slowly she turned

Living the Slow life in North Carolina

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  • Back Forty update

    Whew! I feel sure that I overdid it in the Back Forty today, but the weather is cool and breezy and sunny and it doesn’t get much better than it was today in North Carolina. Sandy got out there with me, and we trimmed vines and mulched paths with cardboard and pine needles, and did a lot of weeding and general clean-up. I cut the bottoms out of square plastic juice bottles and put them over my okra seedlings and peppers. If I didn’t do this, I’d never get any okra. A few of the cotton seeds, green and brown varieties, are coming up in pots.

    Yesterday I planted Dixie Lee field peas, Genovese basil, lime basil, and dark opal basil, bull’s blood beets, State Fair zinnia mix, stevia, and a few assorted little pumpkin and cucumber seeds given to me by a friend. I don’t normally have much luck with either cucumbers or the squash family, but I’ll give anything a shot and plant over it if it doesn’t succeed without a lot of crying about it. Like the broccoli seed I planted earlier. I knew that I should have started it inside, but I did get a couple of seedlings. The radishes and fennel didn’t germinate either so I planted pepper plants that I bought from the farmers’ market in their place. Last weekend I put in six Cherokee Purple tomatoes from Handance Farm and transplanted some volunteer tomatoes to the sunniest bed.

    It is very, very dry here. I think that all the water is being dumped to the west of us on the other side of the mountains. Wish that there was a way to even things out! I put some mosquito dunks in my rain barrels. Since I can’t really carry a watering can the rain barrels don’t help much anyway. I was going to plant more seeds but when I saw the weather forecast for the week I decided to wait until there was a better chance of some decent rain.

    We clipped some blueberry branches that were shooting up without any berries and dipped them in rooting hormone powder and stuck them in a pot of compost. If it works, I don’t know where in the hell we would put them but it would be neat to propagate them anyway.

    Lots and lots of delicious lettuce! I recommend the Wild Garden Lettuce mix from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange highly.

  • Sunday morning coffee pot post

    I rose later this morning because Betty White, my queen, was on SNL last night, and she rocked it, y’all.

    It’s a busy time for me, but even so it has quieted down from a month or so ago. This week my main duties at work include grade entry for independent studies and helping with our department graduation. Thank God we hired a wonderful co-worker two years ago who handles most of the event planning and she is absolutely great. Last year around this time I was stressing out about budget cuts, and the main thing that I feared was losing Dawn. I’ve been told that we won’t have to worry about that this year – our dean is a very good planner.

    I went to physical therapy twice this week and I don’t think that it is really helping. They are concentrating on calming down the tendinitis pain and numbness, and it is frustrating trying to explain my pain to the therapists and the doctor. It tends to jump all over the place between my fingers and my elbow, and only hurts when I’m doing some random task, and when anyone pokes me and says, “Does this hurt?,” I have to respond, “Well, it did an hour ago but not now.” Then of course, later on it may or may not hurt. However, wearing the splints at night help enormously, so that was definitely worth the money. I just don’t want to have to wear braces long-term again, especially in the summer because they are so hot and sweaty. I’ll get the cortisone shots if I need to do it.

    We have at least figured out the worst villain – holding a needle definitely is a no-no right now. As you might imagine, that TOTALLY SUCKS since I got all excited about weaving and stitching and fabric art and integrating it with my books. I have my loom halfway warped but to finish warping I have to tie a lot of knots, and anything that requires me to grasp something with my thumb and forefinger will ratchet up the problem. I bought wonderfully inspiring books on art quilting, embroidery, weaving, beading on fabric, new yarns, and a small portable copper tapestry loom. Now I just look at them and try, try, try to stay positive. Auughhh! I have so much creative energy bottled up!

    Mama, on the right, talks with her cousin Grace at our recent family reunion.

    It’s Mothers Day, but I asked my mother if we could move our Mothers Day to next weekend. I have some photos that I want to scan and put into a book for her. That’s what I’m planning to do this week – Mama doesn’t like my books, but I don’t think that she’d mind if one was filled with wonderful old photos of her and her family that I picked up at the family reunion. She does like my handmade paper. Sigh. I HATE trying to find or make a gift for Mama. She loves presents but she is picky – it is a matter of showing respect to her. And at 83, she has everything.

    But, yesterday on the phone we had a very sweet conversation, in which I told her how much everyone loved her in the community, and how much I have in common with her, and that I can see that I’m becoming more like her every day. Which is a great thing, because my mother is AWESOME. She is Betty White AWESOME. She has great genes, and if I’ve inherited them, I could not ask for more.

    So much has happened this week. Sandy began his cardio rehab classes and he has a great attitude about it. I am thankful that he will finally get some education about nutrition, because I worry about his eating out without understanding a heart healthy diet. He was eating nothing but salads for a while, and now that we have oodles of delicious lettuce in the Back Forty he is tired of salads. The other problem is that he is pre-diabetic, and I find life very difficult without pasta and bread. I don’t like whole-wheat pasta, and I LOVE good bread. It is hard for me to chop veggies now so I am buying some of my veggies pre-cut in bags – needless to say I do not like having to do this instead of buying directly from farmers or the co-op. So cooking is a triple challenge right now.

    For lunch yesterday we had an omelet with sauteed sweet onion and green pepper and Goat Lady Dairy smoked goat cheese. I have almost mastered the omelet, I am proud to say.

    Bottled marinades and dressings have become very good friends to me. I marinated a couple of trimmed pork chops from Bradd’s Family Farm for a couple of days in Annie’s Gingerly Vinegarette, seared them in a cast iron skillet, then finished baking them in the oven with just a dash of freshly ground pepper. I dumped a bag of broccoli florets in the skillet juices with a couple of pressed garlic cloves and a couple of tablespoon’s worth of cashews and stir-fried them with a little tamari sauce and a couple of pinches of five spice powder, then served it over brown basmati rice. It was very good, and more importantly, it was NOT SALAD.

    We received the check from the secondary critical illness insurance policy that I took out that started in February. If it hadn’t been for this bit of intuition, I would surely be banging my head against a wall right now. Hopefully, if all goes as it should, this hiccup in our financial life will enable us to live as if it didn’t happen. I may even be able to pay off the car, but we will wait until all the bills and insurance settlements come in.

    My sister gave my mother a used Buick from her mother-in-law’s estate. If Mama decides that she likes it, we will probably buy her 1996 Chevy Lumina, in which she just dumped a lot of money into repairs and new tires. I will miss my little 92 Tercel, but it is very raggedy and Mama could use the money, and I know that we would save her a lot of hassle and give her a fair price for it if we buy it. I rarely drive the Tercel since I walk to work, so we just need a second car for Sandy when I am out of town on my art adventures and my doctor and dentist appointments.

    I was able to hire the guy who mows and trims my neighbor’s yard to do my tiny little bit of yard that is in the public view for $7 each time he comes to do her yard. That is a big relief to me – Sandy will let the grass and weeds grown three feet tall without noticing it and I have taken care of our “lawn” (mostly “weeds”) with an electric weed trimmer for the last couple of years. Seven bucks is so totally worth having this chore taken off my poor hands and not having to nag to get it done. We do have a lot of nasty work left to do in the back since I wasn’t able to take care of trimming back the vines this spring like I normally do. Now the tiger skeeters have emerged. As badly as we need rain, it is surprising how many have hatched out. They are wicked creatures from hell, I’m telling you.

    Okay, this has become WAY too long and I’ve finished the coffee pot. I’ll do a Back Forty Update later.

  • Some new books

    I sold six books! I meant to take more photos of my new books, but the wind kicked up and my attention turned to handling my umbrella and table. The top layer ended up having to lie down flat. The red book on the top left sold and I’m sorry that I didn’t get photos of it because I put a lot of thought into it and it was pretty neat.

    This one sold, but I will make more. My hands didn’t allow it in time for the festival but I promise to have some more ready when I can stitch again.

    This one sold – it was all handmade paper – one of those serendipitous kind of designs.

    I’m kind of glad this one didn’t sell. I’m right fond of it. It is all handmade paper and the cover was meant to be cut up for spine covers, but then I fell in love with it. It sort of made itself. The button is made from fossilized walrus tusk, and I bought it in Skagway, Alaska from an artist’s studio.

  • Sunbathing at Lake Waccamaw

    We decided that this big fella, whose sunbathing was captured by Sandy as we drove home Sunday from Lake Waccamaw, was blogworthy.

  • Shindig on the Square

    Support your local artist! Handmade blank journals make wonderful graduation and Mother’s Day gifts for writers, artists, journalers, gardeners and cooks.

  • De Quervain’s and Dupuytren’s

    A short update for those who keep up with me here instead of Facebook:

    Diagnosis: De Quervain’s tenosynovitis and Dupuytren’s disease, which runs heavily on both sides of my family. I have custom-made hard splints to wear at night and for times when I need extra support, and soft braces to wear at other times. Physical therapy a few times over the next few weeks, and then I’ll go back just before I go to Art & Soul to followup. Injection and surgery are Plan B and Plan C.

    Carpal tunnel test was negative, as it was back in the 90s, which is good, but as the doctor said it makes it harder to figure out what is causing my pain. The Dupuytren’s is definite, but I think that the De Quervain’s tenosynovitis might be a bit of a shot in the dark. That’s cool, even if it is something else at least we are getting closer to it. I thought that it would be a complicated thing. Maybe I should call House.

    I love the therapist so far, and feel lucky that I got one with 30 years of experience. These braces are very comfortable.

    I feel optimistic, and that in itself is progress. These new braces and splints support my thumbs, which hasn’t been the case before. No one seems to be too concerned about the Dupuytren’s yet – I guess that we’ll need to focus on one thing at a time.

    I’m headachy tonight but my plan is to try some bookbinding on Saturday and Sandy will help me set up downtown on Sunday for Shindig on the Square. I have photos to take and photos to post, but haven’t been able to do the computer processing necessary. Will do soon, though.

  • Lake Waccamaw, 2010

    It is a quiet morning here at Lake Waccamaw, as Garrison Keillor narrates in my head. Sandy is still snuggled under the covers, since we switched roles and I kept HIM awake with MY snoring last night. Mornings here are full of birdsong and soft pastels melding the water and sky.

    I made myself a huge pot of coffee and sat down on the glider on the screened porch, where I type this now. There is a small grassy lawn up to the point where the landscape dips down into a sandy beach for several feet before meeting a shallow, tea-colored, clear lake. On the other side of the crest of this tiny hill, I see a peculiar bird’s head appear, look at me, and lift off, huge wings flapping several feet wide. I make my way down to the beach, where I find a fairly large dead turtle on its back and a huge gar fish, torn in half, but what is left is about two feet long. The toothy beak of this fish alone is about six inches long. At first I wonder if it might be a small alligator, but the fish scales give it away.

    Does it say something about me that I covet the turtle shell and skull of this gar, and that I’m enjoying watching the vultures fly in? But I will get a shovel and deposit the bodies into the canal across the road from the house, where they will be gobbled up by snapping turtles and alligators. In a little while. The vultures are fascinating.

    Yes, we swim in the lake. Most large critters stay away from the clear area in front of the lake house, due to a concerted effort to keep the lily pads out of the area. They can find much better eating in the canal, where we’ve regularly seen alligators 10-12 feet long. Still, the vigorous comeback of these alligators in the last couple of decades has made me much more cautious. No more night swimming for me, and I keep a sharp eye out when walking for anything moving. When I hear a noise that sounds sort of like an outboard motor starting up, I assume that there is a big gator nearby.

    Yet this is one of the most peaceful places that I know. This is the place where I rejuvenate my soul. It is full of family memories and friendly ghosts. There is a natural spring trickling nearby and hummingbirds hover and I saw a big red-headed woodpecker tackle a locust tree that my Great Aunt Pauline planted back in the early 1950s. I am grateful that I am able to come to this place and breathe, even if the smell of the paper mill and dead fish made it difficult last night. It reminds me that it still exists in the real world, and these imperfections will soon pass if I am patient.

  • I got several very cool covers ready this weekend, which is great to get that part behind me since cutting is one of the hardest parts for me, and the messy gluey part is done. I can concentrate on making signatures, which are the sections of book pages, pierce them for sewing, and then I can take the whole shebang with me with just needles and thread, like anyone “normal” would take their knitting. I’m kidding, a little, but it is nearly that portable, as long as I can find a flat clean surface to work on.

    Since I’ve been so obsessed with hands, I made hands-themed covers with some very interesting old woodcut images and mica. I also have a bird and a butterfly theme. I’ll try to photograph them, but I have a feeling that it might be hard to photograph these well.

    Based on your feedback and a couple of friends’ advice on Facebook, I am going to make an appointment with one of the hand orthopedists on Henry St. tomorrow and cancel my other appointment. At this point it does make sense to see a specialist. I hope that from what I’ve heard that there will be enough money left over from the secondary insurance policy that I bought for Sandy to cover the deductible and co-pay for surgery for me, if that appears to be a feasible solution. I’m just sick of this hand crap. I’ve been dealing with it off and on for 25 years.

  • wah wah wah

    Ah, me. The hands situation is worse. I am very depressed. I made an appointment with an orthopedic doctor for April 27. In the meantime, I’m going to try to get a few more books put together this weekend to take with me when we go to the lake later this week, where I’ll try to bind them. I have lots of great ideas – this is such crappy timing for my hands to betray me now. The weather is beautiful and I want to make paper, dig in the garden, and weave and stitch. It is difficult for me to hold a needle, the mouse, or anything requiring a grip. My right hand will flat out go to sleep on me after about five minutes of stitching.

    I did make a nice batch of paper last Sunday and so I’ll have some handmade paper to bind into books. I received my order from Daniel Smith of bookboard, watercolor paper, and Stonehenge paper, part of which is for my classes at Art & Soul coming up in a month.

    I don’t know what to do with myself without the non-painless use of both hands. I am reading but I don’t care about watching much TV or movies. I need to have something to do with my hands. It’s one reason that I used to be a chain-smoker. If you hear screaming over this way, it is me going insane.

    Okay, I’ll go plant some cotton and okra seeds now and get out to the studio and gazebo. By the way, Sandy’s doing great.

  • Sunday update

    Thanks for your support, as always, my readers rock.

    I slept without my brace last night and slept well without numbness. Both hands were sore and stiff but quickly came back to normal this morning so I’m going to try to make a post of handmade paper this afternoon when it gets a little warmer outside.

    Yesterday I put together three books with handmade paper and bound one. My plan this morning is to design and put together one book for each evening this week, so that I bind one book per night. Holding the needle is the main problem, and as long as I don’t spend all day making the same motion I think that I should be okay. That could be a problem with the papermaking, but I don’t want that beautiful thawed out pulp to go to waste, and it will only be for a few hours this afternoon.

    The lump in my left hand is not sore any more so I think that I can put off rescheduling my orthopaedic appointment for a while.

    I finished Corelli’s Mandolin and started Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner. Have I mentioned lately my love for the free shelf at Ed McKay’s? Even if they do put big black marks on the cover artwork of beautiful old books? I had the audacity to ask them to put the marks, meant to signify that they are free, anywhere but on the center artwork of a cover. Sandy was mortified. But even if they are free, messing up the artwork will sometimes prevent a beautiful early-20th/late 19th century book cover from being given new life as an artist’s book or journal. Their response was that the book should have gone in the trash, so I think that my nicely-made point was totally unlistened to from the first word out of my mouth. I got some beautiful color plates of birds and animals from the book in question, though.

    To the Back Forty I go.