it then and get it mounted!






I pity the rest of the country suffering under the misery of bad weather - all the windows and doors in my house are open and warm breezes are sighing through. I feel like I'm in the crow's nest of a tall ship.

The sky is deep blue with bruised edges where the bad weather will be coming from once the sun goes down. We'll be ducking and covering under thunderstorms tonight.

The new dye  colors are on their way via UPS and the US mail will be bringing a special treat for the whole family - tickets for the first baseball game of the season at the Braves minor league park nearby.

They've come up with a great promotional exhibition - "The Braves All Stars vs. the Future Stars" or as they are know here, the Baby Braves. It should be a great night!