I've got just a minute or so to slap something on here -- I think I'd mentioned something about posting some work of mine on here either yesterday or today..just can't remember...

Anyway -- I havent gotten the shots done yet...I got a spat of bad news and negative THANGS yesterday that literally made me ill == I MEAN it all made me sick to my stomach. Literally...

Well -- that may be too much information, but I'm just not up to snuff to get out into the studio and get the camera working, so I WILL say that the good news from my oldest is that he has just one last test to go thru, and he goes to the Academy at the end of the month. The city training is pretty tough, but he has had some friends that have been running with him the last months, so he's been getting in shape for all the physical stuff...Myself, since I'm a clumsy one when it comes to running...I jus' couldn't do it, but he's been getting himself into shape, slow but sure. Makes me tired thinking of what all he's lookin' at doin' --

The weather here has made a nasty turn -- we had some tough-rough weather with severe storms the other monrning...1 a.m. to be exact. Matter of fact, the winds were so strong, they did some damage around the area. I told The Husband that once the wind woke me up, I just could not get back to sleep. It sounded like the winds that fanned tornadoes when we used to live in Arkansas, and that wasn't something I wanted to go thru again. So I got up and listened to the Weather Radio our oldest got us for christmas...the information was right on, and within 2 minutes of the airport making the information available, it was on the radio. Kinda scary, the news said winds were at least 60 mph but the most we got in terms of damage, was a lot of flooding in the street and tiny branches being hurled around the yard. We were very fortunate.

As to other stuff -- I got a letter from the little gift shop where some of my things have been for sale on consignment..The shop is relocating, and because they will be in a smaller space, naturally there has to be a thinning of Art for sale...an' my things have to go. I was expecting the news, but it still brings a pang when you want to make a little money on the work you make. But I'm optimistic that there will be something else. I'm not sure if the other gift shop down the road will consider my work again..I tried over 5 or 6 times to get in touch w/the owner, but she never called back or asked me to come into the shop. It's been that kind of time.

We were going to go look at some more houses this weekend, but The Husband doesn't think we should just yet. We're still having a time w/our realtor, so we'll see how the next conversation w/the guy turns out...no wonder my system has taken a nose dive the last 24 hours...sheesh..

Must go check some painting I did -- It should be dry, an' if the light is good, I'll get those photos taken before driving over to the truck terminal to pick up The Husband...he said he'll be workin' just a little longer tonight, so I won't have to leave in the middle of rush hour traffic...WHOOO -- talk about a relief!!

Lady of The Tulips -- drumming her fingers and trying as hard as she can, to be Patient with some work in the studio...la, la,...la, la,laaa....

Am not sure if this poor ol' computer will handle much more, as it's being funkie today an' generally giving me more grey hairs that aren't at all becoming...

But the good thing is that I've finally gotten some more sketches slapped into my new an altogether groovy sketch book, so in the morning while I've got a little more time than this afternoon, I'll make sure to get pictures of them on this blog --

I jus' did the unthinkable..well, not for most people, but I did just take some time off from working on the house an' SAT AND WATCHED TV --


Actually I sat an' watched a Spring Training Game that I'd wanted to see -- I'm not a Yankees fan, but since some of the guys in Spring Training may not make the full squad at the end of the month, it's kinda interesting to see what kind of work they can get done -- An', let's face it -- it's good to see something close to what the Spring and Summer will hold for us!! Ahhh...the warm weather and the fun - in - the - sun - ...well, maybe it'll be fun, as long as I remember the sunscreeen...bug spray...


Anyway -- this is going to be short, as I have to go get some stuff ready for dinner...make sure some of the papers in the studio are finally dry enuf to store away, and check on the condition of the kitchen...I left it for a bit before the youngest went off to apply yet for another job, and I haven't looked to see what kind of condition he left the sink...sometimes it's not the kind of suprise I like to find...sticky breakfast dishes...crumbs on the counter top from a ham sandwich being made in a hurry....all the Little Things that Produce Grey Hair...

hmmm....

Lady of The Tulips - who is deciding whether or not to go over and take another look at a couple houses The Husband & I are pondering over...ahh...these decisions...these decisions...

"Untitled" -- 2008 -- Spring Bay Studio

Got a quick chance the other day to put this piece together...I had fun with the background colors and got all messy with my paints. The little fishies were havin' just too much fun, so it took some doing to get them to quiet down and be still long enuf to be on the canvas...

hummm..

So -- yes it's been a couple dayz since I was on here...what can I say? It's jus' the continuous work on the hosue..painting still, and refurbishing some cabinets that didn't really look too swift in the bathroom. I thot they just needed a little oil rubbed into the grain of the wood, but when I got down on the floor and really took a good hard look, it was super obvious that they needed some fixin' up. The youngest refinished the cabinet in the front bathroom, so I figured it was my job to refinish the ones in the master bathroom. Little did I know it would develop into this never ending THANG that just wouldn't go away. I had stain in my fingers for 4 dayz, and probably still have some in my hair. But now the cabinets just need their last coat of varnish, an' it's all done. I may take forevah on a project, but it's better than nagging The Husband to get something done.

Speaking of The Husband..he'z been drivin' a lot out of state..taking some soybeans to the port from a warehouse up the Interstate. Lots of loads are goin' overseas, so thats a PLUS for U.S. Farmers!! The Husband called the other morning, an' said, "I'm zippin' along here at 45mph...got 55,000 lbs of soybeans, so there's no speeding ticket in the future..." Yee gadz...This is the second load or maybe 3rd that he's had in the last week or so..some of the drivers are scared to haul that heavy of a load, but I remember havin' some freight that was heavier than 55,000 so he's not really too freaked out on it. I'm jus' glad that some of the farmers in the U.S. are getting their crops sent out and that their making some good money on their farms.


Speaking of farms...The Husband & I went and looked at some more little houses over the border last weekend...I took the afternoon off from painting, and we checked out a couple places..one house is right next to the same farm where we'd put an offer on another house..the farm goes on for EVAH and all the fieldz are waiting for planting. This newer place is a little smaller than the one we looked at last fall, but we may make an offer on it. We also found a place nearer the border, but we aren't sure if it's what we want or not....Very Hard to decide -- our oldest thinks we should look closer to the water (facing the Outer Banks) but the cost of something within an eyelash of 5 miles is too much over and out of our price range..agrivating to (man I butchered that spelling...) say the least..


But that's how the market down along the coast is -- Those that have the big bucks get the watefront places,,,an' the rest of us just find what we can afford...

Yee Gadz -- I nearly forgot -- Good News from one of our sons -- He's gotten the phone call he'z been waiting for -- He's passed all the earlier tests, and haz 2 more to get thru an he'z with the city police dept. how cool is that?? he'z goin' to get one more battery of questions, an then he's gonna start the academy near the end of March...I am SO happy for him!! He's still gettin' phone calls and text messages from his friends on how happy they are too!! Wow! Now the real hard work will start for him, but he's ready for it.

I'm off to check on my loaf of bread..it smells wonderful from the kitchen, and it'z just about finished...jus a little loaf of white bread, but it's nummy with some cheese and fruit...

The Dog is layin' out on the side porch, and my oldest sez he'z comin' over to watch Spring Training on t.v. -- Baseball Season!! is jus' a few weeks away, an' these Spring games are the places where those that are Good are picked up for the regular season....an' those that Aren't So Good...well...they go back down to the minor leagues an' wait for their call-up to the Big Leagues...

Lady of The Tulips - who now realizes that she would REALLY like to be in Fla., but doesn't have a way to get there...or the $$ to stay...or a credit card to max out an' play in the sun....blast...

One of the wip -- and this little guy should be with the rest of his friends in just a little while. I got some of them together and they say it's time to have a jolly party, so we'll see if they can all behave themselves and not make too much noise out in the studio. YEE GADS -- The Husband sez that he thinks this has a Peter Max feel to it, but I think he's just makin' noise like he does sometimes. I truly wish I could do some major work like Mr. Max, but that kind of thing just isn't quite there yet. Maybe in a while.

The youngest is out in the rain today -- Not because he wanted to, but because the last job he had wasn't workin' out, so he's out and about thru the rain puddles, goin' to track down his W-2 form from an ex=employer, who has been avoiding his phone calls to round up his paper work for filing taxes. This particular company was reslly shaky from the start -- even made the employees PAY for the company van to take them to work...and then when my son tried 3 weeks ago to get his W-2 they said they didn't have anything for him...needless to say it's been an ongoing battle for the guy, so today he got something more of an answer from these people, and he was off to get to the bus stop and ride over to the office...then it's over to another place to get more paperwork from them, and make sure that all that information for his W-2 is correct...seems like too much crap to go thru just to file for the Tax Man...but everybody knows that if there is just ONE piece of paper missing, those slobs will be flyin' off the handle and smotherin' ya within 5 minutes.

I started a canvas the other afternoon. I took a gamble and decided to get some of the first coat of paint on it while waiting for some people to come and look at the house - yooowhooo -- got the canvas started, and the people did come and look over the house. The first realtor that showed the house had their client in and out of here in less than 10 minutes, so I don't think that was much of a serious look -- more like a look-ee-loo than anything. The second realtor came with her client and they really took their time, looked in closets and around floors, so they may be a little more serious...my stars -- I'm getting to where I feel like I can't get away from my mop and vacuum cleaner...have to keep the floors reeeaaallllyyy clean JUST IN CAST SOMEBODY SHOWS UP...makes me more tired than I like to consider.

Am going to go see what all those little fishies are up to out in the studio...they seemed to be getting restless earlier in the morning, an' now that it's close to lunchtime who knows what kind of trouble they've gotten themselves into....sheesh

Lady of The Tulips -- who almost got it figured out as to why her keyboard is being a mess as of last...but then The Youngest sez it's not worth all the bother...so what's a mother to do...

my little friend who hasn't quite gotten all of his friends with him, but they say their on their way over to play with him and have some lemonade. I got frustrated the other day while waiting for 3 things to get done at the same time -- so while waiting I got out my little pencils markers and watercolor pencils and worked out my seething anger at people who don't call back when they say they will. Especially when you have to wait...wait...grrr...

today I realized that it's the day AFTER valentines day...please pardon me for not wishing everyone a happy valentines day -- I nearly forgot to get cards for the husband and the youngest.so I made one for each of them. The husband didn't seem too impressed, but the youngest kept his right by the computer screen, so I think that means he likes it. And for the first time since I can't remember when, The Husband actually bought me something for Valentines Day -- ever know what it's like to stand and look at someone and realize you're mouth is hanging open..No No -- what he got me wasn't bad, it was quite spiffy. It was just the fact that I literally can't remember the last time he bought me something. And the little box was full of little chocolate turtles...OH YUMMM... I ate far too many of them, and if the doctor discovers I ate all those he'll probably have a coniption fit...oh well, he'll get over it. SO -- I do hope everybody had a wonderful Day, and that there were not too many chocolate overloads..hee hee...

There hasn't been any word from the realtor and I'm beginning to get perturbed again -- guess it's time to make another phone call to the guy and find out what the story is ..well... if he actually talks to me for longer than 3 minutes...this guy is always far too bizzy to have a real conversation with me, so I can't find out what the things are that we need to fix to get the house sold. We'd put an offer on a sweet little house just over the border, but that got sold last week. It took me 3 days to get over that loss...And our realtor hasn't spoken to us for squat...and I'm too leary to go and hunt down another company...grrr...what to do, what to do..

I found some of my watercolour pencils that were covered up by some other regular pencils in a little jar I bought on sale last fall. I think I'm gonna go play with those tonight after I go pick up The Husband and have some dinner. The other neat find is that there are some spiffy papers that didn't make it into storage where 80 per cent of our things are...so I'm gonna play around and post some little things I've come up with...they just need to get some color in 'em an' then they'll look better.

I've got some other tablets of drawing paper that also were buried and it was such a relief to find those...and one of the tablets hasn't even been used yet...I'd thot that all the paper I had was gone, and since most of our cash these dayz is going to paint and fix-ups around the house, it was another relief that I found the tablet...I can't get a tablet of paper, 'cause we gotta get some more fixtures for the master bathroom..we just got some new lights 2 weeks ago, and got new shower curtains and rods..now it's a new faucet and probably get a new track for the bi-fold door to our son's room. they aren't really expensive things by themselves, but once all of them get added up, it suddenly comes to over sixty dollars...ouch and ouch again...the last trip to home depot came to 97 buck-a-roos and I nearly fell over at the check out counter. I'm serious when I say me legs were actually shaking...it suprised me so bad. But all of the stuff is what we need to get, so there's no two ways around it..so finding the little tablet of paper was a relief, let me tell ya.

Got to run and clean up a couple things, then get in traffic and hope to my stars that I can make it down the highway to pick up The Husband at the truck terminal. He's sez there isn't any overtime this weekend, so guess where we'll be tomorrow...one more trip to the hardware store. Maybe I should just set up a tent in the parking lot so I won't have to use the gas in the car...ughhh

Lady of The Tulips -- who still can't figure out why half the keys on this keyboard are absoloutely refusing to work...one more strange thing in the house, I guess --

Does anyone else have this problem -- start to use one color of a pen or marker, then start to use another color, and promptly forget what the name of the color pen or marker was -- I'm finding that it is the ickiest thing for me to remember what the shade color is..I guess cause too many of the colors are very similiar in shade, so if I don't write the name of the color right away, then I don't remember...I actually just love the names some of the companies have come up with for their marker and pen collections...very clever. How come I can't find those kind of jobs...

ANYWAY -- some of my shift keys this afternoon are playing bad and not acting the right way -- they have decided to not type right...and I just took a look at the keyboard and it really scares me, so I WONT be doing that again. This old 'puter is really on it's last legs, so I'm just hoping it makes it thru the winter and spring.

There has been no more news on the showing we had the other day on the house...I'm so tired from doing all the 93,405 things we've gotten accomplished, and then to have nobody make an offer just it REALLY getting on my nerve..yup, I think I'm down to my last one...but I have been doin' some sketches and playin' some more with my markers and dug out some watercolour pencils ---am gonna post some scribblings I worked out the other day while waiting for a phone call..which naturally never came..blast and double blast..

must run and see what The Dog is doing outside...she has decided to lay on the stoop by the studio door. that's all well and good, but right now it's sopping wet from a little snow shower this morning, and the melted snow has left sloppy puddles, which have attracted the dog...Why do they lay in the mud and slop...sigh..

Lady of The Tulips -- who just finished baking another loaf of bread and it came out good..yesterday's loaf just sat in the bottom of the pan...think I didn't put in enuf yeast..sheesh...

this is another wip == guess all the stress of working on the house has made some of the colors of my pens come popping out into some color and different fishies.

speaking of fishies -- one of our youngest's friends stopped by not long ago and gave us some fresh fish that he had caught a couple days before..super good striper, and found some of my favorite seasonings to coat it all with. 'm tellin' ya it was the best fish that 've had in a looong time -- we used to go fishing a lot when we lived down further south, but the cost for fishing licenses here is out of sight..and since we have a series of lakes around where we live, naturally each lake needs to have a seperate license. or...just extra money for the city. miss going fishing 'cause it was one of my nice times..quiet out where we would go and usually caught maybe 1 for the entire day...but the peacefulness of the river or pond was wonderful. usually threw back whatever caught.

'm having nothing but problems with my 'puter this afternoon...it keeps wanting to freeze up on me, and some of the letters on the keyboard are not working...

lady of the tulips --- who has just discovered she has grown 23.490 new grey hairs fighting with this old computer this afternoon....

WIP ~~ This is something I worked out the other afternoon when I got a chance to sit in the studio, after driving over to my oldest's apt. an' picking up his vacuum cleaner. The afternoon was sunny an' it just gave me a good feeling to put something on paper.

The weather here is cold an' the clouds are lurking over the area. I took out some laundry and pinned it up on the clothes line. My fear is that the clouds will decide to haul off and rain all over the just - washed laundry. That's not going to sit well with The Husband as he would have to come home from work, gather up the wet laundry and drive over to the laundromat to get it all dried. And after a full day of driving all over creation (or at least around the Tidewater area...) the last thing he likes to do is drive somewhere ELSE, when all he wants to do is lay down on the couch and watch old cartoons. Today he may just have to bite the bullet and go to the landromat anyway..

We had such strong winds on Sundays, that while I was playin' with the little fishie up on the top of the page..the 40 plus mph winds got something goin' just across the street...a big fire!! Somebody had been over in the community park, and with a thick layer of dried leaves, downed branches and no rain on the ground, it took just a zip of wind and a dropped cigarette and by the time I realized the sirens were coming down the street in the direction of our house, I got up and looked out the window. I was not EVEN prepared to see thick black smoke billowing from the park and getting worse by the minute. I got into the house and looked out the kitchen door, and could see s0me pretty good sized flames getting bigger and bigger. Fortunately the fire dept. had gotten their hoses out and were getting the flames knocked down. Some of the neighborhood kids came running down the street to see what all the noise and smoke was about. I just decided to go back into the studio and play with my pens and pray that the wind didn't shift direction and come toward our house. Fortuntely the fire dept. did a bang up job and got the fire knocked down, but it took them nearly 2 hours to get all the hot spots soaked down before they could leave the scene and get back to the fire house. Shwooo... I'm tellin' ya, it was pretty nerve racking. A second fire truck parked in front of our house, and while it rattled and rumbled with it's diesel engine roarin' away, The Husband was tryin' to get some sleep before he had to get up at midnite to make a freight delievery over to Roanoke...needless to say his sleep was somewhat interupted!!

Finally this morning we had a showing on the house!! A woman was taking a walk past our home last week, and noticed the For Sale sign out front, and talked to our youngest while he was setting out the weeks' trash for pickup the next morning. They talked about the price, and she said she wanted her parents to move a little closer to her so she could keep an eye on them..so they got ahold of a realtor and this morning the father in law came to look the place over. He was pretty happy at the work we've gotten done...now if he just makes an Offer!!!

I'm off to work on some tile in the master bathroom. It literally fell off the wall and suprised me to no end..only 5 sq.'s so it's not like a Huge project, but it's a pain in the #%"$#}&^ to figure out how to make it STAY PUT and look good. New project for me, so this should be interesting...

Lady of The Tulips -- smelling her bread baking out in the kitchen..an' realizes that the lousy bowl of Zippy Squares or whatever it was that got eaten this morning has worn WAY off an' now my stomach is starting to growl...

As a lady I knew used to mutter..."Well..well...WELL!!!" -- her point was that something had been amiss, and in the same manner, I've been rather amiss lately, now, haven't I??

Let me say one thing first...there are wayz to paint a bathroom ceiling, and there are other ways that seem like a good idea at the time..however!! For anyone out there thinking that it doesn't really matter how damp a roller cover may or may not be before applying fresh paint..let me TELL YOU!! -- Do Not leave a significant amount on said roller cover, because once the paint is rolled on, both paint and water have a veryyyy clever way of dripping all over YOU and making you the same color. I only say this warning 'cause it may or may not have happened to somebody we all know and that particular person is just not talking about it anymore...so shut up and don't ask any more questions about THAT...

I've been working on our house for the last FOREVER and now have literally sat down today for the 1st time since the last post. I've repainted everyroom in the house, (not the dining room cause it & living room were done jus' a couple years ago an' the real estate guy sayz "fine") -- taken down wallpaper in the kitchen and master bathroom...put more coats of paint in the front bathroom, made and hung up new curtains in one bathroom and 3 bedrooms..The Husband set up new lights in kitchen and master bathroom..the youngest took down (with lotz of NOISE) old shower doors from both bathrooms...I fixed and patched spots all over the house...an after 15 showing haven't gotten an offer yet. I wont go into how agrivated I am w/our realtor, but will suffice to say he's almost written us off after only having the house listed for one month...

I've not been up on what's going on in the art world..just been making far too many trips to the home improvement stores -- I think the paint dept. people in Home Depot now know me by sight...Lowes too. -- I've gotten to where I climb up a ladder an then think about if it's really a good idea for me to be up there...We've also taken down our old above ground pool...Said realtor will not have it in his sale...hump...so the Youngest and The Husband have been hauling the left over sand and rocks from the base to the dunp every weekend...the weekly trash pick up won;t carry sand and gravel...The youngest also used a sledge hammer to break up the concrete that held the support beams for the deck that went to the pool...those too had to be taken off to the dump...we couldn't find a company to haul "that small amount" cause they only wanted 1 ton or more to haul...no, my last good nerve left me a LONG time ago..don't even ask what I almost said about that last phone call to yet another "Help Person" for construction help...

I've got some sketches done in the last day...naturally while waiting for paint to dry..I can't do anymore in the house till the realtor comes by and then tellz me what more we need to do. I've discovered muscles I never knew I had...maybe it's a good thing, but I'm not too sure. I've also lost some weight...lost 3 sizes to be exact...from a 14/16 to a 10/12..my oldest got me a pair of jeans at Christmas and now they fitbaggy....man o man...

Well..The Dog is doing something in the sunroom so I Need to go check on her...

I Will Not Be Gone from Here for this LLLLOOONNNGGGG amount of time EVAH again..or until the realtor tells me what ELSE FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD!! i need to do...

Lady of The Tulips -- who had her middle son over today an' we jus' had the BEST time...he even fixed me up with the puter an' got all kindz of junk cleaned outta this old contraption...wow!!

I must apoligize for the terribly long delay in writing on this Blog -- There has been a plethora of work done around the house and it seems that I've been completely swallowed by the "Fix It Now!!" syndrom, and now with barely the arms that I once had (The old ones have fallen off somewhere around the time I got on my hands and knees and scrubbed the carpet to get it clean...after buying a new carpet steamer...that's 'nother story...) as they have left the country and are on a tramp steamer headed for the open waters --

We, that is The Husband & I have been on the search for a new abode...living here has done it's number on me, along with The Hospital and all their Dominions of Doom (i.e. "PAY US THAT MONEY YOU OWE< NOW!!!") and all the ugly phone calls ~~ Well, one can only take so much of that for just SO LONG...and then it becomes obvious that iit's just time to make the break and start things all over. We looked at serveral places just over the border in N.C., and have stumbled on a brand new little house, quite out in the country...surrounded by farmland and looking just like it needs a new crew of people to make it The Nice and Happy Little House it ought to be. We've going back over to look the house and land (just a tad shy of an acre) this weekend, and hopefully put an offer on it. We've also notified a realtor in the City here...He's suppossed to come over tonight and look our poor little house over and see what can be done with it. Oh -- we've done quite a bit to it in the past 3 weeks...the bedrooms have all been repainted, the kitchen has been patched and repainted, the carpet in all the rooms has been steam cleaned...'cept where the good machine took a nose dive and died in the middle of the front room floor...No --- that rant is for another day...

So, the realtor thinks that we should get just around the appraised value for the house, which is just a tad over the selling price of the place just down the highway...we should come out above even on the whole sale/rebuy deal. I'm so tired from all the scrubbing, painting, scraping and cleaning, that I'm suprised I've got any hands left at all. The house is as ready as I can make it...the youngest has been a gem and helped do some odds and ends for me while I was buzy with other projects...painted his room a wonderful shade of blue...and the carpet got cleaned so it's shade of blue just seems to glow now. I've replace curtains and cleaned up tile and grout in the bathrooms, so they look pretty good. Naturally since it's the day the Realtor is suppossed to show up, the tub decided it's a perfect time to get stopped up, and naturally I don't have the car today, an' can't go get drain cleaner till after The Husband gets home...which is the same time the Realtor is suppossed to be here...QUIT LOOKING AT MY GREY HAIR!!! I EARN THESE< THANK YOU!!!

So -- I'm scared and happy and worried and all those things people go thru when they sell a house..my nerves are completely shot, and I feel like throwing up half the time. I'm just hopeful that this won't be like the nightmare I went thru with our first house, where the 1st realtor I had was an absolute witch, and the second wasn't much better...but it was wayyyy out in the country, and they were the only ones in the area..so whatta ya gonna do?? Shades of another person trying to look the part of a Smart Wonderful Wealthy Person trying to sell our home keeps flying thru my head...LAWDY no wonder my last good nerve got up and left on that dayum tramp steamer...So for the last minute things, is recleanind the bathrooms, planting some fall flowers in containera on the front porch, and sweeping up around the outside of the house. The Youngest did start painting the trim all around the windows so that's one last thing to do. The Realtor did say he has a crew to finish whatever we can't seem to do, and I'm optimistic they'll get paid at the closing of the house...we just do NOT have $1,200 or so for any of the larger projects...and thats what scares me the most. If we can't pay the crew right away, we may not be able to do a thing...and I don't know if I can handle that at this point in time...DAYUM!! I SAID QUIT LOOKING AT MY GREY HAIR!!!

Lady of The Tulips -- who has to go and paint up the patch job she finished last night...found some more spots where the previous owners covered up holes in the walls with wallpaper...and removing said wallpaper is indeed another story..and repainting over the plaster walls...well....shwooooo

My youngest son gets these little nagging-headacheyy-sinus problems that have driven him nutz since time began..So -- since he is a bright fellow and can fig're things out in a New York Minute...we drove to one of the local health food stores, and the owner suggested this product that clears up congestion, makes you smell good at the same time, and have one of the most cool looking packages I've seen in a long time. And it wasn't too expensive, which makes up for the drive across town in traffic...

I've been cleaning and getting the house ready for a realtor to come and look over early in the week. I've got a map and location for some acreage that sounds promising for The Husband & I -- we've gotten over the "Old Farmhouse From..." and feel like we're ready to go and look at properties again. I've got the address and some basic information on what kind of prep-work has been done on a couple parcels just over the border in NC and we'll do some investigating this afternoon. I'm also looking at so many other properties, it's amazing that I've gotten anything else accomplished. The Husband just says "Hmmph.." when I get too detailed in the information on houses, legal deals (contracts, buyers premiums..etc. .. ) so I try to keep all that under my hat for now. The Youngest and I worked all day yesterday cleaning and painting --- he's rearranging his bedroom and getting it ready to paint. He chose a very mellow blue for the walls and a slightly darker color for the trim and window ledge's -- The lady at the home improvement store was very impresed by his selection..he took FOR EVAH deciding what color to choose.."You know how MEN can be.." she sayz to me with a twinkle in her eye...I told her that my son is more picky than most women I know when it comes to picking things out. Good Golly Miss Molly....

I've got a collage just finishing in the studio!! YEAH!!! I don't have time this morning to get a picture on here, but in the morning after all the dust settles I'll post it here. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, I must say. I wanted to post it on here Friday, but the Youngest & I were going all OVAH getting paint and supplies..pricing this and that..an' then The Husband comes back up from the Raleigh area, 'bout 3 hours earlier than he'd first told me...so I had to make it a FASTT trip over to the truck terminal...AND THE CAR DIDN"T OVERHEAT!!! Well...after $500 the darn thing BETTER NOT!!! Even thinking of another breakdown gives me an instant headache....man o man...

LAdy of The Tulips -- who now has to skeedadle an' get dressed -- The Youngest will be home an' shooo me away from here an' I'll pout an' be sad for the rest of the afternoon....well...not really pout, but I will be looking at some Land...

~~~ There are some things that happen an' it just makes No Sense ~~~

Take yesterday...there I was , driving along down the Blvd., going to pick up the youngest at his job, then I was Planning to get The Husband after that, go back home an' have dinner, watch tv...the whole bit. However -- Other Things Occured that kept me from doing the Picking-Up-From-Job an' all the rest...The little car decided that during the middle of rush hour, going along in stop an' go traffic, that it just Did Not Want to Go Any Further. And promptly overheated and spewed radiator fluid all over the pavement. Fortunately there was one kind person who let me change lanes (having my hazard lights on probably helped, too..) an' of all things, the driveway that was closest to me was leading into A NEW CAR DEALERSHIP...I Am NotMaking This Up...

So -- there I was patiently and as time went on, Not So Patiently trying to tell The Husband and The Youngest that, No -- I Was not going to pick them up, as all of the coolant and Stuff had just spewed itself all over the Expectionally Clean driveway of NEW!! CAR!! Dealership, and I was literally going nowhere fast...So -- in the meantime all of the Salesmen were looking at me like they were really REALLY hoping that I'd just go away an' never dirty their Expectionally Clean driveway EVAH AGAIN...But the really cool thaing is that the towtruck driver who came to get me was really a hoot, and we had a good time laughing and he drove that truck like it was stolen...I mean, we FLEW down the street...an' he made sure that he made LOTS of noise when we left the Snoots standing in the Very Clean Driveway..

Which is just a long way to say that to repair/replace my popped out and Completely Dead radiator is going to cost just shy of $500...If I say it fast enuf it doesn't hurt so much. Fortunately The Husband just did get paid..but I had hoped to go get groceries this week...Wait!! Grapes are on sale..and they ARE healthy...hmm...maybe those won't be quite enuf to eat for the rest of the week...But the garage where I've been taking our cars for the longest time is being really good and not charging me for the car having to stay in their lot over night...usually most repair places here charge something like $30 - $50 per night, so I'm really lucky. I was, tho, very sad to find out that the original owner of the garage has passed away, which made me so upset!! He was an elderly man, but he was in that shop EVERY DAY THEY WERE OPEN!! I mean, he was well over 80 an' kept right on working till he jus' got too sick!! Wow!! So, now the 1 mechanic who has been there for over 10 years is running the shop with the owners widow...the mechanic and his wife are helping out as much as they can, I supposse, so that's really nice. And, with my little cost for repairs, I guess the widow will be ok for the time being...


I've got a pretty spiffy project drying in the studio...I've been working with it while I've been cleaning the house and getting it ready for the realtor to see. Rearange and re-do everything for the past week or more. Just moving furniture around can make such a difference!! The Husband said he was very happily suprised at what I did w/our bedroom, so I figure if HE notices, then there must be a good change. We went down an' looked at an older farmhouse this last weekend...that in itself is a Complete Story...an' I'll go into it more this week...les' just say that the place was in such bad shape, that in regards to the rentor in the house, my dear Sweet Husband sez, "Man!! Those people should be paying the RENTOR to stay in that place!! Not Her PAYING THEM!!!" --- I made sure to take a good hot shower after we got back from walking thru the farmhouse...shwwooooo...

Lady of The Tulips -- who nearly shudders at the remembering of the farmhouse floor...oh my dear mother would have fallen right over if she'd have seen that mess...

~~ Am going to pop in for a split second and say that things here are going zinging along ~~

I've been rearanging the house, getting some things put away and throwing things out that have been taking up space that I feel needs to be just that..space. Clean floors with no little dee-dads that sit and collect dust an' drive me to want to pull my hair out. I was getting ready to wash the curtains in my bedroom, 'till I took a better look at how the previous owner had them hung-up, and it's the biggest mess I've seen in some time...so now it's time to wait for The Husband to come home an' see if the 2 of us can figure out how to take down the whole mess. My middle son had cleaned in the room before, but I've got no idea of how he got those things down..hmmm..

I also got some work done on some little papers I cut and glued together the other afternoon. I'd planned on getting those set up on my recent canvas...an' then The Youngest called from work an' I had to go pick him up, after my Dr. Appt. Too many things at one time, shwoo..

But the Dr. Appt. went well...he said all my tests but one came back all normal. Uhhmmm..an' the one that came back bad, REALLY came back bad. Seems that the "Bad Cholesterol" is not just bad, it's wayyy up there. Normal reading for it is suppossed to be below 100. That's where I'd hoped to be...However....mine is reading 154. Yeah....no wonder I had a stroke...And the kicker is, that all the years I'd gone to the other clinic I NEVER had any blood work done, EVAH!!! ~~ And, as my Dr. said, "Well, then, you were probably walkin' around with this for some time!!" Yeah Buddy!! So, the Doc did say that it was fine with him to use Herbal Supplements, so this next week I need to find some that will Lower that bad Stuff ~~ Man - Man..who'd -a - guessed that I'd have something that bad !! The Dr. did say that probably some of what I'd been eating while out on the Road w/The Husband ws a big contributer to the bad count (Truck Stop Food) so whenever I had my last hamburger, that was definetly The Last Hamburger!! And, fries...chinese food...sugar-ee-cereal...etc., etc.,...


So now I'm copying lots of diets for reducing that Uglieee Count..my weight is good, so it's just reorganzing WHAT I eat...hopefully the $$ will be in the bank to pay for all the new stuff!! Shwoo...

I'm off to do some more cleaning in another bedroom..I've got some papers readying in the studio, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to get them set on their canvas...it's either one thing or another, I tell ya!!

Lady of The Tulips -- who also found some old clothes that she didn't even KNOW were still around the house!! Ack!!

WIP -- Spring Bay Studio

I was messing around with some of my paints over the weekend, and this is the start of a piece that I've been working on for a couple weeks. That seems sorta weird, I guess ~~ I mean by saying, that there are some people that can whip out a piece of work in something like 2 days, but for me it takes longer. And this rough canvas is an example of how much slower I work than other people. It was a lot of fun, tho to create these colors. I had the chance to sit in the early morning sun, while waiting for word from The Husband and what he had plans to do for the afternoon. Sometimes he tells me, "I'll call you right back..." and it takes him 3 hours to call "right back" This was one of those mornings where I told myself, Well, if it takes him longer than just a couple minuites, then I'll put the time to good use. Making the depth on the canvas was the most fun. I got really messy...ended up with goop on my shorts, some on my face...It never fails to amaze me how I can get stuff all over me, and still have enuf paint left over to get onto the canvas.

The Husband & I did take a day drive on Sunday to see an opening at a gallery north of here. The town is Hopewell, and the City Fathers have gone and are going thru the process of rebuilding the downtown area. A new beautiful library is under construction, and the old theatre is in the same process. The floors that have been rebuilt and rehabed are wonderfullly open, with plenty of light from windows that look out on the surrounding city. Very Nice, and all of the artists that were displaying their work were warm and friendly. I had the chance to talk with a few and found the afternoon went past in just a woosh! -- I had mistakenly walked downstairs from the second floor, not realizing that there is a 3rd floor, and it had more art and photography on display...well, I thot The Husband had gone outside, so I went wandering along, trying to figure out just where he could have gone...I got a little scared, and while trying to keep calm, I made the most of the situation, and looked over some of the shops that are near the theatre. Wonderful antiques and things that made me happy that I didn't have my debit card in my wallet..besides the fact that all the shops were closed (it was Sunday, after all...) I strolled around the newly built library and marveled at all the Huge windows surrounding the building, and was quite impressed with the overall construction of it. I was by this time getting a little concerned about where The Husband could be, and about the time I started thinking about what kind of strange people would or could possibly be wandering around downtown, I took a look down the street to see some guy looking kinda scary, and not too balanced. My knees just started to buckle, and about the time I thot I'd start making a bee-line towards the car, The Husband came running around a corner of the cross street, saying in a loud voice, "OH!! There you are!! You've got to come back and see what I've found!!" I was never so glad to see his face in a Long Time!!

Ends up that I somehow missed the staircase leading to the 3rd floor, so The Husband took me back in the theatre, and we climbed the stairs up to where the floor was: He brought me over to a photographer who had done some work out in California, and they both wanted me to see some shots that were taken not too far from where we have a little acre plus of land. Very Fine pictures they were, and it was fun to look at some other work from the local area as well. The photographer was kidding with me about disapearing, and said it was something for them all to look down from the 3rd floor to see me wandering away down the street...boy, didn't I feel like a sharp marble...

For any of you interested, the name of the newly rebuilt (and still in the process of being rebuilt..donations are Gladly Accepted!) is The Beacon -- I can't find the flyer that we got from the Art Opening, but the theatre is located downtown Hopewell, Virginia. For any of you in the area, make sure and take the time to go check it out. It is time well spent.

Lady of The Tulips -- who is now trying to get some of her papers glued together just right, but they seem to be having a mind of their own...Blast an' double Blast...

** This will probably be a short post, as I have 4.597 errands to run this morning. Then back to the studio to get some painting finished up. I also have to re-stitch 2 seams in a blouse I've been puttering with, so once I get that finished I can wear it this weekend.

The Husband was out in the country earlier this week, and discovered a small town that has a quaint art gallery/shop, along with some small stores and other things that caught his eye. He usually doesn't like to do the "Shopping" thing, but he knows that I like to go and check out unique places, so when he was going Very Slowly thru this one small town, he made a mental note of the downtown, and said it would make a nice day trip on the weekend. So, in theory, we will go and see some of the little places either tomorrow or sunday. The Husband had one of those weird loads of freight again...something like frozen chicken feet, headed overseas to one of the large Asian ports, going to some place where people eat chicken feet. No, this is not a joke--there are thousands of these chicken feet being shipped overseas, and The Husband hauls quite a bit of them every week or so. And, since most of these loads of freight weight somewhere between 80,000 and 90,000 pounds, he doesn't quite get out of his own way, so while driving along at 35 mph top speed, he's able to look at all the small towns with little nooks and crannys that catch his eye. He did say, that once out on the Interstate he is able to make it up to 55 mph, but even then, it takes a few minutes to get up to that cruising speed. Poor thing. Getting nowhere fast some days...

I've got some more fishies lurking in my sketch pad over in the front room, but I can't quite decide just how they'll come together. I was going to download them here, but didn't see how they would fit with some other sketches I did during the week. Maybe it's that old fear, "Your Not Good Enough!!" -- keeps me sitting on the couch doubting everything I'm painting, drawing, cutting...no wonder my nerves are shot...

Lady of The Tulips -- who is now wondering if some blue-green watercolor pencils will be easier to use than messin' about with acrylics...hmmm...

** "Starfish" ** 2007 Spring Bay Studio

I got the start on these little friends of mine, while waiting in a parking lot, my youngest was getting some forms filled out at the unemployment office, so I put the time to good use. While I was sitting in the sun, listening to all the cars and trucks go whooshing past on the busy Blvd., I kept having an old 70's song buzzing thru my head..."Your a shining star..no matter who you are..." And while watching people come and go, into the office building, and back out again...climb into their cars, vans and suv's...I kept thinking that everybody is a star in their own right. Even if they have a 1994 Station Wagon like I do...we all have good potential and have the means to make our little light shine, as the old gospel hymn sez. So, these little guys came out from all those thots -- I sat in the early morning sunshine, listening to all the bizzy city sounds, waiting to see what was going to come out of my little sketch pad. And there they are.

I have some new little fish waiting on the table in the studio, but I haven't gotten very far with them. Well, they are sketched and colored in with various pens and markers, but I'd wanted to get further along with a collage than I've gotten. Yesterday was spent going here and there w/the youngest in his quest to become gainfully employed. It's no easy matter. There are always offices that say they have job openings in their companies, but then information gets skewered and nothing happens..an applicant goes into the company thinking there may be a possibility for them, and poof...nothing. So, while driving all over the city, dodging speeding cars, slow moving trucks, and people looking 3 sheets to the wind while driving their cars, I kept thinking I REALLY wanted to get some painting done on the fishies I've got started in the studio. I have finally dug out some colored papers I'd bought sometime last year. I knew they were in a box..but just where inside that box was the question. I dug and hunted around for about 15 minutes, and finally had to sit down to think of where the stack of papers would have gone. No -- they didn't actually GO anywhere...it's just that my brain temporarily took a vacation in the "Where Are Those?" Department...and after I had a bottle of water and walked around the front room, it dawned on me AHHAA!! where those were. It really Drives Me Crazy when I can't remember things like that. But then, for some reason I can remember some weird fact from one of my history classes way back in college dayz, that have no meaning Whatsoever in this current time...go fig're...

The Husband and I may go take a look at an old farmhouse this weekend...it's been for sale for over a year..the price has come down, just like a lot of homes on the for sale market these days. I've been checking a lot of listings in the region just south of us, and have priced, compared, recalculated and prodded and squished numbers till it feels like my eyes are going to pop outta my head. We could get a place without too much trouble...but the big deciding factor is what this place will sell for. The friend of my son's who is a realtor and real estate developer has taken us on, and is looking over properties and prices..he's doing some research now for us, to see where we stand in the housing market. I'm optimistic that something will come out Positive for us...I'd like to get out from all the noise and grime and stuff here in the City. But there are other factors to consider, so I have to be patient and see what comes out of all the realtor's findings. Hurry up and wait...hurry up and wait...

I'm out to the studio and get some paper sponged and some blue's and greens covered onto my heavy paper...I think I'll try some other ways of applying paint. I've read of some methods that look pretty cool, so I'm off to go splash paint and make a nice big mess...

Lady of The Tulips -- who has to now find her Really Fat paint brush and hope that it isn't buried under something scary...

*** In the grand scheme of things, I'm sure there is some guy thinking of ways to make his life more cushy...and I'm sure that the means to that end aren't exactly what some lil' ol' person like Me would consider quite, uhmm...ethical. Well --- I just spoke to one of the thousands of Call Center Representatives employed by the Corporation that runs the Hospital where I went and got all hooked up to monitors, electronic gizmos, and other Thangs...and it seems that in the rush by the guy who wishes to live his life more cushy...he failed to see that there are Other Ways to extract finances from people...in other words...the Fat Cat screwed up. I'm trying to be optimistic that THIS time the paper work being submitted for my ugly E.R. Visit will be looked at with other circumstances rather than just numbers. Like the fact that we as a family, do have to buy groceries. (Food Expenses were not put into the application...) Or -- that we do have to keep our Electricity on (No -- Electric Bill wasn't considered either...) and, oh -- by-the-way- neither was the Gas Bill considered..or water/trash bill...Let me See --- at any job I've had, if I'd forgotten any one or the other of these "Little" circumstances on an application...well..I'd be OUT of a Job...This will no doubt not touch the Fat Cat at all...but at least there is one person in the Corporation Call Center that caught the fact that no other circumstances were considered for my application to get the bill reworked. I've literally lost sleep over this whole thing. I'm also having or am back to having Hellish Dreams every night...The kind that Stephen King would jump up and down over...Cars Exploding while I'm riding in them...Cars going off of cliffs..Houses being set on fire while I'm in them..yeah. Little Dreams where I wake up nearly screaming at the top of my lungs and The Husband is suddenly awake to hear me making all kinds of terrible sounds. Never knew I'd have this much fun...

On a lighter note ~~ I spent part of Saturday playing with some colored pencils and gel pens. I've got my eyeball pinned on a package of really nice art pencils over at the art store..well --- last time I was in there the package was available. Don't know if it is still or not. But I'm setting aside some $$ to pick them up. I was Extremely Happy to discover that I also had a NEW tablet of drawing paper. I'd started to feel tweaky because I only had 3 sheets of drawing paper left in my one tablet, and I was sorta-trying-not-to-freak-out over it. But while straightening up my little room, I went to throw away some old ads, and underneath them all was this NEW tablet of paper. WHOA! Talk about One Happy Girl!! So -- no more nervous Nelly being afraid to use the last of her paper...now I feel better knowing that if I mess up some inked in sketches, that I do have more paper available!! I've got some kinds scribbly fish that I'm working out on my sketch pad. I'm not sure if they'll work in a larger space, butI'm gonna try them today. I've also got another piece that just got finished last week --- it'll be on here tomorrow.

As for now -- I'm out to the studio and play with my gel pens. Glitter Pens, to be exact...whee..the shimmer in them is too cool...

Lady Of The Tulips -- who now has to decide on 2 color themes..blue/green - o - Red/Pink for some fish...hhhmmm

"She Followed Me Home...(Can I Keep Her?)" 2007 Spring Bay Studio


I had portions of this piece sitting in a folder for the Longest Time, and I just couldn't gather the other elements for it that seemed Together...Finally I sat down the other day and repositioned, reset, got up from the table..got a bottle of water...walked back in the studio...and finally came up with the layout that seemed the most comfortable. The little girl is just such a sweety..I couldn't stand for her to keep sitting in the file basket without a home of her own. Now she's happy and has a new friend...

I'm feeling better than yesterday..tho I've no idea of what the Corporation People have in store for me...I've decided that they have a lot more issues than I could imagine, so I've put them out of my mind for the time being. My art is what is the most important thing to me, and as I sit out in the studio and cut, draw, paint and play, that's what I'll continue to do. The Horrible People and their programmed answers for people with illnesses who have overpriced Hospital Bills...well, that is another and altogether ugly issue that won't be discussed for now...I need to remain as calm as I can be, and even thinking of THEM makes me begin to feel lightheaded. My work is getting completed, and that's what I'll focus on.

I've got some sketches that are half colored and half filled in with ink...I've discovered that my Favorite Pen in the Whole Wide World is running out of ink...I was once again sitting out in a parking lot while The Youngest filled out another job application..and this sketch has some potential for coming together quite nicely. The problem I'm having, is that once I get on a roll in the car with all my little colored pencils and my fine-line pen...I loose track of time an' just flow with what I'm sketching in my little sketch pad...then The Youngest walks up without much sound, scaring me Half-To-Pieces, and once he climbs in the car I have to put all my stuff back together (pencils all held together w/ a fat industrial looking rubber band...) and get them tucked away in my bag. Today we were in a not-so-safe neighborhood to begin with...and here I am sitting in the car messin' about with my little colored pencils...and out of the blue I hear footsteps outside of the little car...I did't quite scream, as much as I made kind of a "ahgggrewwuuuu" kind of noise...My poor son looked at me like I'd gone off the deep end...I Told him that he'd given me the scare-of-the-day an' he just looked at me like It Was Time For A Vacation For YOU....Think he's right about that one...

And today is The youngest's Birthday...he turns 23!! AHH!! It really does seem like yesterday that we brought him into our little place on the side of a hill in Connecticut...we've come a LONG way since The Husband was in the Navy...sitting in a falling-down mobile home next to a creek filled with skunk-cabbage...snow along the driveway and nowhere for a new mother to walk with her baby...Fortunately we were put into Military Housing and had room for all 3 boys...NO!! I Do Not miss those cold days in that falling down mobile home..It was in such bad shape that Ihad to call the Health Dept. about the condition of the "House" and after they and the Military Housing Dept. got ahold of the Landlord, it was taken off the "Official List" of available "homes" for Navy Families...Shwooo...How we made it thru some of those years is ANYBODY'S guess...Now he's tall and lean...working today over at the Industrial Complex for Norfok Marine Terminals -- there's a Huge Freezer complex, and he's moving pallets of frozenfood...Chicken Turkey and Other Thangs...The Husband just took a load of freight there, and was able to, as he sez, "Got to shake my son's hand today, an' wish him Happy Birthday!!" -- How Cool is That

I've got some other sketches to mess around with, and The Husband jus' called to say he's on his way back to the truck terminal...And Guess Who has Nothing Even Considered for Dinner Tonight? ~~ I'm tellin' ya ~~ Once I get playin' with my papers, pencils an' gel pens, there's no tellin' how long I'll sit out there...

Lady of The Tulips ~~ who, Yahoo, just remembered that there are some veges in the fridge, along with some fresh taters an' a new package of lettuce ~~ Ha! ~~ An' I thot there'd be just toast for dinner...silly me...

** I don't know how long this post will be -- I just spent an hour from Hell -- trying to get thru some pretty cold heartless people from the "Accounting Department" of the Hospital Corporation -- the last word there should tell it all --- Corporation. They have cut my E.R. bill but their particular guidelines are such that with all I can afford ($45.00 p/Mo.) isn't good enuf -- or in the statement repeated over and over from a Collections Representative -- "This falls below our accepted guidelines for monthly payment arangements concerning your hospital bill. We wil pursue other collections actions in order for this matter to be taken care of". I haven't spoken to such ugly cold cold people since way back when we had no work and had a credit card back in the early 90's -- I'd mistakenly thot that those type of grab-the-juggler-and-squeeze type methods were a thing of the past...shows what a dunce I am.

All I could do was cry and cry...told the people it was the best we could do...kept telling them that I'm not eating as it is..they don't care...the dollar is all that they want..my health means nothing...I feel sick and have no idea what the rotten people are going to do now. The local paper wrote a huge article on this hosp. chain & their "methods" -- One of which is to take a house away from a family..I guess that's what I have to look forward to..being homeless over a hosp. bill...going to the E.R. was to keep me alive, and now it's gotten to where some lawyer may take our house away cause all I can pay isn't good enuf...My eyes are swollen so bad and they sting like hell. My hands are shaking and I feel sick. These bastards deserve nothing better than burning in Hell...


Yeah, I'm ranting...but I can't believe that staying alive has now gone down this road to where people tell me they expect more from me when I can't do Any More...I'm going to go lay down and try to see if there's something I can do before the lawyers come and take our home...

Untitled -- 2005 Spring Bay Studio

I made this piece some time ago, an' it was sold to a little shop over on the Chesapeake Bay -- I used some tissue papers I bought at a craft store, took some import papers and also used some gauze to create the texture in the piece. I'm thinking of using some other cloth for texture, but can't quite decide what to use.

This is gonna be a short note as I have to get over to the fabric store an' pick up some muslin -- not it won't be used for collage, but I'm using it for a sewing pattern. I'm losing weight still, an' since I'm not certain of my size, I'll cut a pattern on the cheapie muslin before committing some more expensive fabric to cutting. I'm going to a local shop that has lots of different fabrics that just shimmer an' shine...usually they have scraps of fabric originally used for wedding dresses, formals an' other assorted fun times...I'm thinking of grabbing some of those scraps too, an' putting together somethin' in the next few dayz. I also got a piece done that will get on here tomorrow. In the meantime I've got to get down the highway before it gets more hot & humid...yesterday it was 89 Degrees an' lots & lots of humidity. It IS october, but by all that's right and sacred it is nowhere close to Fall in the weather department...my studio is a place to go and have the effects of a sauna...an' I don't have to go to a spa to experience the sultry air...yee gads...

Lady of The Tulips -- who has un-earthed some gold ribbon an' is ready to piece this with some wild papers...my eyes feel funny...