A Snowy Start

 

Well yes, a snowy start to 2024 but let's see how long that snow lasts! Not having had almost any for two years, it is interesting to contemplate a world of white. It's supposed to rain- like torrents!- tonight and probably turn all that snow into slush. Tomorrow is going to be almost 50 degrees so goodbye snow!

Januaury 3rd saw the anniversary of our having moved to the BauHaus Chicken Coop a full twelve years ago. As a friend remarked: time does fly! I have also posted over 800 (!!! Yikes!!) blogs describing our time here. I realize I haven't posted quite as diligently in the last year... but really? We've been really busy and soemtimes I just forget to document all the weird and wonderful things we've done.

And don't expect brilliance from me today. I haven't slept well in three (count 'em 3!!) days and am running on fumes. As the weather is supposed to disintegrate into nastiness soon, I may just crawl back to bed and hibernate. Wish me pleasant dreams!

A Good Night's Sleep

 

We all recognize that a good night's sleep is important. And that goes double for someone who is sick... like me. Yes! After successfully avoiding getting sick for three full years, thanks to vaccines and boosts and masks and hand washing (and wringing) and learning not to touch my face, I came down with a "common cold". I'm not sure where or from whom this unwelcome rhinovirus originated (A lab? The "fresh market"?) but I'm pretty sure it's the garden variety of head cold. (*1)

But despite illness and snow, one still needs to perform the farm chores. There's Neko- smart horse! enjoying breakfast in her barn- and yes, that's hay hanging out of her mouth. So now that we've all eaten and been watered, I can repair back to bed. Because, as I introduced this post, a good night's sleep is advised.

So last night I fell asleep almost immediately after watching Part 1 of The 1619 Project (enthralling) and missed all of Bob's night time story, apparently about a motorcycle gang. But I woke up at about 12:15 and just could not get back to sleep. This probably had something to do that I awoke unable to breath and gasping for air with my mouth open like a fish. Additionally, my eyes were watering so heavily I felt as if I were crying. As a bonus, the whole of my face hurt (*2) probably because of the pressure of my sinuses. Such fun! Then I lay there, unable to return to dream land- or at least unconsciousness. 

(A stock photo of our beloved Robin the Good as she refused to be photographed for this blog and I'm not sure why as she's very pretty and very photogenic!) Anyway Robin is the star of the next episode of my Very Unpleasant Night as about 2:30 (yes, I was still awake!) Robin commenced making a quite impressive range of canine vocalizations signaling that she needed something. In this case, I correctly surmised that despite it being 2:30 in the morning and there being a miserable mixture of snow and rain falling, she needed to go outside to relive herself.

As I turned over to rouse myself from bed and dress appropriate to the hour and the inclement weather, I proceeded to knock my full glass of bedside water over, where it landed on Robin's bed. I attempted- in the dark and quietly so as not to wake Bob up- to mop up the water with a towel from the laundry basket. There was a lot of it and Robin's bed was soaked. Robin was displaying her impatience to go outside so I finished dressing hurriedly and we threw ourselves down the stairs and out the door into winter wonderland. At this point, all I could do was laugh with a bit of hysteria thrown in. 

Robin completed her outdoor mission and we returned to the bedroom where Robin was offended to find her bed had been wet down and messed up. I had to make her a temporary bedding with a couple of flannel sheets and a towel which I am certain she viewed as inferior to her usual bed and worthy of a display similar to the Princess and the Pea. (*3)

Robin was soon snoring, Bob was asleep and I was still wide awake, attempting to doze propped up on pillows, hurting and exhausted. I finally did nod off at like 4:30. Which is why I'm going back to bed right now. Good night!!

(*1) It followed my "classic" development of a cold: sore throat upon awakening, then a progression to stuffed up nose and the impossibility of breathing. Nothing exotic but if I get really enthusiastic later maybe I'll stick a swab up my nose and see if COVID finally came to call!

(*2) Mommy used to describe this as neuralgia, a nerve pain upside the head. It abated after a dose of ibuprofen but it truly was insult to injury.

(*3) In which the princess proves herself to be a Princess by claiming to have not slept at all and is covered in bruises because she felt a single pea placed under a 100 mattresses or so. My little princess...

Bedlam!

 

Here's a rare, intimate view of our bedroom. Looks perfectly nice and cozy, bed made... who would ever expect that this is the scene of of much bedding consternation.

Well, one issue was settled recently with the purchase and addition of a bed topper (100% organic latex with 100% cotton cover!) Bob had complained of aching hip and sore shoulder from sleeping on our rock-hard mattress. Solved! He's sleeping better these days. (*1)

But our latest dilemma is having aging sheets, all of our lower fitted sheets are disintegrating. Here's a shot of the pile of orphan sheets:

This is only part of the problem. There are a few more "singletons" in the laundry basket. I liked all of these when they were sets: a bottom fitted sheet, a flat top sheet and two lovely MATCHING pillow cases. Now, I struggle to make a sorta/kinda set out of one swirly blue pillow case with the top sheet of the striped set (missing a bottom and one pillow case) and then what? The blue bottom, fitted sheet (again) that now has a big rip where my feet go? (*2)

So my question is this: do I attempt to buy several bottom, fitted sheets to supplement my top sheet "collection"? Or do I spring for entire new sets of sheets? Several considerations avail themselves. One is that to purchase fitted sheets costs almost as much as getting a new complete set of sheets. The second is that I'll have to order on line as finding a fitted sheet by itself is impossible in local stores. And don't get me even going on how hard it is to find 100% cotton sheets in attractive colors or patterns! There sure are some plug-ugly bed sets out there! And they try to sneak polyester into the sets by calling them "comfort cotton" or "ez care"... all code words for sleazy sleep sets! 

I did break down and buy a couple of pillow cases last week. They're a kind of watery pale blue; not offensive but none too exciting, either. But this leaves me perplexed: why can I buy a package of two pillow cases, but not get a simple fitted sheet by itself? Who makes these executive decisions?!?! (*3)

But we do have a lovely throw pillow with a picture of a Robin on it! (Thanks to Bob's mother). Funny, it's the one spot in the house Robin isn't allowed (on the bed) so we have an avatar.

(*1) The jury is out on my side of the mattress. My lower back has been cranky and I don't know if it's coincidence or whether the mattress topper is too soft for me!

(*2) Bob said that when he was growing up, all the family sheets were flat; there was no such thing as a fitted sheet. I agree: fitted sheets came along many years after our childhoods. However, I have observed that "they" now manufacture flat sheets smaller so that you can't use them as bottom sheets. They never tuck in all around. A hideous plot!

(*3) I know, in light of all the truly awful problems in the world at present (COVID, Climate Change, Texas, the Taliban, Fox News etc etc) my having issues in the bedding department are not major issues. But I'm having enough trouble sleeping with out tossing and turning on ripped, mis
matched sheets!

Exhaustion... And Relief!

 

I'm so relieved! So relieved, in fact, that I am starting a new piece that has NOTHING TO DO with The Orange Menace or all the lies and trouble he has caused. How's THAT for radical??!?! Although when I was shopping for fabric, I had three people exclaim, "Oh! that's such pretty material! What are you going to make?" (I think they expected me to say, "A winsome frock!" or some such nicety.) I replied, "I make profanity-laced political banners." One woman retorted, "Oh, that's nice." Another older (even than me) woman asked and I once more offered that I make political banners. She suggested that the election is over... implying that there's no room for politics anymore. I replied that although I was very happy with the outcome of the election, as an artist, there is always something political to address. Such is my mission!

But yes, relief and exhaustion. I know that many of us are experiencing this combination. I wanted to call friends and sing praises of democracy in action, but I've been so tired that crawling into bed and reading and then... YES!! SLEEPING!! Deep, restful sleep. Or, more to the point, safe and restful, sleep, sleep, sleep.(*1) I am certain we face many up-hill and stupid battles between here and inauguration day (biggest one EVER!!) thanks to intransigent rethuglicans and a little poor-loser dictator that just won't quit. But we won!

And how's this for a hopeful sign? I was walking past the compost pile and I spied something orange. It was a gazania, alive and still in bloom despite last week's below freezing temperatures and being chucked out of a pot. A bit of sunshine to help us along!

(*1) Although I did have a truly weird dream that Rudy Giuliani helped me steal a very large (blue) dump truck to help try and rescue someone. He was actually a good person in the dream; how warped is that?!?

 

 

Quarantine Day ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Between Quarantine in general and the dark, cold, rainy days in particular, I'd just as soon crawl back into bed. Or stay in bed once it reaches something called "morning". I need sun! And flowers! And... trips to nurseries and garden centers!!!!!
I remarked to Bob that I'm sort of a junkie. I started itching and scratching and twitching and generally behaving in unpleasant and unattractive ways because I (and I'm assuming many others) am experiencing a spring in which I can't do one of my very favorite things: go to nurseries.
So I called around. Many garden centers/nurseries are open- but only if you pre-buy and pick up at curbside. This really cannot work in the horticultural arena. I need to look at and mentally combine combinations and colors. Also, I need to pick out my own plants; how can anyone else know which
specimen I think is best suited to my purposes?
I did locate one garden center in the next town over that said as long as you wore a mask and practiced social distancing, you could wander around and get your fix. Needless to say I was in my car and barrelling towards nirvana in a matter of minutes...

And here's Bob (and one of his new sculptures) proudly displaying his mighty row of garlic. He's done a fine job of organizing and weeding and mulching the vegetable garden. Bob is also displaying a more stoic approach to the cold wet weather and seems more inclined to spend time outside. Just yesterday, I got all excited and gathered tools and tarps only to find that the clouds had rolled back in and the sun had retreated. I retired to my studio.

Here's a shot of the lettuce row. The cover protects the tiny seedlings against too much rain, sun or even spatter after a quick rain shower. Bob is going to transplant the seedlings soon; I can't wait for those first tender little shoots! One of Spring's great pleasures!

Here's another view of the seedlings. It's so important in this time of death and uncertainty and lack of leadership and tragedy to have a hopeful outcome to look forward to. Great organic things to eat! Not having to run to the store for picked over produce! Yay!
This is why I'm craving warm, sunny weather: I need that time outdoors to move plants around and remake and remodel garden beds that have become chaotic and weedy. Just to dig in the dirt. Even our perpetually sunny dog Robin the Good has been melancholy and not sure she really wants to go out. (Lots of standing at the door but not moving when the door opens. Sigh.) My mission today is to cheer her- and me!- up.

In Which I Get a Grant and Then Can't Sleep

The title of this posting pretty much says it all. Yaaaay!! Hooray for me! I got a grant from the state, which makes me a National Treasure (all friends/family members/coworkers/sycophants take note!) and worthy of the utmost respect. Hey! This is my third (3 time's the charm!!) grant from the state so I must be doing something right...
After all that excitement and the general craziness at work, I was so tired and strung out that I couldn't sleep on Monday night. That meant I was doubly tired and mixed up on Tuesday, so of course I couldn't sleep again and had another of my crazy post-Apocalyptic dreams. That made me such a mess on Wednesday that I actually cancelled my riding lesson. Boy, I KNOW I was tired if I bagged on that as I look forward to my ride all week long. I tried napping but Robin the Good keep poking me with her nose and paws to make sure I wasn't dead and I never really did sleep until later that night. I think I've caught up now, but it still hasn't entirely sunk in that I got a grant.
So what does one do after all the dust settles and reality hits? I start a new piece! *(1) Seen above is another of that awful Rush Limbaugh's portmanteaus... "Feminist" and "Nazi" make "Feminazi", of course: a title I will proudly claim if it makes me deplorable in Rush Limbaugh's lard encrusted eyeballs. I began this piece when I heard that The Orange Menace had awarded Limbaugh The Fucking Medal of Freedom for (apparently) being a racist, sexist, homophobic right-wing moron. I swear, what won't they dream up next? I read that The Orange Menace was dictating what kind of architecture is to be used in governmental buildings- shades of Mussolini!! Could things get any weirder??!? Dangerous question, that! *(2)

*(1) Well, yes, I started a new piece but it was so cold my studio wouldn't warm up so I actually began a through house cleaning. I vacuumed upstairs, downstairs and the actual stairs and am going to clean the bathrooms once I post this. Maybe I should hire a cleaning person with that grant money! Hahahahahah!


*(2) And now reports have The Orange Menace wanting to do a victory lap in the presidential limousine (nicknamed "The Beast") at the Daytona 500 or some other NASCAR event. Banana Republic here we come!!

On Not Sleeping

Last night, in yet another failed attempt to sleep, I got up and accomplished quite a bit on the above piece. I sewed around all the inner edges of the letters, where the intersect and overlap the insert of horizontal fabric. I'm glad I had something to do, but I sure would rather have been asleep, leaving the artwork for day time.
Do I need to tell you that not sleeping sucks? Of course not. I'm tired, I'm not thinking clearly, I've lost some of the edge of my sense of humor, I'm probably not making a whole lot of sense and hell, I worry that my judgement has gone out the window. (Someone stop me if I consider voting for Ted Cruz. That's what lack of sleep can do to you. Snark, snark, snark.

That mug would wake the dead!! My eyes! As Robert Reich cogently pointed out in a 4 point presentation, Ted is even scarier than The Donald.)
So here I am again, at 3:21 in the a.m. wide awake and posting a blog that leaps from my latest art work to weirdo republicans in a single bound. But I guess this beats lying in bed, debating the (un) merits of getting up versus restlessly turning from side to side, trying to convince yourself that you're almost a sleep. Surprise! You're not!
There is that mysterious moment when you feel immersed in pool of almost not-consciousness and you just let go and slip into sleep, if it's going to happen. The "if it's going to happen" is crucial because if it's not happening, you spring back up like, "Hello! I'm actually wide awake!!" I've become really good at that part. Contemplating that moment of suspension and surrender is not helpful because if your twitching monkey brain is busy analyzing the threshold of sleep instead of simply crossing it, you're not sleeping.
So here I am, the only being awake for miles around, hoping to finish up this blog posting so that I can go back to the bedroom and drift off. I know that since Jules the Dog died, my sleep patterns have gone to hell. In the past if I occasionally couldn't sleep, Jules saw it as his duty to keep my company. Now, even not sleeping makes me miss Jules...
I am hoping that the impending (some time mid week?!?!?) arrival of our latest bundle of canine joy will assist in recovering the ability to sleep soundly. But I do need to take into consideration the fact that small puppies who are not house trained need to be taken outside every two or three hours. That'll do wonders for my not sleeping!

Glue Factory Here We Come!

I often make temporary pastures for Crispin out on the lawn. I make sure to check up on him a few times a day to be certain he hasn't escaped or "gotten in trouble" or, well... died. Witness the above photo- down for the count! The first time I caught him napping like this, I thought I'd killed him like he'd eaten poisonous lawn ingredients or something. Horses have notoriously sensitive digestive systems. But he was merely getting a bit of shut eye. (He is fortunate to be so relaxed! Very unusual for him!!)
He was actually snoring and twitching like some gigantic dog. I went back to the house, secured the camera, snuck over to him and snapped the below sequence. I think he was basking in the wonderful warm late summer sun...

He woke up and shook off his sleepiness, much as you or I would do...

All 900 or so pounds of horse rolled to one side and then rocked back...

Sort of centered himself and then...

lurched to his feet, looking very pleased with his little snooze.
Too bad that Crispin and I have had such a rocky relationship! But we're like the classic couple in which neither partner is bad but together it just doesn't work anymore. I am hoping that I have arranged a good conclusion.
On Wednesday a woman that I met who owns a horse farm is bringing me another horse, Maggie by name. Crispin is going back to Dayville in her place, perhaps as a beautiful and lasting solutionculminating in equal exchange. I think Crispin will be happier with other horses around, in a "school" setting, where there is order and routine. I think he needs a secure environment. I am really hoping that Maggie the Horse is destined to become my little trail buddy. I'll let you know what happens!