Cookie Puss

 

Would ya look at that! This cookie greeted Bob and I after dinner one night. While it's totally funny to see a surprised cookie pop out of a package, it's a shame it didn't resemble Jesus... then we could be famous!

And speaking of cookies, here's another puzzle:

Whatever happened with all those monoliths that were popping up across the world? It had a brief run and poof! All gone. Well, I thought to keep the game going...

Seeds Started!

 

A sure sign that Spring is on it's way, despite very cold, windy days: Bob's been busy starting seeds. Above is a shot of the multiple varieties of peppers that are already well under way. Last year, Bob constructed several shelves in the upstairs corner window. He used a heating pad and had tremendous luck; this year he has two more heating pads. (*1) I think he's growing poblano, shishito, "Jimmy Nardello" and... maybe one more? Plenty for us and even plants to give away to lucky friends.

Look at how nicely that top row is growing! The peppers did so well last year. Bob pickled some and froze some more; we're still eating them mixed into sauces and soups. Soon, these seedlings will be followed by tomatoes, onions and all sorts of other vegetables. 

I particularly like this innovation: Bob placed a curtain around the seedlings to create even more light as it reflects off the white fabric. I also think it protects those shy little seedlings from our persistent curious gaze.

If it were a sunny day, you'd see delicate infant plant shadows. I'll try and take another picture when we finally get some sun...

Me? I have zinnia seeds to start when my seeds finally arrive. The particular kind I like to grow- Zinnia linearis "Starlite Mix"- is a bit trickier to start and I like to get a jump on in-ground planting. I know others will disagree and tell me to just throw the seeds directly into the ground. But I hate living with bare earth and have tulips planted in that area so it's more effective to start them indoors. This year, however, I'm going to watch them like a hawk and cover them with a sheet if it even threatens to frost. We had such a late frost last spring that I lost all my zinnia and heliotrope seedlings; I was heartbroken and furious. Such is gardening!

(*1) Bob had such good luck with the heating pad that I decided to get two more for his last year's birthday. As we were heavily quarantined, I thought to order them on line. Little did I dream that because they were manufactured in China, which we had recently embargoed, that it would take like 4 months for his birthday gifts to arrive- well after the need for heating pads!

New Work/ New-ish Year

 

 

I'm hard at work as usual! I did have a coupla slow weeks where I entered at sort of COVID torpor... but that seems to have departed and I've started several new pieces, as well as finishing up several that have been in process for a while. Above is the first section of a very wiiiiiiiiiiiiiide piece that says, "Reconcilition". It's one of those words that has more than one meaning. The one that most people will think of- patching things up or getting ideas (whatever) to agree- isn't the meaning I was considering though. I'm referencing the budgetary/governmental meaning involving a parliamentary procedure to pass budgetary legislation. Check it out: it's been in the news lately. And yes, I am hand sewing all those flower clusters on; they're "lifted" from another fabric.

Not for the faint of heart, here's a close up of my (poor) fingers after a hard day of sewing:

Look at those cracks! Bloody crevices! Who knew that sewing was a contact sport? And yes, I apply copious amounts of hand cream, Bag Balm, "Working Hands" and band-aids, but you can't work with any of that stuff actively on your hands as it stains the fabric. (I wait until bed time.) And it doesn't help that I jammed a needle into a couple of my fingers while sewing: Yow! Almost jumped out of my skin on that!!!

And I finally found a use for at least a bit of the three million miles of blue plastic hay bale twine. (Yes, feed two horses all winter long and you have a LOT of blue hay bale twine.) I am making natty pseudo-fringe for the edge of another piece, "So Tired Of Winning". This one was sitting unresolved in a corner for weeks. But fortunately, I found just the right backing material and the fringe idea just came to mind like magic. But I have like another two and half million miles left if anyone has a special macrame project in mind!

Cracks of Spring

 

I have been heartened recently by the sudden cracks of spring appearing in the world.  Yes, a new administration that doesn't embarrass us, a slowly returning sense of some decorum and peace but I mean this in a simpler way. The never-ending snows of February seem to be ending, we've experienced several 50 and 60 plus degree days and I even saw glimpses of lawn. Let's all utter a gigantic sigh of relief!

But wait; this morning on arising and letting little Robin the Good out the door, what did I spy!?!??! It's (gasp!) snowing again! Here, allow me to torture you with a picture:

Oh mercy! haven't we had enough?!?!? (I think you know my answer.) (Robin the Good was supposed to make a guest appearance but ran off way too quickly on some evil assignment of her own.)

I am being a tad melodramatic as it was a mere dusting and now what's falling from on high is simply a mix of rain and some freezing concoction, but can we just keep the sunny warm stuff going?

I was touring my Spring/Lilac/Daffodil Garden area yesterday and could feel the swellings of bulb noses waiting to erupt. And the lilacs definitely show burgeoning tips. They're ready too! The ground down there has warmed, the snow had (notice past tense) disappeared, and walking through this section of the yard was possible without sinking boot-high in crusty snow drifts. 

But I think I'll just keep looking at that hopeful begonia at the top of the page. It knows the light is changing. It's not quite ready to go outside and take it's chances but it senses better weather coming. Another sure sign that Spring is near is the horses beginning the months-long process of shedding their winter coats; my hand comes back from patting Neko coated in copper hairs. And the birds! the birds are singing a happier song!

Life In COVID World: Part 2 Driving Miss COVID

 

One of the strangest aspects of COVID/quarantine has been driving. Let me know if any of you have experienced how odd it feels to drive pretty much anywhere. What I used to take for granted and kind of enjoy- the simple act of driving- has become yet another alien sensation. Whether it was driving to work, or to the store, it was not a big deal. Now it feels exotic and almost forbidden.

This is especially true if you are going to a more distant location. I find myself ascending a highway ramp and having the feeling that I'm escaping, or running away or venturing into unknown territories; and we're not talking about crossing state lines or traveling to Canada. This happens on what used to be a mundane trip to Trader Joe's- a mere two towns over. An illicit adventure!

I've been out more than Bob. Here's his truck, with the windshield wipers up since the large snow event we had... last week. The truck hasn't left the yard since. 

And now we have more snow and even less reason to go out! One week, I realized as I motored off down the road that I hadn't driven in... about seven days. The whole foreign-ness of driving reasserted itself: is this how one steers? What is that third pedal for? Am I doing it right?!?!?

The upside is that we are consuming way less gas than ever before. I can't even remember the last time I filled the tank and it's still 3/4 full. We heard earlier on in the pandemic that the environment was benefiting from all of us staying home. Here we are, ten or eleven months into this quarantine and I don't for a minute think that most people are staying home anywhere near as much as they should. The parking lot for the gym is always full and I see plenty of cars on the highway...

I wonder if post-pandemic all of this falls away and getting in the car and taking off seems "normal" again. We keep talking about The New Normal; perhaps that consists of driving less. That would probably be a good thing!

Life In COVID World: Part 1

 

That's the centerpiece on our dining table. Gotta look at something when dining! The turkey head is gone, the log upended and the few remaining squashes hold court. I provide the picture as relief from the whiteness that surrounds us; more snow on the way today.

I have been considering, as we are almost a year in on this quarantine/pandemic thing just how odd our lives have become. I guess there are people out there who are dining and going to gyms and churches or something. But many of us have chosen to abide by restrictions and stay put. And something aout this last week or so has finally gotten to some of us.

To whit, friends I've talked with on the phone have remarked on inabilities to focus or be creative; even I (hardworking Calvinist artist that I am) have felt less-than-productive. (*1) I think the drain of worrying about mutant varieties of COVID, not seeing family and friends, not attending openings and in-person art events... it's hard! I find myself a bit out of sorts and stuck. Combine that with the weather, which has suddenly decided to play Winter and dump repeated snow falls and colder temperatures. 

And I guess I have to mention here the grim fact of over 460,000 dead due to the pandemic. The cosmic/spiritual/psychic weight of so many people dying is hard to fathom. I know that I have felt precarious when thousands of people perish in tsunamis or earthquakes; a strange sensation of that many beings suddenly gone. 460,000 is a lot of people; that's a good sized city vaporized. No wonder I- and so many others!- are having a tough time sleeping and concentrating!

I will end on a sunnier note. The days are getting longer, people are getting vaccinated and maybe by the summer some semblance of a new "normal" will assert itself. I sure hope so because we're all feeling a tad antsy. 

(*1) Fear not! I have a million ideas and am currently finishing up three pieces and starting three more, but these are occurring at a slower pace than usual.

Bob At It Again!

 

Alright, here's the requisite snow picture. The only nice thing I can say about that is how lovely and regal Robin the Good looks silhouetted against all that white nihilism.

I apologize for my blog-posting absence, but I've preoccupied with the abundance of snow (yes, officially the "s" word) that has appeared outside. I guess I could exclaim, "Finally!" as we've had a negligible amount to date, but I prefer to grumble, "Is it spring yet?!?" as everything is harder and wetter and colder to do when there's a foot plus of that stuff outside...

So while I've been complaining, my partner Bob has been busy improving our life indoors. Remember how he made this fabulous balustrade and railing? Well, he got to work making another section of our upstairs so much nicer.

 Behind the door of our office, there has been a "problem site", to put it politely. We have a sorta-closet alcove that previously harbored a slew of boxes with our accumulated tax stuff and other assorted paperwork. A partial improvement occurred a few years back when Bob installed a random set of cupboards in which to hide our financial records. I scored a low cabinet at work (remember when I "worked"? No, blissfully, I don't either!) and we had always meant to install it beneath the cupboards. 

I tried this one day like a year ago, and was chagrined to discover that because of a narrow strip of baseboard trim, the cabinet wouldn't fit. I mean, we're talking so close and yet so far... Said cabinet then resided in our office, stacked up and unusable until Bob came to the rescue and sawed away that bit of molding. Now the cabinet fits! And we places to actually file things...

Here it is open, with Robin the Good surveying our finances...

Truly, the most exciting outcome of this operation is that Bob and I then spent part of a day throwing out tons (and I mean tons) of outdated paperwork and tax returns from like twelve years ago and random bank statements from banks we haven't banked at in a decade. Liberating! Plus all that paper becomes perfect fire starting material for our wood stoves...

And here's yet another cabinet that Bob improved! Is there no end of his home-improvement wizardry?!?! In the kitchen, Bob had fashioned a narrow cabinet next to the stove, perfect for stowing cookie sheets and other flat stuff. Bob has complained that it was too dark so he took some noisy little tool that cuts into tight places and he created a window.

                                           

Hey Presto! Let there be light! (Yes, that's Bob waving from the inside of the cabinet. ) I fear Bob may be at an end of cabinet repairs; I wonder what he'll start on next?