A Post After the Elections

It's nice to be able to think about something other than politics (Go Blue Ripple!!) like the fact that Bob made this wonderful tile top table. It's got a great stable metal base with an attractive diamond pattern (maybe I'll photo that later) and these tiles were "found" down by Bob's studio. Amazing the stuff that turns up! I love the variation in blues among the tiles...

And you don't see items like this everyday! Our delightful and talented friend Roberta charmed me with an elaborate birthday package. This repurposed Osage orange (with a found alien hand!!!) announced my new magazine subscriptions (Remember that I use them in collage making). But that wasn't all: beneath the carefully wrapped orange was a lovely length of African cloth- perfect for upcoming project! and as if THAT wasn't enough, Roberta also bequeathed me a huge assortment of bulbs! Species tulips, scilla, daffodils, hybrid tulips... amazing! Any one of these gifts would have been more than generous but altogether, I'm overwhelmed! And really? It actually is nicer to receive gifts when least expected! Thank you Roberta!

And here's pastel upside down Robin to remind us that dogs enjoy getting mentioned, too! Robin's been very happy; I think she likes the colder weather, even if I don't. It makes her super frisky and nuts. She's been doing mad loops around the yard at like a million miles an hour. Craziness runs in the family.
I am trying to catch up with myself. It's hard to believe that it's almost Thanksgiving and the year is drawing to a close. So much has happened and continues to happen (and I'm not just thinking of politics!!! A decades worth of "incidents" in a day!) Remember that we experienced a tornado and we are still cleaning up from that. The tree guys are eagerly awaited to take down a whole bunch more dying spruces (the weather's been against them). I have a bunch more planting and yes! I have more studio ideas to implement. And don't get me started on the changes going on at work... anyone want to hire an artist? Actually, I have ideas in that department, too!

Melonheads and Other Odds and Ends

According to an article sent by a concerned friend, our road was once inhabited by beings referred to as "Melonheads". This was by all accounts a (very politically incorrect) reference to the somehow deformed (and deranged) unfortunates that resided (according to local legend) in this area and devoured pets and small children. I guess Bob and I fit right in!
On a cheerier note, the picture above was captured using (hooray!) my new smart phone. I am on a steep learning curve- me being a Melonhead and all- to figure out arcane skills like "texting" and using "apps". You will remember that I had what I affectionately called my "dumb phone" which delivered a pretty good phone call... but I never did figure out how to do really basic stuff, like delete old messages or text. And it had no camera! No Internet! So this new phone is way cool and already impressing me.
My birthday was really pretty tremendous this year. I got the aforementioned phone and other useful and fun things from Bob. And then my family visited: Hello Cathy! Hello Beatrice! Hello John! And despite the day being overly hot and muggy, we had a good time, debating who the next viable presidential candidate should be and how soon The Orange Menace will be deposed. Yuck.
But my family came through bigly and presented me with fabulous wine and plants and delicious foods. I am fat and happy.
I spent the day planting my gifts (A yellow Rhododendron "Capistrano" and an Aralia cordata "Sun King" and Sapphire Flax and Dianthus "Miss Aroma": The first two are in the shade border and the latter two are in the Blue Border.)
I will no doubt succumb to a healthy case of poison ivy because poison ivy seems to be having a good year and it's pretty much every where. First thing this morning, Bob started weed whacking the driveway and I attempted to pitch in and lend a hand. I quickly begged off though, as the poison ivy at the edge of the driveway was some of the healthiest I have ever seen and there was plenty of it. I felt bad leaving Bob to battle the overgrown and jungle-like driveway verge, but I really don't want to spend the rest of my vacation scratching and oozing.

An Xmas Post

Xmas was celebrated today (December 28th) with my family. Things got off to a rocky start as the reports of ultra cold weather to come threatened to derail our festivities. After the inevitable testy phone calls, emails and smoke billowing from both of my ears, rapprochement was achieved and- cold weather be damned!- Christmas happened.
I think this year was more heavily laden with emotional and familial baggage because it is the first one since Mommy's death. Holidays are always fraught events; this is nothing if not the perennial cliche. My family certainly comes up with it's own exotic expressions of stress, sisterly hierarchies, issues of control etc etc. You get the picture.
I guess I'm lucky in that differences of opinion and questions of rationality versus emotionalism appear insurmountable and yet (mostly) seem to be overcome once we're in each others company. Then we have a good time. I suppose food and wine solve many squabbles...
We cleaned, we cooked, my family arrived. Indeed, they were brave and doughty souls to bundle up in parkas and boots and scarves and gloves and confront the arctic chill. I applaud their heartiness as it is Siberian out there, what with single digit temperatures and bracing wind chill. But our house was warm and the tree was lit up, well... like a Christmas tree.
The food was stellar. We ate so much that Bob and I skipped dinner altogether and I woke up after midnight full of energy and rarin' to go. (Go where you might ask, as it is 1:30 and something like 3 degrees outside? I know this last bit in reality as Lil' Robin the Good just decided that she needed to relieve herself. It really is cold!) Highlights of food included guacamole, spinach artichoke dip, roast pork, sweet potato casserole, cranberry relish (I could eat the whole bowl myself!),squash, brownies, peach pie, several bottles of wine.... and slightly musty tasting green beans.
The green beans sparked a new tradition. They were passed around, tossed, balanced, fondled and generally employed as entertainment. Worthy of the Schmenge Christmas! (Google that on YouTube if the reference escapes you.)
All in all, it was a nice day. We don't exchange Xmas presents anymore- thank god!- so at least that source of stress is eliminated. (Although Bob and I did give my brother in law John his birthday gifts, distinguished this year with a black and red motif.) Lots of food, bright sunlight (despite cold), a tree harvested from the side of our driveway, politics with everyone on the same side of the aisle; it was a good time.

Over Heated/ Stay-cation/Expanded Birthday Version

Not sure what kind of insect this is- other than very large!- but it was adhered to our picnic table. This is how big it was: at first I thought it was a baby bat! I think the extreme weather has encouraged some strange Southern bugs to infiltrate.
Well, the hot weather has caused my brain to go on a stay-cation. It's so muggy and the air is so vile that thinking is nie-on impossible. Lots of vague empty spaces...
What was I saying? Oh yes, something banal about the weather. And it does seem that it's always like this for my birthday, whether it's celebrated on the right day or delayed for a month due to unforeseen medical episodes involving family member's faces...

But my birthday celebration was delightful! Good food and a splendid concord grape wine, lovely gifts including several choice hostas (Empress Wu! and Curly Fries), nuts, flip flops adorned with jewels, clothing, more wine; the list could go on and on and my family was most generous. Thanks to them all! Lil' Robin the Good was on her best behavior and soon took a real shine to my family, rolling around and exposing her underbelly like a trollop. But even she is crashed out on the floor now, trying to escape the heat as best as she can.

Bob's sculpture looks ready to be beamed up to another planet- hopefully one with nicer weather. We couldn't even see the (supposedly) spectacular meteor show last night as it was decidedly overcast last night and rained every so often. I actually woke up at 5:00 am and went outside my studio to see if there were meteor shower remnants to catch but no such luck!

And what else? I should have gotten this blasted, wasted attempt of a blog post up two day ago but the office (ie; the room in which the computer lives) is so hot that I haven't been up to a long enough stint to actually finish the post... you get the picture.

 So it feels like 104 degrees (according to the Weather Channel) and my studio is an oven and I'm retreating back to that air-conditioned bedroom. Sayonora!

Fruitful Gifts

Anyone who knows me knows that one of my primary reasons for owning a house was my constant chant of "I want fruit trees! I want berry bushes!" And so we have begun the vegetable garden and started to lay out beds and borders...
The other day I spied a UPS package in a very vertical shape and checked to see if it had been mis-addressed as we hadn't ordered anything. Lo and behold, it was a simply wonderful gift from my friend Laurie in the form of a peach tree- and not just any peach, but a "Belle of Georgia". We were thrilled as we can begin our orchard. What a great gift because everytime you pick and enjoy fruit, you can remember the thoughfulness of a friend. The peach tree has been planted and guy-wired (as seen in above picture) in our "agricultural triangle".
My sister Beatrice and her partner John gave us some raspberry shoots from their yard, so we're off to a flying start. We are still at work erecting the perimeter fence.