wrappings

My arms are tired from wrapping things.
Does anyone else remember that intoxicating fragrance by Clinique, Wrappings? It was always so unexpected.

Writing about how something smells is very hard, but satisfying work if you do it right.  Comparisons are just not enough.  I need to find a sample of this one to refresh my memory.

I went outside to get a better look at these threads, confirm the colors in natural light, and wound up messing around with the houseplants. These are already spoken for, but there are plenty more available. (And some free Swedish Ivy if you live within a drive!)

catching up

Getting up at 5am to get Charlie up, fed and off to school each day is reaping some unexpected rewards - beyond getting to spend time with him each morning.

He's been having trouble adjusting to the regimented world of Pre-K and some days, he just can't hack it and winds up needing a caretaker for the day.

Rather than drive all the way home after dropping him off, I've been hanging out at the nearest library working on the book pretty consistently. Whether I'm working on mine or someone else's, it's getting done. But why can't libraries open before 10am?  I chill in the parking lot, and as you can see, by nine, I'm not alone.

There's a fair number of what seem to be homeschool groups - three to five kids and one adult - working quietly, (away from the computers) no cell phones in sight. It's encouraging.

Here are about half of my houseplants enjoying their last weeks outdoors. I'm going to do some serious pruning and repotting as soon as hurricane Florence drags her hem through the area next weekend. If anyone local is interested in cuttings, let me know.










Mrs. Wilson, the Swedish Ivy is totally off the chain.

Friday brought joy. As a reward for a week of good behavior, Charlie got to bring the class pet, Pete, home with him for the weekend. There were adventures that I'm sure I'll hear all about in the morning.

R&R eludes me

Four days free from the day job, but real life goes on. I got a lot of revising done, lost myself in the new season of Ozark and am presently having a delicious wallow with Bruce Springsteen's autobiography, "Born to Run". I don't want to think about politics at this moment, but wouldn't THAT be something?

He's a consummate entertainer in any medium. I was enjoying his accounts of his early childhood in Freehold, NJ and some pop culture reference made me check on how old the Boss actually is. Just three weeks older than me! 

We drank the same Tang, shoplifted the same 45's, and watched Ed Sullivan together, a scant one-hundred miles apart. For fun, I wrote him (anonymously) into my novel. You would if you could.

While soaking up the blood and chaos of "Ozark" I finished what will probably be the last batch of Dirty Threads until next year - unless I can figure out a way to make this very messy magic in my kitchen.

ps. Did I tell you how much I love seeing other artists put my stuff to wonderful use?  Thank you, Liz.

Blue

To liven things up..

stretching summer

I've always labored on Labor Day.

If you had a corporate job that paid double time on federal holidays, who wouldn't work if they had the chance.

As luck and the calendar would have it, this year, as of midnight tonight, I'm off the day job until Thursday!

Summer is hanging on by a thread, weatherwise. There are plenty of things hanging around the studio needed color and the mailman just came through with the order I placed with ProChem.

There will be color, but the mood is hushed. melancholy. We'll see what tomorrow brings.