Where Do I Begin?

I have been mulling over three utterly different subjects for this post. I could either describe our recent trip to Vermont (fun), the lovely stone and mosaic step that Bob and I constructed outside my studio (useful), or the scary meeting Bob and I attended about passing an ordinance prohibiting the carrying of gun in public places in our town (weird). As you can see (sort of) from the above picture, I chose to write about an "interesting" (in all the worst ways!) experience...
I had received- and not paid too much attention to- emails about a Southbury town meeting that was so well attended and so large, that it had to be postponed and moved to the high school auditorium. It was a meeting about an attempt to pass an ordinance that would prohibit the carrying of guns on public property. I also received a phone call from a woman on the Democratic Town Committee who explained what was involved. Bob and I decided to attend.
As you can see from the above picture (which is a re-photo of a shot posted on a news website) there was quite a crowd. We, the gun safety proponents, were on one side of the main doorway and they, the gun advocates, were on the other. We sized each other up.

Bob was initially hesitant to actually go into the auditorium (as were other people that we talked to outside) but I was pretty adamant that we were here, we should hear what people were presenting as arguments. It was packed and lines formed for attendees to testify. We had been handed signs that announced we were residents of Southbury, and this mattered as many of the gun supporters had been urged to attend even if they lived in other towns. I had checked the CCDL website and learned that they were actively encouraging members to attend and "wear CCDL swag". I think the majority of the pro-gun people were out-of-towners as I didn't recognize many of them...
There was an introduction by the resident state trooper about what is in the actual existing gun laws. There is apparently a bit of room for interpretation in the carrying in public places rule that is already on the books; a murky "need for a special license". 
Residents from our town and surrounding towns then addressed the Board of Selectmen. Many spoke movingly about being from Sandy Hook (the next town over from us) and how crazy it is to allow- or promote! the idea that we're safer if we're all "packing". I was entirely in agreement with the woman who said simply, "I don't want to think about the person next to me at the library carrying a gun. Or the person next to me while I'm licensing my dog or paying my taxes..." But it was disheartening to hear the people who gave their ideas about the 2nd amendment and how it was their right to bear arms. It was terrifying and I seriously began to wonder what I was thinking, encouraging Bob and myself in coming into this auditorium to be surrounded by so many gun totin' whack jobs! I felt my eyes opening wider and wider and I started breathing so that I thought I'd hyperventilate; it was not a good place to be. PTSD, anyone?
Ultimately, we stayed through about a third of the speakers and then left. We had had enough. Honestly? The police on duty (and there were more present then I've ever seen before in town (except at the local pizza joint) looked a bit uneasy, too.

But we got tee shirts and placards and buttons and I plan on wearing my tee shirt to work. I have requested that the auction house be declared "a gun free zone" as I know that several of my co-workers think very differently from me about their right to bear arms.
And this meeting took place after Las Vegas but before the (most recent mass) shooting at the church in Texas! And don't forget the shooting at a Walmart in Colorado, in which it was described that the gun man "nonchalantly" opened fire on people shopping!* Good grief! where does this end? Cynically, I still fear that if the death of 26 children and their educators didn't provoke a change in the gun laws, then what will? And how did we all wind up in a replay of The Wild Wild West?

*Interestingly, the argument was raised that if everyone has a gun and starts shooting at the person who initially started shooting, when the police arrive, how on earth are they supposed to know who the "good guys" or the "bad guys" are? And the two men who pursued the shooter in Texas were driving at 90 miles an hour and shooting. What if they had shot an innocent bystander? Or caused a traffic accident? And how did they really know the story behind who was shooting? Too many disturbing details...

Timber!

It's never a dull moment! I was expecting to put up a posting about our recent trip to Vermont, but instead I'm blogging about several large trees that decided to take a nose dive in that storm last night. Driving back from Vermont was wet and a bit windy but when we arrived home, the weather picked up significantly. We even lost power for like three seconds- just enough to disrupt the clock on the stove, the computer etc. I heard that 150,000 homes lost power, so we were lucky!

This morning, I was washing the breakfast dishes when Bob came back in from outside and said, "Go look at the driveway..." I had images of our car or truck smashed to bits or my studio roof being burdened by giant branches. Amazingly, the trees that fell down did minimal damage. (Interestingly, they fell exactly where Bob was saying he was going to drop them as he was planning on cutting them down. Both were dead!) Well, no damage to cars or house but...

One of Bob's sculptures took a bit of a beating, but fortunately, it's nothing that can't be fixed. It really is pretty incredible that these trees fell, missing all of the Japanese maples and a large planter that is located there; the trees even missed the vegetable garden fence. It was like precision landing.
I am surprised that we didn't hear these trees fall, but the remnants of the tropical storm- intense rain, really strong wind- probably masked the crashes of the trees. Nothing like experiencing extreme weather (and on the anniversary of Super Storm Sandy!) to confirm the reality of climate change. What with the fires on the west coast, the drought and extreme heat in California and the multiple category 5 hurricanes, we're fortunate that we received only several inches of rain and some wind...
And we are still waiting to really, truly celebrate our 29th non-anniversary. Even farther north in Vermont, there still hasn't been a hard frost. We keep thinking, "Maybe tonight..."

End of Season and Looking to Spring

One of the last flowers of the season! And although we haven't had a hard frost and we haven't been able to officially celebrate our non-anniversary, the few flowers that remain are getting weaker and paler... except for these crazy morning glories! They seem to be in their element. The color is spectacular and they're dribbling and sprawling all over the vegetable garden gates.

And while Bob has reminded me that I said I was "done planting" (whatever that means!) I did manage to score a couple more types of white daffodils and narcissus for that newly planted spring blooming area. I have already planted "Barrett Browning", "Misty Glen", "Thalia" and "Ice Follies", I was eager to snatch up "Mount Hood " and "Poeticus" on sale at an Agway. That new area is going to really be a treat in the spring, as I have lamented the lack of much of anything going on early in the season at The BauHaus Chicken Coop. Next year should bring a lovely explosion of white daffodils, assorted lilacs and an under planting of vinca. I gives me something to look forward to, even if "they" are predicting a relatively mild winter.

Going to New Heights

Some people like heights. They scramble up ladders and perch on roof edges and wave happy trowels while spreading roof sealant. I am not one of these people.
Sensible artist that I am, I like to remain on Terra Firma- even if I am a monkey- and let others scale to extreme heights and face down dizziness, danger and disaster.
That's Bob up there. I guess I should be glad that he seems somehow comfortable ascending to the thin air where eagles soar and he makes sure that the roof in good shape for the approaching winter.
But I'm glad when he comes back to earth.

Yes, that's the actual view... can you see Bob? You couldn't pay me a million dollars to go up there!

Art, Sickeness and The Resistance Continues

I haven't blogged since that terrace completion because I've been really busy. I did Open Studios again this year, after a hiatus of four years. It was great! I got lots of good feedback and some serious interest in being informed of upcoming gallery shows (of which there are a few in the works. I'm excited about that!) There were something like 160+ artists in the building- a giant temporary space that used to be a garrison for some sort of military group, I think. And there was a surprising amount of really interesting and engaging work on display, along with several wacky performances that got me and my friends laughing. (We needed that after all the dire news recently.)
Above is one of the pieces I showed, "The Small Golden Pillow for the Resistance". I had three larger wall pieces on display as well as an assortment of artist's books. I was really happy because this years Open Studios was extraordinarily well attended. I spoke until I was hoarse and saw a lot of artists/friends that I haven't seen in ages. And then I got sick...
Well, that could be because of all the people in attendance, probably a half carrying some cold/virus germs... and there were children! Oh, you have to watch out for those little buggers wiping there snotty boogers everywhere. Did I mention that there were no bathrooms, just Port-O-Lets that got increasingly nasty as the weekend wore on? My last visit just before leaving on Sunday was particularly memorable. I bonded with several people in line who were brave enough (and desperate enough) to need to use the facilities. We played a good game of "what's behind Door Number 1 or Door Number 2... or do you want Door Number 3?" You can't win.
But it very well could have been my considerate co-worker who came in briefly on Friday to coach me in the use of the new photo lights at work. He came in briefly as he went home sick with a cold.  Yeeech. He never strikes me as being the most hygienic fellow at the best of times!
So I'm not feeling particularly smart- or well, either- and i'm going to go take a nap. I actually called in sick today, because unlike others whose names shall not be mentioned, I don't wish to spread illness.

Terrace Complete!

It's only fair that I insert a photo of Bob hard at work on our terrace so that you don't mistakenly think that I did all the work. So here's Bob, mixing up the final batch of mortar to finish off those decorative seams of quartz rocks. This is, after all, The House That Quartz Built.

This is a nice detail shot, showing how we cleverly united the cement areas to the mixed cement and stone areas. It's a perfect balance between playful and practical (much like us!) and it looks good to boot.  It was great to be able to say, "We're done!" and take down the construction zone fencing and open the door directly out onto the lovely new terrace...

We celebrated it's completion yesterday, despite a steady rain and less than cooperative weather in general. The last two months have been unrelentingly warm and sunny and conducive to outdoor living on a nice terrace but plan a celebration and you get rain... at least it's good for curing cement!
It's great to finally finish a project that has been on our minds for the last six years. We do spend a huge percentage of our time outside and having a new outdoor room is a treat. I have almost forgotten how awful that rotting deck was.
And if you look really carefully at the back right hand side of the terrace, you'll see the flat cement slab that was already there and to the right of that is a small pile of rocks. This was intentionally put there: it's a new toad house. We have had a toad- or a few toads that all look pretty similar- residing under our rotting deck. We provided a small heap of canted rocks on the dirt at the edge of the terrace- a perfect replacement house for our resident toads. We hope s/he enjoys it!

Terrace Processo

So the real work on the terrace commences! (To be distinguished from all the preliminaries like hauling gravel, concrete and wood...) Bob is so smart. He figured out a nifty framework to level the areas we constructing: we wanted a combination of cement pads (that would be easier to shovel in the winter) and stone and concrete sections... along with narrower channels which are a combination of mortar and white quartz in between that would unite the pattern. And it had to slope away (slightly) from the house so as to drain well. So many things to consider!
Here we are, considering:

And then the endless mixing and applying began:

(Do I look like I know what I'm doing? Hmmmm....)These bags of cement weigh a ton (well... 90 pounds) but don't go as far as you'd think. We got 8 bags initially (remember all that math about how much weight we'd lifted one afternoon?) but we had to make a second and third trip to Home Depot for the same amount again and again.

Here's a couple of days later. Notice we have a very interesting- and stylish- mix of cement and rock going on. There's a lovely ratio of flat cement pads, radiating out from the door with the surrounding areas (that receive less foot traffic) being a mix of stone and cement. It's dynamic yet restful.

Another angle to better describe what's shaping up. We're about half way there and it is getting more exciting by the day. I can't wait to be able to use it! Next spring?