What's Going On ...

Dig out that Halloween stuff...

Yeah...yeah...I'm up here looking at the halloween totes and getting geared up to go thru them...we have more halloween stuff than Christmas (maybe cause we don't have kids? I think we just enjoy the spookiness of it more...who knows...), and its rather daunting to go thru it...but I want to put stuff out this year...last year we hadn't settled into the house quite by now, we still had our house in Austin for sale and there was a fair amt of stress going on...so I put out 3 lighted pumpkins and we left it at that...but this year, things are actually quite good, little to no stress in the house and I'm ready to go shopping in the attic...we don't have much outside electricity, next year we'll get that fixed, so this year we have to be choosy as to what we plug in...I know we have plenty of other non-lit stuff to put out there..

Its still hot as it can be, in the 90's and I heard yesterday that our heat index was in the 100's last week...did I complain about that here? no...I've been suffering in silence...I'm ready to move somewhere cooler, though...any day...cooler...any....day....

Last night we counted 20 monarch caterpillars on the milkweed...and that was just a quick run by, we didn't really turn each leaf and look at each plant...i found another one in the backyard this morning...I know they won't all hatch, but its nice to imagine we'll have a good crop in the next few weeks..just in time for them to migrate to Mexico...

The spider has been on the end of our porch now for how long? 3 weeks? maybe more...I lose track...I look for her each morning, as I really like her...today, she was missing, which always concerns me...I found her, upside down hanging from the house..I dunno if she's doing ok or not...how long do orb weavers live? not as long as the tarantulas that I used to have...but still, maybe she can feel the change in the air coming...her egg sac that she left 2 weeks ago also is looking different...I can't wait till it hatches...I saw a monarch crawling up there this morning, I guess to turn into a chrysalis...our house is a popular place for the bugs and I love it!

The hummingbirds are still coming around, they have discovered the mexican sage and are drinking from it every day...I had cut back the firecracker plant and now its put on new flowers for the fall...the mystic spires are coming up again as well, i cut them down to the ground in August...so the fall garden is coming along...I'm still keeping an eye on the pecans, I see some of the first ones on the ground, but I expect the big explosion to come in the next couple of weeks...

I have been reading some other blogs and it looks like a few beadmakers are 'hitting creative walls' so to speak...some are going back to other jobs, others are taking breaks from Etsy and eBay, others are just quitting beadmaking altogether...sometimes ya just gotta do what ya gotta do and I say more power to ya...

Smile for the camera...

After many starts and stops with our old, refurbished camera, I finally gave up and used my new camera to take some shots of some fun and earthy focals that I'm in the process of posting...But thru all the chaos, I remained calm, didn't heave the camera across the yard, didn't rip the lens cap off, didn't even break the zoom! Everything is good...I'm watching the Longhorns and being groovy...Stop back by later if you have time and see if you find any focals you might be able to use...I had fun making these and will be playing around w/ more organics this week...rock on my little pebbles...

Outside is a good place

Thought i'd post a few pics of what's been showing up in our yard...in Sept the Ox Blood Lillies arrive, they are always a surprise...these particular ones are 'volunteers'...we ought to relocate these when we dig them up and put them in a 'proper' part of the garden, but I kinda like being surprised each year when they pop up...I spotted some in the field just down the way, I need to go dig those up, but I think they are spent and I can't find them..I have to wait till next year...

And the pecans...they are still in their shells and are so heavy they could break a window...I'm ready to pick them up and start munching them...there's nothing like picking up pecans and shelling them in hand, snacking as you go...yum...

I've been at the torch...coming up with some unusual beads...I'm rather enjoying just playing around....not having a plan, not knowing what will appear..I'm gonna try it again today and see what happens...

Do I look like a scratching post?

I've been spending time outside w/ Chloe and Jack Bauer...when I feed them, they are happy, but not all that hungry...they really want to be petted and loved on...so I sit and pet them silly...but of late, Chloe has started showing her appreciation by going behind my back (I'm sitting on the steps) and using my back as a scratching post...and lemme just say, its hurts! They are both so fun, their personalities are becoming clear and their 3rd sibling shows up sometimes to eat...I still dunno if its a boy or a girl, its very shy and runs away, but I hope its getting some of the food cause it needs to it...its scraggly...

I'm excited about tonight because we find out what happens on CSI and the new season of The Office is back...good stuff...

I need to water the front yard this morning, while its still overcast outside...I tried to to hook up my iPod but found it had run outta battery juice...so its plugged in gaining strength...

Is it Friday yet?

Go for a drive..

If you have countryside that looks like these pictures, please by all means go for a drive!!! Pick up the leaves, put them in a book...take pictures...drink apple cider...do it all for me...I will be grateful...

Our pecan trees will be dropping their nuts next month and with all the rain we've had this year, we have a bumper crop coming in...the branches are very low, and I was checking out the nuts yesterday, but they aren't ready to fall from the tree yet...it'll be me against the 3 squirrels who live in our yard...who will grab the most pecans...they will probably take a bite out of each one, thusly making the nut useless to me...like tomatoes in the garden when a bird takes one bite from each tomato...ruined!

I've seen some new birds, they are on migration down here...titmouse, yellow finches, doves, birds that I typically see, but not much in the summer...they are showing up...

Did you watch Heroes last night? We had a blast at Drafthouse..it was a sold out show, and the audience was ok...we cheered and laughed thru last year's finale that was shown before the season premiere...I don't think we'll be there next week, but maybe we'll go every other week...dunno...but Drafthouse is showing it all season, so we have plenty of other opportunities...

I hear cats downstairs that sound like they are tearing up something...expensive...I best go see what they are ruining now...my sofa??

Happy First day of Fall!

As you can tell, we were busy this weekend and I never made it to my computer...Lots of hanging of pictures and samplers, cleaning of the house and general fall maintenance...once it gets cooler, the garden will get tended to...We visited the Target Halloween section and one of those temporary Halloween stores that pops up every year in an empty store front..but we came away with nothing for right now...we are stocked up on Halloween stuff and with a small front yard and limited access to electricity (we need to get an electrician out here to run more plugs), we aren't sure what we want to put out this year..plus our street isn't visited by many kids (pretty much none) so everything we do, will be for ourselves...I thought we should hang a giant black fuzzy spider from the trees in the backyard...its still early...I'm ready to get going, though...

We watched lots of football and then last night we saw the Family Guy Star Wars special that Brian had heard about way back in May at the SW convention...we laughed thru the whole thing...they did a really good job, and I thought the Airplane! joke references were pretty funny too...

Tonight is the Heroes premiere and then tomorrow Brian is in Dallas on business...the week is zooming by fast and its not even noon on Monday yet...I finished another sampler last night so I'm excited to start a new one...I'll get some photos up..hope you didn't mind looking at Colin Firth all weekend...yeeee...

The Secret Garden

I've been enjoying my books on CD quite a bit this summer...as we are moving into Fall (or so i hear), I've been listening to The Secret Garden...I very much enjoy stories that take place around or dealing with gardens, gardeners, gardening, flowers, trees, earth, digging, birds and sometimes even bugs...I very much enjoyed Phillipa Gregory's The Queen's Gardener...I know the British are very big on gardening, which I find fascinating since I know they get lots of rain and dreary days, so you'd think plants would just get wet and rot...but they do not...they grow and grow...and they are plants I do not grow, like silver bells...I am tempted to rent the movie The Secret Garden...I saw one version stars a 'young' Colin Firth...how can you go wrong?

I am also playing at the torch...just making up stuff as I go...I pulled out a different press, something other than a lentil or squeeze and am trying to get the perfect amt of glass for it...its taken me a few attempts, it always does when i change presses...different presses like different shapes..some are misleading, you think you have enough glass, but alas, you need more...and if the bead is all decorated by the time you press - you can't fix it...I suppose you could just add more glass and then repress- but what about the design? I have one of those in the kiln...or did I already plunge it in the water bath of death? I can't remember...I am not afraid to douse those bad beads, no way...

I also woke up with some ideas that I needed to write down, but you know, I remember there being two columns on the paper I was writing on in my dream, but now that I'm awake, I can only remember one half of the column...so I wrote what I could remember and perhaps the rest will come...maybe tonight in another dream..I do have repeat dreams sometimes, but they are typically of me falling, being chased, or in days of yore, I had screaming dreams where I woke up and was certain that people in down the street coulda heard my yelling...but it was all in my head...I don't have those dreams any longer...funny how some things just go away and don't bother you anymore...peace out...

Gettin' ramped up for Heroes

Yeah, yeah, you are probably not interested...I can respect that...when I hear folks tell me how badly I NEED to watch a television show, I immediately turn away from it...so I'm not trying to persuade you at all...We've watched the first season and really enjoyed it, so we're a little pumped up...we're ready to go...we're excited about the new season...Entertainment Weekly has a new cover coming out today w/ Hiro on the cover...and our beloved Kristen Bell from Veronica Mars has joined the cast, so its just turned the power up to 11 for us...we LOVE KB, she's awesome...I hope they don't kill her off (I hear she's only on for 5 episodes), and that they make her a regular...she's got to be better than Ali Larter and her character who has super-human ability to...to...hide in a mirror? What the heck is that? Bah...Maybe next season they'll make her character do something more exciting than that...blacking out and beating people up isn't exactly the same as self-healing or flying...it'd be like the Bionic Woman having a bionic nose...she can smell odors from 200 yards away...oooo...how exciting would that be?

So anyway, we have our tix for Monday, I'll have a new magazine to read this weekend (it'll probably arrive in Monday's mail, bah) and all the gang will be back w/ a fistful of new folks...all in all, its gonna be fun...

I'm really ready for some cool weather to blow thru...its in the low 90's all this week, and I saw that Sat its supposed to be 95...geez..its hard to get inspired for fall and Halloween when its 95 out...I'm trying to get in the Fall mood, but I'm not feeling it...Send me some cold air, Canada!! Do it...Do it...Do it...

The Cats Meow

Ever wonder what your cat is trying to tell you? I found this page really helpful and interesting....Amelie does a lot of these things and now I understand her better...

What about reading your kittie's tail?

Funny cat photos (many of these are photoshopped -don't believe everything you see)...

And of course, one of my favorites - ICanHasCheezburger

Stardust

It was my time to make my weekly trek into Austin...after giving the car a quick wipe down, I cruised into Drafthouse just in time to order a goat cheese salad and enjoy the movie Stardust...it was 'baby day' at the theatre- normally you cannot bring children to the Drafthouse (yet another reason we enjoy the place), but they have one day a week where parents can bring children and allow them to rant and cry all the want...I was cool with that, and there was a little blond girl who was happier playing on the steps with the string of lights in the floor than watching the movie...but she was cute and didn't make noise..and I know going in that its baby day, so hey - if the kids cry, so be it...

I enjoyed the movie more than I thought...I'm not big on Claire Danes, but she was pretty decent...Michelle Pfeiffer was gorgeous and really good and DeNiro was nutty...I didn't read the book, so I didn't know the story, but it was fun all the same...on the way home, I saw dark clouds, so I pulled over just in time to put the top up and about 100 yards from me the clouds opened and the rain came down...timing is everything...but now its sunny again...I don't think it even rained here at the house...

I'm off to get to work...things to do, and all that...more stitched pieces are framed and ready to be picked up...I'm hanging stuff all over the house, its crazy...I spotted yet ANOTHER giant spider in a different part of the yard (near the bird house) but it was so high in the sky, I couldn't tell what it was...when I came home, it had disappeared...maybe a bird got him...

Austin Music Festival...

The festival was this past weekend and from what I gather it was a success...its not the kind of thing I tend to go to - too hot, too many people, parking too difficult, too much noise, everything is too expensive...gee, I sound like a curmudgeon, but its the truth...I'd rather go to a small cafe, indoors, have a nice breakfast and pay a small tab...which is exactly how we spent our Sunday...we can play tunes on our iPod or radio just as easily as go to the fest...but then, isn't that how it always is - the locals rarely attend what's right in their backyard...I knew folks who would drive from Dallas to Galveston (a 6 hr drive at least) when we lived only 30 min from the beach - and we never went...I bet there are folks in Orlando who've never been to Disneyworld either...I flew 8000 miles to London to study samplers that friends of mine in the UK had never bothered to see...I find it all rather amusing...

So things are pretty normal here...I bought tix for the Heroes premiere next MOnday at Alamo Drafthouse...the show is free, but we pay $5 to secure our food and a seat...they are showing last year's finale before hand, and then will run the premiere commercial free (recorded on TiVo, they just fast forward thru the commercials)...We did this last year for Halloween, we went into town and watched Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars...good times...

Halloween is around the corner, I'm ready to start decorating, but I should wait a few weeks I guess...We've been really good, not buying up all the stuff in Target and the specialty stores...we have so much Halloween yard stuff that we don't really need any more...Maybe the spiders will still be here for added spook-factor...the front porch spider was spinning her web this morning when I checked on her, and the backyard spider is still living in our recycling bin..I don't have the heart to relocate her...if she's finding food, she's welcome to stay...nature likes living in our yard...

Boo! I'm here...

I didn't watch all the Emmy's, but everytime I flipped over - Tony Bennet was winning an award...and I was watching PBS, where his American Masters episode was airing...he was all over my television...I'm glad Ricky Gervais won Best Actor in a Comedy...we love his show Extras, I bought Brian the DVD's and we watch it and quote is regularly..I can't eat or drink while watching it, cause I laugh so hard I nearly kill myself..."little fat man who sold his SOUL...pudgy little loser..."

Did you think I ran away?...No....the computer is upstairs, helping to keep me from wasting scads of time surfing online and actually getting stuff DONE instead...We did yard work yesterday, mowing, weedeating, all the dirty stuff...I saw a snake, lizards, toads, spiders, bugs and even a hawk being chased by a pair of crows...they sailed right overhead...

it was awesome, of course...Brian setup our waterbowl that's been sitting in the backyard for over a year (since we moved in) and now its just outside our dining room and I can see it when I work...the little fountain is running and there's water coming thru...so nice...except I think the birds are a little confused, they sit in the tree, but aren't on the feeder much...

I'm sure they'll get over it...he also moved the bird bath and I'v already seen two birds drinking from it...but its been hot and with all the outside work, it kinda wore us out...today we've been indoors, except for a quick jog down the road for breakfast and a stop at the grocery for some eggs so I can make brownies...except we both came home and took naps cause we were so tuckered from yesterday...the yard looks good, tho...and I'm seeing all sorts of new growth from the plants I cut back a few weeks ago...I also counted 8 monarch caterpillars and the orange dog seems to have relocated, hoping he'll be turning into a giant swallowtail soon...we had 5 grapefruits on our little twig of a tree, but they were getting so heavy, Brian pruned 2 of them to help the branch from breaking..into the compost for you! Tonight we are searching for his cross stitch bag which we can't find..i'm sure its tucked in a box in a closet somewhere...eventually we'll locate it...I came upstairs to look for it, and Amelie has found me...she doesn't like to go too long w/out knowing where I am - the food source must stay in visible sight at all times...she cries when I go out front and feed Jack and Chloe - she thinks I should be inside feeding her...she's a hoot..

Back to work tomorrow...I haven't even taken the beads off the mandrels that I made last week...I've got things to do...its almost Thanksgiving, ya know...

Sunny day...sweeping the clouds away...

Oh man...we bought a Dyson D17 Animal (the purple one) over the weekend and I finally busted it outta its box today...after reading the somewhat confusing IKEA illustrations, and kinda putting things together like Legos, I got the thing up and running...and lemme just say MAN! It is both awesome and disgusting...the suction is great, the extendable arm and attachments are great, the hyper-long cord is great (I can go from the living room to the kitchen and all points inbetween w/out unplugging...but then...then...when you look at the container and all the cathair and dust that's inside it...gross me out...still, its better to be in the cannister than in my sofa/carpets...speaking of sofa, I attached the pet vacuum and went to town on my sofa..its clean..(the cats sleep on the back of each sofa)...I love that feature the best...that's the whole reason I wanted one...

On an updated note, the backyard orb weaver has been found...she dropped her massive bug into the recycling bin below her web, and went down to grab it...I just spotted another huge bug in her web - a leaf footed bug..he hasn't thrashed, so she hasn't spun him up in a web yet..he probably knows to stay quiet and maybe she'll ignore him...good luck with that buddy...

I figured if we had groovy lightning pics posted, then we needed to see some groovy sunsets...man, there are some really pretty pics on the internets...

The weird beads are coming along...I don't have enough to post yet, but I like the ones I made yesterday...looking fun and weird...I'm the kind of person who likes order in her beads...when I would do peyote and work w/ seedbeads and delicas, I had the hardest time doing the 'freeform' peyote stich...I like all my beads to line up like soldiers...I like order...I like precision...which is why these beads are freakin' with my world...they are kinda precise, but more wacky and out of control...I don't know how to work in that world...its harder for me to be freeform than it is to be precise...its nothing new, I was scolded in a painting class 20 years ago because I was painting my cabbage roses on my canvas floor cloth too tight...I wasn't being free-form enough...loosen up...

We left the backyard light on and I spotted the orb weaver with huge bugs...maybe giant moths, I dunno..they were as big as she is...but this morning, she's gone MIA...I wonder where she is...I'd feel better if I could see her..I don't want to put my hand down and discover her underneat the garbage lid or something...hello! I also noticed MORE spiders hanging out under the eaves (I couldnt tell what kind they were)...they're no dummies...taking advantage of the buffet of bugs...

Skate a little lower now...

I made some beads the other day and wasn't sure I liked them...I tried to do something a little 'wacky' and I can't decide if it just looks messy, or fun, the way I intended it to look...but now that I've had a day to deal with them, I rather like them, I think...

I've been off my schedule the past couple of weeks, staying up too late, waking up really early, then sleep walking thru the day...sometimes this happens to me, its like a weird cycle that I go thru and then I'm back on track and everything is fine...maybe its the cycles of the moon, who knows...

The giant (and that's no lie) orb weaver spider that's been living in our backyard for weeks has relocated...and now, she's setup her web about a foot outside our backdoor...she's attached to our recycling bins and the exterior of our house...Brian said she was moving around on her web when he walked the dog, and it was 'spooky'..I bet! She's great to look at from a distance, but I don't want her to skittle up toward me! I respect nature the way it was meant to be - from a safe distance...We are pretty sure she's going to lay an egg sac soon, she's so big she needs to do something to get the weight off...The girly girl out front is still on the porch, and her sac is still on the eave of the house...I'm waiting for that hatching...

Austin City Limits music fest is this weekend...we shall refrain from making any trips into town...I think they expect 80,000 people...I think that's about what its like when the Longhorns play in town as well...you can always tell when out-of-towners come to town - they are the ones who go the wrong way on the roads and nearly kill you...the best thing to do is just avoid them at all costs...

Brian has people in his office who are contacting him because the 'printer wont print'...when he looks into the problem he finds there's no paper in the tray...Do these people never get off their asses and walk to the printer first? I wish he could ding them $100 for every tech call they make to him (some companies do that to deter just this kind of useless call)...If you work in an office - go check the printer for paper, please...otherwise, you might find "
this guy
hanging out on the printer and, well, there's your problem right there...

Fast as lightning...

Do you read Entertainment Weekly? Do you read Perez Hilton's gossip website? EW recently interviewed PH and were taking questions from readers to ask him...MY QUESTION is the first one listed! Sweet...

Its a dark and stormy day here, something we are happy to see...its only 72 out - crazy! And while we don't have any thunder or lightning right now, I thought I'd post some groovy pics of it, cause its always cool to see what nature can do...

speaking of, my giant orb weaver on the porch has set a massive egg sac on the overhang of the house...I saw her fanning it cool the other day...she had grown gigantic, and now she's about half her size...I have before/after pics...I can't wait to see these babies hatch and go everywhere...I shoulda been a wildlife photographer...ha...I told Brian the roof of our house will be enveloped by orb weavers...

In all honesty, most of them wont survive...they will be eaten by birds and other bugs, and they'll even eat one another...law of the jungle and all that...I'm just tickled to see nature so close up...I found an orange dog on our lime tree yesterday...it was tiny just a few days ago and now its like 1.5 inches long...it'll change into a giant yellow swallowtail...I'm just pleased to see ONE - we bought our 3 fruit trees specifically for those butterflies, but they haven't been laying eggs much this year...they have a tree in the woods where we see them come and go...maybe this guy will survive and be groovy...I'm actually surprised how many cocoons don't survive...we've had loads of monarchs that haven't hatched...moisture I think...all the rains this year...

time to feed the porch kitties...

The Gypsies got me...

No, I've not been stolen by gypsies - but doesn't that sound like fun? Wearing lotsa dangly bracelets and big earrings, staring over crystal balls and pretending to know Vampires...anyway, nothing as exciting as that has happened - i've run out of hard drive space on my computer, so we bought a new 160gig drive for me, and a Terrabyte (1000 gig) server for the house...Brian is copying my hd to the server, then recopying it back to my new hd...and then I'll be back up and running...its taken a while because we had to go back to Austin today to pick up software he didn't know he needed...its always something, right? regardless, I'm glad to have him fixing this up for me (he's always asking what I'd do w/out him - I'd just move to a Mac and not worry about problems - ha!)

Speaking of which, I do hope to get a Mac laptop in the next 6 months...I've drank the Apple koolaid - and what tasty koolaid it is...i've got my little green iPod, a video iPod I bought a while back for us to use when we travel and this weekend, now that the prices have come down, I splurged on an iPhone...and its super cool, I must admit...so easy to convert my old phone and so easy to use...I've downloaded Heroes from iTunes and can watch episodes when I'm waiting in the car for Brian to pick up his tools to fix my laptop...sweet...

So, I'm updating on his computer, while my iPhone is recharging and my computer is downloading all my brains and pictures...I'll be back, but it might be a little later than expected, depending on how all this plays out...as we all know, when dealing with computers - its always something...

Vroom...

Time to get the Vampyr on the open road to keep her tuned...Beads will be posted on Etsy later..no time frame, but don't worry, there'll be more..I'm not gone all day, so I'll be back at it later this afternoon...I just need some sushi or a goat cheese salad...and maybe pick up some of our framed stitched pieces that are ready...

I've been listening to my books on CD...The Lovely Bones was really good, I could identify with the narrator cause she was the same age I was in the story...a kid in 1973...I finished Cell from Stephen King...not one of his best, but it was ok...the reader, Campbell Scott was terrible...monotone and boring...but ya just never know...Now I've got more David Sedaris (Me Talk Pretty) and its funny and sad...but I like it for the most part...

We all survived..

We made it thru yesterday and things are looking good today...Jack has been in Brian's office recouperating...He tested positive for HIV, so he cannot come in contact with our other kitties...he really needs to be in a house full time so he doesn't spread his disease, or worse yet - get sick and can't fight the infection...We aren't surprised by this, really...I was more surprised to find his sister Chloe tested negative for it...So, if you are in a 300 mile area of Central Texas and are looking for 2 kitties who are 1 yr old, email me...I've got a pair you won't resist...they are so enamored with one another, they are nearly attached...Chloe is lost now that Jack is in the house w/out her..We've taken her in many times to help him feel better, but she just yells to get out of the room, not paying much attention to him...

I will bring her back in and w/ my computer spend time in there...he mostly sleeps, but he seems just fine...I noticed they didn't remove his little furry balls - is this new? I thought they were removed when a neutering takes place...my other male kitties all lost theirs...but its been a long time since I've taken a male kitty in for neutering...we've had so many females of late, that I'm used to the spaying process...I need to call the vets and just make sure i'm caught up on the new world...

I'm working, working...my etsy supply is nearly tapped, I need to restock...I was working yesterday, but my bandage was in the way and once I took it off, my scratch was still tender...it feels better today...I've washed it and cleaned it, I'll soak it in epsoms (thanks Maggie!) and keep it clean...it doesn't hurt, except if I press on it hard...which I rarely do...

In Texas we have a 'do not call' list that you submit your phone numbers to, and the solitcitors aren't supposed to call you...Its been working pretty well, I've recently updated our numbers on the list, and yet some insurance company will not stop calling me...I finally answered the phone when they called today (mostly I let 'unknown' callers go to voice mail, where they don't leave a message, of course) and I told them I do not want them to call me, I already have insurance, I'm on the 'do not call list' and they need to remove me from their list...I am not normally an evil, mean person...I have a hard time saying 'no'...but i'm tired of these people bothering me for insurance that I did not ask for...I've had insurance for years...I am not in need...solicitors are not welcome...

Bruised, battered, beaten

This morning was our appointment to take Jack Bauer into the vet's and have him neutered...We knew this was a 2 person job, that's why we did it on Wed, when Brian is home at work...We knew this would be dangerous cause Jack is an outdoor rebel who (we suspect) has never been to the vet's office...probably never in a car...or cat carrier...

Our plan was for me to pick him up, put him in a large towel Brian was holding, he'd wrap him up and we'd get him in the carrier...Well, lets just say that we are both bloody and Jack is fine...He's at the vet...we came home and cleaned our cuts...

I have a massive cut on the inside of my left palm...it goes right across the folds in the palm so each time I move it, I open it...but I've got a bandage on it, its been cleaned w/ soap and peroxide..Brian has two massive cuts on the inside of his palm in a different location...more like the heel...he's also been bit on the finger...Jack managed to wiggle out of the towel (no surprise) and Brian knew it was 'grab him now or never', so he grabbed and wrassled...It was an interesting morning...I warned them at the vet's and showed them the blood...they will be careful...

Chloe watched the whole thing take place and now she's terrified to come around us...she's hungry, but wont come on the porch..she's scared cause her brother is missing...and she spent the night curled around my head on my pillow...poor girl...it'll all be better when Jack is back...she really relies on him for safety/comfort...

Get this show on the road...

These Geek cakes are a hoot...

NOw this is funny - dude traded in his Honda Civic Hybrid (the kind that we drive) cause it didn't look enough like he was saving the planet with is little hybrid driving ways...So he bought a Prius and now he can feel superior...The wait time for us to get a Prius - 8 months..the wait time for us to get a Civic - 2 weeks...we just went with what was available...Honda keeps asking us to buy back our car, but why would we wanna? Do they have a Prius we could trade for? I hear that folks in California are paying OVER sticker value for a hybird, maybe we should drive to LA and park on a corner...$25K for our car, come and git it!

It was a lazy holiday here in the country...fantastically wonderfully lazy...and now, its time to get back to work...beads to be made, to be shipped, to be strung, to be smashed and mashed...I haven't looked at my work table in a few days, typically the cats stomp over it repeatedly, so that I've had to start covering my stringer w/a magazine, covering my open container of frit w/ my butterfly book (otherwise they step on the bowl and upend the frit) and covering my waterbowl, or they drink all the water out of it...sometimes I find where they've pushed the cover off the waterbowl, sometimes I find they've still managed to dump the frit bowl...keeping them out of the work space will only happen once a new studio is built...thankfully no one has gotten hurt - except me - but I can live with getting cut and burnt...

And so while its dark and rainy, while I hole up in the house, while I make the bed because otherwise I will crawl in and spend the whole day there (it is so comfortable, I don't want to get out), I will plow ahead and get work done...I'm ready...I'm willing...and I can only hope that I'm able to make something decent...I'm feeling the organic bug come around again...maybe I ought to pull out some of my silver and reactive glass/frit and see what happens...maybe later this week...rock and roll...

Its a wet and wild holiday..

More rain for us for the next few days...we bought mulch yesterday so we could work in the yard (remove weeds, spread mulch) but it doesn't look like that's gonna happen today...we'll see...its pretty soggy, trying to dig up weeds in wet dirt is twice as hard...

The new bed is really nice...when I mentioned wanting one of these to some friends, they all told me 'no' that it was a 'gimmick' and not to bother...I can say, after sleeping on it for a few nights that it feels wonderful...I don't toss and turn, the bed stays cool and I'm comfortable...I don't care if its a gimmick or not, its the kinda bed you don't wanna get out of in the morning...

We started hitting some small antique shops nearby and I found a drop leaf table for our front hallway...its a narrow hallway, so the table had to be narrow too...I like furniture that looks old, yet sturdy...like our house...I'm trying to stay away from too much new stuff and get old, comfortable furniture with some character...Brian found a yearbook from 1924 that has the most awesome pictures...the haircuts, the outfits, the non-smiling faces, the art-deco illustrations...I want to scan some pages so you can see what's in it...We found a teacher dressed like Elmira Gulch...I haven't had a chance to really soak it all in, but I'm gonna spend some time with it...We found an old ice box that Brian had never seen before..the kinda that you put the large block of ice in one side and your foodstuffs in the other...I have a perfect spot in the kitchen for it, but its not needed right now...there are other pieces that i want to pick up first...we'll get what we need eventually...we are pretty light in the furniture dept, so it will be fun to go hunting/collecting.

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain...

So, because I know many of you would have a heart attack if you came to my site and saw a big pic of a big spider front and center, I decided to hide her...she will only appear if you click on the pic to see her...Brian said she's outside rebuilding her web this morning...When I went out during the rainstorm last night she saw me and ran to the corner of her web...but during the day, she never moves...I guess she 'sleeps' during the day...Do you know what the opposite of 'nocturnal' is?