~~ It's just one of those days where the sun wants to shine, but the clouds go scurrying past, giving the sky a strange glow ~~ Then the clouds all go away, and the sun tries it's best to shine and warm things up.

The temps here have been sooo weird -- today it's struggling to get 50, yesterday it was OVER 75..then last night it rained, poured, the wind blew and it felt like the woods were going to try and jump into the house. We made it thru the stormy weather, and now it's much much cooler, and the temperature is dropping like a rock. I finally broke down and got a fire going in the woodstove, 'cause I realized my fingers were cold, and I kept feeling like I had a drippy nose. WELL -- no wonder!! I looked at our new thermometer and it's reading 66 in the house. Sorry Pal. Tha's just too darn cold for this girl!!


Got a couple projects in the works.. will post shots of 'em tomorrow. I got off to a weird start this morning with a frame I bought over the weekend. I'd just come in the studio to get painting, an' I needed to wash out a paintbrush..so when I went into the kitchen, I'd Just started the kitchen faucet, an' look out the kitchen window in time to see a tow truck pulling up in our driveway!! YIKESS!! The tow truck company I called last week, was already here!! -- even tho the ol' guy said to call him first, then he'd be here to get The Very Fine Automobile!! DOUBLE YIKES!! Thank heavens I get dressed first thing in the morning! So I had to keep Sara away from the dear old man (he looked 70) an' tried to find the right key for the car..yup, it'd been THAT long that I didn't even know where my car key was!! So, off goes my car (bye! Bye!! Miss You!!) an' then I gotta quick fast make sure the car dealer is even OPEN!! -- yup. They are, an' zoom, there goes the work on my car!! yyyyeeeeaaakkkssss...

Then I started for a 2nd time to get a second coat of primer on my frame, an' the dog starts being a %^#3 an' Noah's bellyachin' about somethin' -- the phone's ringin' an' I'm SERIOUSLY thinkin' about going anywhere South..BUT -- I finally get to work on my frame (looks pretty white an' good...) AND ~~ Got a coat of paint PLUS the start of collage -Stuff on another canvas !! Yee gads...no wonder I'm feelin' tired now that it's after 3 p.m.!! I finally broke down an' got a lunch!! ~~ 'cause I realized my stomach was growling!!

I think I need a Vacation...

>> But since tha's not gonna happen, my canvas is lookin' like a Vacation, so in a way, I guess that makes up for no time off for Me!! ZZZippp-a-dee-doo-dah!! -- I can't wait to show off the new canvas!!

But tha's gonna be tomorrow! ~~ Now I gotta go get some E-6000 on some stuff...play aroun' with some more paint...an' hope that when the Dealer calls about my car, it isn't going to make me fall over!!


~~ Lady of The Tulips ~~

>> Here's a bit of something I did I think last year -- or maybe the..no, wait. Yeah -- it was last year, for an Art challenge. I considered posting a shot of the cloudy damp and grunky sky that's covering the Sound today, but since Far Too Much of the U.S. is covered is something similiar, I decided to go with a Little More Cheerful Color for the Day <<

And Too --- Here's A Belated Merry Christmas!, to everybody!! I was so wrapped up in getting the dinner, cleaning dishes, gathering things from one end of the house to the other , all day long, that I did't EVEN have time to wish everybody a Merry Christmas!! Our oldest, Dan, was able to come down for the day. He layed on the couch, which seemed fitting for a bachelor!! Gabriel, the middle one, was working, so he was feeling like a Mixed Mess for the day >> Here he hasn't had a job for something like ForEVAH, and when he finally gets something, it's only for ONE day..an' naturally, at a Resort, that day happens to fall on Christmas. Ahh well. At least he gets a little bit of spending money (but that'll only go to pay bills, alas..) and some extra days towards a chance at full time work.

Dan & Gabriel are going to try and come down next weekend for the whole weekend. Gabriel hasn't yet seen our little cabin, and Dan has been so busy with his work, that he hasn't had a chance, 'cept yesterday, to come down for any length of time. Hopefully it'll all work out & they can see the Sound and mess around out in the yard. With the little bit of rain we're getting now, hopefully after the full blown storm comes thru THEN goes off shore, it'll be nice by the end of next week. I keep seeing different things about the weather, so it's almost anybody's guess as to what's gonna happen. And those Weather Guys get PAID to make mistakes...jeesh...

I'm in the middle of a couple Art Projects. Hopefully The Camera will behave for me tomorrow an' I can get a couple shots of what's goin' on over on the little table. I'd gotten a canvas board nearly done with an abstract that looks pretty promising, and now am in the middle of a pretty spiffy collage based on the Shore >> Like that's nothing new..BUT -- this one has a few more little treasures on it, so it should end up all right. The camera has been set on the WRONG setting, that's why some of my pictures have been SO CRAPPY ~~ An' here I thot the poor lil' thing was just on it's last legs..shows what I know! SO ~~ the pictures should get done fairly early, then we have to go take lil' miss sara to the vet -- she has sone kinda lump on her back, and a couple on her belly and side. They don't even REMOTELY bother her, but they bother the livin' #%^#&" outta me, so I'd rather take her in an' be sure of what the things are, than to jus' blow it off.

The Very Fine Automobile is STILL waiting to be fixed. I finally got all the info. I needed to have a local dealer get the right parts for the broken wagon...an' then the Holiday came along, an' I figured, well, tha's ok, I'll get everything set up on Friday. HA!! Where's MY brain today?? HELLO??!! Some people have THE DAY OFF!! -- see, with Tom's job, it is a cold day in H*** that the drivers get a day off, ok, yes they DID get Christmas off, an' an UNPAID day for Christmas Eve (somethin' new & NOT COOL!!) but I figured that the day AFTER christmas, it'd be Business As Usual...Ooopppsssiieeee....down in the little town just "yonder", no, NO -- businesses are NOT open the day AFTER christmas...an' so, with Tears in my Eyes, and Sadness prevailing around me..it was with just an IMMENSE (or however that word is spelled..) PAIN (or just being Pi**ed off..) I had to call BACK to the tow truck company & say...Uhhh...you wanna hold off on towin' my car down Ocean Highway?? HA AGAIN!! -- he ALREADY KNEW the dealer wasn't gonna be open...so he just casually sez. "Wellll..you wanna take care=a this on Monday Mornin'?" Didn't I feel like a sharp marble...

So it's yet ANOTHER week, an' I STILL waiting for my Very Fine Automobile to get fixed...Wwwaaaaiiitttttiiiiinnnngggggg...............

And in the meantime, Tom has come home early from the truck terminal, so I guess it's time to C wha's goin' on..it's one thing after another 'round here..!!

Lady of The Tulips

>> Well >> After trying for what seemed like HOURS and forever and EVAH -- I decided that it just wasn't worth the time spent WAITING AND WAITING for my computer to work the way it should, and just Download a picture I wanted to post on this Blog.

See -- what I have is a Dilemma -- or however one spells that word. What iit is IS >> I have a set of serving items..two "Spoons" that my dear son Gabriel and his (At the time) wife found for me at the thrift store. They are a fine pair, two silver pieces. One is a basic Serving Spoon, flat with a slight curve along each side. I know it has a "Proper" name, but for the life of me, I slap Can Not remember it. AND -- the other piece is very ornate..all curley-quee and wonderful, and it Too has a NAME, but for the life of me, I once again can Not remember.

And since like, in what, 2 DAYS it's Christmas...well, you SEE...I had planned on very nicely setting these pieces out on the table, to make all the dinner and Goodies just look fabulous and Very Fine on the dining room table. And, naturally, when one of the sons would Politely Ask, "What is that spoon/sering/THANG?" I would just casually say, "OH!..well, don't youKNOW??!! It's a..." and then stand there next to the dining room table with my mouth hanging open, and nothing but a squeak coming out of said open mouth..Because I CAN'T remember the name of that serving piece. Goes to show what being a mother is all about. The old broad gets up in years an' she can't even remember her own name..No -- it's not actually THAT bad, but you get the idea. And for 3 days last week, I walked around the house humming, "Oh!, the ol' grey mare, she aiiint what sheee used to be, aint what she used to beee, aint what she used to bEEEE..." And now look what'z happened. The Old Mare can't remember nothin'..


But onto ART NEWZ -- 2 of my collage/mixed media pieces are spiffily hanging over on Church Street (or the main drag of town) in the little county art league/Art Gallery -- they look very nice, even if I don't mind saying so., One is a mermaid that I posted on here quite a while back, and another is an untitled piece that I posted, I think, last month. They are hung in one of the back portions of the gallery, but they are under a set of lights that just highlight the heck out of the glitter paints I used on one of the corners near the little mermaid. I'm pretty jazzed about how they look, and I'm optimistic they'll sell FAST!! --

But for now, I gotts to get painting on some papers..I just ordered some Sea Life type fabrics from a store up in New England..seems kinda funny, to order fabric with shells, seaweeds and sailboats from a landlocked call-center, but that's what it is..I also have some new sketches of sailboats and some shells to make up for a couple of new pieces, too. So before I get to baking and cleaning and doin' STUFF for Christmas, I need to get the little details worked out Ahead of Time...never a dull moment around here!!

Oh >> And if you're wondering why I posted the pictures of the Daylilies from last summer?? !! Well -- since most of the country is buried under far and away too many inches of snow, I thot a nice Summertime Picture would cheer everybody up!!

Enjoy!!


Lady of The Tulips

>> This is one of those afternoons, where the weather is trying to make any sane person want to find a way to board the next Space Shuttle, and go float around Earth for 10 days or so <<

Yesterday was rainy/drippy/cloudy and flat out Ugly. The day before was sunny & decent, then it just all went to %^#^ in a handbasket. We got the woodstove going by 4:00 in the afternoon yesterday, and watched the thermometer fall like a bucket into a well. Today started off chilly, and the temperature took off into the outer limits. It's somewhere over 60 degrees, and now more clouds are skirting the skyline. My poor little puppy...well..ok, our Large and Overweight Dog is just beisde herself..she's laying on the floor, within eyeshot of the backdoor. Which is open, so the dog has an opportunity to see the backyard thru the stormdoor. I think I'm sweating while sitting at the computer, and have had to take my 2 pairs of socks off, 'cause it seemed sortra weird to be wearing 2 pairs when the gauge behind me on the old dresser that sez "TEMPERATURE" is reading 70 !!! I'm scared the weather is going to drop into something like the 20's, we'll have heavy frost/freeze warnings, The Dog will want to do something crazy, like say, go jump in the river and swim toward the Outer Banks. Weird Weather makes animals and humans do crazy things.

I've got GOOD NEWS!! ~~ On the Art Front!! ~~ 2 of my pieces have been accepted over at the Art Gallery in town!! WHOO HOOO!! ~~ The woman reading the information to me didn't say which one was rejected, only that it"Didn't fit the standard of the frame", so I'm not sure A) what that means, and B) just which piece had an "Issue" with it's frame. Did the piece have a fight with it's frame after I dropped it off? Did The canvas decide that it wanted to come back home to it's little cabin, and never want to see "Downtown" again?? Shwoo..these things keep me awake at night..

But actually, I'll go see which one needs to be fixed on Saturday. Today I spent something like an hour & a half talking with the Service Department over at the local Ford dealer...we have finally found somebody that can repair the Very Fine Automobile!! And the cost, well, the Estimate for Repair is about $300 less than where we used to live, so THAT'S a plus. Now we just have to switch some funds in the bank from one account to another, then get the logistics worked out on how to get the dead car from our driveway over to the car dealer. It's gonna take a couple more phone calls, but once it's all said & done, I'll be able to drive my Wagon for the first time in over a year....an' won't it be NICE!!

Must go & check the woodstove..the weather is Doing Something Again..I can hear the wind moving a little quicker in the pines...an' it was starting to look kinda nasty over on the water...hmmm...this may not be good...

Lady of The Tulips

>> Just a quick little hello from here along the shores of the COLD Sound -- I took a look out the studio window a little while ago, and inbetween the trees and branches that are all bare now, I can get a teeny glimpse of the little inlet on the opposite side of where our cabin is. <<


The water looks all grey and choppy -- not at all happy and blue like it does during the spring and summer. We had some nahhsty winds on Saturday, that made it feel horrible outside. I know it wasn't like some of the winds out on the Plains or up in the poor Frozen New England countryside, but for here it was just Not Welcome. Then yesterday, it was a complete reversal -- warm, sunny and one would think, a completely different time of year...not December. And just a while ago, Tom called to say that, No, the temps didn't get up to 75, just & only 70 degrees...just what in the TAR is goin' on with this unpredictable weather, WHAT THE TAR< I ASK??!! is goin' on?? It's beginning to sorta kinda get me freaked out, I'm tellin' ya!!

BUT -- onto ART NEWS!! -- I successfully took 3 pieces of my collages/mixed media art to the local gallery in town. Rode the bus, and with all the shaking and bumps, I am very happy to say that nothing got broken, no glass, no beads falling off of the canvas, nothing BAD. The woman in the gallery was Very Nice, and helped me label my works, got each one a different tag, got the work all lined up so the Jury Committee can look it all over. Now, the hardest part is the WAITING -- Waiting to hear positive words on the work -- positive words that the work will sell -- positive words that the gallery wants to have more work bought in. And there's nothing I can do 'till I hear from the gallery. My nerves are shot, my stomach feels like it's in a pinch, and I keep getting little stabbing headaches...and Tom's not even at home!! HA!!


Anyway -- I was told that by Thursday or so, I should hear something, so I''m trying to keep myself bizzy. Yesterday Tom & I went to the discount/old-freight business, where there are tons of merchandise that stores either quit carrying, or just have ordered too many of. I found 2 more frames for a total of $13.00 or so -- We looked at Big Lots, but either the frames were over $10, or the frames were beyound ugly..sorta like a bad hangover from the 70's. That would just NOT do, I'm telllin' ya!! Do I was happy to find a couple that paint up really good with a little primer, and now it's the decision of what color to paint the final coat >> Why this is never easy for me is one of The Great Mysteries...you'd think I'd just DECIDE one stuiped color & be done with it!! <<

We went to the Outer Banks on Saturday, but we didn't stay overnight..it was BEAUTIFUL over there -- Sunny, but with a nahsty stinging wind. We scouted out some places that looked like possibilities to stay at later on this winter. The main reason we were over, is 'cause Noah found somebody selling a used chain saw for under $40 !!! AND -- Another person GIVING AWAY FISHING TACKLE!!! WHOA!! So we beat feet over the river and thru the woods to get the stuff...Happily, the chain saw works, noah's been cutting firewood this afternoon, and the tackle, poles and lures and STUFF in the tackle box are all in pretty good condition -- 3 (!!)) fishing poles, mind you, for FREE -- and all the goodies...oh, noah's just one happy guy. And so am I, actually. I REALLY want to go fishing, but there just aren't any fishies in the deep right now that want to be Caught...bums...

Must check on my paint on the frames behind me -- I think these will be a combination of blue and greem...No, wait...maybe Blue and Dark Blue? --- No...wait...how 'bout...uhhhmmm....

Lady of The Tulips

Here's a snippet of one of my pieces that's goin' to be juried this week over on main street...this lil' girl is sorta cute -- well I think she is..I've got another picture of her, an' the whole piece somewhere on this blog, but right now I don' remember what day it was that I popped it on here. She is ONE OF MY WORKS..so I don' want no body thinkin' of "Borrowing" it for anything..I'll have to sick Sara on YOU if you do anything with this!!

As for anything else happenind here...I got some work done -- well, STARTED getting done on a frame I discovered at a local thrift store...I was SOO jazzed on finding an unopened frame!! In a thrift store, that I really didn't take a good look at the BACK of the thing..

Well -- HA!! -- the thing had a top coat of some kind of varnish, which is all well and good...but then, once it got sanded down a teeny bit, jus' enuf for me to put some primer on...WELL..whatever the stain/paint is/waz whatever..just keeps bleeding thru the primer..an' with 4 coats of that, plus 2 of a basic white acrylic...I very nearly went out the door...SOO..to top it off...the little prongs that hold on the backing board an' the whole kit & kaboodle?? -- 1/2 of those are MISSING..Sweet. Jus' Sweet.

So, that little frame is sitting out in the laundry room, keeping the spiders company, I guess. OK - the thing WAS only $1.59..so it isn't a lot of CASH. But it's the nature of the thing. You Expect Something. Then it storms on your parade. Or something close to that --

I think I'll check out the local dime store (Do they still call them dime stores??!) this weekend an' see If I can discover anything else that'll work. And too, there are still some things out in the shed..oh boy -- lets jus' hope that all the critters are ASLEEP out there for the winter. I am NOT in the mood to wake up ANYBODY!! --
(collage: Spring Bay Studio 2008)


Lady of The Tulips

"Untitled" -- 2008 Spring Bay Studio

Whoo hooo!! Finally got this little canvas it's very own home!! I worked with the frame to get the blue on it just enuf so that it doesn't overwhelm the color on the canvas. Tom was pretty suprised at how it came out. 'Course there are a lot of things that suprise that man, but that's a whole other story...

Went to the Mall-Wart yesterday..the original idea was to pick up some mat board an' then grab 10 things in the grocery department. HA!! We only got 1/2 way into trying to FIND the mat board, an' I happened to glance over at Tom...he wasn't exactly sweating bullets, but I could see his eyes were starting to glaze over, and he was looking at all the people acting manic, while grabing things off the shelves for their Christmas Shopping...well, the combination of it all was just too much. I changed my mind about getting groceries, said, "Le's just uhhh.." Where At the same point, Tom sez, "Ok -- lets just get the mat board an' hooks an' stuff an' get outta here!!!" So much for enjoying the Holiday Crowdz...

So - to make matters worse...Tom didn't really look at what was all in the shopping bag when we left the store, an' when we finally got home, he got REALLY irritated, because he realized that he'd left the OTHER bag at the store...We got all the way home w/one frame, and that was all. There was a 2nd bag w/the mat board, some eye hooks, and trail mix for my lunches. No -- Iwill not go into detail how bad it got about the bag being left behind, but suffice to say, that I drove allll the way back to Mall-Wart, found the stuff at the Customer Service window, an' finally got home. 50 some miles to get the things I needed, an' Toms fit to be tied. No tellin' why the check out girl didn't say anything to us about the bag bein' left at the check-out..maybe she was new. But I DID get to drive Tom's new car, and it drives like a dream...'cept I didn't know how to turn on the headlights, so I drove in the dusk w/the running lights on, 'till I was almost home...Good move, eh?

Now I've got to get my last piece ready for it's frame...and get some painting done on another canvas. I also got some paint for the studio -- a very mellow warm yellow -- "Pecan Dream" -- not bright an' all flashy, just a warm color for these poor walls. The wall paper will come down in the next couple days, an' then Bingo -- COLOR for the walls instead of smoke stained wallpaper!! YEEEAAAA!!!

Lady of The Tulips

Have something of an "Before, After and Now" goin' on here -- the 3 shots are of the frame I bought over the weekend @the discount store up the highway -- the original color was much, much too dark for my tastes, so I added a nice coat of primer, a clean white, and then got going with the final coat of Blue -- I think it's Cobalt Blue. Whatever the name, it seems to make the frame look pretty spiffy, if I don't mind saying so myself.

And on to the homefront -- yesterday morning, at the really wonderful hour of 3:45, our little miss ray of sunshine, decided that when she went out to do her business, she had to somehow find the bag of trash, loaded to the gills with the leftover bones from our turkey dinner. Oh Joy. So -- since Tom or noah decided that the bag couldn't go in the TRASH CAN like it should, the dog took advantage of the situation, dug aroun' a bit, found the bones, and was happily chewing away on some, when something told me to look outside & see what she was up to. What she was up to, was No Good!! Little Brat!! I got her in the house, but she came inside the laundry room, still clamping a batch of bones in her mouth...I tried to pry her mouth open, and get the bones out, she just clamped down harder...Finally Tom realized there was Something Amiss in the laundry room; came over an' promptly pried the dogs mouth open, and pulled out a HUGE turkey bone...I don' even KNOW what bone it was, all I know if that it was thrown into the laundry sink, and the Dog got yelled at A LOT!!

Now -- about 4 hours later, maybe a little longer, Noah had let The Dog back outside for her little investigation of the yard...an' sure enuf, she hauls off and finds some MORE of the bones that Tom didn't clean up when he picked up the bag of trash to throw SOMEWHERE ELSE earlier in the morning....that dog has a nose on her that would make Scotland Yard happy...So, once again, I had to get bones from her jaws, successfully this time...an' kept a running RANT at her for the next, oh, 5 hours.."SHAME ON YOU!!! TRASH DOG!! AAHHHKKK!!" She got the idea...kept slinking away from me once we made eye contact...Don't know where the bag of trash is now, but she is Keeping Away from it for the duration. Or 'till tomorrow when we go to the hardware store & buy a trashcan with a closing lid. No wonder I feel more batches of grey popping up on my head...

Must go and take my blood pressure medicine...for some reason I"m feeling woozy...

Lady of The Tulips ~~

Some days there's just too much stuff -- today is one of those days, where too many things are trying to crowd into the work that I want to get finished -- And the things are not FUN at all -- i.e. >> Housecleaning...Blahhh >>>i.e. >> Washing clothes...Blah >>>> i.e. Attempting to organize Tom's stuff..DOUBlE BLAH!!

So, I just decided to toss away all those Ugly Things that need to be finished, and instead am now in the process of painting my frames. 2 down and one to go. Toocool -- found a frame for some of my little bit larger canvases, for the total price of $5.99 -- You best believe I didn't pass that great buy up!! The one shown here on my little work table finally got it's self finished. It seemed to take forEVAH, but it's done. I have the first 2 primer coats on the new frame..I'll show a Before & After tomorrow.

Got a bottle of blue paint that I can't decide what to do with -- I mean, it's wonderful to use in my collages, but I'm afraid that it may be too dark to use on a frame. But if I can dig around out in the shed and find another frame that the previous owner left, then I may use one of those and experiment with it & the dark blue paint. The bottle was in one of the big discount stores, where everything is super CHEAP -- all gleaned from other discount or department stores. It's not Big Lots, an' for the life of me, I can't remember the name of the place. Suffice to say, that there are good buys inside. Matter of fact, when I was in the store last week, I spied a set of 3 glass baking pans, all good quality, for something like $7.99 -- Naturally I didn't have the $$ on me to pick it up, and figured that the collection would be available on the weekend. HA!! What waz I thinking?? Where there had been 8 - 0 - so sets, there were NONE -- talk about feeling like a sharp marble...Tom jus' looked at me an sez, "Well, there'll be more later on.." I'm fuming at my delay in the purchase, an' I mumbling to myself, "You really did it this time, toad..."

The thing is, there probably WILL be more of the collection in the next couple weeks. I'm going to try & remember to have some extra $$ in my billfold JUST IN CASE..

Must go an' get some primer goin' on this frame. It amazed me that I could find something,; but then, I wasn't even LOOKING for frames for my art, I was jus' bee-boppin' along in the store, trying to find cleaning supplies for the week...jeesh..

Lady of The Tulips ~~

Just had to show An' Tell what'z been happening around the studio -- the canvas is W.I.P., and the wonderful piece of furniture is what I brought back from an area thrift store/antique shop/used "Stuff" warehouse. I'm pretty happy with how they both look, an' am Sooo close to getting the canvas ready to frame.

On Saturday, I met the local Art Association President at the nearby Ruitan Club, where some women were showing/selling craft items. Lots of sweet quilts of all different sizes, shapes and styles. Lots of great handmade jewlery, and several different raffle drawings. I happened to stop at one booth where a fine lady was selling an assortment of handmade purses, handbags, and quilted items. She is the one who is the President of the Art Association, and once we got to talking, I just felt an immediate conneciton with her. I'm happy to say that she asked me to bring some of my canvases to the gallery smack dab in the middle of town, hopefully this week. The weekend at the very latest. She wants me to have my pieces available for sale, which I thot was Fabu!! Wow!! What a great bit of the Heavens working for the Good!! I'm now nearly in a panic, trying to get frames finished, an' see what I've got that is framed, ready and sitting on the table in the back of the house, ready to go out the door.

The next thing is to get my new frames painted that I bought at a local discount store. $5.99 for one that can be made into a new color, instead of a dull brown. Must get the Beach Color THANG goin', know what I mean!!??

Must check on some phone calls I'm supossed to be making. My middle son wantz is to help him out with some $$ -- but we've done that for the past couple weeks, an' I have nothing to show for the help. I suggested he come down an' work at one of the restraunts here, but he refused that idea. I also suggested some other day-labor jobs, but he blew that idea away too..soo..wha's a mother to do?? He sez he'll ask a brother for help, but that waz suppsed tp have been done 4 weeks ago...No wonder I'm on the verge of a splitting headache..Ack!

Lady of The Tulips