Botanical Diversity

I just felt like taking a little flower walk today.

Check out the weird hairs on this one! Bizarre!

Variegated leaves can do a lot for a garden.

Up close and personal. We are overloaded with Amaryllis this year.

Drought resistant, yet dainty. What a lovely combination.


Until next time, happy outdoors-ing!

Theresa

Heard of a Chinese Time Sucker?

Nope, I don't have a picture of one. In fact, a Chinese time sucker is more of a situation than a tangible thing that can be touched.

What stinks is that I was planning to blog about the banner I made for my daughter's school dance. I was looking forward to it.

Instead, I just spent the past 30 minutes going back through old posts deleting the Chinese links that are asking (in Chinese, of course) for you to visit porn sites.

I mean REALLY!

And the thing that really, truly bites is that the spammer didn't go through my blog sequentially to add the comments. They were all made today, but were distributed through both newer posts and really old ones, too. Ugh!

Hence the time suck of having to check all my posts to make sure they were "clean".

I do have some nice people from different parts of Asia who stop and leave kind and proper messages, but now I will have to be double sure to translate everything on a regular basis.

My blog is rated G!

Many thanks for listening to my midday rant.

Until next time, have clean and happy thoughts!

Theresa

Da Godfather? NOT!

No worries! These won't end up in someone's bed anytime soon.

This was my Sunday project; two horse heads for an 8th grade production of Man of La Mancha.

My best work? Well....let's just call it the best I could do with the time I had allotted to me.

I had to scrap my plans several times to find a working model. I was going to build on a hat base, but the hats weren't structured enough.

Carboard bases were too inflexible and "fake" looking.

Then I was going to build an armature, but I didn't have the kids' measurements and that seemed too rigid.

I didn't want to do the chicken wire route as I wasn't sure how comfortable that might be as a hat. It works super well for a mask, though.

So I ended up using a Trader Joe's bag as a base. I fitted canvas to the inside and outside (so the final product remained flexible.)

I decoupaged the canvas with tissue paper, painted it, flocked it and added manes.

The horse hats tie on behind the hair of the wearer. In this way, they can fit almost everyone.

If I had it to do all over again, I bet I could reallllly rock it.

I love trying new things, don't you? The excitement of knowing it could be an abject failure is always a motivator!

Thanks for popping in!

Until next time, here's to "going for it"!

Theresa

What happened??

Well, I guess mostly LIFE happened.

I haven't had such a stressful and weird period in my life since 1998. Thank goodness the worst seems to be over.

This is the longest I have gone without blogging, too. I was able to pop in periodically to check on everyone else's blogs, but my stagnated waiting for me to have time to sit down. Oy!

Here I sit. FINALLY

Everything in my life came to a head all at once. All three of the kids' activities went through the roof, obligations loomed, a friend passed away suddenly...

..and then there was THIS.

THIS is Cookie. She is a good girl, but she came to us with a lot of "un-learning" to do. And, if you are in any way familiar with Basset Hounds, you know that they can be a little...um....stubborn.

So, for almost two weeks, we have been working and working on making Cookie a dog that is comfortable and well adjusted. A few more tweaks and we'll be there.


It's a good thing that she's cute! Have you ever heard a Basset?

They don't bark; they BAY!
"A-rooooooooooooooooooooooooo. A-roooooooooooooooooooo!"

Oh Yeah! I almost forgot to mention....This was one of the "kid related" projects that set me back a bit. I was to paint coconuts for a dance.

68 coconuts. Sixty-eight.

Luckily, I actually enjoyed this one! It was a hoot. How often in life does one get to paint coconuts?

The tricky part was finding time to do it when my daughter wasn't home, as it was supposed to be a surprise.

Luckily, it all worked out in the end.

Hopefully, I am back to stay. I was able to finish up some commission work, thanks to the patience and kindness of my patrons, and I should be able to roll along until the end of the school year. (No more commissions until July, though. Too many other obligations on the table.)

Until next time, happy treading water! Keep those heads up!

Theresa

From WorkWorkWork to PlayPlay Play

Doesn't every family have one of these? Pterodactyl kites ROCK! Had a bit of a "coming to Jesus" moment this week. A friend died unexpectedly. Too soon, for certain.

It made me look at my life a little more carefully. I have been spending a lot of time working lately and when I'm not making things, I am thinking about deadlines for making things. Sometimes, I am sad to admit, I have failed to be fully present in my own life.
Hence the kite. We have had this kite for a long time. It was high time to actually USE it. And have FUN using it.

So we did. It was cold and dreary, but we decided to head to the beach and just live a little. The kite flew well, the kids got along fabulously and I felt as though I reawakened my sense of what is real and important.

(I'd smile, too, if I were in front of this many goodies! The cinnamon smell wafts out onto the main street. Too good to pass up!)

A close up of some seaweed. We explored. We created. We had fun. We were a family.

Here is a picture of the pier on that day. Very cold, but nicely brisk.
The sailboats were out in full force. Lots of wind, that's for sure!

Thanks for popping in.

Until next time, don't forget to live.

Theresa

Have you see these before?

First I found this.

He was sitting on a blanket at the Veteran's Stadium, waiting for someone to make an offer.

Look at those eyes. How could I say no?

I wasn't sure what to offer....$30? $20? So I just asked the man how much.

He told me. He said, "$3.00".

HUGE grin. Into my bike basket quick as a wink and home we went.

My kids named him Ralphie. He lives next to my computer.

I never did learn of Ralphie's origins. I have searched for patterns, but to no avail.

He seems to be a combination of handmade and machine sewn, but I don't know from where he came.

Imagine my surprise when I saw THIS little guy.

Very similar face, no? (Check out the awesome wool felt shoes!)

I purchased him from eBay just to see how he was constructed and perhaps where he was made.

His tag says 'Austrian Gnome'. He has a wired body and some kind of furry stuff for his cap. (It sheds.)

Does this ring a bell for anyone out there in blogland?

Just curious.

Thanks for popping by!

Until next time, happy gnome sweet gnoming!

Theresa

If I were...

I saw this yesterday on Cart Before the Horse. Jo James posted it. (You NEED to check out her work. Crazy amazing!) http://thecartbeforethehorse.blogspot.com

I cut and pasted then added my own answers. Please feel free to do the same! I would love to hear your answers!

If I were a month I’d be. . .October
If I were a day I’d be. . . Wednesday.
If I were a time of day I’d be. . . twilight.

If I were an animal I’d be. . . a squirrel.
If I were a bird I'd be. . . . blackbird.
If I were a pair of shoes I’d be. . . .well broken in.

If I were a stone I’d be. . . .river tumbled.
If I were a tree I’d be. . . . Japanese Maple.
If I were a flower I’d be. . . . a blue iris.

If I were weather I’d be. . . the calm after the storm.
If I were an element I'd be...water
If I were a car I'd be. . . dependable and roomy.

If I were a color I'd be. . .. a verdant green.
If I were an emotion I’d be. . . .joyful wonder.
If I were a gift I'd be. . . .just the right thing.

If I were a fruit I’d be. . . . a juicy plum.
If I were an instrument I’d be. . . .piccolo.
If I were fabric I'd be. . . undyed muslin.

If I were a body part I’d be. . . .fingertips.
If I were a facial expression I'd be. . . .crinkly eyes.
If I were a song I’d be. . . .lively yet quiet.

If I were a sound I’d be. . . .wind through the trees.
If I were a taste I’d be. . . .salty/sweet.
If I were a scent I’d be. . .line dried linens.