Happy Birthday to Me

Here's a picture of my delicious birthday pie! Blueberry... my favorite (well maybe tied with peach!) and made with fresh blueberries plucked from our own berry bushes early yesterday morning. Maybe it turned out a bit on the tart side (Bob maintaining that it needed a pinch more sugar) but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
And I received lovely gifts from Bob and a million and ten birthday greetings on Facebook (everybody's favorite!)  and a number of thoughtful actual physical birthday cards- I'm very happy. Except that the weather sucked and we spent the day huddled in the air conditioned bed room, emerging only for refills of cold drinks and the occasional ill-advised trip outside to experience what life on Mars or Venus is like.
My birthday is typically hot 'n' humid but this heatwave is exceptional. We actually cancelled my family's celebration at our house because it was either sit in the driveway in Beatrice and John's new car with the air conditioning blasting (worrying about getting frosting on the immaculate interior) or hunkering together in the bed room (the only air conditioned room in the house) which would be awkward. Outside really was not a possibility and we had originally considered grilling: unimaginable!
So at last the hideous weather has broken and it's expected to rain late today into tomorrow. That's a good thing as plants and grasses were stressing in the garden and we were stressing in the house. I felt badly for poor Maggie the Mexican Pony (yes, she's still with us) who stood stamping flies in her stall. She was downright giddy the cool of this morning, breaking into a wonky trot when I fed her her breakfast grain.
Let's trust teh improved weather will last!

Sink or Swim!

I thought I'd let you suffer through the stress and anxiety of wondering what happened to the sink project... Did the new sink leak? Did the gaskets burst, spewing water sky high? Did the worst things that could happen happen?!?!?
NO! It all went swimmingly and we've been enjoying our new cabinets and sink for almost a week now. I've just been remiss (and busy!!) and haven't gotten around to finishing this epic.
So to pick up where we left off, Joe and Bob installed the freshly painted cabinets- ones repurposed from a couple of friend's kitchen re-do.And as you can see, with the exception of a couple of places that needed repainting after the cabinets were fitted, it already looks cleaner and brighter.
This part of the process looks simple enough but my hats off to Bob and Joe for figuring out how to fit all the jigsaw puzzle like pieces back together and then still have to do the actual plumbing.

For a few days, we washed dishes in the downstairs bathroom sink. It was a tad inconvenient but thank goodness for that downstairs sink. It felt almost awkward to think of using the kitchen sink again. The dish drain board had to sit on the washing machine and necessitated many trips back and forth from the bathroom to the kitchen. I don't miss that procession!
But finally, the sink was dropped in and the side pieces were glued on and braced. That's what the random looking piece of wood is all about: causing pressure to hold the side panels in place until set. But look at that glowing red sink! Fabulous! Around the edge, you can see silicone caulking oozing out of the friction between the sink and the counter surface. Bob carefully sliced that away and then he was ready to hook up the pipes and connections underneath. That's the nerve wracking part, because if it isn't sealed correctly, we're back to Leak Ville!
But it worked and brilliantly when Bob turned on the water.

So the sink is now in use and every time I approach it to get a glass of water or place a dish in the sink to wash it, I admire the amazing red sink... with no leaks. The doors still remain to be reattached but we're waiting a couple of days until the underneath dries out completely. But it looks and works great and I don't cringe when ever I get a glass of water.

That Sink-ing Feeling

Get ready for some truly gross before pictures! I mean, our sink was BAD. Last year, pre-tornado, we were aware that the faucet on the kitchen sink leaked. Water was seeping out from under the (badly chipped!) metal housing and oozing down around the sink and between the wall and the countertop. I even (cringe) removed a few mushrooms that sprouted in that crevice between the wall and the faucet. Hey! They were small...

Here's the underneath- unpleasantly soggy and one of those places in your house you don't want to even think about, let alone dwell on. And this is the cleaned out picture! There were boxes of things like steel wool pads that had disintegrated so completely that when I reached in to remove them, they dissolved into a nasty smeary, rusty rotten pile of slime. It was awful cleaning everything out from under the sink.
And the sink itself! Holy cow! It was never a paragon of sink perfection but as it was made of plastic, it just became entirely stained and no amount of Bartender's Helper's Friend helped. Take a look:

Wow... even I'm impressed by how hideous that was!
So I was attempting to say that we meant to do the sink/ counter/cabinet replacement last year but never got to it as we had so much exterior clean up to do. But Bob and our intrepid friend Joe (thanks Joe!) set to work on Tuesday and tore all this nastiness out.

 Here's Joe's arm being featured alongside the old cabinet (and dishwasher) that are a-comin' out. Notice the lovely neon lime green wall detailing: I think the entire kitchen was once that refreshing color! (Yeeeesh!! My eyes!) Anyway, here's what it looked like after circuit breaker had been tripped, water had been shut off and cabinets had made their way to the backyard:

Bob and Joe cleaned that disaster up and I painted the interior white. (I also did my (small) part by painting all the doors, trim boards, floor boards and various other connection pieces white... the least I could do!) Enough eye sore! I'll post the happier photos of successful rebuilding the cabinet and installing the sink in a few days!

Work in Progress

(I am not a happy woman as I type this as some fucking glitch of editing deleted my entire post and I am attempting to type this all again and recapture my witty and effervescent tone!!)
Ahem! I was writing that I have actually had time- in between the seasonal hysteria of gardening for myself and a friend and working and delivering a piece of Bob's sculpture to Vermont- to begin a new piece. Maybe gardening is slowing down a bit as most things have been planted and it's a matter of tweaking and weeding and fertilizing. My studio calls!
I hope the picture above gives some idea of my direction. The piece is about five feet wide and the back ground fabric is this great swirly, opulent yet sleazy pattern; over the top! (As is typical, I bought that fabric because I liked it and didn't have a clue as to what I'd use it on. When I started to design this piece, the fabric was shouting at me to use it.)
Here's a detail:

Fabulous, isn't it? Baroque twirly crenelations with leopard inlays- who thinks this stuff up? The top third of that picture is the fabric I'll use for the medallion area, where my text will go. It's this sort of spongey lacey gold and silver concoction; it's all so sweet it makes your teeth hurt. The text is going to be that aqua shiny fabric seen laying on top in the top picture. The sales woman at the fabric store said, "Oh! That's so pretty! What are you making?" "Trouble!" I responded. They always ask; I think they are required to. As previously mentioned, one store I go to greets me with, "It's the WTF lady!" I guess that's better than being called the "Star Fucker" after another notorious creation of mine.)
So I could be coy and not tell you what the text on this piece is going to say. But seeing as how I'm still experimenting with what the text is actually going to look like it may take a while, so I'll just go ahead and print it.
It started with my repeatedly hearing the word "kleptocracy". Here's Wikipedia's definition:

Kleptocracy is a government with corrupt leaders that use their power to exploit the people and natural resources of their own territory in order to extend their personal wealth and political powers.

(Obviously comes from the same root as "kleptomania". Let's face it, we now most certainly live in a kleptocracy!) Anyway, it had a certain ring to it and I played with "kultural kleptocracy" and a few other variants but I wasn't entirely convinced. And then it came to me- as my ideas often do!- while on my morning walk: "Uh-oh! Kleptocracy!" That was perfect. Sorta silly yet punchy and there's a hint of a warning in the "uh-oh".* I'm not sure when I'll get into my studio next for a extended work on the piece session, but you can be sure I'm exploring fonts and typefaces in my dreams!

* That phrase comes pulled up from the deepest dank depths of my childhood mind hole. See if you remember it. Bob got the reference right away and I was delighted.

Playing the Field

Oops! That's what I get for photographing myself in a mirror! Hahahaha!

That's better. This is a posting entirely about Democratic presidential candidates. Yes, there are like 15 or 16 too many of them; who knows who half of them are! And even if you do put a name with a face, many seem like carbon copies and unnecessary redundancies. With a few exceptions (okay Hinkenlooper, we know you think socialism is wrong!) they all seem to pretty much get on board with universal health coverage of some sort and think Climate Change is real. That's a beginning! But what we need is (sigh/gasp/moan and belch) to defeat The Orange Menace. Is that special someone REALLY Joe Biden? Oh please! (What's that clammy breath I feel on the back of my neck?!??!) Biden may be beating The Orange Menace handily in multiple polls, but so are a couple of my favorites...
I liked Bernie back in 2016 and I still like him: Consistent! Consistent! Consistent! He's been singing the same songs for ages and it resonates with me. Sometimes I get a bit nervous thinking we need someone (oh forgive me) younger but boy! Bernie has energy! He's an inspiration. (And both Bob and I still have tee shirts and even our bumper stickers in place...)
But then wouldn't I like to see a woman in the White House?!? We got robbed last time (even though Hillary wasn't my first choice...) and there are several well positioned, smart woman running. But for some reason (a few which I won't list here as maybe I'll change my tune as I feel slightly guilty for NOT backing her), Elizabeth Warren doesn't get my interest, although she DOES have a policy position on EVERYTHING and she is obviously qualified but I like:

She's tough, she's smart and I liked her pointed sarcasm in questioning that awful Kavanaugh twerp during the Supreme Court confirmation hearings. People I know have spoken highly of her tenure as California Attorney General and every interview I have seen with her has made me respect her. (And she showed good humor when Samantha Bee featured a piece with her on her show.)
But hold on! My affections are torn three ways!

Oh! I like Mayor Pete! He's young and energetic and has an amazing resume (Oh hell! He got me when it came out that he has two dogs and plays classical piano!) And he and his husband look so happy and positive! Maybe we need a fresh faced polyglot to turn us around?!?!?!?
So I'm rotating my shirts. I think today is a "Pete" day, although we're having dinner guests and I was debating changing my shirt several times just to keep them guessing. Doesn't hurt to flirt!

Moving the Goal Posts

Can you see it? Can you see what's different? To the occasional visitor it might not be super evident but to us it's major: the gate is GONE!! There was a scabby wire fence separating this section of the yard from the "outside world". In order for us to access the vegetable garden or compost pile, you had to exit through a gate; not always easy when carrying a pile of kitchen scraps or wheeling a wheel barrow. Psychologically, it was a big barrier. Besides, Lil' Robin the Good was doomed to remain on the other side of the fence.
Yesterday, we finally moved the fence. Bob had done preparations in the form of selecting and resurfacing the posts- stout cedar posts that he employed an ancient Japanese wood burning technique to preserve. The gate got moved first:

(Yes, the gate will be repainted soon.) Then we moved the wire fence and let Robin out of the house. First she approached what used to be a fence, apparently uncertain that it was gone. Then she stepped forward hesitantly, like a force field was going to rebuff her. Then she exploded out into the new area- lots more space and smells to explore!

And I discovered lots of weeds! Holy cow! That fence prevented me from accessing the side of the Blue Garden and weeds and invasive ornamental grasses had run amuck. (I guess I know what I'll be doing for the next week or so.) But I did get a good idea of how to reshape the edge of that garden...

In all fairness, this side looks pretty good. And here's a close up of my favorite pale blue "Belladonna"Delphinium:

That color is pretty accurate; like a summer sky. I'll have to take a few pictures of the area behind the Blue Garden- sort of our utility room for the vegetable garden. Bob constructed a lovely fence out of old slats from recycled stockade fence affixed to a simple wire grid fence. It looks great and functions to afford more privacy while composting or working in the vegetable garden. It's beautiful! (And worthy of it's own blog post... coming soon.)
Here's the view from the driveway side looking back to our yard.

Kinda makes the propane tank surround look wonky... hahahaha! If it's not one thing it's another. But the overall affect is one of splendor and open vistas. Come by and see it!

Accidents Will Happen

I loved the wisp of early morning spider's web clinging to Maggie's fence. It was a kinder, gentler image to begin the day than my present litany of accidents, physical mishaps and injuries. My sister Beatrice (hi Beatrice!) is released from having to read this blog post. We talked on the phone earlier and she already knows my laundry list of afflictions!
So we all remember that I am recovering from my most recent bout of Lyme Disease. That's a good thing; I feel fit and energetic and the antibiotics haven't adversely affected my stomach so that's a plus. I am frustrated, as stated in my previous accounting, because I am supposed to stay out of the sun and most of our garden is very sunny. I contented myself with gardening on the several overcast days we had last week. But my hand is still really burned from being exposed to the sun on a drive home last week! Check it out:

I was initially using my hand as a scale model for the size of that magnificent Clematis (not really as blue as the photo; more purple-y!) but I realized how awful that rash looks. Yeech. And that's just the beginning...
So I have Lyme Disease and a badly burnt hand. I'm on my way out the door to go to work and I somehow manage to squeeze all the skin on the back of my right hand in the doorway between the knob and the door frame and an inconvenient screw eye. Now my right hand matches the left, with a handsome bruise and a red knuckle. That really hurt!
I get to work and happily avoid breaking anything but I'm wondering if the moon is in klutz. Navigating the mine field/ obstacle course of the auction house takes nerves of steel and something akin to sonar. I succeeded in running smack into the finials of a pair of ugly lamps that a co-worker had thoughtfully laid sideways on a trolley. Ouch! (I am reminding you of the heroic bruise I sported on my left thigh? I've got one on my right leg now... symmetry!) And if that wasn't enough, I knew immediately that I would be punished for trying to pick up a box full of (very heavy!) glass paperweights. I think I bent at the wrong angle.
And just how wrong that angle was was made apparent at 2:00 last night when I woke up unable to find a comfortable position and seriously debating whether I was having a heart attack. My upper chest was SCREAMING and I couldn't even breath deeply. Googling symptoms suggested that I had probably seriously pulled a muscle, not that that reassured me and I finally fell asleep at like 4:00 am. This morning found me a poster child for the lame and halt as I struggled to lift anything that weighed more than my coffee cup in my mutilated and discolored hands. Thank the gods for ibuprofen!