Tantivy

Yesterday was Vicki's birthday and the dinner was planned to be at my house. All was well until we discovered that in the cleaning up of the wiring tangle (another story) in the basement, the oven was out and the problem was not not easily traced to the source. Texas white sheet cake mixed. No oven. Dean took it to church but the oven there left us with a thin black corner and three thicker slightly over-cooked corners. The beef noodle and crumble noodle casseroles went into the toaster oven and microwave. We had a lovely Sweet Kale (bag) salad, good conversation and a loving family. That's how it rolls at our house.  Lights on the microwave - none on the oven I did get some flowers arranged in the dining room. and I got my desk cleaned off and it looks so good that I am going to try to keep it that way,getting out the things I am using, then putting them away. The "away" part needs a little work, but I am up to that thanks to reading The Magic of Tidying...

That cold that is so vicious in the midwest is making things cold here, too. At least to us it is cold.(27 right now) I am so sorry for anyone  who has no warm place to be and even for those who do. Well, I can't send pictures of cold, not that anyone would need them, but here is a picture of my haircut for all of you who have been holding your breath to see how it looks! I don't do selfies well! And here is an update. I don't like the very bottom but it is too cold to go out in the studio to fix it. There is a little heat out there but I don't think it is enough. The paint tubes were very cold yesterday and the fluid paint just wouldn't come out of the bottle; yesterday was warmer than today. I decided that I wouldn't even try today.  We started an interesting class at church last night about Baptism, Bible, Eucharist, Prayer. It is only an hour each week and there is no homework (yea!). Father Joel is teaching and we are using a book by the p...

Sara is here and today she and DH tackled the basement. That might not sound like much but it is near to being condemned by the health department, I think. Jenny did lots of work on it while she was here for Thanksgiving but there is so much more to do that it nearly takes your breath away. I will not be posting a picture because you might call the authorities - or the hoarder site! These are the three canvases that I have been working on. Estuary Earth and all Stars Seekers I am not sure of the names of any of them and I am not sure whether or not they are finished. Sometimes you have to get away and then come back to see what is needed. If you have a critique, let me know.  I am still working on the Lizard Ridge afghan that I promised Jenny last year. I have 8 and ½ blocks to go then it has to be blocked and put together. I am aiming for her birthday at the end of January as a finish date.  As you can see, it is very colorful and I have a lot o...

I would tell you how cold it is here but I know that it is cold there, too, and you don't really have any sympathy - you are too busy trying to keep warm yourself.  I went out today to the studio to take something and get some canvases. The sun was so nice, but the studio wasn't a place to linger. DH has ordered and we have received a heater for the studio but it isn't installed yet and may have to wait until the guys are here for Thanksgiving since DH can't really lift over his head and the heater is a ceiling mount. We will put plastic over the leaky windows and I will be cozy as can be. Until then, I have dragged the paints and some canvases into the house and I will work in the pantry.  SO Last week, when making tomato basil soup, I had a little incident with the Ninja (blender) I also found tomato on the exhaust fan over the stove which required taking it apart, the floor, myself, and there is a small spot on the ceiling that looks suspiciously red. Th...

You might have thought that I had given up blogging and I nearly did, but here I am again. I have been busy with three classes again but one is finished, one is finishing in ten days and one is finishing in two weeks except that I have to write a little talk to give on 1 December for graduation(EfM). There are, of course a few other things to do as well. It appears that November will be a busy month. Meanwhile, I, whether for good or not I am not sure, have run across this book. I always thought of tidying up as putting things back in place and maybe running a dust cloth over the furniture. Not so to this Japanese girl who believes that tidying up means handling everything , and I mean every little thing you own and deciding if it "strikes joy" or should be discarded in one way or another.  She suggests starting with clothes and that is what I have done. We  have given away about six full kitchen garbage bags of clothes and shoes and I haven't really started on the...

For better or worse, I'm back. Someone asked this week what was with the blog and I have to say that I don't quite know. Suddenly I wasn't drawing or blogging either one. I was reading, so maybe I can blame it on Louise Penny, whose ten books I read in about a week. I also went to Tullahoma and to the doctor with Dean and I have done some work on the house, changing things around once more and...the time just flew.  What has been done, though, is this. I moved dishes and other stuff around in the kitchen. It seems to take living with things for a while before their best places can be found. When we had the family over for DH's birthday I discovered that earlier in the summer I had put too many glasses up way too high to be used so that cabinet was rearranged. The upper and lower cabinets on the other side were also rearrange slightly so that now the pantry is a little easier to work in.  I also took another shot at gettin...

When I read about the summer snow in the northwest I hoped that we would get some of that cool air and today we did. It is such a welcome break from the hot and humid days that we have been having. It was so nice, in fact, that I cut the grass and did not pass out from the heat! I also went to the grocery store for a few items, put a quilt on the frame, did some laundry, finished a book and took the car through the carwash. For me that is a busy day. Tonight I have opened windows (the ones we have gotten open) and I am looking forward to a cool night's sleep, smelling the air scented by the Mars plant. I think they are baking the cookie part of TWIX. About the book I finished. I read a mention of author Louise Penny and have since then been devouring her mysteries. The hero is Superintendent Armand Gamache who has thoughtful brown eyes and  non of the brashness usually associated with crime solvers. Set in Quebec, the stories are peopled with a variety of characters who develop t...