At The Edge of the Yeopim River and the Albemarle Sound ~ ~

Here is what we have for today..clouds, some wind, and hopefully no Flooding! We had rain overnight, but it seems that most of that has either soaked in and enhanced the shrubs and trees, or has gone on down the little creeks and streams out to the Sound. We are supossed to be "Warm" today -- actually the weather people are calling for temps in the 70's, but with the wind, that may be a tad optimistic as far as high temps go! The clouds seem to be floating past with a real urgency, as if there is somewhere they must be as quickly as possible. Maybe there is something coming up that we humans just don't know about.

Yesterday while I took a break from working on one of my current projects, I happened to sit out in the front room, and just for a moment layed down on the couch. While I just glanced out the picture window, there VERY suddenly came swooping thru the yard, one of the most beautiful small hawks I've ever seen!! I was so startled by it coming across the yard SO fast, that I barely had time to take a good look at it. The wings were a beautiful deep rust red, and the body had a grey-ish color to it. The very tip of it's tail was the same color as it's wings, and the shape of the body was somewhat tapered. It flew up to one of the telephone poles down the dirt road, and then, after getting it's bearings, it then came BACK across our side yard, flying low over the grass, then suddenly flying straight up into one of the pine trees near the side of the cabin. WHOA!! I was so suprised!! So, I ran toward the back of the cabin, tried to look out my bedroom window up into the trees, but whereever the bird had landed, it was up too high for me to see. I don't know what it was after, or if it possibly caught something while swooping across our yard, but it was such a surreal moment. I've not seen something like that for some years, not since we had land down in South Carolina, and usually I saw birds like this while the hawks and other large northern birds were traveling South for the winter. My guess is that this bird was one of the ones traveling South, and stopped along the way to grab something to eat. Sounds like most of us during a bizzy workday!! HA! sorry 'bout that bad pun...

Today I've been laying out pieces of paper, trying to figure out a new collage. I re-discovered some little papers I had tucked into some storage bags, so I'm trying to put them to good use. Tom & Noah are out and about for the day. Noah has somebody to buy some display cases he had for use at Baseball Card Shows. He only used the cases once or twice. He felt that somebody else who could use them should be able to pick them up, so he listed them on Craig's List, and within less than 3 hours he had a buyer!! SWEET!! And, he also found somebody giving away some storage items, so he decided to get 2 things accomplished at once today ~ get the display cases to the new owner, and pick up the storage stuff at the same time, just down the Interstate. That boy is clever, I'm tellin' ya!! Tom was going to do something at the same time, too, but he sorta-kinda-mumbled too much for me to really catch what he was saying...bum..

Lady of The Tulips ~~ listening to a great old recording of a jazz tune from WAYYY back in the 30's...Sweet!

*** Maybe today will be the day that my internet connection will work ***

I'm going to make this short, as I am totally unsure of what will happen once I try to post this ~~ Yesterday I tried 3 times to get something posted...even tried to download a couple canvases, but nothing happened. I am probably the last person who is computer savvy, so it is absolutely one of the most hideous things for me to try and understand. WHY doesn't my connection WORK??!! I know the canvases aren't everybody's cup of tea, but at least I'd like to TRY and get them posted on my blog so at least SOMEBODY can see them. But when I even went to get my last post yesterday, it literally DISAPPEARED into that great cyberworld SOMEWHERE..An' I don't even know where to start to yell at somebody about it.

The skies are cloudy -- we are supossed to have rain and wind today. Then it turns Cold -- well for here it's supossed to be cold. Highs in the 40's in a couple days, so we have the woodstove ready. And the Yard is somewhat cleaned up so we don't have to go out in the rain an' cold to mess with anything. YA!!

Lady of The Tulips -- crossing her fingers an' hoping this post WILL post...

>>> Here it is, another day where the sun is shinning, the birds are flitting, and I'm sitting in my little studio, wondering just what went WRONG!! <<<

Not too terribly long ago, Tom & I went to our most wonderful department store, Big Lots, and bought a spiffy bright yellow and altogether good looking vacuum cleaner. Price was right in our range of Not-Too-Cheap, but Not-So-Expensive-That-We'd-Cry-And-Walk-Out-The-Door. We happily brought it home, plugged it in, and went all up and down the hallway, skimming along, watching the very sleek and modern charcoal grey dirt cannister fill up with all sorts of odds and ends that had been lurking in our carpet. Very interesting to see, but kinda creepy too..those odd things lurking under the fibers. BUT ANYWAY -- we kept using it off and on, well, 'bout every week.

But THEN ~~

It started to Act Badly. Stopping While In The Middle of Work. Beginning to Smell Horrid and Overheat.

So we did what any smart person does. NO!! ~~ We did Not bang on the side of the machine. We cleaned out the filter..washed out the Sleek Grey Dirt Cannister.

And the machine continued to Overheat. Then the START button got stuck in the ON position, giving Lady Tulip a very NEARLY HORRIBLE heart attack every time she plugged in the vacuum cleaner. Tha's because she'd plug in the sucker, and it'd IMMEDIATELY start up and make All Sorts of Terrible Noises.

So ~~ Fast Forward to This Morning ~~ Lady Tulip had washed out the filter..cleaned out the Sleek and Altogether Modern Looking Dirt Cannister. Checked out the filter brushes. Did what every good and noble person does before attacking Odd Things Lurking in the Carpet.

The ON button actually worked correctly..and with a START push...the Vacuum Cleaner absolutely and Terrbily went into OVERDRIVE...Running nearly 1,239 times faster than it's supossed to run...the little motor started smelling like burnt wires, bad metal that's seen better dayz, and Smelled Up the Front Room. And it wouldn't turn off..Leaving Lady Tulip no other choice but to yell assorted and varied Bad Words -- run over to the electric outlet and UNPLUG the vacuum cleaner. While the motor came to a slow and smelly HALT...Lady Tulip became immediately AWARE that perhaps the Great Purchase of the YEAR was not such a good idea after all...and it was also On Sale. Which should have given Lady Tulip some WARNING about the Working Order of said vacuum cleaner.

All which means, that the DAYUM THING hauled off and killed itself. And smelled up the house at the same time. DAYYYUUUMMM...

So now there are STILL little bits of those hideous Odds and Ends covering the carpet..and Who Knows What Else lurking under all those fibers..Plus all the bits of old wallpaper backing that didn't get swept up in Lady Tulips bedroom..Needless to say, Lady Tulip is Feeling Out Of Sorts now..mainly because she has to haul off and look for another stuiped vacuum cleaner. did I say DAYYUUMMM at all today??

Lady of The Tulips -- listening to Noah up on the roof cleaning off 34,605 pine needles that flung themselves on the roof during last weekends Nor'easter...an' the weather persons say we may have another one this coming weekend..

"Comfort" Spring Bay Studio 2008

This is one of the pieces that I worked on while painting the bedroom the other week. I had some of these papers and fabric pieces for what seems an eon, so they just HAD to be placed together. I think in so many ways that the Ocean is much more comforting to us than we really think about. There are places where the Ocean is sole provider for villages, cities, countries. We need to constantly be aware of what role the Ocean plays in our lives, even if we happen to live many, many miles away from it. The food, the rain, the evolving days of our existence, depend so much on the Oceans of the world. And ultimately the Comfort that it enhances our lives with. I am constantly reminded of what it's role is for our neighbors, on a daily basis. I listen early in the morning to the sound of the local fishermen, slowly going out into the Sound, the engines of their boats a dull, rumbling as they travel down the Yeopim river, heading into another day of fishing. The skies may be cloudy, the skies may be brightly shinning, but whatever the weather, the fishermen tend to their jobs, and in turn, we all benefit from the catch they return home with every evening. Area stores, distribution centers for fresh fish, crab, shrimp, and all of those involved with trucking the fresh catch to areas far and near...we all benefit. And in turn, dwell in the "Comfort" of the Ocean.

The skies today are cloudy ~~ we are about to have our first cold snap of the season. Yesterday we nearly hit a high temp record for October. I know those of you living in more northern Climes don't REALLY want to know, but here we did have a high of over 83 degrees. WHOA!! I kept thinking, while painting the trim and baseboards in my bedroom, "Boy, Why am I feelin' this hot and yucky? ~ can't be hot flashes..just took my vitamin therapy..what is GOiN' ON??! HA! ~~ then I finally sat down an' watched 'bout 15 minutes of the evening news...OH SNAP!!..the heat WAS REAL ~ ~ not me being all funky and weird-ing out. BUT ~ ~ today is an entirely different story. Cloudy, windy and some sprinkles scattered around. Most of the "rain" is barely hitting the ground, it's just blowing around in the leaves of the hardwoods. We barely have color in the hardwoods around the cabin...some of the Oaks are barely showing Fall Color...our Dogwood is getting into a little more of it's Fall Showing. The Gu Tree beside the kitchen window is slowly turning into a pale, pale yellow~green, as if it can't make it's mind up on Fall. I am NOT READY!! for the cooler temperatures. Tom was not looking thrilled when he walked out to the car this morningat 3:45.."It's COLD out here, ma!" I feel sad, and want to have Summer surrounding me for EVAH!! ~ and want to keep the sun beaming on my bedroom floor for MORE DAYZ!!! Guess that's not goin' to happen..

Noah is getting the lawn mowed today, before the rain gets harder outside. He STILL hasn't heard from one of the temp agencies that told him he'd be lined up for a job by next week. BLAH. So he's trying to make himself useful around the yard. He'd much rather be making some money, but with some of the temp agencies, they just don't communicate with the companies who are using them to hire employees. Sometimes job choices go smoothly. Other times it's this side of a Nightmare to get things organized and ready for a potential employee. And this particular job Noah's looking at, has been ANYTHING but going smoothly. SOO -- instead of working outside of the "house" this week, he's been cleaning up the side yard, clearing away years of overgrowth around some of the pine trees, and now, mowing the lawn, before the rains come. The yard is really beginning to take shape..there were so many long stringy vines, lots of small trees, fighting for daylight under the pines. It's been an ugly battle to get them all dug out, but Noah's made great progress on it. If it's sunny tomorrow, I'll get a shot of the work he's done.

The Mail truck just was here, so I need to go see what we have waiting in the box. As long as there are NO BILLS...like that's gonna happen. HA!

Lady of The Tulips -- listening to somebody cutting trees? ~ no ~ Shrubs?? Lawdy..whatever is getting cut, it doesn't stand a chance with whoever is using that chainsaw...

Here are a couple shots of what my bedroom is starting to look like. The closet doors have a nice crisp ultra white on them now..and the mellow blue that backs the little "wood" stove by the bathroom, just feel so much better than the old wallpaper. I've got to finish the trim, baseboards and toms double-closet doors, THEN I can sit and bask in the "new" room!!

I've got some work to do on the windows facing the woods -- they have sliding vinyl shades on them..there's a name for the things, but it escapes me for the moment. The previous owners must have spent quite a bit on the window coverings, 'cause while I was in the hardware store last week, I priced new coverings, and they were anything but cheap. For a small dimension covering, the cost was over $25.00 -- and considering my windows are over 36 x 54 or some such thing, I didn't even get close to that size covering. Yup -- that clucking sound you hear is me, being an absolute chicken, at looking at higher prices for my room. Call me a cheapskate, that's fine. It's either that, or just blow open the checking account, an' then wonder how to pay for food for the rest of the week. Minor details, that buying food thing is, anyway...

SO -- what ELSE there is -- IS - the canvas is DRY on my little piece that is calling for me to download it. That will have to wait 'till tomorrow. I had to set it on my son's old dresser, that I use for some storage in the studio. The dresser has had much, MUCH better days >> In fact, it was given to me while I was in high school, so that tells you how long I've kept it. And then, my middle son Gabriel had the habit of writing ALL OVAH the darn thing while he was little. I asked him just a couple years ago, why did he always write his name EVERYWHERE??!! "I just wanted to make sure I spelled it right.." Ohh my nerves...But the dresser is good and sturdy, so the next big project is to clean it out, throw out old bits and pieces of "ART SUPPLIES" that I thot I'd absolutely-positively-have-to-use. Well -- those things may be kept, but since most of them were this side of garbage when I bought 'em, I'm doubtful they'll ever see a canvas. Maybe they will. But they have to REALLY become NEEDED before I slap them onto the canvas. Or be able to sing "America The Beautiful", or something like that..

Lady of The Tulips -- who keeps hearing the sound of a vehicle outside, an' even tho it sounds like the mail truck, it's something else...hmmm...

>> Here's the wall where my closet is << As you can seem the primer is doing a wonderful job of covering the prior paint, that the previous owners ~ for some weird reason ~ hauled off and covered up with that horrid wallpaper. And the painters tape, trying to jump off the ceiling line?? I'd started working with that roll, thinking it seemed kinda flimsy, but tried it out anyway. As you can see, what we found On Sale for $1.99 a roll, does nothing but attempt to slam itself on the floor, leaving the Painter-Person with nothing to do, but return to the Hardware Store, and buy more Painters Tape..Less than an hour it took, for that tape to peel itself off...

~~ But on a MUCH brighter note!! ~~ I DO have the final coat, or rather noah got the final coat of wonderful Blue done on the walls, and it just looks so fabu!! He suprised me by painting it while Tom & I went to the Peanut Festival up in Va. last weekend...by the time we got home, and I walked in the bedroom, the walls were a wonderful pale blue. I WILL post the pictures tomorrow of how good the color is. Today I got the closet doors done, the door to the bedroom just about finished, and also got some work done out in the front of the house. Figured that getting the yard stuff done while the paint dried would get the classic, TWO things done at the same time. Shwoo - now I feel good and tired, but a Good kinda tired, like Things-Got-Done that Needed to bE!!

I hope to download a picture of another little canvas I've gotten done while messin' with my bedroom walls -- it's kinda a funny little canvas, and Tom looked at it and said he liked it. I didn't know what to say, so I just shook my head at him in like I was appreciative of his comment. Actually I felt really suprised, 'cause he isn't all that overly positive on my work. So -- maybe it is a nifty canvas. I still am working out another one that I think to date, I've changed 23.406 times, but it could be more than that. I keep picking that %^"&$*} thing up, think I've got a good layout of it, then haul off and start pulling paper and STUFF off of that poor defenseless canvas like there's no tomorrow. I'm beginning to think a Lawyer is gonna show up and demand me to get to the county courthouse with a Good and Proper Explaination of why I've shown Harsh and Cruel Punishment toward my canvas. But maybe it's just 'cause I saw on the tv schedule that there are still re-runs of Matlock on tv...

Lady of The Tulips -- who had to call 4 places this morning to find out who she could go to for new glasses. Good Thing Lady Tulip called around..if I'd chosen the 1st. place, I would've paid close to $300 more than I should. Makes up for the hour on the phone.

>>> There are some days where I just want to run over to the street behind my little cabin, jump up on the dock that sits quietly on the river, and then JUMP IN THE WATER <<<

Now -- I KNOW that just sounds too weird, but for the life of me, I am having the most trouble with my dumb little camera. I've tried just about everything I can DO with it, to take a good clear picture of some of the new canvases I've worked out. But NOOO -- The Little Camera from Hell DOES NOT WANT TO BEHAVE!! -- a picture I take will look good in the view screen on the camera, an' then when I download the picture, it looks like something made the picture just sneeze badly, an' blur, distort and altogether make the shot look HORRID. BUT -- I also did not buy a very high price camera..and it WAS on sale a couple years ago...and it WAS the last of that particular design for that camera manufacturer. In other words it's jus' not all it's cracked up to be. BLAST...and DOubLE BLAST!!


So anyway -- How Are You??!! -- I am happy to say that I've gotten some more painting done on the walls in my bedroom -- IF the camera GODZ are good tomorrow, I'll take some more pictures of the BEFORE and AFTER of what the room looks like. It really is quite amazing just what a coat of paint can do to a room. I was telling my sister, that I've sorta slid a question past Tom, in the form of a request/question on whether or not to buy some ART for the walls. Naturally I did the questioning while Tom was good and distracted, so I knew that the odds were in my favor. NO -- it's not being dishonest..just sorta/kinda sneaky. Otherwise I'd never get anything done around here. SOO -- while Tom was watchin' baseball or one thing or another -- I casually said that there is some ART I need to get an' blah-blah-blah .. an' made it seem like RIGHT NOW -- it must be HERE!! -- HA!! Worked like a charm!! He said "Sure, go ahead an' get somethin'" - so, being The Good and Dutiful Wife that I am -- I will INDEED get the art we NEED for the bedroom walls.

I've found some mellow beach scenes...a couple floral prints..things to make it feel serene, along with the nice blue that covers the walls. WHHEEE -- it will be NICE when I get it all done...!!!

I've gotta run an' see what Tom's up to -- he's gonna take part of tomorrow off, so he can go pick up the used/new car for us -- the dealership isn't open on Sundays, so tom has to get to them when he can...but he WILL be back at the terminal for the afternoon...All these THINGZ!! -- yeee gads ---

~~ Lady of The Tulips ~~ Listening to somebody walkin' down the dirt road, havin' some kind of conversation that doesn't sound too good..."Is this an arguement?" ~~~

"Closest Confidant" 2008 Spring Bay Studio

This is one of the pieces that I've worked out, while painting the primer on my bedroom walls. The pieces that I assorted for this are some that I've had for over a year, maybe more. Why they've just sat in their little folder is beyond me, but that's how it goes.

I've got some other pieces that are sitting in a folder near-by...I can't decide if I'm going to tear them apart and start over, or if I'll just leave them be. There are some days where it seems like the thing to do, is just pull everything apart and start over. But sometimes, tht creates such a huge problem. Layout becomes confusing, and introducing new papers and objects doesn't always fit the theme that I want to expand on. Plus there are also the problems of what to choose for extra paint and how to combine some colors that you wouldn't wanna see on some "lady" in a bar at 2 a.m. on a bad night..in a bad neighborhood. These are the weird things that come up when I least expect 'em to, and sometimes the paint, papers and objects all flow together just like there was never a question..other times, I start to contemplate working at the local Fishing Center, and abondon all thots of being an Artist.

Noah went all OVAH the place yesterday -- he rode with tom up to the city and then had to take his bike and ride to an employment center to apply for a job that is about 20 miles from where tom works. That was the easy part. In order for noah to get to tom's terminal, he had to take his bike and ride on one of the area's scariest highways for 8 miles, then up and over one of the highest bridges there is in the south-east part of the state..then down another highway to get to yet ANOTHER highway to get to tom's terminal. All this just to get in an application for a job. AND THEN --- it ends up that the job only had openings for 3rd shift..something the people at the employment center failed to tell noah before he got off the phone with them on tuesday. Cute. When tom said that noah "Is gonna haf-ta ride his bike up over the gilmerton bridge" I didn't THINK about which one it is -- it's the one bridge that all the major truck companies use to get from interstate 64 and follow another highway to hit interstate 95...not too slick. Well -- for truckers it's a piece of cake..for some poor guy riding a bike up and over that bridge, it's absolute hell on earth, and rarely do you see anyone trying it...except somebody REALLY trying to find work, and doing everything they can to Get From Point A to Point B >>>I finally stopped worrying once they both walked in the door last night...

Speaking of work -- my middle son finally got the job he'd applied for something like a month ago -- he's now working in the mail room of one of the nations large railroad companies. I don't think I am supossed to say who they are -- security reasons or some crap like that. But gabriel had waited 'till he was ready to jump off the pier over on the Oceanfront, waiting for some word on whether or not he got the job. That's the thing that always FLIPS ME OUT -- why is it that companies SAY they'll Tell you within 10 days if you've got the job you've applied for -- or else send you a letter saying something stuiped like, "We've enjoyed you discovering the wonders of our Corporation, however we think you suck, so go away.." or something like that...The waiting game is not for most people who look at the rent "Past Due" notice, or the "Shut - Off Notice!! " from the Electric company -- all the while waiting for some Executive to say whether or not their going to hire YOU!! Ueerrr -- I got too many of those letters over the years..at one point while looking for work, I applied at 14 (!!!)different places within 2 WEEKS!!! -- and to this day I still have nothing to show for it. It was one of the lowest times EVAH for me. Not to mention all the miles I added up on The Very Fine Automobile...jeesh..


So now that THAT rant is done, I've got to go outside and check on my greens -- we've got collards comin' along really good in a couple pots..some broccoli too. They have really taken off with the little bit of cooler temps we've had the last couple days. So now this morning it's warmed up, and the poor little dears don' know what to do with themselves.

>> Lady Tulip << listening to somebody mowing their lawn RRREEEAAALLLYYY slowly...soundz like by the time their done, the lawn's gonna be growin' back about 5 inches...

>>> There is a wonderful thing called a camera -- it takes pictures that people can look at, ooh and ahh over, and generally make for a Great Time Looking at Things <<<

However -- the particular camera that Lady Tulip happens to own, has decided that it Will Not Work Correctly, even after Lady Tulip worked, and worked, and WORKED WITH THE DAYUM THING for over an hour and a half. Not ONLY did Lady Tulip WASTE ALL THAT TIME she literally has nothing to show for it. Well -- except for a raging headache, that will go away with something from the medicine cabinet.

At least these pictures aren't the Only ones, say, from somebody's third-cousin's wedding...or something like that..

What Lady Tulip is Trying to show, is the primer she slapped on her walls, and while that was drying, she made a couple spiffy collages, all nice with Fish, People, and other assorted THANGS -- however, you can't SEE THEM -- cause the $#%$^& camera that is sitting just to my left (Or is it your left? >> Right?? << OH ANYWAY -- I will carefully set the camera away from me so it doesn't end up in little bits and pieces, that I'll step on and proceed to bleed all over. Then that creates an altogether other problem...

Meanwhile -- the day is Glorious -- bright sunshine (trust me, it really is) and blue sky -- the kind of day that makes one want to go outside and walk thru the woods. I would, but I have to figure out where my shoes went. Sara may have a say in where the shoes are, but she doesn't always tell me where things disappear --

I have to contact the local transportation company, so I can make another trip to lowes -- my color choice for the trim is Finally decided, so I need to pick up a quart of that, plus another can of primer -- noah tells me the cost is Right In Our Price Range - $10.00 a gallon for the primer, versus $19.00 for the "Other" brand name. I won't name names, but the other brand is not as easy to use anyway...an' since it costs more, why bother, huh?!!

So that's the news from the edge of the Albemarle Sound. I so want to show some pictures of all the things here...but -- well -- hopefully tomorrow!!

Lady of The Tulips - wondering where her other pictures have gone that she put away for safe keeping. She did so blasted good, she can't remember where she put them...

Well -- just a couple days ago, Lady Tulip was sitting in her bedroom, staring out the window, trying very HARD to delay cleaning her house. While she was sitting on her bed, looking around her bedroom walls, it suddenly dawned on Lady Tulip, that the wallpaper covering said walls, was something that HAD TO GO as soon as possible. It was Grating on Lady Tulip, that the wallpaper covering her bedroom walls, looked like something that belonged in a home that people much much older than her would be thrilled to have. Say somebody 103 or somewhere close.

So Lady Tulip began the Oddesey (oh shut up about that spelling...) of Tearing Off All The Old Smoke Stained And Smelling Wallpaper, and cleaning up the little bits and pieces of backing paper that is the Bane of Those Who Remove Wallpaper. Lady Tulip pulled, tore, shredded, and altogether Beat Up Her Bedroom Walls to get all the OLD OUT -- no, not the 103 year old person, (they happen to live somewhere nearby, I supposse, but that's another story..) the OLD wallpaper going into a trash bag, and down the road to the local landfill-place. It took Lady Tulip 2 days to shred, tear, pull and stab at the pieces staring at her upon her walls, laughing all the while..."HA!! Lady Tulip, those pieces of paper said, "You Aint Gonna Get Us Off-a Here Easy!!"

This only inflamed Lady Tulip all the more -- She looked at the walls, with their little bits of stuck-'till-the-cows-come-home-backing-paper and said,
"YOU ARE COMING OFF OF THESE WALLS, IF ITs THE LAST THING I DO!!"

The walls only laughed, along with their irritating little bits of paper, stuck like GLUE and staring at Lady Tulip.

>>>>> OK >>>>> Suffice to say, that the taking down of that stuiped paper was more of a job than I bargained for, but it did only take 2 days. The primer is ON now -- well almost of the primer is on now...I didn't calculate the amount right, that was already in the can that Noah used, so even tho the majority of the walls are painted, the top of said walls are still in need of primer. But the good thing is that the smell of stale cigarettes is ALLGONE once and for EVAH -- I won't go into details of the nahhsty stuff that came off the paper when I hit it with the spray bottle of water. Le's jus' say that I'm glad I stopped smoking WAY back in the day...


Tomorrow I'll post a couple shots of the primer (d) walls >> they look much better. Even TOM said it looked better, so that's sayin' somethin'!! <<

Lady Tulip -- listening to something outside, but it doesn't seem like it's Altogether Horrid and Scary -- but I could be wrong..

Where Snug Harbor Iz...

I had hoped that the photo of where our little place is on the map, wouldn't look so dark when I took the shot last week...but IF you can see where on the left-hand side of the map..there is alittle pennisula (yeah, yeah, that'z spelled altogether horrid..) where Snug Harbor is located. And to the right of that, is the Albemarle Sound. Whileat my Eye Dr. appt., yesterday, I was telling someone, that if I was to swim (and that'z a BIG IF..) across the Sound, an' keep going (to the right of the map) then I'd end up on the Outer Banks. Me an' my Rotten Math...I THOUGHT it was something like 10 miles across the Sound...FAT CHANCE -- it's more like over 25...so even the IDEA of swimming across ALL THAT WATER...Gad Zooks...I jus' got tired thinkin' about it...

Anyway -- I've got a gazillion THANGZ to tell ALL about...but Noah has made dinner early, an' I am SLAP wore out after tearin' wallpaper to SHREDZ...I'll show some of the shotz of the master bedroom re-doo tomorrow...right now I absolutely HAVE to go wash off all this old glue...get rid of the stale old cig. smoke stained GOO that dripped all over me all day (ohh it jus' makes me wanna cry...it'z jus' too too NAHHSTIEE) an of course, the 30+ year old wallpaper bitz that I'm discovering in my hair...ICK!!..

Lady of The Tulips -- who has realized that if she hauls off an' jus' blasts thru all her work tomorrow afternoon, then she'll have a bedroom that looks purdy darn good..

OK -- OK, FOR ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE REPEATEDLY ASKED ABOUT THE ^&$&*)()"#% BLOUSE I'VE BEEN WORKING ON, I TOOK A PICTURE OF IT TODAY, TO ONCE AN' FORALL LET YOU SEE THAT IT IS FINALLY DONE..IT CAME OUT PRETTY SPIFFY EVEN IF I DON'T MIND SAYIN' SO MYSELF. JUS' DON'T LOOK AT ALL THE STUFF BEHIND IT. LIKE THE CANVAS I STILL HAVE TO GET FRAMED FOR MY FRIEND...OR THE TRASH CAN THAT NOAH KEEPS MOVING AROUND THE ROOM, SO AT TIMES, I WON'T LOOK WHERE I WALK, AN' NEARLY FALL INTO SAID TRASH CAN. BUT THE LITTLE SEWING MACHINE I GOT ON SALE 2 YEARS AGO IS WELL WORTH A NICE PICTURE, SO IT CAN STAND TALL AND BE PROUD..

I ALSO HAVE A PICTURE OF THE MAP OF WHERE WE LIVE...BUT I'M HAVING TROUBLE GETTING MY CAMERA TO FOCUS GOOD (THA'S WHY THIS IS FUZZY -- THE SHOT COMES OUT CLEAR IN THE VIEW PART OF MY CAMERA, BUT DOWNLOADS FUZZY ON THE COMPUTER ~~~ (???? ---- ANY CLUE? -- ANYBODY -- ???) SO WHEN I GET IT PHOTO'D GOOD, (THE MAP, THAT IS) THEN I'LL SHOW YA'LL HOW FAR OFF I WAS IN SAYIN' THE DISTANCE ACROSS THE ALBEMARLE TO THE OUTER BANKS IS FROM OUR PLACE...UHH -- LE'S JUS' SAY THAT I'D ONLY GO OVER IN A CAR OR BOAT...NO LONG DISTANCE SWIMMING FOR MEEE...

I'VE GOT TO BE AT LOWES TOMORROW, SO NOW I GOTTA CALL THE LOCAL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM TO SEE WHEN THE BUS LEAVES HERE...THEY ACTUALLY COME TO THE HOUSE(!!) AN BRING ME BACK -- HOW COOL AN' DOUBLEEY COOL IS THAT??!! $3.00 EACH WAY. AN' WITH GAS BEING SO OBSCENE NOW, THE BUS IS DEFINETLY THE WAY TO GO..I JUS' GOTTA FIND OUT WHEN IT GETS HERE.

>>>> LADY OF THE TULIPS <<<< WHO TYPED THIS ALL BIG AN' ALL, SO SHE CAN FEEL LIKE BIG DEAL..HA!! GET IT??!! BIG?? DEAL??!! sorry....

Back when I used to do handweaving, I made this little piece. A little something for the kitchen, handwoven on a table loom, with wool yarn, acrylic yarn, mounted on a piece of something like matboard. I made quite a few little goodies like this. Kitchen type pieces. Little pieces with little girls wearing aprons; cows..I think I did some chickens, too, but I can't remember back that far.

Anyway -- here I was, staring at the baskets, plastic storage boxes, and cardboard boxes that are still telling me "Put Us Away, Please!", since we've moved down here. Why this little piece was with the rest of my Art Supplies is anybody's guess, but there they are, none the less. And all of said baskets, etc., are still sitting on the floor, waiting for a Nice Spot to be sitting. Nothing wrong with the floor, it is a nice floor, as far as floors go. But it's just NOT the place for Art Supplies to be located. At least in My opinion. And so, the question is, How Long do I wait for either Noah or Tom to hang-up the support brackets Noah bought 4 weeks ago? These little guys might just LIKE to be sitting up on a nice shelf. I've got 5 shelves. They'd be just fine up there.

But how long do I sit & wait? -- Tom has a icky habit of saying, "I'm workin' on it.", which means that Hell may very well freeze over before he considers doing this little project. I think what I need is one of those electronic doo-hickies that tells you where the studs are inside the interior walls. Then I'd be able to spot those, slap the anchor bolts to them, hang up my brackets, slip the shelves on said brackets, and my little Skillet Friends would have a place to Dance and Sing. Noah sez he's gonna "see to it" in just a little while.

I'm leaning on the side of waiting for Something Other Than Hell to Freeze, if ya know what I mean.

But onto Other Things.>>>> After getting some of the Bug Spray off of me (I went outside to sweep off the deck and driveway) and getting a bit of lunch, I'll take some shots of something I made up just before the weekend. It's a little different, but I like the way the colors came together in it. Plus, I've got one that I'd nearly forgotten about, but it got my attention the other day, as I was making lists for groceries, Art Supplies, all those things that need to be picked up when in Town. Ah HA!, I said, looking at the collected parts and goodies for that collage...it's gonna be pretty cool to see when it's all together. Well, of course I'D say it's cool. Maybe somebody else would gag, but who knows.

Must go an' wash this STUFF off of my arms. It does't so much burn my skin, but it justsortakinda stings...an' the smell/fragrance of it isn't exactly Channel No. 5 .. if ya get my drift.

Lady of The Tulips -- who may just hear the Mail Carrier...I ordered a new handbag for my birthday, so hopefully it's finally HERE!!

Just WHEN is the time to finally say ENOUGH is ENOUGH, and break down and buy a new paint palatte??

ACKK!! -- I've been in the Art Stores, looked at new trays, bowls, platters, YOU NAME IT...and I just absolutely-can-not, I mean bring myself to buy a new tray. Even when I go into a thrift store, and I find some little delectable TRAY..or a Very Nice Plastic SERVING THINGIE... it's just like my brain sez, "NOOO!! You can't do THAT!! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU"RE DOING??"

>> Or -- maybe it's just because I'm cheap, an' don't wanna throw away the $2.95 I spent on this one while it waz on sale... <<<

Whatever it is, Tom gets so angry and sez HORRID things about this pallat (Oh just hush on my spelling..) -- "Don't ya think it needs washing??" ""YOU THINK I HAVEN"T WASHED THIS THING A GAZZILLION TIMES??!!"

>> Or <<

"You know, when you go in the Art Store, YOU CAN BUY A NEW ONE OF THESE.."

What I wanna know, is just what is WRONG with this -- look at all it's been thru?!! I MEAN -- 2 moves -- I carried it around the house in The City when I'd be all flabergastted an' not knowing what to DO -- The Dog has stepped on it more times than I ever, EVAH wanna count. Plus there have been the times, when running from the dining room (in our old house) into the sunroom (That had been my studio) I'd COMPLETELY FORGET where this thing was, and without looking ahead of time, and RUNNING BAREFOOT, I' Would run right over the thing. And YES -- I'd Yell "^%:#&***$##%!"%...that HURTZ!!"

Actually, I'd yell a lot of other things, I mean THANGS -- but I will be polite and Not tell you what all those things were.

Lets just say this poor baby has had the TAR beat out of it -- But I can't bring myself to throw it away.

----------- So ------------ The question iz ---- just what do OTHER people do when this confronts them? >>>>>Throw the thing away? Buy a Much Larger One an' proceed to hope it will last for more than 5 months??

Or -- am I just too sentimental over things??

....Lady of The Tulips ....who is wondering what to DO now that the Regular Season of Baseball is Over...I mean OVAH!!... I'm thinking of wearing Black and going into Mourning...

"Wasn't Expecting That" -- 2008 Spring Bay Studio

HEEYYY!!! I really wanna thank all the people over at Mojoartgroup@yahoogroups.com, for pickin' this lil' abstract of mine, their winner for Mojoartgroup Challenge, "Abstraction Satisfaction" -- THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!


I had just the most fun with this piece, an' it really isn't like anything I've done before, which made it even MORE cool to work out. The paper pieces were so neat to work out, and the layered paper pieces that joined it all together were something I've always wanted to use, but couldn't figure out just what I wanted to DO with them. So -- put it all together an' this is what happened. Even Tom liked it, so that's saying something!!

Haven't got the chance to tell you about some of the other things that are happening right now, but hopefully tomorrow or the next day I'll TELL ALL.. well, not ALL but you get the idea.


Lady of The Tulips -- listening to noah slam our poor back storm door, and am wondering just how long that old thing has left on this earth..

~~ Just a quick note here to say We've gotten thru the Nor'easter, we're tired to pieces of hearing the wind whipping thru all the woodz, and now The Dog, little miss Sara, is trying to find a place to hide, because of all the noise across the river..something's going on with the CIA/FBI/CBS/NBC people again, and it drives our little pooch-iee about NUTZ!! ~~

Don' ya know, that once I hauled off and told Tom that I'm thinking about painting the bedroom, and definetly doing some WORK in the master bathroom, now he sez "Well!! An' you gotta get rid of those blind/hanging-thingies we got on those windows, too!!" **** NOTE TO SELF...DO NOT OFFER ANY EXTRA WORK THAT YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DO WITHIN THE NEXT 2 MONTHS **** I think what I had in the back of my mind, was just sorta/kinda/maybe considering doin' a little bit of "Stuff" at a time. Like buying fabric to make some nice curtains for the bedroom. Sweet. Piece of cake. WELLL -- tom hauls off and takes THAT idea an' runs off with it like a pro-football player. I also made the mistake (all this within less than 10 minutes of each blurting statement..) of saying that I found some GREAT fabric on sale online thru a distributor of quilt fabric, household decorating fabric, etc., etc. -- so he (thatbeingTom) sez, "OK!!"when I say that some of said fabric runs over $10.00 per yard. Do I take his "ok" with a grain of salt, or do I ACTUALLY buy said fabric for more than I've paid for repairing certain parts on my Very Fine Automobile???

As I said, so much for shooting my mouth off.

>>> But all this really does need to get done. <<< The wallpaper in our bedroom is rather hideous. Cream and dark beige stripe, with contrasting stripe in a zig-zaggy pattern. Very old. Very pieced together like some poor drunk got into a fight with the walls and the walls won. And I won't EVEN get into the Stale Smoke Stains all OVAH all the walls, from one of the ex-persons-living-here-who-must've-chainsmoked-3-packs-per-day...Now it's the FUN!! QUICK!! work of taking down all that old wallpaper...

Wasn't there a song way back in the day that had lyrics something like, "Tell me why baby, why baby why, you made me cry baby, cry baby, cry baby cry??" Yeah..well that"s what I'm considering doing right about now.

But must go an' look at paint colors, so I cant take the time to have a good cry right about now...


Lady of The Tulips -- who Feels Every Right to haul off and have a Good Pity Party right about now. She's looking at the work that's suddenly piling up on her...

"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...