"We're In a Hurry" Spring Bay Studio 2006

The reason I've posted this piece is because at the monent, we are in the midst of a Nor'easter..LET ME TELL YOU!! And right as I type that, we get another gust of wind somewhere up around 45m.p.h. >>>

I woke up last night listening to the storm get itself REALLY going..And naturally couldn't get back to sleep. What sounds SO weird is when a branch comes crashing down out of one of the trees on our land. It first sounds like a huge swwwiissshhh sound coming down thru all the smaller branches, then an even louder BUMP!!, as the branch (es) hit the ground. Somewhat unerving. And when I see some of the birds trying their best to fly against the wind, well, they seem to be getting nowhere fast. And THAT brings me to this piece. These 2 are "In a Hurry", as if their very life depends on it -- not too unlike the birds outside battling with the wind gusts.

And naturally Tom has to go out of town in the middle of all this. BUT -- the good news is he has a 50,000 lb. load of Granite to take up to the Washington DC area. Some incredibly wealthy people are installing it in one of their McMansions. Hoo-rahh...at least Tom gets paid for hauling it up there...but the WIND!!! EEEKKKK>> he's definetly gonna be rockin' an' rollin' by the time it's all said an' done. Not so much with the full load, but EMPTY -- oh year. He wasn't too keen on the trip home this afternoon!

Just about done with my other project on the table. I've got to get 2 coats of paint on the canvas, then get it sprayed with a sealer. I made a HORRID discovery the other day. One of the "permanent" markers I've used for ever an EVAH has suddenly turned it's back on me. The markers decided they'd haul off and SMEAR ALL OVER >> I MEAN ALL OVAH!! the place, right when I was applying some matte medium. I realized I wasn't in the best of moods when watching the colors run, as I discovered I was sitting with my mouth hanging open, Well, that an' yelling at the same time, "WHAT ARE YOUDOING??!!" Even made Sara pick her head up an try to look and see what was the matter. But I've discovered another way around the mess, and covered up the smears, grabbed the spray paint can of matte sealeant and have used that for the final coat. HA!! TAKE THAT YOU PENS OF MESS!! -- shows them who's boss.

Must go see what is happening out in the front room. Noah's waiting for a phone call on a possible job offer (YEAHHH!!), The Dog is rattling around in the kitchen (always a bad sound -- she discovered she can stand on her back legs and check out what's on the kitchen counter..) and I'm clear in the back of the cabin. This may not be good>>>

Lady of The Tulips - who NOW hears somebody outside..yee gadz -- a SALESMAN..HERE??!!

SO >>>>> What happened waz...I was feeling sorry for this little chair one afternoon, an' decided that what it really needed was jus' a plain ol' coat of paint to cheer it up. It had been painted BLACK by my musician son, Gabriel, and at the time it WAZ a black chair, it was in a room, that was also, painted BLACK...


*** HOWEVAH!! *** Here on the shore, it just didn't seem right to have a GOTH lookin' chair sittin' out on the front porch, not with the start of a Beach Theme starting along. So, while Tom & I were in the local BIG BOX HARDWARE STORE..we were looking over some paint chips for the bathroom, an' lo an behold, there was a shelf of spray paintz. WELL -- not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I turned around an' faced Tom (he's forever walkin' slower than me in the store..so I Constantly have to stop an' wait for him to catch up...) an' said probably too loudly, "HOLY MACKERAL !! THAT"S WHATI NEED!!" -- I think I scared about 5 people that were within earshot of us...ooopzz--ieee...But there, waiting for me to bring it home, was this FABU can of Turquoise Spray Paint. No..actually I think the name of the color is something like "Aqua" or "Teal" or some such THANG...BUT LOOK AT THAT!! HUHH??!!!

>>> OK <<< maybe it isn't all that exciting, but it has drastically changed this poor little chair's appearance. What I like the best is, I sanded down the existing coat of paint, an' then started layering on the 3 coats of spray paint. What I didn't do too much, was really go over the blobs of paint that Noah has spilled all over this little chair..an' what I REALLY didn't expect, was that once this spray paint had dried, it would make all those existing blobs of paint really stick out on the metal. HA!! That's what I REALLY like about this chair..it feels just as imperfect as me! And it has all sorta weird little bumbs an' lumps jus' like me...we've both been thru some stuff that we shoulda never NEVAH shoulda gone thru, but we are doin' jus' fine now, thank you very much!

I'm in the works with a new project over on my little table. I went Thrift Store "Shoppin'" with one of my neighbors this morning. I had to wait for the gesso to dry on my canvas board anyway, an' since my neighbor said she didn't really wanna go by herself, WELL --- I could see the chance to go an' see what there was out & about in the next little town down Ocean Highway. Well. Well...there were certainly A LOT of things in all the little stores we wernt in, but just not anything that absolutely jumped out and grabbed me by my shirt an' said "YOU GOTTA BUY ME!!" -- oh, I mean there were really some great odds an' ends, but since it's 3 days till payday, I figure that it aint gonna hurt to wait till the weekend to pick these things up. An' if their gone by then, well, I'll jus' see what else there happens to be. I did find some things for the studio & bathroom. Curtains. A tapestry curtain set for the studio, an' a fabric shower curtain with a liner, an some other fabric pieces for the bathroom too. Tie Backs. So, with the total for all of those at just under $25, I know that's right in our price range! YEAH!. I real-fast-like-right-now told tom about the stuff, an' he sez, "SURE", about pickin' up the stuff this weekend....AH HA!! see, the trick is, to get him to say ok, or sure to something, while he's totally not paying ANY attention, then once Sat. rolls around, WHAM, I tell him it's time to get to the store, an' pick up all those great things...HA!! works! >> Well, most of the time it does..

Must go an' check some prices on plumbing stuff we need to replace in the master bathroom. We have probably the WORLDZ WORST shower..30 years old, plastic with old layers of lime deposits that WILL NOT SCRUB OFF...an' an extra ugly wood edging along the ceiling that just makes my teeth go on edge. I've got no idea of what the previous owner was thinking...maybe way back in the day it was ok...uhhhmmm...jus' not NOW!!

?? Lady of The Tulips << thinkin' on maybe a good bathtub that can let ms. tulip soak away in for a good hour...

LOOK!! Here is a shot from one of our little parks here in the neighborhood..what you see to the left of the distant shoreline, is the Albemarle Sound...if you were to take a boat and keep going East, you would come up to the Outer Banks. I'm not sure of the total distance, it seems like it's 10 or 15 miles. ButI don't know if that's Nautical Miles or how(??) that's fig'red..

As you can see, we are in the middle of some rough weather today..a Nor'easter, and the water is starting to get good an' choppy. Noah went down to the end of the street that our kitchen faces..it leads straight to the water. FORTUNATELY we don't live directly on the water -- today the Weather Service is callin' for shoreline flooding..tidal flooding..whichever you wanna call it. Either way, it aint good. But the clouds do look kinda trippy this morning..OOP! >> Wait >> it's after Noon, so THIS AFTERNOON it's lookin' really cool..All bloweeyy and the clouds zzzippin' along toward the Outer Banks...wwwHHEEEE>>>> Jus' love to watch 'em!! Noah said either a blue heron or one type of heron was havin' a BAD time tryin' to fly in the wind..poor thing!! Hope it'll make it!!

>>> Not much else to say <<< Gotta couple more projects brewin' -- an entered a Mojoartgroup challenge...SO FUN!!..will let you see - read the results on it!!

*** Lady of The Tulips ** Listenin' to the wind zzzziippp aroun' in the trees..WWHHOOOEEEEE>>>

And just when i thot all was lost, and these wonderful trees were going to go the way of the local sawmill....

Actually they are going to stay put...what has happened is that on the other side of this line of trees, somebody has partially cleared a lot space, but this tree line is staying put, for something like a buffer zone. I was just about to go over to the clubhouse office and pitch a fit..yell, scream, throw things around the office, shouting about ruining the forests and being detrimental to the environment. All that and more. Then I actually walked around and read some of the fine print on the sign, saying "For Sale", an' realized what was going on. I felt so dumb. Almost walked over to the fishing dock an' threw myself in the river. But THAT would be all together wrong, so I just turned around an' came back in the cabin.

It's so weird, to see all the woods surrounding our place, an yet we are completely surrounded by water. I'm gonna hope for clear skies tomorrow, an' take some pictures of what we're surrounded by. We are on a little finger of land...not sure of the dimensions, but large enough for a spattering of homes. About 6 roads, all intermingled, some paved, but for the most part, gravel or dirt. We have 2 rivers that run alongside the land..the Yeopim River on the right side, while coming down the main road to get to our little dirt road. There is another river to the left of the spit of land...for the life of me I can't remember it's name. A small one, tho, that joins into the larger body of water making up the Ablemarle Sound. If I was a huge swimmer, or more easily, if I had a boat, I could go across the sound, and be on the Outer Banks. Some of the houses on the main road into our little "subdivision" are located directly on the water of both rivers. I, however, am not brave enuf to have a place on the water, as both rivers are subject not only to occasional flooding, but during storms such as the one we had a couple weeks ago, Hannah, the tidal surge can proove to be a BIG PROBLEM...bigger flooding problems. But, even tho some of the properties do have flood issues, we have the fortune of being above the flood line, so we aren't terribly concerned with flood issues. If a BIG storm comes along, and there are warnings and yelling about Tidal Surge, then I think we are ordered to evacuate. And since we only have one road into the area, then of course, once it floods, there's no way in or out to our place. We haven't had that issue to face -- yet. Hopefully the Hurricane Season will just go quietly away, before we have to seriously think about tidal surge and flood problems.

~~ Don't know why I went into all THAT detail..but I guess it just felt like the thing to do. The area has a great number of farms, too. Going down the main road, you can see cattle grazing, happily chewing their cud..or whatever their chewing. We also have cotton fields, soybean fields, peanut farms, and other fields that have been harvested..corn. We are very fortunate to have found this piece of property, and tonight we have the chance to meet some more of our neighbors, as it's the Saturday Night Social, at the clubhouse. Bring A Covered Dish kinda thing, and see what's going on in the neighborhood. It's mostly families here, a good number of retired folks, and couples who just like the quiet life. We find that we can leave our windows open at night, and listen to the crickets and other assorted bugs, and occasionally hear a Hot - Hooot of one of the many species of owls. One very large one swooped down over our yard light the other morning, as Tom walked outside to get to his car & go to work..WHOA!!.. That was something of a suprize...big ol' bird swoopin' down catching something on the wing. I couldn't even say anything out loud, it suprised me so much. And what do you say?? "Look out for that big A*** Bird!!??" no, maybe not. And Tom moves so slow, the thing coulda hit him in the forehead before he'd realize what happened.

So that's the story from here -- I gotta get tom up from his nap so he can go to the grocery store & get STUFF -- always somethin', ya know? And noak's clammerin' for somethin' he needs to do too...never a dull moment around here, I'm tellin' ya...

Lady of The Tulips -- wondering who it is that is mowing their yard RRREEEAAALLLLLLYYYY slowly...sounds like they have their tractor set on about 3 miles an hour...they may be done by, oh..wednesday of next week...

"Where Waves Meet The Sand"

This is one of the pieces I've been messin' around with just the last week. I got it done an' Seriously forgot it was sittin' an' waitin' for it's picture to get taken. Made me feel terrible...

I've got another one on the way..A little like a vacation feel to it..maybe it's a hint that me & Tom should really get goin' on that weekend over on the Outer Banks. He sez it's something like the Calm Before the Storm, as far as work goes right now. The Christmas rush is just over the horizon...he's started moving lots of containers for one of the big department store chains, so I know it's lurking..that RUSH AND GET THERE!! that's the christmas happy time. But as for the weekend away..that seems like a no-brainer right about now.

The Dr. has me set up with the other specialists...so next month will be a trip. 3 different people are goin' to be jabbin', stabbin' an' grabbin' me...oh boy. Just when I thot there'd be a break from All Things Medical..blah..Why isn't there just one thing that can happen with a snap of a finger?? Kinda like when I was growing up -- we were told there'd be FLYING CARS!! And ways to Fly to The Moon!! So just where are THOSE GUYS NOW??!! Huh?? They promised us kids soo many things, an' just where are they hiding out?? Havin' a Good Time on some far away island, I suppose...bums.

I got a chance to get the current issues of Somerset Studio, an' for the First Time EVAH I got an issue of "Cloth Paper, Scissors" -- Wow!! -- Just amazing what people can come up with. I'm always just floored at work that people do, that they claim "Is just as simple to do!" as who knows what...Simple!!?? I have trouble getting my scissors out of their basket an' not cutting myself, let alone make "an easy cut piece of felt!" ~~ Do these Artists know about people like me?? But anyway -- I see now why so many people have raved about both issues. Truly wonderful Work!! Many inspirations for me. And they probably are easy to do. I just have to sit an really work at the instructions a little harder than most people.

We are starting to cool down...the wind is right outta the north -- giving a feel of what's in store for the next couple months. The river looked a little choppy the other day..an' off toward the Sound it looked almost scary. Not Quite giant waves, but you could tell something was happening. Or at least on it's way. I didn't get brave enough to walk over to either of the bost ramps to check out the rough water after Hannah came thru. But there are a lot of spots along the one river where it seems that a many trees threw their branches down in disgust. Or else they just couldn't take it any longer an' said "HA!! SO THERE!!" and promptly flung their largest branches on the ground. Some of what I saw looked down right scary. Just glad I wasn't in the line of fire!!

Must get housework taken care of. I think we're goin' into town tomorrow. Well, we are suposed to get Sara to the vet so she gets her stitches out. They look so WEIRD.. all fat an' oddly enuf, stringy, in her ear. She doesn't seem the least bit bothered by them anymore, but they just set my teeth on edge..Kinda look like Grandma's Embroidery Gone Wrong..I'd be embarassed with those things danglin' out of my ear, but Sara is her own self, oblivious of what's goin' on around her..even with big ol' strings stickin' outta her ear...

Lady of The Tulips -- wondering why it's suddenly quiet in the kitchen...oh my..

>>> Just a quick post here, as I'm still pretty wore out from all my happenings yesterday. An' since I was up in the Big City, naturally I got ZILCH done around here, so today has been a catch-p day as far as house work goes..sewing up my sleeves on my blouse, an' gettin' this studio starting to look more LIKE a studio. <<<

There isn't too much else to say...MyDr. Appt. went really well. Much better than I thot it would. The suprising thing that floored Mr. Doc., was my weight loss. I had a feeling that it was a pretty good amount, but when he started to look over my chart, he sez, "WOW! Did you plan to do all this by yourself, or was this something planned, or just what did you do here?" 17 pounds have gone bye-bye for me!! Soooo -- I told him of our little "Experience" with getting the old house repainted, primped polished and sold..then the moving down here, etc., etc. -- He was pretty amazed by it all. Guess not too many people take quite so much in their hands and run with it. What am I supossed to do? Go broke hiring somebody to paint, and fix- up little things for my house??!! YEAH<>

So Now he has be scheduled with a couple other Dr.'s -- The biggest appt. is with an optometrist (Oh blast on that spelling...) the first part of Oct. -- I've got a couple other Dr.'s to see too, but those will be later on in the month and the first part of November. "Maintenance thingz.." sez Mr. Doc. -- so those are just one of the things to deal with when the time comes. Blah...

Tom & I DID however, had a good time after I finished with my Dr. appt. -- since I had to fast for some blood work to be done, after ALL was said an' done, we beat feet across the street an' had a flatbread sandwich at Dunkin' Donuts..with a coffee, naturally!! Then it was off to The Art Store..spent wayy to much there, butsince I don't know when I'll be back to that area, I figured it'd best to stock up while I could...Flat Wore Me Out, let me tell you!! An' while waiting for Noah to get off work, we went over to a nice little park an' tom laid down on the park bench to catch some zzz's...I walked around the pond for a bit, then we went & got Noah. By time we got back here I didn't know whether to be happy, sad or what...just too tired to think!!

Soo -- tha's the news from The Woods...Will post my latest piece an' show off the blouse...right now I jus' gotta go lay down an' get rested up from my odds an endz of the last 2 dayz!!

Lady of The Tulips -- listening to a delivery driver down the road tryin' to get somebody's attention..poor guy..honkin' away & where are those people??

** WOULD YA LOOK AT THAT!! **

A cow with a surfboard..will wonders never cease??!!

Tom found this bottle of chocolate mile while he had something like 5.30 minutes to hop into a truck stop, grab something to eat, make a quick phone call to check on the freight he was ready to pick up, dash back out to the truck, start that ol' sucker GOIN' an fly down the road...

The reason he grabbed the bottle of milk...besides the fact that he's a fiend for anything chocolate...was because for YEARS and YEARS I collected cows -- fabric, stuffed animals, figurines, name it, I had 'em. I still like to look at some of the lil' coew I've got, but just don't know where to put them in this new little place. So, in order to jump start my Cow Thing, tom saw this bottle and felt like he just had to have it. How funny is THAT?? I love the beach-ey vibe this little cow has...an' it EVEN got me goin' on a new project. That particular item will be posted on here Tomorrow. But I thot it'd be just too cool and groovy to let everybody take a look-see at this...

The Abstract Art piece is goin' a lot better than I thot it would. I've got all the main pieces for it cut out and ready to apply to my canvas. I hope to have it put together this weekend. I have been told, but will not believe it, "Till I see it" that I'm supossed to go look at a "new" car for us tomorrow...as I've said before, we've got to get another car, and so far have gone to Absolutely Nowhere to look at what's available. Each weekend we think there is a chance to go see what's on the market, Tom usually has had to work, so There Goes the Best of Plans...right out the window, I guess!! So, with a quick phone call this morning, tom SEZ !! we're gonna go look. But Before all that, I wanna get my work on here so ya'll can see what's been goin' on over on the little work table. The abstract should be done "In No Time"...but so was the blouse that's still hanging in pieces over by noah's exercise bench...OR AS TOM SEZ >> "I'M WORKIN' ON IT!!" << Thatz one of his favorite lines!! But at least I do pop some of my work on here..An' this abstract is just soo much different than anything else...shwoo-ee buddy!!

Jus' wanna keep ya in suspense!!

The Dynamic Duo is due home in jus' a little bit, so I guess I should go get the laundry in from out on the clothes line. I've also gotta get the kitchen straightened up...pet Miss Sara...grab some of todays newspaper an' check on some prices on goodies on sale at the grocery store..see what baseball game is on tonight...

Lawdy Mamma!! ~~ No wonder by 8:30 p. m. I'm starting to yawn on the couch!!

Lady of The Tulips -- who discovered a spiffy shop that sells All-Things-Beach-Themed..it's just that no prices were shown for one blasted thing...i.e. -- "If ya have to ask what it costs, you don't have the money to pay for it!!" Sigh...an' double sigh...

Jus' want everyone to see how very, very rapid Sara moves thru the house on a daily basis...

>> Ok -- so maybe... well she does get up an' move around every little now an' then. But this is how she normally is..if U take a gander by where my sewing machine is, you can see the blouse I've been workin' on...it IS getting nearly done...it's jus' that now I've got 3 projects on my little table, so the blouse is first on the list of things to get finished tomorrow...then my other THANGZ>>> I however..thot that once I got the basic parts of the blouse done, that I could just breeze along..well..there are other pieces that need to get sewn on TOO...my oh my..sometimes it REALLY REALLY HELPS TO READ ALL OF THE DIRECTIONS when sewing a pattern. Yes..I'll admit it -- I tried to ignore some of the directions, an' it set me back juuuust a bit. Well. Ok..a lot...THERE..it'll get done, I promise you.

The rain and wind have been at it here All Day Long. There is a cold front trying it's darn-dest to come down from whereever it comes from...and the hot humid weather we've had for days is having a Royal Battle with the dryer cooler air. We had a BIG OL' STORM this morning..tons of lightening and thunder..so naturally Sara was upset (Tho you wouldn't know it by how she looks laying by me on the studio floor..) Itried to sleep thru the storm, but finally gave up an' got a pot of tea goin'. No coffee. Tom drank the last of it so I had to fend for myself. But -- the drizzle/drippy/sprinklee stuff has gone on all day, leaving the papers on my work table to curl up from the humidity. My hair is trying to take off with 234.540 curls an' go somewhere else. The kitchen floor got mopped 3 times this morning, but it feels sticky from all the moisture in the air. I've got the windows open, 'cause even tho it's damp, dark and sticky, the temp outside feels a lot, lot better than the 88 degrees we've had for the last couple days. So now...the humidity is "Supossed" to go away, sometime tomorrow, leaving us with wonderful drier air. Ahh...I'll believe it when I wake up in the morning!!

Must go & check on the dinner -- got coated chicken pieces...a combination of bread crumbs and crumbed croutons...spin the croutons in a food processor, mix 'em with the bread crumbs...TTAAAA DDDAAAA!! ... there ya go!! Easy, fast & simple. Hey, look, this ol' girl is NOT gonna go overboard for a dinner, 'K??

Lady of The Tulips -- listening to some jazz out in the kitchen & living room...very, very nice.

WE WEATHERED THE STORM!!

And even tho it seemed to be a little less than advertised, the storm did blow lots and lots of branches into the yard. Several of the pine trees had the nerve to toss their loads of pine cones onto the roof at a regular clip. These things are annoying on the best of days, but during a Tropical Storm, with winds gaining speed of over 60 mph., the LAST THING i think anyone wants to hear is this CRASH/THUD on the roof..then hear a rolling, thumping sound..that would all be the sound of the pine cone hitting the roof..and then rolling down the slope of said roof, and onto the ground..with a pleasant THUD. We were told to expect "sustained" winds somewhere in the 65 mph range..but in actuality the wind was somewhere near 40 mph. Not all that strong, but not just your basic breeze drifting thru the pines. As you can see from the shot of our front room window, the trees, standing as if to thumb their nose at the Great Wind Spirit, are none the worse for wear.

<<>> This little girl just about sat down on her couch and had a hysterical crying jag yesterday morning...

No, No -- there were no Horrid Things that happened to her family...
No, No -- there were no Horrid Things that happened to Sara The Dog...

~~ But if you look closely toward the right hand side of the photo..across the street (well, the dirt road...) you will see a little green and white sign..It's a Real Estate Agents sign. And Said Real Estate Agent is now in the process of trying to Sell the Woods across the Street. THE SAME WOODS THAT MADE ME WANT TO BUY THIS PLACE WHEN WE LOOKED AT THIS CABIN!!! WOODS!!! NOT ANOTHER HOUSE!!! DAYUMM!!!

I did, however, sit rather unlady-like onto the love-seat, sorta with a thud of my own..and in something of a weak voice told tom >> "Oh My GHAD...the woods are for sale!!"

He had no idea of what I was talking about, 'till I made him walk out to the front room and take a gander for himself. He is not impressed.

The odd thing is, that one afternoon last week, some guy had started driving past our driveway, suddenly came to a near screaching halt..backed up his truck, stuck a camera phone out the driver window, and promptly took a picture of our cabin. At the time it scared the $^$" outta me, cause I thot all sort of terrible things were about to commence to me...Lord knows what...but it just freaked me out that some guy just took a picture of our little place. 'Course, I could believe that he was facinated with The Very Fine Automobile sitting in the driveway, but that probably was not what got him to take the picture. My guess is, he WAS THE REALTOR...taking a shot of our place to use for his sale pitch..that's my guess.

My heart is sad, I've grown to love looking at those woods so very, very much. They sing during the afternoon, when the afternoon breeze comes in off the Albemarle Sound, drifting up the river, gently caressing the pine trees. The Swamp Maples are starting to lose their leaves across the road, and the other hardwoods are starting to turn wonderful fall colors. And now somebody wants to build something in those woods. Yes, I know that it ISN'T my plot of land, so I have no voice in how it gets developed, or not developed..But I hate the idea of looking at another house. The builder of this little place purposely angeled the view from the windows so that they faced the woods to the front of the cabin, the back (or the side that faces the paved road & our driveway) the West side of the place...and then WHAM...the thot of staring at somebody's Something - or - other has me feeling very very sad. Tom sez, "We outta just buy the land just so nobody builds anything on it..." But I'm not sure of that.

So -- I'm going to go back to the current project on the Little Craft Table..and try to get that %^#$&$ blouse finished...NO!! It's not done yet,,OK???!!! yes it IS taking me forever to get it done...but at least over the weekend I had an excuse...There Was a Storm!! And I didn't wanna get all into sewing and then have the blasted electricity go out. >> At least the electricity didn't go out << But I still don't have that blouse done yet...

Oh HUSH about my blowing it off...Look -- I'm goin' over to the sewing machine now!!
Jeesh..

Lady of The Tulips -- listening to The fbi,cia,abc people doing their THANG across the other river from us...what the $%$#^& are they DOING??!!!

AND >>> here is the AFTER shot of Sara, when she let me know jus' how angry she was that I took a picture of her with her ugliee cone on. Notice how she has her back to me?? She ABSOLUTELY would not look at me no matter how hard I tried to get her to turn around. How's that for one P***** - Off Dog?? She HATES the cone, HATES the camera, and to add insult to injury, she HATES THE COMBINATION OF ALL 3 AT ONCE <<<

So -- there she sat for a good long while..staring out the front door with a very big pout goin' on. I wanted to laugh at her, but something told me to jus' back away slowly and pretend there wasn't anything wrong. Technically there IS NOTHING WRONG but her ego is totally down the tubes, 'cause she has that cone on.Who woulda thot a Dog could have such an ego?? I'm askin' ya??!! Well -- maybe someday we'll discover what it is that makes dogs do the things they do..

I'm havin' another DAY of $^*&&*% with this computer, so this is gonna be short -- The Tropical Storm/Hurricane is already making itself known to these parts of the coast...here it is 10:30 in the morning, and we've had 3 hours of wind gusts, oh probably near 15 - o - 20 mph...the clouds are starting to gather in ever larger number...the chimes out front are singing in the wind, and Sara is just not happy for the day. I've been looking at my weather gauges..as of 9:15 the temp was up at 78 Degrees...humidity was over 70% but the baromoter was holding steady at 30%...not sure if that last reading will stay where it is, we'll keep an eye on that to drop as the day goes along. Tom wasn't sure if the Port would close Early with the storm comin' up the coast, so who knows....

Waiting for the next weather update..

Lady of The Tulips ~~ Listening to the wind, and her computer making these horrid noises again...

HERE SHE IS!! ~~ MISS VERY-ANGRY-DOG-WITH-CONE!!

I thot the shot yesterday of sara jus' sorta/kinda chillin' out in the hallway would give you an idea of how she looked before her surgery..Yes, she did have all the NAHHSTY stuff taken out of her ear..and they stitched and did what EVAH it is that vert's do to Doggies Who Are Sick >>>

An' then we realized she was pawing at her ear no more than 5 minutes after I walked in the recovery room to take her home...she ALMOST made it home with out wearing this terrible thing...but the minutes I saw her paw at her ear..WHAM!! >> on goes the cone. It looks like a big ol' radar piece of STUFF >> I asked her if she was picking up any stations up in Canada ~~ Maybe off shore somewhere?? She just gave me something similiar to this look...think she's happy right about now??!! Uhh...le's see...NO!!!

And add to the fact that she has this THANG about the sound of the camera when it gets ready to process a photo..makes these little whirring sorta sounds. Then it makes the sound of the shutter clicking. ABSOLUTELY makes her last good nerve get all frazzled and bent outta shape. YES >> my dog is a wimp <<>> actually a LOT of people say it, but that's another story.

I'm waiting for the news to tell us something about Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hannah -- we have no clue if we leave ~~ Stick it out and watch the trees get launched into the Ablemarle Sound...see the shed finally get remodeled via Hurricane Windz...Good Golly Miss Molly. So -- here I sit, listening to Sara Pant on the floor next to me...the sound of this computer making HORRID noises and trying to come apart at the seams...and I'm wondering what the $^%#&&* to fix for dinner. NO ~~ That smoke you see is only coming out of my head from all the stress ~~ Do not be alarmed...

I think I'll go open a beer..

Lady of The Tulips -- wondering where the lost shaker of salt REALLY went...

<<<>>>

I'm not sure what it was that she was listening to..I think the neighbors were shooting off some fireworks or something, and once she hears any kind of LOUD NOISE >> you can bet she'll take herself into the hallway and "hide" from whatever it is that has her scared. Poor Baby. I often wonder at these times, what the original owner she had..if you call them "Owner" -- what kind of terrible things they did to her to make her this freightened of All Things Loud. She was, after all, tied up to the side of a house for the first 3 years of her life..Thus the wonder on the word "Owner"of her originally. She has grown into such a good dog now. She absolutely SHOOK for the first couple weeks we had her. The treatment she'd grown up with was that severe. And it was over a month before she BARKED ONCE!! -- she just didn't make a peep!!

So now she has this one spot in the hallway where she'll lay down if she becomes upset. She looks at me with this HORRID face if there is any kind of loud noise...and the training camp for some Gov't Agency is not too terribly far away, and they are FOREVAH making lots and lots of terrible noises. She is NOT FOND OF THEM!! -- I am glad at times like this that Dogs Can Not Talk..but she's just as good as gold in her little spot in the hall...

I'm ALMOST READY to unveil my new-ly made blouse...the sleeves are ready to get stitched on. I worked on some of the little detail parts yesterday, inbetween messin' around with Sara. She had to get some medicine on her surgery places...then I had to mop the floor..sweep other parts of the kitchen...go back to stitching and ironing pieces of the front of the blouse..then sweep up some of the dirt I tracked in all over the kitchen floor...what a trip -- who'd a thunk that livin' in the woods would make lots and LOTS of DIRT come in all over the place??!! But back to what I was saying -- the blouse is begininning to LOOK like a blouse instead of pieces of Something. I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out...Hopefully this Ancient Computer will be able to download pictures of that PLUS MY LATEST FINISHED PROJECT!! -- I got a little something done the other day before running off with Tom to get odds and ends at The Favorite Department Store...Big Lots...This current project was done kinda fast -- I'd had a FLASH the other day of All Things Seashore..guess cause it was the last weekend of the Simmer -- Gabriel sez he's really seen a HUGE dropoff of tourists on the Oceanfront..less people now, and he'll be out of work at the one Summer Spot after this weekend. FORTUNATELY -- he has a New Full Time Job, so the loss of the evening one isn't gonna sting so much. His other resort job went away, when the manager decided that since he couldn't work with his cast on his arm from the car accident, that he just wasn't any good for the job aANYMORE ~~ like what the $%$^&$& he said it was one of those things he sorta expected, but not Really...like who would be expecting to be layed off cause they were hit by a car?? This is called "Fair"???

Well anyway -- there are several hurricanes looking to Agrivate and IRritate All of us along the Eastern Seabord for the next few days, up to the next week -- I guess this is what ya get for living along the shore. I've not listened to the weather today...should be interesting. Fortunately I bought some canned items over the weekend (my 6th sense was telling me SOMETHINGabout what was comin' up, I supposee.) So -- now it's a wait and see kinda thing. All my prayers are with those down South who just went thru Gustav...I've been thru some BIG hurricanes, so I know what it's like to realize your home just isn't what it's suppossed to be...Hang in There!!

LAdy of The Tulips -- on her way to see the noon weather report...jeesh...I'm not really looking forward to this...

>>> jus' a quick note <<<

The last 2 days have totally worn me FLAT OUT!! Sara had her surgery yesterday, I guess darn near immediately after I got her into that Vet. office. She was such a good little doggie!! I mean!! My neighbor was super kind and gave us a ride over to where the clinic is..Sara wasn't too sure about the ramp she had to use to climb up into the back of our neighbors big truck, but once in the back, she just made herself comfortable as can be! Once we got to the clinic, paper work was signed, Sara was taken into the back, and that was that!!

The Vet called 'bout 5:45 or so, an let me know that the surgery went just as good as gold. The infection, swelling and all that MESS was taken care of pretty quickly, and Sara also got all her shots, got her rabies stuff too. She went to sleep pretty quickly, but once she got awake, she was ready to rock and roll. Boy, whatta switch that is!! She was lookin' pretty sad this morning when we got back into the clinic this morning, but Sara was released for me to bring her home. She was about to smash thru that clinic door! The one BIG GIANT THING SHE HATES... tho, is the Big Cone she has to wear around her head. I'll get a chance tomorrow to post a picture of her and her new head-gear. I asked her if she was picking up anything with that Radar - Lookin' thing around her head..."You get some Canadian stations with that, Ma'am?" she just sorta looked at me like, "I HATE YOU RIGHT NOW!!" I think she may be able to pick up some of the Top Secret CIA, FBI, ABC sorta messages with that big ol' THANG, but being a Dog, she doesn't have the ability to tell me -- or maybe she can't because of the secretive nature of it all... HA!!

~~ So this afternoon, all the past week worth of STUFF has finally hit...I'm really tired, and even tho I got the start of a new canvas goin' over on the work table, I'm just too too tired to get anymore done for the day. Sara, in the meantime, is laying out on the kitchen floor, looking TRULY WOEFUL and altogether miserable...poor dog.

Lady of The Tulips *** listening to The Dog rattling around and bumping into the kitchen cabinets...I think at this point she's definetly thinking Evil and Horrid Thots about me...

Last weekend, Tom & I were in the hardware store, getting odds and ends that we've needed for the house...I'd mentioned that I needed a lamp of some kind for the studio. That word, Lamp, for ME, means something that emits lots of light, useful for working at the little work table, making it easier for me to see the little lines and marks on papers, fabric and other assorted STUFF that I mess around with. Literally while I had my back turned, Tom found this lamp, grabbed it and had it in his hand at about the same time that I said that one about medium size would work for me. He got this somewhat LARGE lamp...it doesn't quite get the light over to the craft table, but I've discovered that the lamp, combined with the ceiling fan light, don't do too bad a job giving me LIGHT!! Plus, it has that spiffy base to it, that Tom thot was pretty cool. That in itself is REALLY saying somethin'!! He usually races thru the store, being one that DOES NOT LIKE ANYTHING TO DO WITH SHOPPING >>> even at a hardware store. So, I consider this lamp something of a Trophy for the Studio!!

The tropical storm is still hanging around overhead, over-my-damp-ness, and making things take for EVAH to dry...I can't imagine what kinda agony the people further south went thru with this storm..I jus know that it hasn't stopped dripping/raining/sprinkling for the last 3 days. The plants are Kicking A*** and enjoying the TAR outta all the water. The hydrangea was lookin' a little weak around the edges over the weekend, 'cause we'd has so little rain. When I walked little miss Muffett this morning, I glanced over at that shrub, and it looks 12,345 times better. Shows whatta little water can do for ya!! The critters in the woods sound like their happy as can be -- AND SPEAKING OF WHICH...

Last week I was being Stubborn and not trying to finish a couple projects I had goin' around the house...so while AVOIDING EVERYTHING I went to the front storm door to stare at the woods across the street, an' while looking toward our side yar, I just happened to see, RUNNING AT FULL SPEED... a nice little female deer...an' I MEAN, she was FLYIM" THRU OUR YARD!! it looked like she'd been eating some of the acorns or whatever behind the shed, an' something startled her, an' off she went. All I could do was stand there with my mouth hangin' open, thinking, "Well, isn't THAT a fine thing to see!" I've got no idea where she thot she was running to, but who am I to ask what a Deer Thinks?? Do Deer Really Think? -- or do they just make a Bee-line for the vegetable garden, and THAT"S THAT!!?? Ohh, it's just too much for me to think of right now!!

Gotta go and get some painting done on a little piece I've got right younder..No, over THERE... See?? Ok...

Lady of The Tulips -- Hoping that the shirts that need ironing will jus' sorta get up and get themselves Done without any effort on my part...

~~~ Just an addendum here ~~

I looked at the other post, and realized that the final print/download of the pictures weren't how they were in the preview shot...

The bottom picture was on the left..and the first one is what I was greeted with while the World was turning in a counter-clockwise motion...

Or -- maybe I'll just go ask that nice neighbor if I can go out on the Sound with him & his pals for their fishing trip this evening..

Lady of The Tulips...

Thinking I should title this post..Falling Apart at The Seams..and Finally Giving Up The Ghost...

The picture on the right is what happened when I went to open my roller shade this morning..ya know...open the window...let in all the nice morning light...HA!! The roller shade just went FLUMP on the little work table...

Then when I stood on the chair and re-roll the shade..the entire thing came off it's little roller and hook in the window, and went into a heap on the floor..that'd be the picture on the left...

It would seem that NOW would be the time to start checking out those Off-Season Rates across the Albemarle Sound on the Outer Banks and check out a good Loooooonnnggggg weekend for me and oh yeah...maybe Tom, too...HA!! ok --

So anyway ~~ The way the rest of the morning went, was I called wait..Last nite I called one of the vet.clinics near us...but the answer service hooked me up to Another one not too terribly far away...well...I get in touch with the Vet..tell him ALL about Miss SARA and her ickiee ear..n he immediately starts in on how much the whole thing is gonna cost..OH! and don't forget the extra cost for her staying overnight... -- the conversation just basically went to Hell in a Handbasket, and after I got off the phone and stopped shaking...after I realized this guy wanted me to put the charges (somewhere up near $600 or so) on a credit card...AND after I realized that without any transportation I'd be looking at walking me andMISS SARA the 15 miles up to the Vet clinic...Visions of me with some rancid bottle of Rot Gut Whiskey started to not look so darn bad after all...

So I called the vet clinic up the highway..talked to a VERY nice girl, who made sure to let me know that THEY WERE NOT LIKE THE OTHER CLINIC -- and telling me that the cost was a Fraction of what I was first told last night...Well Let Me Tell You About Feeling Relief!! -- so I talked with a neighbor who is Very Understanding of All Things Doggie, and since she has 3 said little doggies, we've devised up a plan to get Miss Sara to the clinic tomorrow afternoon, leave her there for her ear - fix - up and pick her up the next morning, after all the surgery (they have to lance her ear and get stitches done..) and meds wear off ---she should be good to go. Tom let me know that the first time sara had something like this done, he'd had to wait for OVER 3 HOURS!! before the vet let Sara go, and oh yeah, HAD TO MAKE SURE THAT THE $600 WAS PAID RIGHT NOW PAL!! ~~ Are you getting the idea that I'm not too fond of some MONEY GRUBBING DOCTORS?? ~~ What EVAH gave you such an idea??

So I'm feeling better this afternoon -- Sara is just hanging in there...she doesn't feel too swift...but I've gotten a little cotton swab and dabbed some Benedriyl on her ear VERY gently just to numb the pain she has...and it keeps her from shaking her blasted head for whatever reason dogs shake their head for things. Tom feels better, cause he cant take time off of work to get the dog to the vet...which is the Whole Reason I've had to try and mess around with logistics of getting from point A to point B -- And when I told the Vet last night about THAT part of the problem, he was as unimpressed as a frog out in the swamp...I MEAN!!! OOHHHH....just makes my blood boil all OVAH again, so I Wont discuss it AGAIN..

Meanwhile -- I've got a new project on the little craft table...hopefully can get a good shot of it tomorrow..in between all the mesin' about with Sara..I think I do want to meet that nice young man I saw the other day... just kidding..tho he probably would be fun to go on vacation with....HA!!

** Lady of The Tulips ** wondering why it is she feels Really Old right now...oh wait..it's just cause I'm sitting weird in this office chair...don't worry...

~~ This morning while walking The Dog, I think I've uncovered the worlds largest amount of mosiquitos (yup -- made that word look uglliee..) in our yard. The Dog went along like there was no problem, and once I got in the cabin, I started scratching and clawing my legs and arms like there was no tomorrow...BITES,BITES & MORE BITES!! There simply can not be any of those NAHSTTYYY insects anywhere else in this part of the Eastern Seaboard, because I firmly believe each and every one of them just found me and made mincemeat outta my person ~~

There are no pictures for you 2 see today -- I'm once again having trouble with this computer -- some dayz it behaves itself like just all heck and get-out. And then there are other dayz where it acts like it is today. Takes 20 minutes to get going in the morning...12 to download any pictures my son Gabriel sends to me...then takes another 8 to read any emails that I happen to have in my In-Box. For most people this is time to get another computer. But since I've got NO IDEA of what kind of computer to purchase..well, you can imagine if I walked into one of those BIG BOX SUPER STORES ~~ Said "I need a computer" ~~ and walked out with some contraption that does everything but wash the dishes and clean the bathroom sink. Well, actually I'd go for the contraption that DOES WASH THE DISHES AND CLEAN THE BATHROOM SINK... But there aren't too many of those on the market these dayz..stuiped designers of all things computer...

The Other News is that while digging around in Toms closet to see if several bags of clothes may have some of my fabric in them (In THE HEAT OF THE BATTLE >> CALLED MOVING >> I PILED EVER-THANG IN WHATEVER ICOULDFIND!!) ~~ I discovered some shelf pieces that were just sitting on thetop of the closet -- 4 pieces to be exact -- the open white wire kind -- and one very large piece -- all sitting like theywere waiting for the next plane to fly them Somewhere Else. Naturally, since I need shelves in this new studio, I GRABBED THOSE SUCKERS BUDDY!! ~~ before Tom did something brilliant like throw them away. Now I have to measure each of them to find just the right placement for them on the north-wall of the room, then set all my baskets and plastic containers of beads and goodies up on them, instead of having boxes and STUFF layin' all over on the floor. It looks messy, gives me a backache when I have to bend over to get any papers outta the boxes, and gets my nerves in a PINCH when I have to sit down on the carpet to dig thru the boxes, baskets and STUFF to find what I need. Last time I bent over to pick up some papers, I darn near didn't get back up again...sorta stood in this half-bent-over position..sorta shuffled and hurrummphed myself over to my chair, and plopped myself down with a VERY unladylike FLUMP... Noah was sitting over here at the computer, looked over at me, and mumbled something about trying to keep it quiet over THERE 'cause he was doing SOMETHING IMPORTANT on the computer. Did any of you happen to hear my nerves SCREAMING at him on that particular day?? If you did, I Am SORRY that I gave any of you a start...just Another One of Those Dayz...

OK ~~ Now I don't know where I was originally, and Sara just came in with her gloppy ear and bad look. Tom said that if her ear isnt really good this afternoon, he'd take her to the vet this evening after he gets home...I've been dabbing some ointment on Sara's ear, just to ease the pain of the swelling for her. I have NO idea of what the $#^"&*^* happened to her ear. My friend sez that a tick may have gotten wayyy up inside of the dog's ear, and that's what's caused the swelling...I'm hoping it's not anything serious, I've been really upset about the whole thing. Tom is too indifferent about Anything, so poor Sara has had to hobble along with her floppy ickiee ear while Tom sez she doesn't really need to go to the vet. Sincemy car doesn't run, Ican't take her myself, and this stuiped trouble with my left eye doesn't make it any easier to see clearly enuf to drive...whatta great combination! So, Me & Sara wait for Tom to make his mind up, and HOPEFULLY he'll come to his senses and take me & Sara tonight to the vet...Please Think about me & my little "girl" !!

Lady of The Tulips -- listening to somebody once again over in the woods in front of our dirt road..doing Something Loud!! URRRRRGGGHHHH

>> I know this isn't the closest shot I could have gotten of our little sheds...but here they are <<

I have to admit, that the larger one is my ABSOLUTE favorite...it really and truly is just about to fall into the woods behind it -- Tom sez we have some wild ducks living in the woods directly behind that kinda pink shed..the one that has a severe list goin' on -- Noah sez it makes things very easy for him -- that completely confused me, 'till he said just why >> Seems when he's done with the mowing, he opens the shed door, and there's a little lip to the doorway where the door jam is..then the floor slopes toward the back in a fairly rapid rate, so all Noah has to do with the mower, is give it a little nudge, and it goes toward the back of the shed to where it's stored, and he doesn't have to push or shove it one little bit. Makes for an Auto-Pilot kinda manuver. I think it's funny, but it's probably ready to fall to pieces, that little pink shed...the floor is creaky, and wayy up in the rafters there are remanents (oh hush about that spelling...) of one of those slinky creatures...Noah's too lazy to take it down >> There are all kinds of odds and ends left over from the previous owners...little jars -- 1970's bottle of lighter fluid -- some old picture frames, which I WILL PUT TO USE!! -- lots of weird pieces of wood and other flotsam and jetsum..

I think the reason I like the shed the most, was because of what happened the first day I was here for any length of time -- during the Home Inspection, I'd driven over here after leaving Tom at the truck terminal. I hadn't really any idea of how long it took (takes?!) to drive here from the terminal, so I left right away..something like 6:25 or so...Naturally I got here in just under an hour...an' that left me with Over an hour & a half to look around. I was kinda nervous, 'cause I didn't know if anyone would see me wandering around the property...but if anybody saw me they didn't bother me. When I'd walked around the front porch, and took pictures of the roof, porch floor and all these other THANGs..I'd started to walk toward the shed, when out of the woods directly in front of the house, flew this BIG HUGE OSPREY!! -- not only did it fly out of the woods, but it also had a Big Ol' Huge FISH in it's talons...I don't know who startled who --- me startling the bird, or the bird startling ME!! -- But it flew off at an angle from where it was originally going, landing on/in the big oak tree directly behind the old pink shed...where said osprey started eating it's "Catch of The Day" -- with bits and pieces of said fish landing on the metal shed of the roof ...pingg..thunk...bonk..All I could do was stand in the front yard, staring up into the tree, thinking "Well isn't THIS somethin'!! That whole episode sold me on the house before I even walked back indoors!!

And now the shed is sitting in the woods, which are starting to drop their leaves..slowly but surely. I can't believe it's already early Fall -- But the past couple weeks, WAYYY early in the morning, I've heard big, big flocks of geese, flying south...we're on the East Coast Flyway for all the Canadian Geese, Swans, Hawks, etc., etc. ~~ I started to see the Swamp Maples dropping their leaves about a month ago (they naturally drop earlier than other hardwoods...don't know why, but that's what they DO) ~~ and now the others are starting to turn color too...leaves are starting to gather around the fringes of the "yard" and the woods that Noah cleared are starting to look a little thinner and thinner..What Just Happened to Summer?? Did I sleep thru the whole thing?? And where was the cute Lifeguard that I was gonna meet this summer?? SOMEBODY TELL ME<> >> well...maybe an answer...

Must go and play with some of my color pens and pencils...my little brain has another BEACH idea floating around...maybe something with those Tropical Colors and Stuff....whheeeeeee

Lady of The Tulips -- listening to Sara snoring in the hallway...she's got some kinda bug bite in her ear an it bothers me to no end..she just acts like it's a little irritation...hmmhpphh...

"Happiness in a Circular Motion" -- 2008 Spring Bay Studio

** I FINALLY GOT IT DONE!!! **


it seems like it took me forrreeevvaaahhhh to get this done, but here 'tis! I'm thinking that it's one of the biggest things I've done to date..but once I got into the color and where I wanted it to be, it just seemed to come together.

Now the trick is to get it to the house where my friend lives..she should be happy..she said it was something she wanted, no matter how it turned out..she has that much faith in my work..so it's now the BIG THING to get it there ASAP ~~

There isn't much else to say this glorious morning..'capt that the sun is shining the birdies are singing and Sara is once again laying slap dab in the middle of the hallway. So that means, for me to get out to the kitchen or anywhere else over THERE...I have to step OVER HER...and try not to wake her up...'cause lets face it, once a dog get's woken up, all they want to do is eat one more doggie biscuit..bounce up and down and make lots of fur fly and get you absolutely WORN OUT with all the playing about...then it's back to laying slap dab in the middle of the hallway and there I am, wanting to take a nap and wondering why I didn't just get a CAT or something like a goldfish...

I had the CUTIEST thing happen in my little porch swing yesterday afternoon -- a teeny little Carolina Wren came up and started making LOTS AND LOTS of noise at me..guess he thot I was invading his territory...so he finally got quieted down when I said SSHHHHH to him 34 times...then he went up and perched up on the porch light, kinda layed down between the light and the wall of the cabin..and while I was in my little swing humming some old show tune from Broadway..the little guy fell asleep!!! It's like I sang the little dear to sleep...well...I like to THINK I sang the little guy to sleep...either that or he just got tired of giving me lots and lots of H*** with all his NOISE...either way..he layed up there in his little spot for the LONGEST time..I guess he finally went to wherever his little nest really is...he was soo funny tho!!

Tom may have tomorrow off!! WHOA!! that's gonna be somethin', le' me tell ya. And if he does, then I'm sure he & Noah will be driving all OVAH creation buying odds and ends at every hardware store in the county...they just get goin', and the next thing ya know there's 29 bags of STUFF in the backseat of the little car...I tried to ride along with them one saturday, thinking I could sneak in a stop over at Penny's or something...HA!! Show's what I KNOW...that idea went over like a fart in church...

Anyway -- gotta go and get my laundry outta the dryer..it should be done after 25 minutes..I hope.

Lady of The Tulips -- listening to SARA doin' somethin in the hallway...oh no...

I'm SO EMBARRASED that is spelled wrong, so DEAL --

But what I'm trying to say is Excuse The Blurry-Ness of this picture...maybe the butterfly has taken the camera into it's wings and wants everybody to fly Wayy south for the Winter??!! Whatta Great Idea!!

I'm making little paintings within these little paintings .. I think once it all dries it'll be fun to look at...an whatta 'bout that old page by the butterfly?? what the TAR is that?? Actually I KNOW but I'm not tellin' HA!

There isn't much goin' on around here...'cept the NEVAHHH ending work across the street that is this marathon of putting together a mobile home that an elderly couple are installing...this project of theirs has taken over 3 weeks...3 days to get the thing hauled down the road (Tho not our little dirt road...thanx to the STARS for that!) then another 3 days to mess-around with the vinyl siding and the leveling of the cement blocks underneath...then anothe 3 days for the Cement People to come back to mix smear and all-together make LOTZ OF NOISE>>>Poor Sara is just laying on the floor listening to all of this like she's just waiting to tell them OFF...I don't think she's going to get up off the floor and do much of Anything, but she has her momentz. BURSTS OF FLURRY ~~ At least that's what Tom keeps hoping she's gonna do one day...
His phone calls are something like this..
"What'z the Dog Doin?"
"Whatta ya think she's Doin'?"
"Is she laying on the floor?"
"YES! ~~ You think she's gonna do anything Else??!!"
"I thot she'd be bitting her fleas or something..."
"And NOT laying on the floor??"

"Can she lay on the floor and bite her fleas at the same time??"

This is why I WANT TO RUN AWAY ~~ Not just sometimes ~~ Well...more like 98.222 percent of the time...

I must go and get this next coat of paint on my little Project...WHOA..the Cement People Across the Street have STOPPED THEIR NOISE!! Can we hear an AAAHHHOOOOOO!!!

Lady of The Tulips ~~ Wondering why it is that when Tom goes to get frozen food products, he picks up odd things like Pig Ears...or Chicken Feet...Honest and For Real...

W.I.P. -- here are some more shots of the little pieces an' parts of my current project...

This is some of the things that I've been fine tuning the last couple dayz, an' it seems that the more I tinker with the papers the more I change some angles of them..laying them out just a little different each time.. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Guess the answer will be with my friend when she sees the final piece..

I've been cleaning up the front of the house..well, not TECHNICALLY the front...more like where the driveway comes up to the deck-side of the house. It seems like the front of the house, 'cause that faces the main road where all the "traffic" goes past ~~ And where tom likes to drop off his assorted junk that he collects from throughout the day. Stuiped thingz, mind you ~~ like Empty Sobi jars...old candy wrapperz...AACCHHKKK

things that drive me to want to scream at the top of my lungs at him for being a tad=bit sloppy. And makes me go out and sweep off the driveway..throw all the goo in the trash..an' ponder on why that man just gets my last good nerve in a twitch.. but the good thing is once all the goop is away WHERE IT BELONGZ... then everything is fine and spiffy. For the rest of the day. Then Tom comes home and throwz his glop all over the place again an' sez he's "workin' on it" -- in terms of cleaning up after himself..sigh..

I'm not going to talk about the peasant blouse pattern I'm havin' fitz with. I think If I just wak away from it an' then turn and FACE IT in another day -- then it'll just come together like there's never been a PROBLEM an' I'll just be happy as a little bird in a flower bush..or something like that! I don't know what it is about this pattern..maybe it's just not the one for me to put together..who knowz??!! But it'll suprise me, I'm sure. I've also got a little pattern tht I'm looking at piecing together in a day or 2 -- I'm gonna order the fabric probably tomorrow...this pattern I've made before, so it shouldn't give me these FITS OF STEAM that this current one is doing...or so she sez, looking over at her fabric pile an' wonderin' jus' what to DO NEXT...

Must go and get my laundry done before tom gets home an' asks why these THANGS are all over in the laundry room...uuhhhh..."Because they want to be?" no, that'd probably be a bad thing to say after a hot sweaty day drivin' all over creation, huh?

Lady of The Tulips -- staring out the window an' listening to the wind pickin' up in the woods...uh oh...looks like a storm is brewing...

W.I.P. -- here are some of the detail pieces for the current THANG I've got over on the table --

These aren't finished yet, but you can get an idea of some of the colors and STUFF that I'm workin' toward..I think you can??!! This is just toward the center of the canvas, so it's kinda got a swirly feel to it -- I wont tell ya'll the name of the piece 'till I get the rest of these painted, and the other pieces added on -- jus' think of Swirly or circular...


I've been havin' FITS AND SPITS the last 2 days with a blouse pattern.. I've only had this much trouble one time with a shirt pattern, but his one is REALLY GETTIN MY LAST GOOD NERVE!! ~~ Let me tell you...so I did the Smart Thing and put it away for now..I think if I don't follor the directions then it'll Turn Out Right..that's worked for me in the past...so maybe This Time!! I've also gotten some things put away into the closets that I'd been staring at for the last 3 MONTHS!!! ~~ I'd tell Tom to get this stuff DONE -- hiz answer?? - "I'm Workin' On It.." I swanny -- If I hear that man say that phrase to me One More Time...

Do Not Become Alarmed...That's just the sound of my last good nerve givin' up the ghost and leavin' town...

~~ Speakin' of Leavin' Town ~~ Tom sez that once the Madness of the Summer Tourist Season is over, we may be able to go over to the Outer Banks and take a couple dayz off**!! How cool is THAT??!! I'll actually Believe it When I See It ~~ But just the fact that he thinks that'd be sorta like a 2nd. Honeymoon is kinda nifty, don't ya think?? PLUS - the high prices all go bye-bye so we wouldn't be payin' an arm & a leg for an overnite stay somewhere...BUT NOT until the Hurricane Season is over!!

HA!!

Mustgo and get things ready for Dinner -- I'm ponderin' on Italian Sausage & Spag. -- with mushrooms, onions...YUUMMM!!!

Lady of The Tulips **

W.I.P. -- I tried to get a somewhat clear shot of this canvas the other day -- hope it's not too cloudy for ya'll to see!!

This is for a friend of mine who wanted something for her new house ~~


I'm adding things and spiffy stuff as we speak -- no, make that WRITE -- she was wondering when I'd get done with it, an' all I could tell her was the color of some of the paints and the papers that I'm adding on...she's never gotten anything like this -- all of the places she's lived, she doesn't have much in the way of COLOR!! -- So I'm hoping to change that for her!! This is a difficult piece for me, cause it's not the colors or idea (s) that I'm used to doing/using/looking at. I'm so tied into blues/greens/sea-colors that a totally WAY DIFFERENT piece is really throwing me for a loop!! Yes, I admit I'm LOOPY!! but that is no suprise, now, is it??

*** There is a BIG bunch of noise that's been going on for the last week *** Somebody across the woods is tearing down a WHOLE LOT OF TREES ~~ Which makes me wonder why they bought some land in the woods to begin with..then haul off and cut all the trees down...WHAT THE???? Goes to show ya just never know -- One of the large hardwoods had been shoved over but hadn't completely fallen down...well yesterday while I was painting, I hear this HUGE GROANING CREEEEEKKKKK kinda sound, and then a HUGE THUDDDD!!! ~~ The poor innocent tree finally had been given the heave-ho and ended it's life..Poor Thing!! It pains me to hear these huge trees being cut down...here they've been for over 50 years, an' now there they go into the dump ~~ SAD ~~


Must go and get some more work on this canvas -- I'll post the next shot of my work while it's still goin' along... MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG ~~ ROLL ALONG ~~ ROLL ALONG!!! ~~ sorry, that's what suddenly popped into my little head..

Lady of The Tulips -- listening for the sound of her chimes on the front porch, instead of a bulldozer...

*** Just a fast and furious note for today ***

Tom is to be home is just a little while, so this will be short so I'm occupied when he comes in the door to tell me the news of whether or not there is work tomorrow -- there are only going to be a few more weekends where he'll have 2 dayz off -- so we have to try to SORTA>KINDA>plan something out while we can ~~

I'm going to show my big W.I.P. tomorrow or sunday -- it's so much more DIFFERENT than anything I've done before, so it's really been something of a PROJECT AH-LA-SHWWOOOIIEEEE for me -- wears me out working on it, but it feels good each time I get something more worked out on the canvas --

Noah has been cleaning up some of the undergrowth of tangley-babie-trees all along our property line THEY JUST GROW SO FASTjust when you think it's safe to go outside, there they go!! So now some of the hardwoods can get a little more sunlight and in a few years will be good fire wood...Gotta Keep That Woodstove Crankin' come Winter Time!!

Something'z goin on out side --

Lady of The Tulips ~~ Wondering what they commotion is all about!! ~~

Noah got the final coat of exterior paint done just this last week, so now I can get a good shot of our little place here in the woods >>

We've had so much rain, that I was a little leary of standing in the grass in the front of the cabin, 'cause I wasn't sure if my feet would get soaked or not. I'd just taken this picture, when it got really cloudy, and I thot we'd get a frog-strangler-type of storm for sure...but all that happened was some wind and some little branches falling from the pine trees. The following night we had a BIG STORM!! With tons and tons of lightening, and some claps of thunder that literally shook the windows and walls. I'm usually not one to get nervous in a good soaking rain, but this storm barely shed 1.2203 of an inch of water...the electricity outside made up for no rain. My word!!

Now we're in much cooler temps than we've had for a long time. Makes it feel sooo nice to be able to jus' leave the windows open at night. We couldn't leave them open in the city -- too many looney-tunes running around and breaking into houses, via open windows..Now it's such a joy!! And last night the temps were in the upper 60's, so it was Divine!! Good sleeping weather is just what I needed, I guess, 'cause this morning I was sound asleep, when Tom called to tell me it was 8:12 in the morning, on 8/12 -- Isn't that boy clever??

Got some work done on my hobo bag..it's givin' me fits and spits, so I put it away for now. I cut out a peasant blouse pattern after I messed with my bag -- hopefully IT won't give me such headaches. I've got a canvas painted for my friends collage -- I'll post W>I>P> shots of it tomorrow. I'm getting a little better at the different colors for this project, but it's still hard for me to get his project really going...it's getting there, just not as fast as I'd like for it to move.

Must get going, as Tom is on his way home -- he's gotta get up before 1:30 tomorrow a.m., an' haul a container to pick up frozen food...I'm almost scared to find out what he's picking up -- last time it was hog ears...no, I'm not going to tell you what it was for, either...

Lady of The Tulips - listening to some woodpeckers having a disagreement with one another in the pine trees out front...hmmm..

I WAS going to go sit in my little swing out on the front porch this afternoon, but then all I could hear was a LOT of CRASH<> SMASH<> Somebody across the woods is, I guess, clearing part, if not all of their land, and the bulldozer has been at it for most of this afternoon ~~ So there goes the Quiet Peaceful Sitting in my little porch swing...

No wonder all of the birds have been quiet today ~~ THEY know something is amiss. Wish they would've told ME!!

Had one of our neighbors over earlier this morning, while Tom & Noah went once again to the hardware store to get paint and supplies...I thot about telling them to get me some paint, so I can decorate that black/white/something-else-sorta-color-folding-chair near my front porch swing. But they were in a hurry ~~ Actually in such a hurry, that noah came in the bedroom while I was sound asleep, to tell his father to WAKE UP so they could get goin' down the highway. So much for the plans to go look for a "New" used car today...But I had a nice visit with our neighbor anyway -- We had to discuss the Nature of The Health Care Industry...(Or lack thereof) and OtherImportant Information (Not necessarily neighborhood gossip...so THERE!) We had a good time!! The breeze is blowing just right today, and with the temperatures not as blistering as they've been, it's actually comfortable to sit outside. And the mosquitoes must have the day off, cause I think I may have seen 3 all morning!! What a difference that is! WHOA!!

The sewing is at a halt for the moment. . I've got my hobo bag all ready to go, but with the fleece I've got, I'm having a dickens of a time getting my fabric markers to leave the markings on the fabric where I need them to be!! ARRGGGHHH >>> so I'm sitting here, not procrastinating, butsortakindasomethinglikeit avoiding all work possible. It's 'cause the weather has me feeling like taking a Brief Vacation...or at least 'till the load of laundry in the dryer gets finished. Besides, the dog may want something from me, so I can't possibly go an start sewing right NOW!! what would the dog do??

Blah >>

Must go see what's goin' on out by the deck all of a sudden...I'm hearing cars, and since I'm not expecting anybody, I'm wondering why someone is outside...hmmmm..

Lady of The Tulips -- hearing an old country~western song in my head that reminds me of desert evenings and too much fun...

~~ Another one of those quick posts, 'cause there is still a lot of work for me out in the kitchen, and some laundry needs to get done, too. I've also got to get dinner pots and pans cleaned, then start the clam spag., -- tom asked for it the other day an' I totally spaced out on getting it made for dinner. ~~

Got my apron done this morning, and now have all the hobo bag pieces sitting behind me, after I got the markings done on them. One thing that always makes me wonder about the people who design patterns, is that, some of the pattern companies say to clip maybe this piece's "points" outward, another company sez cut them inward..some say to make markings at those points with a fabric marker...why can't they all say the same thing?? Is there some written rule with these ocmpanies that tells it's employees to drive the customer nuts by not writing out the directions in the same way?? Hmmpph...one of life's little irritations, that's what it iz...But now I'm closer to getting the bag sewn and out of the way, then I can start on a peasant blouse patternt thatI recently bought some yummy fabric for. That'll be nice as this next week is supossed to be hot hazy and humid, so a cool cotton flowing blouse is just the ticket!! "It's not the heat, it's the humidity", is CERTAINLY TRUE ~~ I just can't get a thing done when the humidity climbs wayy up in those double digits...ughh!! I may order some more fabric next week, for another peasant blouse that I haven't made for awhile..it's super comfy, sews up reasonably fast, and makes me feel like a million dollars..

The BIGDAY is tomorrow ~~ Tom & I have to go look for a "new" car ~~ I'm looking forward to it/ I'm hating looking forward to it/I want to go jump out in the ocean and let the tide carry me far, far away...I spent a couple hours(!!) looking at prices, Car Reports and Details On Whatever There Is About Cars For Sale the other day...I'm not kidding, it actually wore me out!! There is soo much to think about when looking for a car..not just that the price for cars is absolutely disgusting, but the fact that there are so many car dealers who don't want to provide the information that they know exists about the cars they have for sale. There are some sales people who you take one good look at, and wonder what prison they just walked out of last week, and there are others that you swear have been stuck in the 1970's, 'cause these guys are still wearing the white suits that made Elvis Pressley a lot of money...and no, they Do Not Look any better 30 -odd years later..So, combining all that, and knowing that I'll be walking up and down isles of cars...my word..I think I'd rather have a hangover..but those Days are long, long over..We have a couple models that we're thinking of -- small, fuel efficient cars, so Tom doesn't have to spent too much $$$ every week just getting to work. He sez maybe we should get a little truck, but on those saturdays where all 3 of us need to get things in town, I can just see us cramming into the truck, all nice and cozzzzzyyyy...no, that's probably not going to work.

So it's looking for maybe another saturn...maybe a little hyundai...or a little honda...there's also a little ford focus..too many things that seem good, then they seem bad...no wonder I felt like my head was spinning in the opposite direction of the Southern Equator..

Anyway -- my canvas has come to a halt...I'm still stuck with the project for my friend..she said for me to mail some pieces of paper(s) to her, but then she hasn't given me her new address...so I'm gonna call her tomorrow, after taking 3 asprin from the headache of looking at used cars...and get the info, and maybe once I get that, I'll get the Muse Into Full Gear..too many ideas are swirling in my head, and I need to just STOP and think of one main idea to put down on the canvas...That's what I think for now..

Must go and get those dinner things goin' -- Noah just talked to his father on the phone, an' Tom's already near the truck terminal for the end of his day...yee gadz!!

** Lady of The Tulips ** wondering if there is one of those tramp steamers sitting at the Port that wouldn't mind me starting work tomorrow bright and early...as I AVOID ALL WORK HERE >>>>