slowly she turned

I’m drinking my coffee on the deck this morning, thanking God for, among other things, the fact that I don’t have to worry about whether any of my cats are involved in the screaming cat fight going on across the block.

Theo is yowling at the back door. He was obviously an inside-outside cat in his previous life. He got out the other day by mistake and now he is relentless in his demands for total freedom. He will not get it in this household, not on purpose.

I had to move my chair away from my regular spot on the deck because I was greatly upsetting Mama Robin, who rebuilt the nest next to the back door in the crook of the gutter. As I’ve said many times, our lives are controlled by critters. So far the critters have not decimated the garden. My theory is that the rabbits enjoy the violets that I didn’t yank up this year more than the beans and peas, and that even though I was pissed at Sandy for removing the logs around my growing beds, the absence of slugs is going to make the garden less attractive to the raccoons. The squirrels will always be here though – there are maples, oaks, and walnut trees all over this neighborhood. I do like the squirrels when they are good though and I like to chat with them. The other night I heard a possum fight. You’d never know that I was living right beside downtown Greensboro from my writing.

The grand re-opening of Elements Gallery last night was grand indeed; it was packed with wonderful art and people. It was exhilarating to know that I am a member of this tribe. I was supposed to work at the gallery today, and was looking forward to it, but they got a little behind on the renovations in the back and we could only get a temporary permit to have the opening last night. The hope is that we will be in permanent business by mid-week. The manager, Lorrie, pumped up my ego and I am grateful for that. I was feeling a bit stuck.

I didn’t stay for the whole evening because my allergies are seriously kicking butt, so if I missed you, know that I am grateful for your attendance! I went to bed appallingly early without supper and slept for about twelve hours. I discovered recently that anti-histamines are causing my restless leg syndrome to worsen significantly and that has been bad news for my allergies this spring. However, I cannot say enough how happy I am to figure out what was making it so bad – I was truly miserable. I found that a heating pad on my back helps too. Now I’m waking Sandy up with MY snoring.

Speaking of Sandy, he came home Thursday with something he has always wanted – a shaved head. I was having a great time calling him cueball, Daddy Warbucks, Kojak, and then last night he wrapped himself up in his big black bathrobe and he saw it before I did – he looks just like Uncle Fester. So we’re going to have some fun with this and take a few photos. I guess I’ll need to buy an eyeliner pencil.

I am feeling a wealth of blessings this morning. I have so many choices of fun things to do, now that my hands are better. The hard part is deciding what to do first. I could work on the third tapestry on my copper loom so that I can take all three off and mounted or framed for the gallery soon. I could finish warping the loom in the studio and start weaving that fabric – not sure what it will be! Maybe bags? A shawl? I bought a book on making bags from small handwoven pieces. And, drum roll please, my NEW sewing machine arrived Thursday night so I could spend all weekend learning how to sew on it! I bought a Brother CS-6000i from Amazon for $164.00. The reviews on it were very positive.

The trick here is not to get overwhelmed by the goodness and have a panic attack!

Lots of other stuff happened this week too – my mother finally got her MRI results back and she will have an epidural shot on May 19, so I am relieved that she won’t have surgery at her age. I’ll still go down there but it will be for a few days rather than a couple of weeks. I’ve been saving up sick time at work for this possibility – my sister is overwhelmed with her work, husband’s health, and the care of her grandson, and my brother started a new job last year and can’t take off much time. He is going to start spending a night or two a week at her house, though. This summer I’m planning to go down there more often – somebody will have to pick those peas and butterbeans and corn! Mama asked the doctor what she was supposed to do with her cane when she picks peas. Yep, she is a character and keeps on going no matter what. She says that her pain medication is finally making her feel a lot better now, another thing to be thankful for.

We have had all the ductwork removed from our house and the air tested. So most of the asbestos is gone now. I ran into a problem with my home equity loan by starting the work before the appraiser came though. They said that since there is construction going on I’d have to pay for a second appraisal after the work is finished and it would have to be closed by an attorney. @#$%! I don’t want to pay an attorney for bureaucratic bullshit so we are going to finish with the ductwork, stop to have it appraised, and then continue with replacing the furnace and air conditioning unit with an Energy Star system. I’m very happy that we are finally in a position to not only do this needed work, but to do it with a system that will be energy efficient and much, much healthier. But we have to get that loan, and I’m not inclined to pay any more than I have to on silly stuff.

Okay, my coffee pot is empty. Time to go to the farmers’ market and begin my wonderful weekend!