YUP!! Sara just hauled off and decided that it was all just too much for her...heaved herself up on mom's bed, and fell asleep. Well, after all she DID have to go outside and investigate all the new smells around the trees, and she also had to smell where the neighbors dog walks around by the back of the deck, AND she ALSO had to smell around where the clothesline is. So the Poor, Poor Baby!! Look at Her!! She is just flat wore OUT. Such is the life of a dog...


I got back home a little while ago from riding around with our neighbor to some of the area thrift stores. I mentioned that Tom & I had tried to find a local thrift store/"Antique" store on sunday, but we couldn't find it. WELL --- turns out that the building where the antiques are located, happens to be shared with our neighbor, where they have their vending machine company!! WHOA!! so lois took me in the building this morning, and lo and behold, there...right in front of me, is a nearly identical farmhouse pie safe..tho a little more worse for wear than the one we saw Sat. for $625...this one is a little larger -- and was on sale for $135. HA!! Guess who bought it?? ME!! SCORE!! YAAAA!!! So now we gotta get our neighbor to bring it over here, with the use of his truck. his wife said it wouldn't be a problem, so I'm finally going to have the storage I need. No more papers on the floor!!

I also got to one of the area bargain stores. Bought some goodies for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. 3 types of coffees, a big jar of maple syrup, and then got over to wallmart an' bought some pens I needed. All together a very good "Junkin" day!! Saw some shirts that may be good for noah, and tom needs some stuff too. Plus one thrift store had some dishes for less than $30 -- may get those too. Weee...!!!

Got to finish some work on me little table. And the dog wants something...blasted animal. But I love her to pieces, so off I go to spoil her some more!

Lady of The Tulips

>> This is how I'm feeling today -- sort of sunny, happy and glad that the snowstorm we experienced on Friday has all gone away <<


Actually it went away by 1:00 that same afternoon, but suffice to say that I was one of probably 12.349 who waved it away off the coast, never EVAH to see it again. Tom had to rub it in, that up where he was at the Port of Virginia, it'd stopped snowing somewhere about 9:00 -- it kept going, and going and Going down here till almost 11:00 -- He thot it was funny. I jus' thot it was a pain in the ____ and didn't like the fact that I had to tiptoe out on the deck to let out Sara. Her reaction to the snow is still Not Known. She did, however, have a Very Bad Look on her face when she realized that the Stuff was falling down around her, and it wasn't going away any time soon. Well, eventually it did, so she made the best of it, and sprawled out in the grass, sunning her big ol' belly. No, I didn't get a picture of THAT, but it was kinda funny looking. Kinda like seein' me in a bathing suit, laying out in the sun...

We went to the Antique Mall on Saturday!! AND -- no, we did Not buy the antique hutch I'd had my heart on buying. It was still there, tho, all pretty, perfect and wonderful. AND -- it was also $625.00 ~~ Uhh...yes Martha, it DOES make sense to actually look at the price of an item before getting totally enamoured with said item. So ~~ With tears in my eyes, I walked away, but not before buying some antique lace placemat kinda things. Very old. And I Will take a picture of them today & post 'em here so you can see them. They are all handmade by someone who definetly liked to have "Pretty's" around their house. I had had several, but Tom's mother made it a point to throw them all out. And in no uncertain terms, she let me know EXACTLY that they weren't welcome in her house. Even tho they were packed away in storage boxes, that we were in her house to bring back to our place. So -- that's where buying these came in. I'll never see my great-aunt's pieces again, so these are a good replacement.

I've got some new pens (!!) that I'll be working with today -- $2.00 at Dollar General. They seem to work all right, so I can put 'em to use right away. I'd bought an extra pak of pens just before we moved, an' when I went to use a new blue felt marker, it wasn't in the box that I'd stashed for Immediate Use when we moved down here. Some how it left Dodge, and disappeared. Very upsetting when I was 3/4 of the way thru one project, and discovered I couldn't finish with the same color. Now I have something Close Enuf. So it'll be zip-oh-louie-done today. It'll be fun.

Must go check on the woodstove. We're having a Heat Wave this morning.,it's supossed to get up to 55 today! WOW. Then later in the week it all falls thru the floor an' gets cold. Funny thing about november, huh?

Lady of The Tulips

So -- there I was, all sound asleep this morning, when I slowly wake up hearing Noah starting up the woodstove..which he usually doesn't do. But, I think to myself, well, maybe he just wants to get an early start to the day, an' what better way than to get the cabin warmed up. Then I hear him stomping down the hallway, and saying, "Hey Ma!! Take a look out the window.."

Me being me, I jus' think maybe there's something wandering around in the yard ~ maybe the deer is standing on the deck waiting for a handout., But lo and behold, I DO take a look out the window, and what do my little eyes behold? WHITE!!! SNOW!! YEE GADZ!!!

So with that observation, I get out of bed, grab some clothes, stomp out to the dining room, and stand by the woodstove, mumbling things that I won't repeat here. See -- just this morning, very early when Tom got ready to go to work, we both had stood in the same spot, marveling at the fact that it SEEMED to feel warmer this morning, at 3:54 a.m. -- and with that thot floating around in my mind, once I locked the doors and crawled back into my warm little bed, there was NEVER EVAH a thot that I'd wake up to SNOW...Maybe I should have paid more attention to the weather forecast last night. But with that being said, here we are, with about an inch of snow on the ground. Finally around 10:45 it stopped. And for this area, things really and truly DO shut down when it snows. It's just 'cause it happens so so seldom, that there is no getting used to it. And like the nice man on the weather channel had to say MORE THAN ONCE, "And it's Even snowing on the Water!! All around Elizabeth City!" -- and proceeds to point out a VERY LARGE BLOB on the weather radar...as if I can't see it outside my window. I mean. Come on.

So we now are begininng to have teeny slivers of sunshine. Noah got disgusted with the whole thing, bundled up and rode his bike over to the hardware store. Sez he's getting some kind of saw. He looked like he was ready for 10 more inches of snow. Bundled up to beat the band, he is. The Dog went out in the yard, came back in very unimpressed, and Iam still listening to the baby squirrely bouncind around up on the roof. Frolicking, they are. I already yelled at them once this morning -- "STOP THAT FROLICKING UP THERE< YOU!!" They ignored me. Bums.

Must go and check the woodstove. And make sure some of my glue on some heavyweight paper has actually worked. This is one different piece, let me tell you. Tomorrow I hope to show and tell. AFTER we get back from the antique mall. I have my dimensions at the READY -- got the exact spot picked out for the storage piece, and a new work table. Keeping my fingers crossed, and all that...

Lady of The Tulips

Here are some of the little paintings I've been messin' around with..there are more on another sheet of watercolour paper, but for now, I wanted to show a couple of the squares I've put together. May not keep one of them..but this gives you the idea of what I'm putting together over on my little table. The canvas is ready for the 1st. part of this project, an'after this paint dries, then the other pieces will get added. Think of the colors as something that wakes you up in the middle of the night after eating pizza at 11 p.m., topped with italian sausage. That kind of color thing.

We are feeling warmer this morning!! YEAHH!! Noah is out sorting some of the lumber that's been sitting behind one of the sheds. I asked him how much we have out there, as I have this batch of ideas of things to make for christmas. With our new little cabin, we need to decorate for the holidays, and what better way than to make new christmas decorations for our new place!! HUH?! clever, no? I think some glitter is Definetly in order, and I will also look around to see what kind of ribbon is stashed away. Tom has no inclinkling toward decorating..'cept to sit on the couch and point in the direction that he thinks something should go. Great help that boy is...

I've got to run an' check the woodstove..haven't put wood in for a couple hours, so it may be time to stoke the fires! And there are more paintings to get finished. This'll be fun..

Lady of The Tulips

Somebody asked "Who do you know?", and I had to think about it for awhile. Sometimes it makes a great deal of difference in certain settings, to know just the right people. People with Great Importance. Well -- I am here to say, LOOK!! I've got friends in High Places. SEE?? There's a couple of 'em, right THERE!! But I'm not sure if they'd know a particularly "Important" person or not. They may know what's Important to Them, but as for humans, they really could give a hoot..or croak, actually (Vultures make a weird croaking sound while they communicate w/each other) ~~ So -- Here Are My Friends In High Places. Am I important now??

>>>> On to other news, last weekend not only did we have a fun time exploring the Antique Mall, but we also attended the monthly Community Pot-Luck Dinner at the clubhouse. Lots of Food, since it was the Thanksgiving Dinner. There were a LOT of dishes layed out on all the tables..I bought a square aluminum pan to bake a good batch of Green Bean Casserole. YUM! And I guess most of the people attending thot it was Yum too, as it was nearly all gone by time we brought the pan home! Suprised me! There were too many deserts to list, and the turkey was to DIE for -- lots of good dark and white meat, tender and cooked just right. I also tried some other vege dishes, and tom was beside himself when he discovered a big crock pot of gumbo -- I think he ate that bowl in less than 10 minutes. Our next door neighbor and I discussed our "Friends" (pictured) and how it is that they come up to the pine trees bordering our properties EVERY NIGHT, like clockwork, to make lots of RACKET...then roosting in the tall tall pine trees for the evening. At least we know there won't be too many mice, or other rodents creepin' around the property!! We all had a very good time, got caught up on Community news, and came home Stuffed.

We had a good soaking rain/thunder storm Right after we got home. Actually it started to rain right when we walked out of the clubhouse and walked REALLY fast to our car. For whatEVAH reason, Tom decided to walk thru the grass to get to the car, which naturally left him sinking into the ground, and muddying his shoes to no end. One of the attendies took one look at tom & sez, "YOU GONNA SINK!!" But tom, being the stubborn goat he is, just kept on going, slogging thru the rain and puddles. By the time we got home the storm hit like a banshee and we had several large branches smash into the roof. Sounded like a cannon went off. Tom thot one damaged the roof, but all the branch did was hit REALLY loudly, then broke into pieces when it bounced off the roof, and landed on the deck. Jeesh. At least it's being used for mulch now. Today the weather is cold, highs should reach 45 or so. Good Bye to Summer, and Hello Fall Big Time!!

~~ Must go check some painting I got done yesterday. I'm 'bout ready to show some "Stuff" I've been messin' with..quite different..you'll see...

Lady of The Tulips

>>> This morning the weather is telling us that yes, it really and truly is Fall <<< When I got out of bed, this back portion of the house was feeling just a little bit chilly, and the dining room wasn't much warmer. Noah was sitting at the kitchen bar, reading the newspaper and drinking coffee. I could see that the woodstove needed to get started up, an' zoom, that's 'xatly what I did. Now it feels good, warm and toasty thru the cabin. The wind outside isn't all that strong, but with the temps just out of the 40's, it DOES say FALL!!


This last weekend was quite the "Discovery" weekend for me. I'd wanted to go check out some thrift stores for frames, which I need for my canvases. At first I'd planned to go up into Elizabeth City to search out what there is...But on the highway leading into town, right along the secondary road, was this Big Blue building, with the words ANTIQUES -- AUCTION. printed in relly LARGE letters. Now, I've gone past that building for who knows how many times, and I swanny, I've never taken one look at it, till Saturday afternoon. "WHOA!!" I say to Tom. "What's that," He sez.. "LOOK!! You can't see that?" He, driving the car, doesn't want to look away from the road.."See what?!" "That antique store..ohhh..wait, It's an Antique Mall. We're goin' in.!"

So, with some reluctance, tom pulls the car into the dirt driveway, an' since he can be a 3 year old, "I don' wanna go in..I know..You go in first, an' then come back out & tell me what it's like.." That produces headache # 4.565 for the weekend..ANYWAY -- I go in an' immediately Thot WHHOOOAA..this is way too cool. An' even tho I was on the hunt for frames, I quickly changed that idea to a "New" work table. I walked back to the car, told tom my plan of attack, walked back in, an' found just the right size table. It's not that old, maybe 1950's -- wood,with something like a pine stain on it, solid top and gently curved legs. We didn't have the $$ right then, but since the place was nearly deserted, we figured that if we go back this sat., then we can pick up the table. I also found some really old handmade lace table runners, crochet doilies, and place settings. They are to die for. And a collection of 3 was $3.50. Yeah, I'm definetly goin' back an' pick up some of those. I also will be looking for a small hutch, to put in here for storage. I've given up on the idea of shelves attached to the walls; tom & noah have no inclination to do the work, so I know I saw 3 small hutches that would fit along the wall by the doorway, giving me not only space to store things inside, but also 2 shelved on the top of the hutch to display items. It popped into my head last night while reading, an' I thot, "Ok, tha's what I'll do!" So it'll be good to get some work started in here..it's rather dark an' miserable in this room, what with the old wallpaper, smoke stains...yup, it needs some work!

~~ Muse go an' check the woodstove, make sure Sara isn't getting herself in trouble on the deck, an' see if noah is getting the wood box filled. A good monday I'm wishing for you!

Lady of The Tulips ~

"Untitled" ~ Spring Bay Studio 2008

One of the pieces I worked on this last week. I got it finished around the time that I started taking my dumb meds. The said Meds are something Satan has created, I'm sure. Ok, OK...they aren't REALLY, but the "Minor Side-Effects" are not exactly FUN. But I think this little piece is just the fun thing for a rainy day.

I called my Dr. office to find out why my combination of meds has been making me WAY too dizzy and icky-stomach-feeling. "Oh, it's the side effects, but it shows that the medication is working." Idon' know whether to feel good about that answer or not. But then there are days like yesterday where I felt fit as a fiddle. (But how a fiddle can feel fit is anybodys guess..) Even took an hour to clean off the piles of leaves that covered the driveway. But zip-a-dee-do-dah, today I feel like somebody slapped me with an ugly stick. Thank the stars in heaven, I only have a few more days of the stuff. At least the antibiotic. The Blood Pressure stuff is probably here to stay.

>> The weather here is cloudy, the temps are nearly hot for thi s time of year, so we're begining to hear thunder rumbling to the west of us. << Sara hates, loathes and dispises any NOISE , so she is sitting nearly in this chair with me while I tap, tap away. The weather people said jus' some rain, but it's beginning to look like maybe I should get the weather radio into order, just in case we get a warning. We get some weird storms along this side of the Sound, and sometimes they aren't even affecting anywhere else. Just within a 10 mile area. Very strange. Tom drove thru a frog strangler on his way home from work one night, pulled into the driveway, and discovered it was as dry as toast here. "What the ??!!" So it's a guess as to how the weather is going to turn this afternoon.

~~ Have to check some painting on the work table. Well, that's if I can get past the dog laying RIGHT next tot me. Ever have a 90 pound dog in your way? ~~

Lady of The Tulips

I have my "Golden Parachute" thank you very much ~~ When I look out my bedroom window every morning, this is what I see -- A fabulous color explosion that makes the room glow when the sun bounces along the branches and leaves. The Golden Parachute -- is ALL MINE!! -- It makes me sing and feel the beauty of the woods -- I hear the soft sounds of birds going thru the leaves - searching for whatever they can find...while one at a time..the soft, brilliant colored leaves, fall, fall, fall from the tree. It makes me sad that summer is over, and that Fall is decending now. But the color of my Parachute makes up for any loss of summer fun, the beach or anything else connected to summer.

I was somewhat suprised by how quickly it seemed that the trees started to turn color. Maybe I've not been paying enough attention to the woods, but it truly seems so FAST -- one week there are Green Leaves throughout our woods, and then there is one morning, when I open the blinds and see this fabulous color explosion directly above me. Where is the summer? Oh..hmm....it is November, DUH .. So the trees have been doing what they need to do this time of year, and from some of the trimmings Noah did last summer, there is extra room for the trees to grow outward even more. Noah cleared out a large patch of overgrown trees, most which had grown into a terrible tangle of vines, baby trees, small wild bushes and long pointed grasses. I feared he'd be bitten by a snake or something. Ugh. But he cleared and cleared, so now when Spring comes, the soil will be able to accept seeds, and the trees will be able to send out their branches without any more plants keeping them from stretching to the sky. And that feels good to know.

Must go put another coat of Gesso on a frame -- If my camera behaves itself, I'll post a picture of what I'm doing...it's kinda cool.

>> Lady of The Tulips <<

~~~ There are signs outside that something called the SUN is attempting to make a comeback to our neck of the Sound. We've had rain, and some horrendous winds this week. The trees, which are starting to turn color now, were being battered, whipped and altogether treated terribly in the storm. Fortunately we didn't have anything bad happen to our woods, but every now and then I could hear pinecones landing with a Thud on the roof. I was sitting at my little table when I nearly jumped out of my skin, hearing a Very Loud THUDD. A very large branch had landed on the roof, and it's still sitting where it landed. It's smaller branches have been hooked along the roof seam where the front of the cabin meets the back portion; looking like the branch is trying to clumb into the hallway thru the roof. ~~~


I have a wip, and have about 7 sheets of paper I'm going to be cutting up today. With this infection, I've not had the energy to do much of anything. And actually, yesterday, I truly did nothing...laying on the couch and staring out the window was the most activity I accomplished for the day. The Dr. did get me a good amount of meds, which Tom picked up for me yesterday just before he went to work. We are fortunate that his terminal is just down the street from one of the national chain drugstores, which makes it easy for him to eigher drop off or pick up meds. Plus, one of the medications the Dr. prescribed for me was FREE!! Get That!! I nearly fell over when Tom told me. So that news made up for me feelin' so puny all day yesterday. I'm experimenting with some gel - type paints I bought for Fifty Cents -- they are quite old, and are something of a chore to work with, but once I figured out a way to thin them, it's been interesting to see how they blend with acrylics. The canvas is taking shape, so I am waiting for the most recent coat to dry, while I cut my papers.

** Since the Fall Colors are starting to Really pop in all the trees around our cabin, I'm going to take some pictures of how they look. It's reall quite wonderful, how each tree develops it's own series of colors from branch to branch. And thre may be 4 Oak trees standing near one another, but each has it's own color combination, making for a vivid tapestry effect. Quite soothing after the storm we had. The pictures will be quite nice, I'm hoping. **

Must get to the work table an' start measuring papers. The Dog is laying in the kitchen near the woodstove. Even tho it's warm today, we are hearing rumblings from the Weather Service that the Cold is coming toward us here on the edge of the Albemarle Sound. So it's time to gather some wood from the stack outside, and make sure that the kindling is stacked and covered inside the wood box. Sara has a tendancy to get too close to the stove sometimes, which makes Noah tell her, "Hey YOU!! Would ya watch your tail, there?!" She gets very confused, which makes her get up and meander over to another portion of the dining room, away from the woodstove. Sometimes that dog puzzles me...

~ Lady of The Tulips ~

" Bohemian Work Environment " 2008 Spring Bay Studio

This is one of the pieces I worked out last week. The colors just seemed to say "Tropics!!" to me when I was digging thru my little stash of Stuff. The flip-flops are just too much!! I'd love to find a Bright Orange pair for ME, but since it IS November, I guess it's too late in the year to go and find some decent flip-flops!!

I finally went to the Dr.!! Yeah!! The ear is doin' it's thing, and its not so good. I guess it's just like my Dr. told me..."Don't you know??!! You don't go stickin' things in your ear any larger than your elbow!!" Ever wonder why it is that I want to go jump on the next freight steamer at the Port and go sailing away?? THAT little ditty from my Dr. is ONE OF THE REASONS!! I am glad that he did give me a good batch of antibiotics to get rid of whatever is trying to set up house in my system, tho. The little boogers are trying my nerves to HERE!!, let me tell you. The good thing about the whole day, tho, was that Tom didn't loose too much work hours. We devised a PLAN!! >> what I did was have him take me to the Dr. office, then when I was done, he took me over to Gabriels house, so I could hang out with him and just do Nothing for the day, 'cept have fun with my middle son. FUN!! Then when tom got all finished, we went to the closest Polling Place for Gabriel so he could Vote, then we stopped to have dinner, then got back down here. WHY AM I TIRED TODAY??!! Wayy too much for this girl, I'd say. But Gabriel & I had a Blast -- he let me check out his new little house, with all it's Old nooks and crannys...the arched doorways and the Ancient plaster walls. Very Cool old house, probably built in the 30's. We had a good time doin' just about nothing..Well, actually I sat on the couch and watched him do horrid and terrible things in some weird Video Game he's had..I MEAN...some Really Odd and Bizaar THINGS in that game..creatures that I kinda see when I eat anchovies and have beer just before going to bed >> THOSE kind of weird creatures...

I'm going to have to go on medication, now, so I'm kinda bummed about it. My Blood pressure is absolutely thru the Roof -- I kept writing it off to the trip up to the city, but after the Doc took a good luck at the past readings for me, he put his foot down and said "Young Lady!! YOU are going on Blood Pressure Medication!!" I kept telling him I was in denial, but when he showed me the chart, I really and truly felt sick. Yesterday my readings were (Honest) 179/120 -- Yeah. I'm a heart attack waiting to happen. BUT ~~ It's true ~~ The fact is that most people don't feel BAD when they have high blood pressure. I have felt funky for years, but never has anybody in the Dr. office I used to go to, EVAH taken a good look at my readings. So when this particular Dr. took a look in less than 30 seconds, he about jumped up off his chair!! So -- Tom has to take the 'scripts in tomorrow, an' by friday I'll be on the meds. Plus the stuff for my ear -- drops and some kinda Stuff --- the meds name sounded like the Old Timey Bactine Spray that my parents used in the 60's to keep cuts and scrapes from getting infected. My Dr. took a look at me an sez, "NO!. Oh, YOU!! It's not that..well, actually it's sorta like that - but not really. Make sense?!" Somedays I wonder about him...

Must go and see what The Dog is doing. She was SO funny when we got home last night -- an' that wasn't until nearly 8:00!! Poor Sara had missed her mommy BAD, and was literally hopping up and down to get my attention when I walked in the door. She went into fits and spits when she sniffed my sleeves and pant leg -- Gabriel has a CAT!! ~~ And don't you KNOW that dog sniffed each and every spot that cat had crawled, sniffed and poked me with his little teeny paws. And too ~~ Gabriel gave us a box of food and some t-shirts he'd won during a concert...so we got some coffee (YEAHH!!) some dinner odds and ends for a chicken casserole, and some rice mixes. Very Cool!! He just wasnt gonna use 'em, so WHEE -- we will!!

Lady of The Tulips -- listening to some Jazz on the Satellite..very nice on this cloudy and VERY windy morning ~~

*** So here it is, another day where the weather just can NOT make it's mind up ***


We have temps up in the 70's, the sky is sometimes cloudy, sometimes sunny...the wind is blowing around little teeny clouds, that float beneath other large-stormy-ugly looking clouds. It's as if the sky will not decide from one minute to the next what it wants to do. This makes Sara very upset, as she THINKS she wants to go outside, but then she looks around at some of the teeny tiny drops of rain water that have collected on the grass - where we had a "Rain" for about 10 minutes, that did nothing but make the grass damp. but OH NO!! sez Miss Sara -- it's RAIN, and I DON'T LIKE WET GRASS under my feet...I swanny, I have never seen a dog be more picky about where she walks than the one we own. Tempermental, stubborn, cranky a LOT >> this animal takes the cake. It is absolutely like having a 2-year-old in the house. And yes, she talks back, too. I can sit and tell her, "NO! You do NOT want another dog biscuit "BARK!!BARK!!" "Don't Interupt me!!" "BARK!!! BARKBARK!!" "SHUT-UP!!" "BARKKK!!!"

So it goes..in the house, with the doors closed and the windows too. The wind comes in kinda Just chilly, then when the sun comes out, it warms up again. My windows are getting the workout that the engineers designed them for. MaybeI should call and see if I can make a commercial on how well they operate after nearly 30 years.

Noah has gone off on his bike somewhere. I think he's applying for yet another job. He got to work at a peanut factory last week...he was pretty glad about finally getting the job..the temp agency that lined it up for him, had taken their sweet time getting it all finalized. Then Tom dropped noah off REALLY early for the job, so Noah had to sit for over an hour before the start of the day. Then after 2 hours, the Supervisor came to tell him, that the Temp. Agency had sent too many people for the shift, and that Noah could go home...Which of course he Couldn't, cause he had to wait till after 5:30 when Tom would get off work and come pick Noah up. So -- he sat around for the next 7 hours, cause there wasn't a bus that would come to the bus stop till later in the evening, and there was no where else to go...

Needless to say, Noah told the agency to do SOMETHING else, but he didn't tell me his exact words...I don't think he was very polite -- which under the circumstances makes a WHOLE lot of sense. So he's off down the road to try yet another job...hopefully its gonna work out. There are jobs out there, but who really wants to be the ditch digger putting in cable lines for Fiber Optics Corporations, at $6.00 an hour?? Well -- some people may say it's looking a gift horse in the mouth, but trust me -- digging in clay and mud for 7 & 1/2 hours does not quite qualify as a pleasant job. So Noahs off to try and find something else.

I'm still battling with the ear infection that's been plagueing me for the past week. I finally got ahold of the Dr.s office, an' have an appt. in the morning. Shwoooo -- it's really a PAIN right about now, this little bit of Stuff that's floating around in my ear. I don't know what it is. I don't know WHY it is, and all I want is for it to GO AWAY. I haven't had something like this for nearly 10 years, so it's way past irritating me...sort of like being a thorn in the side. Yeah. That's it...

Lady of The Tulips - listening to somebody pounding something across the street..sounds kinda scary, it does...

"She Sells Seashells By The Seashore" 2006 Spring Bay Studio.


>> I Did this piece for a show back in '06, and since I just got off the phone a little while ago with the local fishing center, the 2 goodies seemed to pop into my wee little brain as being a good combination -- GET IT??!! Seashells...Fishing License?? HA!! <<

'K -- so maybe there isn't too much of a connection with the license and this piece, but I DO like how this collage turned out. I entered it into a show up "north" from here..didn't win anything but was very glad it was accepted to be IN the show. I'm not sure if I'll try an' have it in something down here or not. Haven't gotten that far in my little thinking. There are some pieces on my little work table that in THEORY will be a new collage, but right now they are just not going together like I want them to. I've reworked the layout more times than I can think...something about getting the colors to not wash into each other seems to be the sticking point with me. I just need to get a good color choice -- so that there is a distinct opposite to each paper. No visual blending for his new piece, I think a good Opposite Attraction is the key for me. I can't seem to JUST get the decision made. And it's driving me about out the window.

>> The last couple dayz I've been battling a little bit of an ear infection...It's so DUMB how it happened << I was scratching my right ear, right near the opening, and by accident, my fingernail caught just a bit of the interior portion of my ear canal, and WHAM -- it hurt like all He** and get out. Then it Stopped hurting, and I went on with my little life. THEN ~~ 'bout 3 dayz ago it REALLY started bothering me, an' I realized it's also getting swollen...DAYUM..and hurtz too. So -- since it takes everything this side of an Act Of Congress to get up to the city to see my Dr., - - I'm going to Instead, go to the Herbal Grocery Store tomorrow an' try some Herbal Ear Drops, an' see if they get rid of the little Stuff that's happening in my ear. I can hear fine, an' all that..it's just sore and bothers me -- my equilerium (Oh HUSH about that spelling!!) is kinda off, too. Like when a cat gets some of it's whiskers cut or mising, they kinda walk sideways ~~ That's what I feel like. Like I'm walkin' all sideways or something...Blast...

So -- that's it from the Edge of the Sound -- I tried to tell Tom that I wanna get my liecense to FISH..but he was off on some tangent 'bout a song he heard on the Oldies radio show...no wonder my nerves are so shot these days...

For all of you going out & About tonight ~~ Be Careful ~~ Don't wake up feeling all wonky and all THAT from too much FUN on Halloween!! I don' wanna know about any guggy headaches tomorrow!! HA!!

Lady of The Tulips -- wondering when the last time was when she went out for Halloween...wow...longer ago than she really wants to know...

>> Some days it seems that I have far too many things on my work table <<

Then there are other days where it seems that I probably can just squeeze in a couple other storage boxes ~~ maybe one of those little ones that are on sale at a low price department store..one of the many "Dollar" stores, where the IMPULSE to buy, buy BUY gets wayy too overwhelming. But then ~~ I look at what space I do have available, and think that there needs to be a larger TABLE. Not more storage boxes. And so the Debate continues. Do I get a bigger table? Or do I squeeze in another box to keep brushes, pencils, erasers, and all the other "Tools of The Trade" on my little work table??

This morning is absolutely FABULOUS -- we have come thru the wind, rain and cooler temps. I had to go outside early this morning, as Little Miss Muffett had to see what there was to look at, smell completely, and walk around "HER" yard to inspect things. We have a decent wind today -- I haven't looked at the weather map, or listened to the Weather Report for the day, but the wind is probably near 10 m.p.h. ~~ we had much stronger winds last night, with a driving rain that seemed to come up out of Nowhere. I'm sure it was predicted, but after the weekend spent lazily watching dark clouds skirt across the sky, the LAST thing I wanted to do was see even MORE cloudy skies. But it was very unexpected, the storm that sprang up last evening. The rain spit across the windows facing the Sound, and when Tom came home, he said there wasn't weather like what we were experiencing, anywhere else along the highway. "I'm tellin' ya, ma, we just have our seperate weather systems here..." He may be right, as we seem to get squalls and driving rain, when just up the highway there is barely any sprinkles. I write it off to the Sound, with it's massive surface of blue water. Sure. I'll blame bad weather on anything else.

I'm in the process of working out a canvas that seems to have me stumped, right when I think I've got something goin' on. I think I've sketched at least 4 little streamers, going across a sheet of watercolor paper, trying to match the size of each streamer with the border of a piece of fabric. My ability to make somewhat even lines is no doubt hampered by the fact that I have never, EVAH been able to draw a good straight line. And THESE aren't even STRAIGHT!! They have a sweeping angle to them...but for some reason I can't get the ends of each line to match the opposite end, as they curl around the fabric. My mother used to say, "It's just 'cause you're left handed..." I never could decide if that was a compliment or not... SO ~ In the meanwhile I'm thinking that I'll just haul off and SKETCH SOMETHING near the blasted piece of fabric, an' let it go AT THAT!! THERE!! HA!!! Show's who's boss around here!

Must go and get a couple pieces of firewood in the woodstove. I put some in about an hour & a half ago, so it's time to get some more burning. The wind is making little sounds around the cabin, and the pine trees are swaying away, like their all practicing for the Nutcracker Ballet ~~

Lady of The Tulips ~~ wondering why it is that Sara likes to be warm, but won't lay by the woodstove too terribly long...maybe 'cause she get's too hot??

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...