Monday, March 29, 2010

Just wanted to show off the color of the Tulip Tree - it just looks so darn happy, blooming away and making the corner of the property so cheerful ~ ! ~


I think the thing that suprises me the most, is the fact that this little tree has so much more color than some of the other flowering trees this spring - don't know if that means that there is some kind of environmental Thang goin' on or What -

But there ya go - Spring is Beginning to make itself known.


An' tha's a whole lot better than another $#%&*+ snow storm anyday..........



Lady of The Tulips
>> Just a teeny little post here, while I canbe online ~ It is really raining cats and dogs...maybe that's why the dog is all atither..she hates,hates, HATES when it rains as hard as it is right now - lightening, thunder, huge frog-strangler rain downpours, and then it lets up for about 10 minutes. And starts all over again.

Not what I wanted to wake up to....

But, it IS to warm up tomorrow..ok, that's what the Weather People say, so who knows. It is only - I know that's hard to see from people up in the northern part of the U.S., especially, where it's been snowing so long, everybody is getting discounts on snow shovels about now...

But for Here, it's only going to be in the 60's - where it's usually in the low 70's - doesn't seem like a big deal, but for those who are Spoiled Beyond Belief, with warm spring weather..hey, they are nearly throwing ashes on themselves and wearing black for the duration...full on mourning deal goin' on here...

But for the rest of us, we just hope that all the rain water will drain out of the yard, the garden will jump up and down with all that soaking, and once the rest of the bulbs come in, it's gonna look really spectacular. I think the tulip bulbs that noah and I planted should be taking off just about now..and those little pansies I took a picture of the last week - they have REALLY gone to town, and are just blooming their little heads off!! ~ I'd no idea they'd get as big as they have! ~ Whoa ~ ! ~ So I'm pretty happy about them.

And when I check my camera, I'll post some pictures of the piece that's coming along pretty nicely over on the work table ~ Fun is what I'm having with it ~ Fibers that look really floaty..some fabrics that I'd nearly forgotten about..an' some paints that got used that have been sitting and pouting 'cause they haven't been used for some time either..dust on the tops of the bottles for cryin' out loud~ !! ~ Ugh..how can somebody DO that, I ASK you?? !! ~~ And I think there is still a shot in the camera of the Tulip Tree that is in full bloom out in the front yard...ohh, I'll just let you see that without goin' into full detail.


Noah is slamming the back door more than something crazy, so I think I best go see what the $%^&*@#$ is goin' on- I think something may have happened to the shed overnight..just what I want to do, talk to some yokel at the Insurance Corporation...my last good nerve is starting to twitch right about now....

Lady of The Tulips

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

This is what the original sketch looked like - the one that became the flower with the mermaid sitting cheerfully on top.


There was something of a NEW idea the next day after I made this sketch, and it just sort of took on a new life of it's own. Now it's drying over on the work table, and there are some new fabrics, beads and fibers all ready to go along with the little mermaid. I have no idea of where any of this came from, but that's ok, 'cause it may be because Spring has officially arrived!!


Not that the weather has cooperated in any way ~ Well, it did for something like 2 days, then decided that it was just too darn nice, so it hauled off and turned cold, rainy and really windy. Wind is the worse thing for the Bus - just shakes it all over the road, and gives me sweaty hands when I'm trying to go down the road. I'm not too sure of people and their reaction to the Bus, so I'd rather not take a chance of getting blown off the road and end up upside down in a drainage ditch, with the little Bus wheels poking up in the air.


So I took the Very Fine Automobile to the grocery store today instead. And even THAT got blown around..so Winter is still making itself known around the Shore.

I'd hoped that it'd be more sunny today so I could get a shot of the Tulip (!!) tree out front of the cabin
- it's just starting to get it's blooms and it looks so sweet now - very much like it SHOULD look for early spring..along with some daffodils.

But that will wait to tomorrow...an' now I gotta go cause Noah wants on here...and got me all sidetracked.

I was going to talk about the store that lost some of my art..but it literally gives me a sudden headache, so I won't.

I'll just stay POSITIVE toward the new gallery, and SALES that I KNOW will happen.

There!!

And with that I gotta go~~


Lady of The Tulips

Monday, March 22, 2010

Sometime back, I'd mentioned that some of the














flowers along the edge of the deck had started blooming ~ And the weather cleared up just enuf the other afternoon, to allow me to get a couple pictures of the pansies, all cheerful and looking like they could care less about how much snow they've had fall all over them! The larger pot of flowers happens to be on the table to the left of the 3 flower pots in the corner of the deck ~ The picture just wouldn't come out any clearer, no matter how hard I tried! ~ But you can get a pretty good idea of how cheerful those little pansies are. I bought them on sale last fall, and Noah went ahead and put them in the pots one afternoon for me. I'm suprised they've come thru the winter as well as they have!

And now there will be some other pictures - but not until tomorrow - I want to go outside an' take some shots of the bulbs that are coming in, along the roadway. They are some nice yellow/green blooms - daffodils, but with just a hint of opening on the petals on each plant. They aren't any type that I've seen before we moved here, but they seem to do very well in our crazy temperatures - even with some early heat, they seem to just shrug it off, and keep on blooming! That's what I call "Hardy" flowers!

I'm fixing the little mermaid that I showed the other day - she was just a rough sketch then, but now she's gettin some color and other things added around her. I'm glad she's getting to look less than pale now...at first her color didn't look so good, like she was fighting the flu or something!! ~ But now she's coming around, so that's making up for some lost days over the weekend....

And speaking of the weekend.......

It's really one I'd rather forget - I did make the trip up to the city to retrieve my work..and just as my inner feelings had predicted, it wasn't good at all ~ Tom kinda sprung the trip on me unexpectedly, as we weren't going to go till after church on sunday ~ But he changed his mind, so quick like a bunny I changed clothes, and off we went. The trip itself went just fine..it's the shock of when I walked into the shop that I honestly wasn't expecting.

Not one of my pieces were hanging where I'd left them ~ Not one. And as I walked thru the store, looking and looking around and over each new item, and some re-set pieces, it just got heavier and heavier inside of me. It really did feel like I'd been kicked in the stomach, it just was so dense feeling ~

So I asked "Where are my pieces" to the store manager, and she claimed she didn't know anything about them ~ "You'll have to come back tomorrow and talk to the owner..." I told her, while on the verge of having an hysterical crying jag, "Look, I drove over 90 miles one way to get here, and I'm not coming back here tomorrow. My husband didn't really want to come up here in the first place, and all I want right now are my pieces of art.." - She just stood and stared at me with a complete blank look on her face.

Then she started moving this HUGE piece of shelving/storage..mumbling while she was doing this.."Well, I think I put your things back in here just after Christmas..."

That's when the complete and horrid feeling that something BAD had happened to my art.

She fumbled-bumped around for what seemed like forever, then asked if tom could come in & help move this behemoth thing for her..I walked outside to see what he'd say - he handed his phone to me, so while I talked to our middle son (He was livid at what happened to me, by the way...) tom went in and helped the lady.

AS IF it wasn't bad enuf that she was all fumbliee, then she tells tom, "I don't think her things are here...I don't really know what happened to them..."

Yup - Tom went OFF!! ~~ He demanded to know just what the $^%$@ was going on, and the lady finally moved another piece of furniture, and lo and behold, there were some of my pieces...all smashed into a box, an' not looking all that great. I asked abot 4 other pieces that the owner said she'd hang up for me (I"ll get you your inventory sheet in the mail, an' I'll take care of those pieces for you!) - "Oh, you'll have to call about those..."

I'd counted my inventory sheet, an' thot that maybe the other pieces were there..I was on the verge of tears, an' just picked up the box, said thank you and walked out.

Numb.

In shock.

And feeling really sick to my stomach.

By the time we got home (Tho we did spent some time w/ the other 2 sons) I was absolutely dead to the world...I'd felt like somebody had just beat me to within an inch of my life.

And sunday I was still to numb to do much of anything.

'cept realize that 4 pieces of mine never did get put in that box - and that nearly 1/2 of the pieces that I did get back, were in some way damaged - frames dented or scratched. One has some paint from something else on it. One frame has a glob of something from the top of the frame, onto the back of it.

2 pieces were knocked loose from their frames.

Have I mentioned that this year has been somewhat rough for me?

So today I've been re-arranging the studio - what pieces that I could clean up, I've put into a seperate box for taking to the gallery down the highway, should the need arise. The ones that were beat up an' shaken/knocked from their frames, I just put away, and have no idea of what to do with them. The other ones I'll try and figure out something down the road.

I'm just getting over the shock of it all.

The woman owner/manager told me not quite a month ago, that all my work was fine, nothing was wrong with them, everything was great...don't worry, nothing is selling, but it's a slow economy...yadda, yadda, yadda..............

Needless to say, the 4 missing pieces are just going to be that - I'm not sure if I have the energy to try and attempt to retrieve them - what with all that's happened I'm not sure what avenue to take.

So in the meantime, I'll just paint the new little mermaid over on the work table, and get back on my feet again.

And hopefully this kind of thing WILL NOT happen again.


So that's all for now - noah's walkin' toward the studio, an' he probably wants to get on the computer, so I gotta go.

An' maybe take a nap this afternoon an' try an' feel better............


Lady of The Tulips

Friday, March 19, 2010


>> One of the sketches that I've been fiddling around with for what seems like for - EVAH - and is still WIP - but tha's ok, because when it DOES finally get done, it's going to look like something pretty cool. <<

The other part of this is some colored papers that are sitting around doing absolutely nothing, so the common sense approach is ~ DUH ~ use those along with some fibers that I'd totally forgot about...look, the box of them is on the other side of the work table, and how often do I get down on the floor, and purposely, I mean For REAL, get down on the floor to look at that stuiped box ~ ? ~ Yes, yes, yes, I KNOW that thing has a gazillion fibers, threads and yarn type things in it.

But come on > I will avoid that kind of strenous activity like skipping out on a lecture in a dull boring classroom - on the subject of Economics, mind you...like there's free beer in the next county over.

Which item is going to win out ~ Lecture? ~

Or free beer?

So, lets say that box is that stuiped lecture...ok...so - it's being avoided.

EXCEPT ~ when there is something in there that I suddenly realize I NEED ..like yesterday, and not today. Sooo..that's where some sparkly, sheer..thin and wide fibers are going to be put to work. And, even if I don't mind saying so ~~ there will probably be a touch of glitter thrown in for good measure.

An' this little girl will just gleam and shine like it's 4th of July in the U.S.A. ~ Even tho it's only march...

close enuf......

And on a brighter note..or even brighter note ** I'm close to getting The Husband convinced about taking me up to the city so I can retrieve my work in the shop where it's been held captive for these last few months. Every time I've called, I get the same sad answer..so I guess I'll have to make the trip up there and see about taking them out of the wall space. It makes me sad, 'cause I did really hope that they would sell, but There is just no real easy answer in this off the wall economy these days ~ People are dropping their prices on their art like it's the Basement Sale of The Year..an' still trying to make a living with their Art...an' not go to work at one of those horrid fast food restraunts..do they really get called a restraunt? ~ Well..anyway...that;s where it's at for now ~ An' I guess even tho I don't like making the trip, it's looking like it's a Have - To.

Blechk....

But for now I gotta go an' see what little miss Sara Beth is doing in the kitchen ~ She came in from laying out on the deck, when I thot that for real, she had to go do...uhmmm...her business. Ha! ~ Fooled me ~ She just went outside and laid on the deck and watched the people across the street move into their teeny little house.

Shows what Mother Knows...........sheesh...........


Lady of The Tulips

Thursday, March 18, 2010


"There Was Nothing New To Discover" - 2009 ~ Spring Bay Studio

Here's one of the pieces that I'd mentioned working on the other day ~ I don't know where I've been since my last post ~ But I DID get this done..the color around the edge of the piece is painted over some texture "stuff" that I dug up from one of our storage cabinets. I won't tell what it is, but it is really cool to work with. I'm pretty jazzed about how this turned out, an' I'll probably use some more of the stuff on one or 2 other pieces.

And for the first time in what seems like for-EVAH ~ ! ~ I've got some really good news!! ~

I got accepted to one of the gallery's in the next town down Ocean Highway ~ I'd been reluctant to approach them, after some rather ugly experiences at a couple other places..like the one gallery where the manager took the edge of one of my pieces, and slammed the edge of the frame against the counter top...while she was ranting about something that I'd no idea about...

Or the other place, that took down some of my work without telling me, and shook the canvas so badly inside the frame, that it seperated it from it's mat....

Yeah..I've had some pretty scary stuff happen to me...So it's been some time since I felt like taking another chance..But I had a couple really good phone calls with the director of the gallery down the highway..and she had me come in and show her 3 of my pieces ~ She and the manager both really like my work, and all three pieces weren't just accepted, but they were hung up that same day!! ~

talk about a relief ~ ! ~ I'd been so leary, an' now for the first time in over a year, I'm feeling a little bit optimistic about selling my work ~ The manager said that since the prices I posted for my work isn't too over the top, it was felt that they should sell pretty fast ~ That's another SHWWOOO for me, I mean it really is something good to hear. I said that I wasn't into having things over priced, or try to be too over the top with what I do, so that's going to hopefully relate to the pieces selling..that's what I'm hoping for.

There are so many pieces of mine up at the other store in the city ~ And I have a feeling that they aren't going to sell up there at all, so it looks like I'll probably be driving up there this weekend and picking them up ~ There hasn't been any word to me from the manager of that location as to what the problem is with them - if there is a problem...so My gut instinct is to go retrieve them - Better safe than sorry...I'd hate for something to happen to the,m


Rushing like mad right now - noah is rushing me off of the computer - some game thing or whatever, so I jave to quick like a bunny get off of here...an' there was so much else to tell, but it's just going to have to wait till next time .

Lady of The Tulips

Friday, March 12, 2010


>>

Ok, so it's a little blurry, but this is some kind of spider web, that's found a home in the bushes along the front porch of our little cabin ~ I'm not sure what kind of little critter "owns" this, but you can be sure, that it's not going to be disturbed in any way.

Not so much because it's the time of year when all the critters in the woods surrounding us are hatching, birthing and doing what-not, but it's also the fact that I've got no idea of just how BIG this spider or what EVAH it is...IS!! ~

I.E. ~ Better to be safe than sorry.......

And so starts the Spring here along the Shore ~ I've still got to go out and take some shots of the bulbs along the dirt road that are popping up ~ they all look so cheerful and make the recent warm weather just that much harder to take > 'cause in something like 2 days the weather is going to haul off and fall into the basement as far as temperatures are concerned ~ NOT what I wanted after we've been gettin' all cozy with it being near 65 for the past 4 days or so...Yup ~ I was gettin' spoiled ROTTEN by it all. And so, before I knew it, the weather personz were saying, "Well, one must realize that it is still technically Winter..."

Oh, Shut Up!!

How DARE they tell me that!! ~ Blast it all, I'm demanding that it STAY warm, and that Spring get here as soon as POSSIBLE ~ !! ~ And that's my final offer!!

But alas, it is ready to turn back into those winter-eey days, so I'm not sure if Ms. spider will have her home all snuggly like it's wanting to be - out there in those little bushes all lookin' nice.........

But what I can do tomorrow, is take some pictures ~ of 2 works that are happening over on the table ~ One is finished, and it didn't turn out too shabby, even if I don't mind sayin' so myself...and the other is a WIP ~ so it has some ways to go before it looks presentable. Or sorta better than it is at the moment..I'm trying to decide now if I want to use some watercolor pencils on some of my sketches, or just haul off and use some of the acrylics that are sitting in the storage spaces in the table...Decisions, decisions...What's a person to DO, I'm askin' ~ ?? ~

But that's about the news from here ~ We're havin' just about a frog strangler outside ..the rain is pourin' down like there's no tomorrow, and the puddles are gettin' bigger on the dirt road...pretty soon it's going to be one huge lake if it doesn't stop..the people who come from the paved part of the road, come nearly to a screachin' halt when they realize that this part of the road is dirt..gravel..an' lots and lots of sand...makes it a little dicey to go screaming down that little dirt stuff at 45 miles an hour...even tho the speed limit is 25...some people think that the signs are just a close approximation of what you can drive around here...then too, there's the "problem" of the road ending..and then you either go careening into the house at the end of the dirt road, or you can make a super sharp right hand turn...go careening down THAT part of the street...but again, if you don't slow down on THAT part..then you go down a little hill, and go SPLASHHING into the water.

Makes for a very soggy afternoon ~ Or morning.

Or whatever..

But I truly do have to go now...The Husband is now home, and is asking some sort of inane questions...wwhhhaaaa????...sometimes I really wonder about that guy..an' why is is that I'm the one who get's the weird questions thrown in MY direction..

There IS another person in the house...an' there's the dog, too..

Maybe I just need a nap!!


Lady of The Tulips

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

So, last summer noah bought this cool antique chair ~ I think it
came from an old hotel that used to be somewhere near here..but do't quote me on that ~

But anyway ~ if you notice all the green and SUN in the background..well, we are finally starting to have some of that in the yard ~ Tho not as much as in this picture.

I think most of the early bulbs are finally up and tall enuf that they are sprouting some blooms ~ I'm planning on going outside later this morning and taking some pictures of them ~ I've got some new - well, new to me - bulbs that have decided to come up in the yard this spring ~ I really don't remember them last year ~ And I think we got here too late in the season when we moved in, to see them that first summer. But they look to be some kind of daffodil ~ Maybe jonquils, I'm not too sure ~ Very dainty and looking oh so sweet in the soil just under a big big tree that's next to the house. Tom, tho, was totally unimpressed with them ~ He's just not into them at all ~ He may LOOK at the flowers, but that is just about as far as his enthusiasm goes for them. Me, I get those blasted flower and bulb catalogs and want to spend $128.00 on just about everything that catches my eye.

But then there would be the problem of buying certain things that we probably need...

Like Food....

And paying the bills....

Darn it all ~ These BORING things get in my way of buying FLOWERS ~ ! ~ So, I'll take any kind that have volunteered themselves in the yard any day.

We're going to be getting WARMER here near the shore - I'm so @%$%&"@"^" tired of being chilly, it's not even funny ~ I'm not sure, but it feels like it's pretty warm already this morning, so that's a good sign ~ I had a good ride in the Bus yesterday (pictures of the progress on that coming along too..) while I went to the next town down Ocean Highway ~ Had to do the Weekly Grocery Shopping Thang ~ actually didn't do too bad ~ And w/double coupons (!) I saved close to $7.00 on the grocery total. Not too shabby.

Oh, I KNOW ~ There are some of you who save something so out there - like $40.00 with 230 coupons every time you go shopping...but lets face it ~ How many rolls of paper towels do 3 people REALLY NEED ~ ?? ~

I MEAN ~ Come on - so, no, I don't just grab coupons just because they save me some money..I only use the ones that will go with the grocery/food menus for the week, an' that's that.

Other wise, I'd have some crazy stuff in the cupboards like, boxes of 20 granola bars in "Assorted Flavors" ~ That would sit and turn to mush in 6 months...'cause I'm the only one who EATS those things, an' there are just SO MANY of them, that one person can eat, know what I mean??

So anyway -

I'm sketching this morning, and have 2 projects goin' at the same time ~ Flowers, Mermaids, Fishies and Other Assorted Things....

They will make their debut in the not too distant future ~ Jus' not now...the mermaid isn't quite dressed yet...I MEAN - I can't show her NAKED or something, now, can I ~ !!? ~

Heavens to Betsy....

But for now I gotta run..NO - Make that I gotta go over to the work table an' finish something that's drying as we sit an' have our 2nd cup of coffee... Actualy my 4th, but who's counting...

Old Truck Driver Habits of Having 5 cups of coffee die hard...Or they just run out an' start a new pot of coffee...HEE HEE..............


Lady of The Tulips

Friday, March 05, 2010

So here's a shot from the first summer we were here in the cabin - And these flowers are starting to over grow their space in the flower bed next to the deck >>And that's the question I've got for this spring ~


Do I go ahead and transplant these now > And more importantly, is it time to transplant these? ~ I can't remember which time of year
it is that I can move these ~ Noah's all bizzy with working on
some other plants around the yard, and cleaning up the
beds around the front of the yard. So that leaves me with the
question of what to do with these ~ They have a tendancy
to grow all OVAH during the summer ~ But their advantage is that they can look so wonderful for so much of the season > I wish tho, that they had some fragrance to them >


So - that's my dilemna (or however it's spelled..) for now. And it's really hard to think about planting right now, too ~ It's trying so very hard to warm up today ~ And once the sun comes out from behind a little cloud, BOOM ~ another one comes zinging along, blocking out the sun again.


So it makes the feeling of spring rather distant..'cept when I can get a teeny bit of sun to hit me jjuuuuust right, and be out of the wind..ahhh...then it's WONDERFUL!!


So, that's all the news - as it were - from here - The wind is going to fall off tomorrow - and tom sez we need to go to the coffee shop in the morning after we get Sara Beth her medication at the Vet Hosp. - then we may just take in the latest displays at the Museum in the next town over. It's right across from the water, which is really great - makes it nice to walk across the street, an' watch the sea birds, see what kind of sail boats have come into the harbor, and generally do NOTHING for the day ~ !~ Yay! That's my kind of day!!



Lady ofThe Tulips

Wednesday, March 03, 2010


Ok ~ So yeah, this isn't exactly what it looks like here in the yard..

BUT ~ I wanted to download this, 'cause it's been raining so $%#^ hard and the wind's been blowin' like it's going to be the end of the world in 45 minutes, or whenever the bills are due...

So I wanted to remind myself, that there is an end to winter..there are flowers and flowering plants that will shoot forth wonderful, bright and glorious flowers in just a couple months..or weeks. And there will..I repeat, there WILL be sunshine once again...kinda like the old Grateful Dead song.."The Sun's gonna shine in my backdoor somedayyy.." ~

That's what I'm reminding myself this morning..I didn't go to bed till after 11:00 last ight..the wind was howling so loud, it sounded really scary - I mean, blowin' around the front of the cabin like some sound from an old 1930's horror film. Even the dog, poor little Sara Beth, was kinda antsy about it - so, I watched some tv, just so I'd be good an' tired by the time I crawled in the bed. An' I was optimistic that the sun was, is, or WILL BE shinning today - jus' don' know when.

An' just to make sure that spring is TRULY right around the corner - Yesterday afternoon while I was REALLY stuck on the current project on the work table...I decided the #$%@ with it, an' sat down, and watched SPRING TRAINING BASEBALL ~ !! ~

Can we hear a YEE ~ ! ~ HAW ~ ! ~ on that one??!!

Ok - so some of those guys don't really stand a chance to get called up to the majors..but they did make it to spring training, so that's saying that they made it this far! ~ And too, they are getting looked at by the scouts, so that's really a good sign that they aren't too far away from really hittin' the big time...

I just wish some of that blasted warm weather was here RIGHT NOW >>>

So, in order to make it FEEL like it's SPRING here..I'm going to go finish the current project on me little table..an start in on something that's been scurring around in my head for the last couple days > I found some old papers that I really forgot about..so those will come in handy in the next little bit...

But I won't tell all - least for now!!

Back to add some firewood to the woodstove..grrr...wish that WARM would be here today...actually the weather people say it should warm up by the weekend..YAYYY!!

But till then, I will halt all dancing in the studio till it's warm...or at least warm enuf to go out and dance on the deck!!


Lady of The Tulips