Carrots and Sticks in the New Year

That's Crispin talking (straight) out of both sides of his mouth: "I will be a good horse", "I will be a bad horse". A fine way to begin the New Year!
As is typical of many a person, I begin the New Year utterly thankful that 2011 is done, over finito. And making lists... that's a traditional way to start off the new year. Here goes:
*I will eat more salad in the New Year.
*I will get more exercise. (How mundane can I be?!!???)
*I will be nicer to Republicans and Tea Baggers and Conservatives in the New Year. (Well, you have to  
  include a few things that you won't actually do, but they sound open-minded and possible!)
*I will spend more time making art this year. What with our moving (which seemed like it would never be
  completed) and my eye injury, I didn't get the studio time I needed and wanted. And I typically have such
  a good track record of studio application!
*I will try to worry less about money. I guess I could tie that to generating more money, but even worrying
  less would be a big step! And making more money is very problematic in this economy.
*I will prioritize even more effectively than I already do. (I think that sentence was guilty of some pretty 
  awful grammar but you get my drift.) I already spend plenty of time with my dog in the great out of doors, 
  but I'll spend more time... that good, well used time. I refuse to spend one second more than is absolutely
  essential on the phone arguing over bureaucratic details...
*I will cure cancer, eliminate prejudice and inequality, give everyone a raise, stop wars, pick up litter, feed
  the hungery and reverse global warming. And that's just the first week of January. (And so, we return to
  Janus, and that pesky habit of speaking out of both sides of the mouth).
That's it for now.

Seasonal Disconnects But Happy Endings

It has been a terribly mixed up holiday season thus far. Unfortunately, the matriarch of our clan (aka "Mommy") was in the hospital for Christmas. She was not up for visitors and was having a tough time of it. It was decided that as we had been elected to prepare the meat course of the main dinner, the feast would be moved to our humble domicile. As it was our first Xmas at home and our tree was especially dramatic we agreed that ours doors were open and the festivities would happen here.
The blurry photo above attests to the remarkably cheerful scene, despite Mommy's absence. (I think it's blurry as I was trying to hurry up and take a photo before everyone ducked or turned their heads away from the camera). Anyway, we all ate waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much and had a really nice time.
We spent the last several days visiting Mommy in the hospital and she seems in much better spirits today, as she is discharged to a convalescent facility for a few weeks. Let's hope she's on the mend!
To much food was the theme this year, as Bob and I staggered from groaning board to groaning board. Two good friends were gracious enough to invite us to Christmas Eve at their house where the fed us at least 23 courses of amazing diverse and delicious food stuffs (thanks to Byron and Dan!). Boxing Day saw us gathered at the home of another good friend (thanks John! Ever the host sublime... makes it look so easy, too!) So now I feel as if I need a month of fasting and pilates or Zumba (what is that anyway?)
And here's someone else who was charmed by Christmas. We gave Jules (our beloved doggy who is trying to climb on my lap even as I write this) a huge chew bone. I think he was scared of it initially. Now he's carrying it around and banging into tables and doorways.

And even better is that some Secret Santa left Jules (who is very good) a doggy bag with a chew toy and a stuffed animal on our doorstep- anonymously! Jules is VERY HAPPY!!!

Feels Like Spring! End of Year Bloggery

It's the Winter Solstice and it's 53 degrees... thank goodness for Climate Change and Global Warming! The funguses are all aglow and the grass hummocks in our swamp are gree. The horse is still grazing (in preference to hay) and friends report forsythia is in bloom. Egads! But I'll still take it over snow any day...

So I stumbled around our big and over to our "island" and snapped pictures in defiance of December. I know, I know; it could change tomorrow.

So could so many other things. Like Mommy is not in such great shape and she is 91 years old. I have been having sleeplessness and anxiety about her death. We all know it will happen sooner than later but you can still never be too prepared even if you are a follower of Nature and accept that everyone/ everything will die. Contemplating lovely saprovores (is that spelled correctly?) that help break down the dead things are a good place to consider life's cycles. Winter should be a tiime of sleeping beauty and there is a splndid confusion in these bright colors and almost "vernal awakening" images. But they're helping me get through these shortest days of the year...

Tidings of Comfort and Joy

Last year, as Bob and Jules and I resided in a "borrowed" home for the holidays, it just never seemed like the Christmas season. Two things make Christmas seem like Christmas were missing- the tree and the Christmas cookies. The tree was missing as we were living in a temporary house that was full of the previous inhabitant's possessions and there really wasn't space for a tree and tragically, the oven on the stove didn't work. We were so deep in the delirious doldrums wondering if we'd ever get our house that Christmas seemed extraneous.
This year, however, we were blessed with the gift of a spruce tree top that was busted in that fluke October snow storm. Bob thought to put the tree- fully ten feet tall- in our stream and it survived just fine. Erected in my studio, which has the very tall ceiling, it looks really spectacular, entirely making up for the lack of tree last year.
I have yet to bake any cookies, but we had a small dinner party last night and we all gathered in my studio around the woodstove and the tree. It was quite magical!

Horse-y Hilton

This is an interior shot of our little horse barn. It's a very misleading barn as from the outside, it appears about half the size it really is. Bob did a bangup job of tearing up the floor and finishing the walls so that there are no edges or nails to get cut on. (Note the "handle with care" graffitti!) The addition of the chandelier was my touch!
Crispin has downright luxurious and commodious acommodations, seeing as he was living in a herd of seven or eight mixed ponies and horses with a run in shed and round bales of hay to squabble over. I was so afraid that he'd miss his pals.  But instead, I think he's sighing an equine sigh of relief. He seems so relaxed and nonchalant. Who knew? Maybe he wanted a home like this forever...

From the outside, we erected a windbreak as the barn was positioned with the doorway to the north. We wanted Crispin to have 24/7 access so that he can stroll out at midnight and enjoy the full moon and a nightcap of hay and water, but still have protection from the wind. It seems to work just fine and he is savoring his freedom.

The electric fence seem to be working fine. Don't get me going on how complicated that was! Ten minutes before the horse was delivered, Bob and I were still not sure whether we had it rigged right. But no escapees means it's working, and Crispin doesn't seem to mind his incarceration in a glamourous prison system!

My Christmas Pony

In truly remarkable contrast to my greatest fears- that poor lonely only Crispin would spend his first TWO WEEKS running around the paddock like a pony with his head missing, trumpeting and pitifully whinnying for all of his absent friends- Crispin has out done himself in expressing poise and equine composure. He has been peacefully grazing and engaing in such horsey exercises as sleeping standing in the sun. I apologize for having doubted his "equine-nimity". Maybe he finally feels (correctly!) that it's a pleasure to not have to fight for every bit of grain, or every flake of hay. And he seems to be enjoying the company of Bob's sculpture, too.
He seems to like his new house; Bob spied Crispin with his head sticking out of the stall, watching for human activity early this morning. So far so good! Here's another picture of the contented and relaxed horse. He made funny little snuffle-y whuffle-y nickers at me this morning. Just in time for Christmas... what more could a girl want??

Musical Interlude Number 156788

At least someone is having a good time! The irrepressible Jules is all smiles as he has a favorite ball (or twenty) thrown into a freshly raked pile of leaves. He's so agreeable and willing to just get on and have a good time... something that has been in short supply lately as Bob and Rita have encountered especially tough times in the household project department. Nothing at all has worked or been easy.

But Jules is a charmer and doesn't let anything get him down.

Thank goodness for dogs!

The Wild Kingdom

The Gods of Completed Electrical Circuits and Bringing the Equine Home must be sour on Bob n' Rita as we have had nothing but really egregiously hard times since we embarked on this last major project of 2011. We spent several days stringing electric line (wires and tape) (and humming Glen Campbell's iconic rhapsody "I am a Line Man for the County...) and have yet to determine why we can't get a shock out of the system. The box clicks and the red light pulses. Bob got shocked (accidentally) when one of his smaller sculptures touched the postive and ground terminals so the box must be okay. I called Tractor Supply and received what seemed like good intelligence; we had neglected to complete a part of the system and still no go. Then I discovered a wire touching a post and we worked that out and it STILL didn't work. Baffled and defeated, we turned to ripping the floor boards out and finishing the stall. I'm outside and Bob is ripping the boards when he erupts from the building... turns out there's a skunk under the floor he just removed. I mean, we have been noisy as all get out. Skill saw running, we're moving wood and stomping around; you'd have to be deaf not to be disturbed and this partcular skunk is asleep? Just our luck.
We went next door and borrowed a HavaHeart trap and procured cat food to bait it and our older trap with. But we can't really complete our floor removal until skunk removal is done. This project is progressing too slowly! Bob actually turned to me and exploded wtih "Maybe we SHOULD eat the horse!!"
I know how he feels.

Unique Continuity of Jules in Space

Jules, who was asleep at the top of the stairs, didn't know I took his picture and fooled around with it on the computer. He was laying on our nasty stained carpet at the top of the stairs, so I gave him a more fanciful crash site. He's tired as he ran around all afternoon, chasing balls and barreling at full tilt into the carefully raked piles of leaves that I'd assembled, ready to cart off to mulch the blueberry plants.
Bob and I are really tired, too, as we spent all (of a rather lovely day for the third of December!) day outside, finishing the horse fence and erecting several serious metal gates that Bob constructed. Tomorrow we have to pull up the floor in half the small barn and make a suitable stall for Crispin. There are so many details and odd its of things to prepare for The Big Day, when Crispin is actually delivered and can begin a new chapter in his life. Crispin doesn't know that he is to be re-incarnated as an art project. Yes!! First the dog and now the horse! Is there no rest for the animals of the BobnRita ranch?? Pressed without consent into becoming fodder for oddball practises and projects! Secretly, I think animals enjoy this sort of thing. It takes them out of the humdrum existence that is the fate of most critters. Crispin will have his own chandelier in the barn... how's that for falling into the lap of luxury?
Life here is never dull. But we could use a million days off (with pay, thank you). I'm so tired I can't even blog. But stay tuned as The Big Day approaches and we (no doubt) encounter all sorts of interesting mishaps and adventures once the horse arrives.

Beige Bloggery

I never use these colors!! Or lack of color... sort of subdued beige and browns. But I liked the look of this chair (on the way to the dump) when it was seated on the fallen leaves. It gained a composure and dignity that it sure never had at our house.
Odds and bloggish ends: my eye was newly messed up by several doctors (no doubt well-intentioned!) attempts to fit me with a corrective contact lens. A mere three hours of wearing the lens one day and I swore I saw worse than I had previously. The next morning I called the office to complain of this and they had me re-insert the lens to see if the fogginess cleared. Well, it didn't so I had to high tail it back to Yale and have the lens evicted from my eye and life. I think we're supposed to try again with a different lens, but I'm sort of gun shy as my vision is worse (without the lens) than it was before. To be honest, I've been sort of excited that I could see the random thing with my left eye; very erratic but I'd be able to read the digital clock in the car, or see some lettering very clearly. I was starting to pick out individual leaves on the ground on my walks. And now? It's all sort of hazier than it was; almost like it was sanded with very fine sand paper so that it's blurry on a micro-level. I suppose that makes no sense to anyone. But it sucks!! I have two more eye appointments early this week; wish me luck.

More of What Artists Do in Their "Free" Time

(And exactly what is "free time", anyway? Bob and I seem to specialize in lurching from one major project to the next. I admit to lying about all that free time we'd have after the chimney.) Here it is the end of November and we're still finishing up the horse fence. Which involved plenty of digging and driving in of all kind of fence posts. Remember us digging holes, several months back? Lots of holes as previously announced in another blog posting, in almost another life time...
So far, it resembles a mini Christo (and Jean Claude) project. We have hundreds of feet of electric poly-tape horse fence festooning the "back forty" awaiting final connection to the posts. As we are using several varieties of posts- mixed metal and wood- we need different insulators. Those are the plastic devices that afix the tape and wire conductor materials to the posts. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the company that sells you poly fencing doesn't sell all the various shape of connectors needed... thank goodness yet again that Bob and I are clever and capable and will create our own insulators and adapt those that are available. Bob thought to use those little plastic electrical tapes that are used to bundle wires. We found them at Home Depot in exciting neon colors (they were out of black)and it made the job that much more festive and entertaining. I think The Horse will likewise be amused at our sense of playfulness:

I am being ironic here, as it was a pretty miserable day to be doing this relatively lightweight job. It was drizzling and chilly and we were chilled to the bone.
Oh and an aside to all of our tasteful friends who no doubt will shudder when they see the screaming white plastic fence bisecting our property: we will replace the white tape with nearly invisible wire in the future. We are also sensitive to the graphicness of this tape fence, BUT as it offers superior visiblity, The Horse will see it and not try and run through it. It's a temporary fix to get Crispin home and carefully contained.

Catching Up and Thanksgiving Fragments

This delightful chunk of carpentry derring-do is direct from the roofline of our BauHaus Chicken Coop. Bob removed this and a few other similar artifacts while tying the chimney into the roofline. Pretty punky wood and a surfeit of nails made for an interesting photo, but let's just say that I am glad to have this particular section replaced by sounder ingredients!
Anyway, I feel like I've been a tad remiss in the entry department of late and that is partially due to a last spasm of household projects inspired by the waning days of fall and the advent of true winter. We, as mentioned previously finshed the chimney and woodstove installation in the house- and haven't turned on the blasted blast furnace since! Also, Bob is enjoying the warmth of his own studio woodstove, again installed with the help of our good friend Joe.
Today we made impressive progress on the erecting of electric horse fencing. Some elements were already in place, including the electric box in the "equine facility". We fortunately inherited a good quantity of metal fence posts which we will install tommorrow. Today we dug holes and put in the heavier-duty cedar posts that will anchor the pasture. The Horse, aka "Crispin", had better respect the fence and appreciate what we have done for him. He will dwell in a superior (albeit small) barn which he will be able to access and exit 24/7 whenever he pleases. He has a nice view and expansive and commodious grazing areas... no complaints please.
Best of all is that Bob and Rita are free once that fence is complete!!! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

October Nor'Easter and Plenty of It

Here we are in October, all ready for that first now of the season... Not! I'm certain I'm not alone in lamenting the apparent passing of this year's Halloween. So much for tricks vs. treats!

I know, I know; it LOOOKS beautiful but you can have it! Thnak goodness the snow saw fit to go and melt away. The last few days have been almost balmy: in the seventies and nice.

The newly finished chimney is emitting a fine dribble of smoke. We cooked and heated water for washing dishes and stayed warm. Bob just finished installing the woodstove in his studio so we feel somewhat prepared (hahahahahahaha) for winter.

What Day Is It Anyway?

Hey! I know what day it is! It's 11-11-11 and this is the very first posting I've been able to do since thw famous Power Outtage of 2011. It's like "How many days were you out for?" We all get badges of Courage and Honor and Triumph in the Face of Adversity. We had no juice for eight days and struggled with schlepping buckets of stream water to flush and tossing out endless refrigerator re-stockings (after the losses due to Irene waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in September...) and figuring out how and what to eat for the next meal and wear to shower...
But it had it's lovely momnets such as the interior of my windshield. I sat in the car and collected swell images painted by Master Illuminator Jack Frost himself.
Here'sa few more:

I guess I should rejoice that I can still discover beauty in cold and ice as it seems last winter never left...

Thank goodness that the wood stove was finished only five days before we lost power! At least we were nice and warm. Don't get me started on the perfidy and lies of Connecticut Light and Power caused by their greed and deregulation! To hear them yatter on about how they could never have predicted a freak storm or the severity of snow on leaf-laden trees made me crazy. Never heard of underground line? I heard today that they will try and pass on the cost of restoring energy to we, the consumers. We already pay the highest cost for enegy in the country... Revolution, anyone???

Form and Function

We are very fond of Blue Hubbard squash and were going to grow it in the vegetable garden this year but we ran late and it's not easy to procure the seed from any but secialty seed companies. So Bob bought this individual from a local farm stand and not only will we enjoy eating it for several meals, but he's drying the seed for planting next spring.
Thisone is ideal because it's a slightly smaller variety. A former neighbor gave us a specimen several years back that was so huge that it lasted for months. It rested on a pedestal in the living room as edible sculpture and then got sliced into four or five sizeable chunks that were then baked individually. Here's what last night's dinner consisted of:

Sort of resembles a vessel from an ancestral culture! Bob put a little local honey (from the same farm stand) in the cavity and roasted it for over an hour and a half. I just love the color throughout the whole process.

My studio is undergoing yet another upheaval! With the construction of the chimney to accomodate the woodstove, multiple things (including boxes and the infamous flatfile) had to be shifted again. I am still able to work in the midst of all this chaos; the importance is to keep the table free of flotsam and jetsum. Behind the chair is a new addition to my studio furniture- and a welcome one! It's a plug-ugly chest of drawers in which I can store all of my fabric remnants. Until today, they were crammed into several very inconvienient large cardboard boxes in the corner, stacked tree high. Once the dresser arrived, it took me all of an hour to unload the boxes and completely fill it.

Yes, there's a woodstove under all that bedlam. (And no, it's not hooked up yet so there is no danger of a fire from flammables being placed on top of it...)
I will collapse into a contented mound of productive artistry once the pieces are all in place and I know the permanent layout of the studio land. Bob and I really underestimated how hard it would be to move. We've done pretty well, but we do need to get our studio practices in gear. I don't know what the pilgrims or pioneers did about making art; all that moving around and physical hardship must have been hell on their concentration. (I jest). Wake me up when it's all over...

How Green Was My Pond Scum

This is a posting entirely dedicated to relief from all the grey of the chimney construction. That is not a swath of green lawn in the above photo. It's actually a pond in the field where my horse lives.That's the product of run off from concentrated horse byproducts... heavy on the nitrogen and urea! It looks solid enough to walk on.
I thought the perfection of those puffy billowing clouds in configuration with that eerie green looked almost artificial. I've wanted to photograph this pond for ages and kept forgetting my camera. I have never seen the water in this pond but I've witnessed ponies standing neck deep and the emerging coated with a brilliant green patina so I know there's liquid in there somewhere! Just hope my horse never gets the idea to go for a dip as he's white and would probably be eternally dyed green like one of those unfortunate easter chicks!
I still can't quite figure out what's going to happen with Crispin the horse...

How the Pyramids Were Won

So this is our sophisticated system for hoisting the 100 pound blocks skyward... just don't stand underneath it! It's worked like a charm. Personally, I can't wait for Joe and Bob to be done with this aerial phase of the proceedings... I think my stomach got wonky this afternoon, witnessing them working so high up. I'm not a fan of heights!
Here's a (slightly doctored) picture of Bob and Joe hard at work. See if you can tell what I moved from one picture to another.

(Well, I am a collage artist and I didn't muck around too much with reality!) Today while i was at work, the chimney finally crested the roofline... only one more session left and tehn we can light a fire. (I suspect it will coincide nicely with our aniversary date.)

Slow and Steady as She Goes!

(Actually, I should have labelled this posting "Steady as He Goes" as chimneys are (obviously) phallic and therefore more male than female in implication).

This was a pleasant way to spend Saturday morning. Bob scored the blocks that we were using to make the higher courses of the chimney and I malleted and chiselled off the extra ends. (I was, of course, wearing my fashionable new safety glasses!) We did quite a few of them and then it was decided that we'd use the bigger blocks after all. But it was fun while it lasted, and I got to take this picture which could show mason's tools from hundreds of years ago. One of those things that don't change...

Our friend Joe came by to assist Bob with the loftier altitudes to be attained by our chimney. (I'm not at my best on ladders and with my impaired vision, I think sitting astride a low bench is more my style anyway). I am happy to provide food and drink! So they managed to put several layers on. Look at this progress:

Later the same day:

See? The chimney had crested that plywood sheathing and is creeping skyward. I am editing and omitting the many trials and trevails that ensued to get to this point, including the fact that Bob removed a course of the re-sized blocks and has rethought our construction technique. It's all a learning experience (don't you simply detest that phrase?) and as our neighbor reminded me, "You only have to do it once!" (Thank heavens!)



Progress! And a Relentless Brush Pile...

Here is what you'll see at the side of our house. Bob concocted this stone face from a rock in our stream and (you guessed it!) a couple of quartz rocks. The quartz border continues it's way, winding around the house...

And I'm happy to report that Fred the Stone Mason came by today to help punch a hole in the wall to connect the wood stove through the famous thimble into the flue. The chimney is progressing quite nicely. And not a minute too soon: you can feel the chill in the air.

Strolling around the perimeter of our "back forty" (well, back 4.36 acres...) I can't help but being drawn up short by this sight:

Another project! To remove this crazy brushpile that has been residing at the end of the puppy pen/ flower garden since this spring. I suppose it has blocked a bit of the view of the "Thomas Kincaid House" next door, but it's hardly a lovely sight. On a cheerier note, at least a family of two of chipmunks has found a home in the pile. At least someone has found a use for our pile of sticks! 

Late Season Poignancy... or Laziness

The amberness of the afternoon sun got me to musing, while laying on the sun-warmed picnic table, about October light and the fleeting feeling that always visits me at the end of the gardening season. You want to quote Miss Peggy Lee and ponder, "Is that all there is?"
It also afforded me the guilty pleasure of avoiding doing anything at all. Believe me, laziness and the absence of activity and work is a rare novelty for Bob and I this year! Bob wasn't home so the two of us weren't egging each other on to acheive all those householed tasks that demand performance. Even posting a blog entry sometimes becomes work; hence the relative silence in my recent blog history...
But we have accomplished an awful lot at the house. I've earned the right to bask in this comfort as Jules runs full tilt after a wrecked basket ball.
Of course, an hour and a half later, I finished an art piece and weeded half the vegetable garden. But I needed that few minutes of nothing. Or realtive nothing, glancing over my shoulder for the apparent rabid raccoon that is terrorizing southern Southbury...
We are supposed to break through the house wall and install the wood stove "thimble" that attaches the stove to the flue tomorrow; a stone mason friend is coming to make sure we do it right the first time around. We have learned some really fun facts: like chimney bricks come in all sorts of sizes, but inexplicably, none of the fit together in any meaningful way. We thought we had become brilliant and instead of one giant block that weighs 100 pounds (not kidding!!) we decided to get smaller ones and assemble them to the same rectangular specifications. But it sort of can't be done and I guess Bob and I are glad that we're going to stucco the outside of the chimney in an attractive and- forgiving- manner next spring. Save it for the spring!
(The photo above is what happened when I tried to photograph autumn color. There isn't a whole lot of fall foliage spectacle this year so I settled for tiny animal foot prints down by our stream.)

Morning Glory- Finally!

Here it is: October 1st and we finally have blooms on the morning glories we planted on the vegetable garden fence. In the background are the remains of our tomato crop. The vines look terrible, all saggy, rotting leaves from cool nights, but a few slowly ripening fruits hanging on. How I miss tomatoes when they're gone!! On the other hand, I congratulate Bob and I on a successful garden despite a hectic year and a series of bizarre episodes... including my famous eye injury. We are eating delicious peppers and squash still; I think the basil is still alive although not so pretty.
And speaking of basil, we're awaiting that first frost that signals our anniversary! It's nice to have a floating holiday to celebrate but some years we get antsy and celebrate six or seven times...

Filling the Pit

Here's Bob standing in the hole that we had to dig for that footing. It was fully four feet deep this morning.  Filling it in was an odd exercise: sort of the punchline to a perverse joke as it feels like we just dug it all out. We debated filling the hole in exactly the way that the rocks and sand were originally striated... sort of environmentally sensitive, returning the earth to it's proper layers.
But of course we didn't do that. We just shovelled it all back in, willy-nilly. The piles we had lived with for a week or so vanished.

That's what it looked like at the end of the day, letting it set up overnight. Tomorrow we stack another few courses on. (Bear in mind that each of these blocks weighs 100 pounds.) Mixing the cement and mortar was fun; Bob and I agree it smells good. I also remember helping my mother build front steps at our house in Durham; the smell brought that back to me. (Plus the fun fact that we lived without real steps for years...) We're tired but satisfied that we've accomplished this much. I can help Bob until we get about chest high. Then a bigger, stronger friend is arriving- with scaffolding!- to help ascend to the roofline fifteen feet heavenwards. Thank goodness for crazy friends that don't mind hard work.
Here's another shot, down into the block which we filled with rocks and concrete.

It's a bit grey and beige, isn't it?

Jules and the Rocks

Jules decided that the pile of rocks generated by our chimney foundation work was just too much fun. He also detirmined that the rock in the very center, under about twenty other rocks was the one he had to have.

He's very persistent!

Still looking! (Doesn't Jules have a lovely tail?) I know; I'm boring everyone to tears, but I adore Jules. 

What Artists Do For Fun in Their Spare Time

Thta's right: we dig deep holes. Deep, deep holes below the frost line. No wonder we were tired last week when attempting to entertain! Two days of climbing in and out of a four foot hole, lifting sand, rocks and gravel over your shoulders makes for sore and achey artists. But it paid off; we're on to phase two of "the big dig".
Another interesting aspect was the strata of all those millions of years of compacted layers laid bare for us to see. I don't know if that photo above does justice, but it was fascinating to see the different sandwiched levels... certain ones provided waaaaaaaaaay easier digging, no question!
Here's another activity that we engaged in. When one of us was down in the hole, the other was sifting the sand from the rocks. Bob has a screen that has has used for this purpose for years; differentiating between soil and rocks or compost and sticks. It works great... and it's sorta fun.

Another Kind of Eye Candy

As I mentioned, I have been making eyes and eye-obsessive work in my studio. (Thank god I making anything in my studio!!) Sewing and beading are (inexplicably) possible under my visually challenged circumstances; in fact I seem to be plowing ahead just fine. I have seven or eight pieces underway. They will be collated together into some sort of a book, as photocopies of fabric pieces work quite nicely. (I started researching photocopying directly onto fabric but it seems expensive. But the effect is nice).
I have to mention that being the subject of an upcoming fundraiser (to help defray some medically indicated financial obligations... like a hefty deductible) have made me feel awkward. Let's face it: I need the help (thanks to all who have donated thus far!) and as an artist, I love being the center of attention. But there is the peculiar sense of having been turned into one of "Jerry's kids". (Remember he of telethon fame? The one weird fact I know about Jerry Lewis is that he wears a new pair of socks everyday and donates his used ones. Whether washed or not, I can't say. And the French love him...) I really don't want to feel at a disadvantage or that the work I'm producing is entirely therapeutic.
On some level, the making of all these beaded eyes (beady eyes) is a way of working out my preoccupation with sight and that makes sense. I guess I hope that this whole experience makes me a "better" artist in that I'm more in tune with my vision (all kinds) and more fully able to express it in whatever means I have available. I am putting some of my work up, on display at the fundraiser as a way of gently reminding supporters that I have done a huge body of work over the years (some good, some odd and some down right weird!)
I sure hope that people will attend my benefit and have fun, first and foremost. I am really touched by all the work and effort that are being done on my behalf. Family and friends are very generous!

Eye Candy- the Wholesome Kind

I have to say that we didn't do too badly for a very crazy, hectic first year garden! Here's a small offering of all the bounty that is available... and with only a cursory effort. We have been so busy- and derailed!- with larger house projects (roof, fencing, chimney, island etc etc) (not to mention injuries...) that I sometimes feel a tad guilty. I actually tossed a bunch of festering tomatoes on the compost pile yesterday. (They are rewarding to throw, however, as they make a nice smooshy splat when they land). The peppers did exceedingly well; I especially like the black ones- very sophisticated and dramatic!

We still have beans coming as well as squash. Let's make that monuntains of squash as Bob planted the seeds directly on the compost pile... Stop by, we'll give you a few (hundred).

Next year, we are hoping to return to the rigors of staged and sequenced lettuce production and tidy rows of garlic. We only actively cultivated perhaps a third of our enclosed vegetable garden. We have lots of room for future experimentation and at a significantly more leisurely pace.