Now What's He Doing?

 

Good gravy! Bob's so full of projects that it'd make your (or my!) head spin! (*1) Now what's he doing?

Yes, it involves our stairway. We've lived here for just about ten years (a decade!on January 3rd...) and Bob has always said he'd make us a lovely railing in an effort to help us ascend to the dizzying heights of our second storey. 

And now he's sprung into action, making good on his word. 

See that lattice work at the top? That's all that's been between us and precipitously plunging to an untimely death for lo! these ten years. This lattice was erected in the midst of a snowstorm, shortly after we moved in here. There was nothing- NOTHING!- on the edge of the landing. It's bad enough that I suffer from extreme fear of heights but one day our then-dog Jules started backing out of the room at the end of the landing and all I could think was, "My god! Our beloved dog is going to die!" So we dug out these two pieces of lattice that were stuck in what was then the carport and hastily installed them. And there they stayed for ten years! At least it worked...

The first thing Bob had to do was level off all those white vertical slats that the house's previous owner had sawed off at oddly irregular heights. That accomplished, Bob then added a top member and wide upright boards to offer a place to screw the plates that will hold the railing into.

Looks better already! Bob has a really great idea for this whole project. The railing is going to be a simple metal bar but the screening at the top that will replace the lattice... Just you wait! I'm really excited!! It will be magic! (*2)

(*1) I mean, I can vacuum and clean up assorted animal poop with the best of them , but Bob DOES things like re-roof part of the barn and make driveway gates and chop up thirty cords of fire wood. Big stuff. Things I can't do! But I've been entrusted with spackling in nail and screw holes and probably painting. I can't hurt myself on those things...

(*2) Remember how wonderful the gate was that Bob made me for my birthday? Well this will be amazing in a whole different way. Stay tuned.

A Eulogy for Jules 2010-2016

What can I say about Jules the Dog now that he's gone? I loved him; we loved him. He was a wonderful dog. It is too terrible contemplating our present lives, without Jules. He was our constant companion and a vital force of nature. The house is too quiet and very empty.
Jules loved snow and tennis balls and chasing squirrels and carrying large sticks. He was silly and funny and smart and tolerant of my off-key singing of atrocious songs in his praise. (I know he secretly loved hearing my nonsense tunes, extolling his virtues, even though he rolled his eyes and acted embarrassed.) He was a truly handsome dog. He wasn't even six...
He has been gone almost a week. I have left a bowl of water for him in case some spirit incarnation of his is thirsty and needs a drink. His tennis balls are here, buried under the snow. I haven't been able to go for a walk yet without him. I have cleaned up all his silky black dust kittens (and he did know how to shed constantly!) but I would gladly have fur-encrusted stairs if it meant that Jules was here. Fuck a clean house!
As is apparent to anyone who follows this blog or was fortunate enough to have met him, Jules was a star.

In Preparation

There I am, hard at work helping with a color check while my good friend (and fabulous photographer!) Carl Weese documents my equally fabulous piece, "Wage Slave". Some day I will relate the story of how my tour de force piece "Wage Slave" didn't make it into my show at Odetta Gallery; but that's for another day!
The show is up and looks... you guessed it- FABULOUS. I am, of course, in good company and the stars must have been lined up just right when Ellen Hackl Fagan, artist/curator/gallerist decided to show me and my showmates. Joe Amrhein, Rico Gatson William Powhida and I make quite the powerful statement. It's been an education thus far and the show hasn't even officially opened. Come on down on the 16th of January (from 6-8) and see for yourself.
I am also fabulously exhausted as Bob and I have been running around, dropping work off cursing the accursed snow gods (who deemed it necessary to drop several sloppy inches of that evil white stuff on us on Friday morning when we were due to be in NYC). Bob and I were delayed by several hours, but made it in to assist in set up. It was another of those million odd anxious moments that make up a life! But the show is up and looks... do I need to repeat myself?

But I did manage to steal enough time to create a "Mini Jules" on our bedroom carpet. Jules is a shedding kind of fellow and in our spare minutes, Bob and I can be seen performing an odd shuffle, raking stray gobs of Jules' discarded fur into furrows that we typically throw away. The other night, however, I saw fit to industriously fashion a shadow facsimile of Jules. Bob and I were entertained (and, yes, we are easily entertained) but I think Jules missed the point and failed to see the humor in it. Oh well! You have to have silliness in your life.

Hole in the Wall

How exciting is this? I got home from work yesterday and Bob had gotten the wall opened up! I was soooooooooooo happy. It makes my studio look huge! I actually have a doorway. This shot is from the living room (which will be my storage room) into the studio.
Here it is from inside my studio, looking back through to what has been our living room.

Not sure why the florescent overhead light looks hazy, but it's thrilling anyway. You can see all of our living room furniture sort of shoved to one side and looking a bit insecure. The sofa must be wondering what's up.
I had a funny little experience this afternoon while at work. I sometimes communicate with Jules at around 3:00. We sort of mentally check in and say "hi"; call it ESP. I mean, I miss my dog at work and it's not like I can call him on the phone or email him (like Bob) but then I guess I don't have to as we send small messages anyway. So I kept hearing from Jules and I even debated calling Bob to ask if Jules was okay, but I presumed that had anything actually happened to Jules, Bob would let me know. But Jules was sort of poking me and wanted attention, like "I'm here".
When I got home, Jules greeted me extra ecstatically through the fence and seemed fine, but very happy to see me. A while later, Bob tells me that a friend stopped by and they looked at the garden and then my studio. Later, Bob came up to the house for a cup of coffee and he was surprised that Jules didn't come to the door. So Bob walked around the house, looking for Jules. Bob confessed that he even started to worry that Jules had gotten out when he and John were walking around the yard. Bob finally opened the door to my (new) studio, and there was Jules- he'd been shut (accidentally) in the studio. So Jules hadn't been really lost, just temporarily misplaced. But boy did he try and tell me that at work! The next time Jules contacts me so persistently, I'll call home and make sure we know where he is! Smart dog!

The First Days of Our Fourth Year

Today is the fourth anniversary of our closing on the house. The hideous weather certainly reminds me of that day! Very cold and loads of snow. Ugh! But we are happy in our home...
It is 9 degrees outside, but there is that ever-lovin' windchill factor to make things merry and bright. Tonight is supposed to be even colder. No wonder my brain shuts down.
Some people shut down in extreme heat. I dunno; I kind of like the flip side of the thermometer. I get off on looking at the mercury rise and saying, "Wow! It's a 100 degrees!" But the cold? I'm a wimp and want to crawl back into bed.
This is the first day in at least a year that Jules and I didn't even go on a walk. We began up the driveway, but it was so cold that Jules started lifting his feet in the air and limping; possibly hypothermia, probably melodrama so we turned around and played in the backyard as best we could.
And don't tell Maggie that she looks a bit like a sofa from yesteryear in her hand-me-down Rhino horse rug. Poor little Mexican Pony had icicles on her eyelashes and looked miserable. I still had the old (and significantly tattered from the teeth of malevolent ponies) blanket that Crispin (remember him?) used to wear at the horse farm. I trussed Maggie all up in it; she has obviously been blanketed before as she didn't miss a beat. It maybe be a bit large, as Crispin was leggier than her, but I tightened up all the straps and she looked quite snug and quite a lot warmer. Of course, then she tried to roll in it as it felt unfamiliar, but I think come nightfall, she'll appreciate the extra layer. (Two hours later, she's still wearing it as evidenced in the photo above, so I think she'll be fine overnight).
And just to prove that I don't waste time when I have the accidental day off: No sirree!! I put me unexpected time to good studio use and got a jump on that new project that's been a little slow in the start up side. I also played several hundred rounds of Zuma and achieved "Sun God 5" status... something to be proud of in the New Year!

Wait a minute! That's from "Adventure" level... let me find "Gauntlet".

There it is! See? believe me now?

Or Would I Rather Have a Swimming Pool?

Apparently the gods that preside over such things as barn raisings and STUDIO construction misheard what I requested and decided to deliver a swimming pool instead. In case no one noticed, it pored last night and despite Bob and my best efforts to cover the nascent wall in tarps, water accumulated. It was a tough day anyway; we had to buy more 2x4's in the morning and we had just gotten underway with sawing and hammering when it started to rain.

This puddle is a foot deep! Nice soggy wood... Bob uncovered it this morning so that it could dry out but it's still pooling up between the studs.  Here's a shot that looks like a Richard Diebenkorn (an abstract painter who worked on a series of "Ocean Park" paintings that this resembles):

Well, at least it looks like art! We went to South Norwalk to an opening at a "pop up" show that both Bob and I were in last night. The rain held off until we had arrived home, which was one good thing anyway as we were very tired (as is now the norm!) We had spent some time schlepping all the wood into my present studio so that it wouldn't warp. Here's Jules inspecting the newly rearranged studio:

Yes, sort of an obstacle course but at least the wood is safe. Now I have to go back to work tomorrow so it will be Wednesday before we get to complete this wall. We had hoped to have at least that one done this weekend. No wonder it took Mommy and Daddy ten years to build our house!

Cheer Me Up, Batman

Yes, this is supposed to be a happy time of year. Various holidays occur, we are permitted to overindulge and there are pretty lights and even some presents. But what with things like mass shootings and general craziness, sometimes it's hard to feel good.
Silliness is an important antidote. Jules is supremely good at silliness. Witness these (sorta out of focus) pictures (well, he wouldn't hold still and was showing off!).

Jules is very jealous now that Maggie the Horse is here. He knows I like her, even though I point out that she has to live outside and he comes in and sleeps in the bedroom with us. So every time I go to the store to buy horsey food, I come home with another bag of tennis balls for Jules. The back yard is riddled with them, as is the house. He guards them like a little dragon, that's why he's rolling around.

Just look at him! Making a selection or counting them. And believe me, that's a pathetic fraction of the thirty plus balls he now has. I should take a detail of the ones that Jules has deconstructed.
They look like dinosaur eggs, gathered together into a nest.

At least he's cheerful and he keeps our spirits up. Don't tell Jules, but I got him more balls for Christmas!

Happy Birthday to Jules!

Happy Birthday to Jules! He's one year old on the 8th of May and he's the best dog (even when he chews the sofa cushions and steals our socks).
This particularly flattering photo of the Birthday Boy occurred because he lays on his back and was trying to gnaw on my shoe. It serves his right as he's now immortalized as a trully deranged being. I was fortunate that the camera was at hand.
Here's another picture-  more complimentary- of Jules and I on our morning walk. Contrary to appearances, he is not a St Bernard but doing what comes naturally. Being a retreiver mix, he will pick up and carry anything, in his case beer. Not being a beer drinker, I informed him that I'd prefer he find and carry a nice Pinot Noir or Bordeaux.