Bub has the right idea..whenever possible, just drop everything, pull up a space, and take a nap. He has a tendancy to just plop himself down on any surface on the deck..this teeny corner just happened to be a space he felt was the best on the mid-morning Nap Time.


We're still waiting for an update on the storm that's sllllooooowwly making it's way up the coast -- now the tropical storm Danny is not going to be as strong as first thot, but it does look as if it's going to be dumping a lot of rain. That, and combined with a rather large low pressure system coming up from due South, and it looks like Noah may have to start building another boat. Or at least build one for us for the weekend. He just cut the grass today -- how he cuts the one acre with a push mower is absolutely beyond me, but he starts early in the morning, and with a few breaks, gets it all done by 1 p.m. -- But I don't think boat building is in his future for the tropical storm. Maybe getting some things covered that may get damaged from water is about how far he'll go for a storm.



I totally spaced out and forgot to write -- I've sold 3 pieces at the little shop up in Virginia Beach -- Yay!! -- I'm goin' up there after church on Sunday, taking at least 3 and probably 4 pieces. Then it's off to get some much needed supplies at the 2 craft stores that I know of and used to shop at up in the big city. Shwoo -- The Husband sez it's fine to go ahead and get things that I normally wouldn't be able to find down here. It's one of the drawbacks of living in the woods..there may be one of those Super Stores in the area, but the selection of art supplies is about the worst I've seen. But then, maybe the Super Store is only interested in other "necessities", so Art things arent a priority. Ahh well...that just makes it more of a shopping Day for Me -- and get a couple things done at one time. Double Yay!!



Must go and check laundry, dishwasher, Dog, and see what the latest update is on storm Danny...

Never a Dull moment here!


Lady of The Tulips

Along our little dirt road, things are just groovin' along -- nothing much happening, but that's the advantage of living in the woods. I suppose there ARE things goin' on in said woods..like all the little critters gathering whatever it is that they eat...all the insects doin' their thing.

But as for humans, it's been a pretty quiet summer. Which is a good thing, 'cause if it got too wild and crazy, then there'd be something very wrong. There are a few somewhat flakey people not too terribly far away, but they tend to keep to them selves, making odd, loud noises in the middle of the night. Sometimes the sheriff comes down the road, throwing dirt and gravel all over the place, and making Little Miss Muffett pick her head up off of the couch, to listen to what's going on.

But we tend to have things quiet, and that's why we moved here. The planes, trains, sub-woofers and all the City things are far far away, an' that's just fine.

'Cept now we have something that may come at us in a matter of days, that will be making a LOT of noise, and that happens to be a storm called Danny -- ironically one name of a family member. Whatta hoot!! -- He's probably not even aware of the storm yet..probably should give the guy a call an' see what he has to say about it. I'm not getting all fidget-ee about the storm, yet. I just know it's out there, and today it seems to be really quiet outside, as if the animals and birds and lizards all know something is in the works. Maybe they know something we humans dont know.

But that's the way it is with some storms...I've read some REAL trippy stories about people seeing dead relatives just before a storm or hurricane hits...old buildings making odd noises in the middle of the night.

The only odd noise here is the sound of Little Miss Muffett and The Husband snoring so loud it seems like the walls shake.

But that's another story all together.

So today, while I work on a frame that's been giving me fits and spits, I'll be checking The Weather Channel and seeing if it's time to tell The Husband to go get a couple supplies (most of the "needed" items are up in the attic) an' see what the weekend brings.

For now tha's 'bout it. I'm just gonna hang out, maybe do my exercise for the morning before it jumps up to 95 Degrees like the weather people say the temps will be later today...

Anybody ready to MELT??!!


Lady ofThe Tulips

~~~ Wellll ~~~

This morning it seemed that there was no way to sleep in..or at least till the time that I usually wake up -- Our neighbors got up and on their way in their gigantor-huge motor home at 5:45 this morning..with the sound of the disel (sp) engine roaring away, and the 2 of them shouting at each other about this, that , an' something else...how could I sleep?

Then there was the sound of the other neighbors doin' who knows what..an' that jus' made me toss and turn till it finally became Real Clear that it was goin' to be an early day for Ms. Tulip...

>> But tha's ok, 'cause it got me out and onto the deck to sweep up all the bits from pinecones that the squirrel is tossing here and about. She did the same thing last year from wayyy up high in the pine tree next to the deck..then she hauled off and had a litter of about 4 babiy squirrels. Looks like it's gonna happen all over again. <<

Then it was time to feed Bub his breakfast..he will sit and MEOOOWWWW for EVAH 'till i get some of the dog food poured into his ittle bowl. Poor string-bean lookin' thing, but he is a Very Good Cat, which irritates little Miss Muffett no end. She'll go clumbering out on the deck, make a bee-line for the cat, bother him no end, then go out into the yard to do her business. Then clambor back on the deck, bother the cat some more, an' usually BARKKK at him, which makes him even more irritated, then the dog meanders back in the house.

And all this happened this morning before 8 a.m. ....

Then Tom had to call to tell me something that didn't really sink in, 'cause at the same time, the dog was Bothering the cat, an' I had to go rescue Bub before he swiped his claws all over the nose of said Dog...

Then the stereo was acting up an' I had to go mess with the speaker thingies..

And finally after doin' all that, I got my bowl of cereal..which I can't even remember what I ate..not Cocoa-Rooieees, or whatever Tom bought the other week..some semi-healthy sorta something this morning.

An' all I wanted to do was get a frame painted..do some Cutting of Paper...an' maybe try to sketch some fishies.

Well -- it all will get done.

Just not this morning, 'cause it is now After-noon, an' all the Things To Do got sidetracked, an' now I gotta start the Sketching For The Day -- just a couple hours later than I'd planned.

And there is no full moon. Just a weird morning that threw everything all to He** in a handbasket.

So what's new with you??

Lady of The Tulips

"Always Celebrate Laughter" -- 2009 Spring Bay Studio -- Here's the little girl that I talked about yesterday -- she is behaving herself for the moment, but I think she has it in mind to go off an' create some mayhem..probably 'cause of the hurricane churning off - way off shore.

I recently..well, wait -- it was actually at 10 to 3 this morning, that I got up (heard something outside..) an' decided to take a look-see at the weather channel..saw where the hurricane was projected to go..an' then saw the current temp's - 79 Degrees.."Feels Like - 84 Degrees" -- ok, that wasn't really the worst part..that was all well and good..then I read.."89% Humidity" --

Every feel like you could just choke an' not think twice? - Once It sank in that the humidity was really and for real at that high amount, I wondered whether or not it would be a good idea to relocate somewhere else..or until the storm, bad weather an' all THAT went AWAY -- our windows were fogged up from how humid it was..as was everybody elses...the windows, walls an' floor felt sticky, even with the air conditioning runin' as fast as it can. The weird thing, is now we'regetting the real wide bands from the hurricane, even tho it's hundreds of miles out at sea.

I'm just glad we're not in it's path. Yahoo it's been slowing it's wind speed..down to 105. ---- Well, that's not a bad thing considering some of the hurricanes we've sat thru...So - we sit an' wait to see an hope that the storm will keep chugging it's way up the coast but Away from land...just go an' bother the wide ocean!

Tom & noah are puttin' in the new cabinet we bought a couple weeks ago at a discount builders supply place - with sink!! - for $106 total!! Yay!! It looks so much better than the old an' rotting one that was in there..with a sink extension for something that never seemed to make sense..but none of which was attached to anything. So if you happened to lean on the extension portion, the entire thing would drop toward the floor, along with YOU leaning on it. A Person Whom we know had such an occurance...names will not be used. but suffice to say it scared the wholly #"^(}_2@>
So The Dynamic Duo is out at the hardware store getting calk, some kind of glue to attach Said Sink to the cabinet, and some extra washers for the faucet (it is really cute, and was already here, so that saves big $$ ) an' lawdy knows what else --

This should be interesting..

But for now, I gotta go -- check on some ink on watercolor paper...see that my paints aren't drying up - an' make a list for one of those office supply places. Gotta get some stuff after church tomorrow...ahhh..it jus' never seems to end!!


Lady of The Tulips

"Mermaid" -- 2009 Spring Bay Studio

This is one of the pieces that I've reworked, made a little bit better an' all around just got her to where she needed to be. There was a lot of messin' with this, that, and the other, but eventually she got finished.


The other little girl is sitting patiently behind me, sitting, sitting, and waiting for her day to be bright and cheerful. Well, she IS bright and cheerful, but there are other people who think that she isn't just right. There will be No Names Mentioned, but suffice to say that there are some members of a particular family who feel that I'd be better off to do something constructive with my time, and quit all this messin' around with the paints, papers and all things Collage. So. That's given me something of a blue feeling, but those persons who have these attitudes will just have to deal with it. Blah to them.

But the other little girl will have to wait till tomorrow to get posted on here, 'cause right now I have to fit some frame-ing stuff just right for this collage to fit in the frame I made just special for this mermaid. I'd thot I'd made the dimensions just right..but then, lets face it..me & MATH just are not compatible in the same sentence. WAYYY off on the sizes , corners or whatever you want to call it. Whoo Boy...no, don't get me goin' on tryin' to figure out math thangs...!!


Lady of The Tulips

Ok - here's another shot at getting a picture of my thrift store finds on me lil' blog. These were a whopping .99 apiece, so there was no way to just walk away from that. I'll do a before and after of one of them that I worked on yesterday. The difference is pretty remarkable, even if I don't mind saying so myself!!

It's a tad bit cooler today, but I have to say right here and now, that it is still Hot -- so much so, that this morning for the first time EVAH, noah actually had the air conditioning running in the kitchen (it cools mostof the cabin) and it felt absolutely Wonderful in here!! -- No high humidity..no sticking to the backs of the dining room chairs, from sticky sweat -iee's...just being able to sit down an' enjoy the morning cup of coffee!! Wow!!

Now I'm wonderin' just how hot it's going to get later this afternoon..hmmm..but that's later, and right now I'm going to yak about the little mermaid that I worked out yesterday. Got her all lined out, got her tail just about painted, an' today should get the rest of her done. I'm thinking of a neon pink bathing suit for her..maybe some pink flowers in her hair..the whole nine yards. Glitter is also lurking in the back of my mind for her, but maybe that's going a little too far. Who knows. She's definetly not like the other ones' that I've painted, so it's time for a little more wildness, yes?! Yay! -- why not!!-- Even Tom made a mumble in a sort-of "it's ok", so maybe she's not such a bad little thing. Tom has a very passive attitude towards my work, so anything that sounds like it's toward a positive nod is good!! He was even fairly happy driving up to the Beach last weekend! WOW!! For Real.

Is that along the lines of, Wonders Never Cease?

Probably.

But I gotta stop messin' aroun' an start gettin' some painting done. The little girl should be on here tomorrow..

Unless she wants to go shopping...!!


Lady of The Tulips

HA!! -- I've just sat here and typed out a whole long story on what happened to me over the weekend, even posted some nice little pictures of the frames I bought at the thrift store last weekend, and when it came time to download the whole kit and kaboddle (or however it's spelled...) the whole thing disapeared...

Not a good start for a Monday morning...

But since I'm not running short on time, I'll make this short as well -- I got the chance yesterday after church, to get up to Virginia Beach, and take some of my canvases to a shop along Shore Drive. The lady who ownes the shop wanted to take a look at some of my Beachy-things, and said that she would take them, and then I would get a portion of the sale...which isn't very much, but it's better than nothing. The economy being the way that it is, there isn't a whole lot else a lot of shop owners can do, but get what they can for their items, and that's that. So -- I'll make a pittance on the work I've done, but for now, my foot's in the door, so to speak. And the exposure is what I've needed.

The work I've done isn't something that sells at all here in our little farming community, and tha's posed a problem for me. So I've been looking here and there and all over for somewhere to sell my collages. So it's worked out good that there's a shop owner ready to sell some work! And along the part of Shore Drive that her place is located, gets a good amount of traffic, and since Danny drives that highway everyday in his delivery truck, he sez that it's a busy place. Yay!! More People!!

Sorry this is so short, but I've got to run...I'd planned out some stuff to do, an' once my work on this here 'puter went poof, now I gotta make up for lost time..blast...


Lady of The Tulips

Well, here is little miss sara, escaping to somewhere ELSE, so she won't see the camera. I've never seen a dog who so badly, and i mean BADLY hates a camera. There's something in the sound that it makes that does some kind of thang with her hearing, and that in turn makes her do THIS..

An' when you think you've got a nice picture of her, off she goes in a complete other direction, and all your left with is a blur..I think it all started last summer/fall when I kept trying to get a picture of her with that horrid cone on her head, from when she had surgery. Ever since then, she gets up and moves like all $#^&"*(" and get out when she sees me walkin' toward her with the camera.

How do they know what our intentions are? I could have been gettin' ready to take a picture of the little antique bank on the coffee table..I mean, Come ON! --

Well, so...now she's sittin' on the floor, actually on the right side of this very same coffee table, with noah sittin' on the couch, watching something on the BBC...no clue what...sometimes I'm scared of what's on tv these days. No -- I mean, he doesn't go for any risque type things, it's one of those neat antique/auction shows actually, but sometimes he turns on these odd ball shows where some dude is climbing up an horrendous mountain, and eating lichen and mosses to keep alive. Noah thinks it's pretty great. I think the guy needs some serious time in a psych. office, but whadda I know.

And we are once again in the rain/clouds/dampness EVerywhere and no relief in sight. First this week was the 96 Degree heat, and no breeze to make you feel better. Then it was the heat, mixed in with some fierce storms..then it was the storms, winds, trees swaying like they were in a dance contest, and now it's cool, but damp and sprinkly. Is that even a word? -- Well, if it wasn't, it is now. It's sprinkly outside, and the dog wasn't impressed when she went outside to do her thing. So now she's pouting, sitting next to noah, and milkin' it for all it's worth. Feel sorry for ME!! - I had to go OUTSIDE, and it was WET in the GRASS! UGH! -- Oh, the very THOT of it!!

She really does act that way.

Then I have to give her a stern look and tell her that she's absolutely spoiled ROTTEN!!,. an' should just get OVAH it.

Fat Chance.

So I've got some of my canvases in their sweet frames -- that was an act of congress --well, not all of the canvases were difficult to frame..but one of the frames that I got at the thrift store the other weekend, is made out of some kind of cheap wood, and the dye that was used on it and with the varnish, has an undercoating of a rough red..almost a pink undertone, that kept turning pink every time I'd get some primer on it. I had to slap on 3 coats of primer, then 2 of plain white, then to antique the frame some more, I had to go back over those coats with a thin coat of brown sienna, and THEN go over that with a thin coat of white acrylic. It absolutely wore me slap OUT -- serious. By the time I was done with all the sanding, the painting, and the sanding in between coats, it'd been something like 2 hours spent on the thing.

And that's only the BACK of the frame.

I haven't even gotten to the front of the frame yet. I set the frame against the shelf next to the work table an' told it to try TRY to behave itself an' I'd get back to it sometime today.

An' then maybe tomorrow...

But for now I gotta get a check on my laundry -- I've got some things to do this weekend, but I don't wanna spoil things yet by blabberin' where all I"m goin' -- I'll just say that I gotta get my stuff around here done, 'cause I've got no idea if I'll be able to get house - stuff done over the weekend.

I'll fill ya in on what happens after the weekend is over.


Lady of The Tulips

"Sailing Vessels"

Spring Bay Studio -- 2009

Here's another piece that I've been workin' on the last week or so -- it'd been one of those canvese's that'd started out as one thing, and as time went on, poof!! -- it became something else. I guess that 's how it be some times.

The heat is starting to build up this morning - so I'm thinking that it's going to probably storm like all $%^&#@ and get out. The Dog will not be impressed, but then she never is when it comes to strong and loud storms. I've got my sketch book out, to get some new things done up, and hope that those will go onto another canvas that's sittin' behind me on the work table. I also got some new papers over the weekend. I actually went into one of those large stores that are horrid and terrible..with a gazillion people all yelling into cell phones, or parents yelling at their children (back to school shopping..) or elderly couples yelling at one another. Not a very condusive environment for deciding on art paper to buy. BUT -- I did the best I could, grabbed what I needed. Then had to sort of meander around, 'cause I didn't know where tom was. Hmm..checked out the paint isle in the hardware section...looked at plastic storage bins, in bright purple and pink..looked at some incredible thin-legged tables that The Dog would probably knock over in 5 minutes.

And still waited for tom to show up..

An HOUR later, he finally came strollin' along, lookin' like he was just as pleased as punch. He'd been outside doing something (somewhat vague answer on that question) and had been inside, but didn't come into the section where I was deciding on papers, pens, scrap packs and embellishments.

What the%?&$" ???? -- "But I told you where I"d be!"

"Yup -- an' all I did was go to the pen isle..."

Men.

What more is there to say...they make hair color companies a LOT of money, from tired and irritated wives...

Gotta go -- it's hot an' it's only 9 a.m. -- an' here come the clouds...eeekkssss

Lady of The Tulips

"Explore Wonderful Treasures"

Spring Bay Studio -- 2009

Back in june I posted this canvas..but there just didn't seem to be something right about it..so I sat down with it today, and we had a talk.

It's hard to say flat out that something just sucks, but that's what I had to contend with once I took a good look at this canvas..where it was originally. So, with some other papers - paints - stickers and a couple beads, it's a whole new ball game . Well, at least, it's a new canvas.

Yeah - that's what it is. And probably feeling a lot better about things.

There are some other pieces that I've updated, but I've been painting like a mad person for the last couple days, an' right now I'm just thinkin' of sittin' back an' havin' a cold one. There has been some other things going on, too, that have just about worn me out..but tha's all another story for another day. Right now I'm just thinkin' that it's a good idea to stop my work for the day..chill out an' look out the window at the woods.

Why sit Inside? -- WEEELLLLL...tha's 'cause it happens to be over 95 DEGREES outside, and with the heat index..uhhhmmm...le's see..at noon it was 92 an' combined with the heat index THEN..it felt like 103 outside. And it's gotten hotter since then...

THAT'S why I'm gonna be sittin' INSIDE and look at the birds flitting from tree to tree, and hopin' they have some water to drink, some bugs to eat, and won't fall outta the sky on the way to get either item.

That'd be the pits...


Lady of The Tulips

"Roadtrip" - 2009 Spring Bay Studio

>> What more is there to say? <<

It's that time of year to jus' haul off and hit the road..who cares where, who cares for how long, an' lets jus' get Goin'!!

Lady of The Tulips

"She Knew How To Giggle Her Sweet Life Away" - 2009 Spring Bay Studio

She just sorta popped up the other day, made it known that she was HERE, an' by golly, that's all there is to it!!

Lady of The Tulips

Some of our flowers and bulbs are just about done for the summer, but here is a shot of one of the plants that just seems to say Phooeeeyyy!! on that!! Even with the high heat and humidity, these flowers just seem to keep blooming. This stand of flowers are just to the right of the rose of sharon I took a picture of last week.

We had a terrible storm yesterday -- pretty much out of the blue, it just popped up from what looked like just a couple clouds. HA!! -- Noah was looking at the radar map online, and happened to say, "Well, it looks like we might get a little rain, but this looks like it's going in the opposite direction.." within less than 45 minutes, we had an absolutely horrendous storm -- lots and lots of lightening, tons of water just smashing the treelimbs and pounding the roof. What really got me scared was the sudden wind...once it started shaking the house, then i got a little worried.

But after a half hour or so, we finally listened to the last of the storm, and when I went to look out in the front yard, to see how many tree limbs fell, I noticed that the water was rushing across the drainage ditch, and pouring onto the far southern side of our yard. YIKES!! -- It was like somebody turned on a faucet on high..I've never seen something like that ever. EVAH! -- Tom said when he took miss sara for her walk later in the evening, that down the one road across from us, the drainage ditch was rushing across the base of one of the culverts, and pouring down onto a little inlet from the river. "It looked and sounded like a waterfall..." WHOA!!

When I rode my bike this morning, there were still lots of spaces along the road where all the leaves were piled up in the drainage ditches, and stagnant water everywhere. The river inlet near the marina was dirty brown from all the runoff, and the crab boats that were tied up looked like they'd been kinda rocked all over the place. That wasn't something I wanted to see this morning!

But it is much cooler for the first time in probably 3 weeks, so the breeze from the Sound felt absolutely wonderful!! Cool, and noah and I still haven't turned on the airconditioner - and it's after 11:00 in the morning!! Whoo - Hoo!! But I can't get too excited, 'cause the weather people are saying it's going to turn much hotter over the weekend, and by sunday it's going to get up to 95...that's without the heat index!!

Must be time to figure out a way to a Very Cool Place!! Yup. Tha's the ticket!!

In jus' a bit I'm gonna post a couple pieces I've finished this week -- their kinda groovy..well, to Me they are!! Ha!!

Must get some ice coffee...my word, the breeze in here is just right, and with a nice cold coffee...more like a latte...ohhh...it just makes up for the past few HOT dayz!!


Lady of The Tulips

>> I think I probably said I'd post some more pictures on here today, but after I got back from my afternoon bike ride, for some dippy reason, I happened to turn on the tv, to check the weather, and saw that outside the actual temperature was 85..but with the Heat Index it actually felt like 95 DEGREES <<

This could be the reason I'm feeling light headed and altogether ickieee..

So I'm sittin' in the little studio ENJOYING the air conditioning...even noah, who is loathe to turn the air conditioning on, even HE said that it feels bad outside.."The actual air temps aren't so bad, but that HUMIDITY!!" -- Yup -- it matches the air temperature, which makes for an altogether damp and sweltering feeling all about ones person. The weather people said that tomorrow is going to get even hotter, but there is a possibility that the humidity will DROP - which is just a Miracle!! if it happenz. So Let's All Send up Prayers for LOW HUMIDITY!!

There are some new pictures on me little camera, which I WILL post tomorrow..I'm also going to get some pictures of my other Rose of Sharon plants -- we have a purple, pink an' of course, another white. Oh they just make it feel so SUMMER around here!! -- And add to it, the Crepe Myrtle is also blooming like Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah, and oh my stars!! -- What is just more SUMMER than THAT? I tell ya, I just can't THINK of anything else...'cept watermelon...tomatoes...oh, uhmmm...le's see..oop..AND fresh corn on the cob.

That about rounds out THAT list!

Must go an' check on some STUFF that's drying behind me over there...see?? NO -- Over THERE!! -- 'K..now you got it...

Lady of The Tulips