slowly she turned

Living the Slow life in North Carolina

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  • Saturday morning coffee pot post

    Ah, how I love the first couple of hours on weekend mornings, when I am allowed to slowly transition from dreams to reality. Theo is playing by himself with a wine cork, and another cat, probably Miss Jazz, hisses from under the bed each time he passes by. I have not had another dream about Squirt since Theo came to live with us. I hope that he is now resting in peace.

    Now with the holidays approaching my dreams tend more toward anxiety dreams about family and dinner preparations and clean-up. If you had been at my mother’s house last Thanksgiving and Christmas, you would understand. This year my sister has rented a house at Sunset Beach so hopefully since she will be in control it will be less stressful for everyone.

    Anyway, (I’ve noticed that leading a sentence with “anyway” is a habit that I picked up from my mother) this weekend I will try to get some painting and bookbinding done, but the main thing that I need to do is study for my medieval art history exam on Wednesday, a source of great anguish for me since the best that I’ve been able to do is a “B” so far, and I’m used to making “A”s. I mean, this is a 200-level undergrad class and I have a masters degree, for God’s sake. I waver between not trying as hard and settling for a “C” or “D” or studying as hard as I can for another “B” like I did last time. It wouldn’t bug me as bad if there were not plenty of people making “A’s in the class. There are plenty of people failing too, though.

    I think that I’m leaning toward the settling option since I really couldn’t care less about the minutia of how one Romanesque church differs in floor plan from another.

    Next semester I am taking Modern Art, then I’ll take a 20th century art class from George Dimock, and then I’ll be done with my art history requirements for the degree.

    I took Theo to the vet on Tuesday. He had a large bump on his tail with a very thick odd looking scab on it that kept growing. It made Sandy and I both nervous enough to take him in. He saw a new vet there that I liked a lot, and she thought that it might be a spider bite and gave him a steroid shot. I was a bit afraid that it might be a tumor, and she wasn’t sure that it wasn’t a tumor, but she said that it seemed to be on top of the skin. It has almost gone away now so whew! He acted unhappy all week so I am very glad that he is playing and purring again.

    I enjoyed journaling and playing with photos again last night and here is the latest page. I’ve also been printing out small photos of our Alaskan trip and pasting them into my little Alaska travel journal.

  • Point and Shoot class week one

    Whew! Anyone in the southeast US can tell you – we have had ENOUGH rain from the remnants of Ida. I am afraid to look in our basement since I know from the last flood that our sump pump doesn’t work. But we actually did better than I expected then so hopefully we will luck out again.

    It made it hard for my Point & Shoot class assignment this week – take my camera with me while listening to music all week. I did not want to take my new camera out into a windy rain when I could barely manage an umbrella. But I have been working on last week’s assignments, which have to do with metaphor. Here are my beginnings. The “blank” areas are the places where I will eventually journal.

    If only studying for my medieval art history class was this enjoyable.

  • Back Forty update

    It’s a real mess! Leaves and dying weeds everywhere. I pulled out a few of the many different vines that have taken over at the edges, such as honeysuckle, wild yam, morning glory, and ornamental grape, but my hand couldn’t take it very long. If I can wait until my hand is better, those honeysuckle vines will become random-weave baskets.

    I do still have some food for harvesting: broccoli, Tuscan kale, tendergreens, parsley, rosemary, chives, tatsoi, other mild mustard greens, a few struggling lettuce plants.

  • Saturday soup bowl post

    Can’t do a whole pot of coffee this morning, although I did have one cup with lots of milk and sugar and fair-trade organic cocoa mix in it. So I’m substituting a bowl of homemade soup. This is the post where I write whatever comes to mind until I finish my pot of coffee bowl of soup.

    My stomach is stating its objections to the loads of meds that I have been taking in the past six months for pain and sinus infections and allergies. Seems like my physical problems just go on forever, but I’ve still got the proper perspective. It’s not unbearable, and one day I will feel good and it will be fantastic because I will know the difference!

    I’m going out later to get some good probiotics to take daily – I eat yogurt every day but this has been recommended to me by several folks whose opinions I trust. My main dietary concern this week was Sandy’s, since he has developed gout and was told that he is pre-diabetic. I should be on a pre-diabetic diet myself, since I’m overweight and there is a lot of diabetes on both sides of my family. Now that my hip is better I am walking more and I could step up the exercise.

    So, Mr. Theo. He’s a character. The other cats have accepted him now, except for Miss Jazz who hasn’t yet accepted Guido who came here 13 years ago, so that’s no surprise. He would much rather be with one of us, though. He has become quite attached to the “cat-free” room, so this weekend he’ll be weaned away from it. At first he wouldn’t eat unless I put his dish in there, so now his dish is just outside the closed door. And he is quite a talker. Lots of vocabulary. So far the only down side is that he wants to lay on my pillow and I wake up in the middle of the night with a face full of orange fur. This is not acceptable.

    I have gone from seeing him as a reincarnation of Squirt to his own being, which is similar enough to Squirt’s to make me incredibly happy, but pretty darn good in the differences too. He is an excellent cat.

    I’ve been working on the finishing touches of my Journalfest journal all week and will post a few pictures of some of the pages.

    I did get to the farmers’ market this morning, and bought a French pumpkin among my normal groceries of milk, hydroponic lettuce, soap, beets, turnip, garlic, and potatoes. I’m looking forward to making pumpkin soup. Last year I bought these pumpkins and they were incredibly delicious. I’ll save the seeds and try growing them but my property is not ideal for any kind of squash.

    Since I still can’t make paper I’m going to finish my journal and paint some pages today. I have LK’s Point and Shoot class prompt to do also. But my next move (after I remove a loving Theo from my lap) is to go to Leon’s Beauty School and get this shaggy head trimmed up.

  • Theo

    Timmy has a new name. I’m calling him Theo, a name I’ve always liked, and it suits him. Sandy can call him what he wants but I knew that if I didn’t change his name right away he would be Timmy forever, just like what happened with Mama Kitty. We already have a Tim in the family.

    The other cats are not too happy with the situation, but Theo seems to be right at home. Last night he explored the whole house with Guido hissing and growling at him at about a six foot distance. Finally Theo walks up to Guido, bends his head so that Guido’s nose touches Theo’s forehead, looks up, hisses back at Guido, and walks away from a stunned Guido. It’s like he’s saying, Hey man, I don’t want no trouble witchu, but I’m not gonna take your crap either. Cool, Theo, way cool.

    He lay on the corner of our bed for a while as if he was relaxing and taking in the sights on a balcony, while Miss Jazz and Guido stared and hissed at him. Miss Lucy jumped up on the bed and seemed distressed about his presence, but stayed on the bed, civil but wary. Theo is clearly interested in being friends. It will happen, except for Miss Jazz, but even with that you never know. She lets Miss Lucy groom her from time to time now.

    Theo and I slept in the other room last night and he was an absolute cuddle-bear. I hated to go to sleep because, well, I have had so many dreams about Squirt being with me again, and woke up to a Squirt-less reality, a very hard start to the day. I was almost afraid that this was a dream because Theo is so surreally identical to Squirt. But he slept on top of me and woke me up with a meow and a lick on the nose this morning, much like Squirt would have done. I can’t tell you how deliriously happy this made me.

    Today I came home for lunch and let him roam around again for a little while. I put him back in the closed bedroom, and he seemed fine with it. He seems fine with anything, except he’s not thrilled about the cuisine. I might have to go back to Petsmart and pick up some of the dry food they fed him. He loves Whiskas treats. He’s been scratching a lot since we picked him up so I gave him a dose of Revolution.

    Now he’s on my lap, and Guido has been nosing around and gave him a little tap, no growling or hissing. Theo didn’t even react. I petted them both at the same time. I think that the situation is getting rapidly better. He might be sleeping in the big boy bed tonight.

  • Timmy, come home

    This fine lookin’ fella’s name is Timmy. He is eight years old and was given up for adoption five months ago. I first noticed him at Petsmart several weeks ago, but a note said that he was in the process of being adopted. Last night we went shopping there and I noticed that he was still there. The family didn’t follow through.

    So he came home with us today and he is staying in the “cat-free” (heh) room for a couple of days before becoming assimilated with the rest of the gang.

    My question is, since Squirt spent his last days in this room, when Timmy comes out, will they think that it is Squirt, healthy and resurrected? Nah, Timmy smells way better than Squirt did.

  • Sunday morning coffee pot post

    I hope to have wonderful news to share later this afternoon.

    Yesterday after a really lazy start to my day, I decided that I had to deal with the incredible mess that the “cat-free” second bedroom has become. This is where I keep my clothes (old houses generally are very short on closet space) and sleep when one of us is sick, or Sandy is snoring REALLY loud. I also tend to dump all my junk on the futon bed in here. I bring the houseplants that the cats like to chew on in here for the winter, and raise my seedlings on shelves beside the window, which faces south and gets a pretty good amount of sun. It’s a small room and it gets full quickly.

    This is where Squirt spent the last week of his life – he loved this room and it was a forbidden pleasure for him to be in here. He didn’t have the energy to deal with the other cats, who didn’t understand that he was tired and sick, so he was happy to be alone in here. Keep this fact in mine for the announcement that I hope to make later.

    Despite that memory, I love this room. Of all the rooms in the house, this one feels like mine.

    Rearranging the room made it possible for me to put in a small worktable where I can paint and collage. I need to organize my art supplies now. The outside studio can still serve as storage, since the loom takes up a lot of room and yarn needs a truly cat hair free environment and when you get into mixed media, you end up with an enormous amount of stuff. I can work in here on non-weaving, non-papermaking projects in comfort, except for hearing Guido yowl outside the door.

    Sandy and I are both on diets now. He had a physical this past week and has three months to get his numbers down before they will put him on meds. His glucose is high and my triglycerides were high the last time I had them checked and I have lots of diabetes on both sides of my family. Sandy has a huge sweet tooth and I have developed one. It’s hard when people bring so many delicious goodies to work, especially around holidays. I don’t keep sweets at home, but it still will be hard for both of us to get used to.

  • Saturday morning coffee pot post

    This is the post where I write whatever pops into my mind until my little coffee pot is empty.

    I’m beginning late this morning because I decided last night that I would sleep as late as I felt like sleeping. I’ve had sinus problems all week and that drags me down considerably. Usually sleeping late for me means 9 a.m. I got up to feed the cats and laid down in the spare (cat-free) bedroom. The next thing I knew, it was 11:20, after some extremely bizarro dreams.

    The original plan had been to go to the farmers’ market and do some yard work before it begins raining. Oh well. I’ll go by Deep Roots later – they carry a lot of local food nowadays.

    I’m watching Miss Lucy watch the yellow maple leaves fall past the pink sassaqua blossoms outside the window. A very pretty sight. Miss Lucy has gotten closer to my heart. Guido is getting on my nerves because he has been howling all morning. I asked Sandy if he did this every morning after I leave and he said yes. Guido is a very loud cat. He gets upset over almost anything and he throws up a lot. I love him anyway.

    Last night I laid awake for a while listening to Sandy sing. This is very unusual for Sandy to sing out loud – he had on headphones and I don’t think that he knew that I could hear him. I asked him about it a few minutes ago and he said that he was singing Meat Loaf songs to Jazz. Miss Jazz acts very weird when you sing to her. She begins meowing and circling and will eventually work her way up to your face where she will try to lick your nose and mouth.

    I’m looking forward to doing some journaling and painting and I begin L.K.’s online class tomorrow. Yesterday when I went to class I was a little early so I went into the shop at Weatherspoon Art Museum (where my art history class is held) and talked to the person running it about carrying some of my handmade blank journals. They had one handmade book and some commercial blank journals. I was surprised when she reacted positively and she gave me her card. So that proves that it never hurts to try. I would consider it a real coup to get anything into the shop at Weatherspoon because it is such a respected museum – even if it didn’t sell it would be nice to be able to say that I had work in the shop.

    When I was at Journalfest I didn’t pay any attention to the Loma cameras and photography because there are times when I need to focus to avoid being overwhelmed, and I accomplish this by shutting out a lot of new stuff. I put it in my brain for future reference and to my surprise the museum shop had some of these cameras for sale. I asked about them and she said that they are cheap film cameras that let in a lot of light so that you can get a lot of interesting effects with them. I’m looking at the Lomography website, and it does look like fun. They also look a lot like the little Russian camera that Sandy bought when he was in England, and was stolen from around my neck when we were in New York City in 1986. So it is possible that we owned one of these at one time. I might buy a fisheye or pinhole camera just to play with.

    I finally wrapped up my tooth drama when I got my permanent crown this past week. There were a lot of minor complications in the whole two-month process. The receptionist called me “our professional dental patient.” I go back for cleaning next week. It’s a good thing that I love my dentist and hygenist. It really was worth it, though. I didn’t realize the constant low-grade pain that I stayed in until I got the root canal.

    Okay, coffee pot is empty. Guess I need to join the real world now.

  • L.K. Ludwig

    I took two classes from L.K. Ludwig because I love her book Mixed Media Nature Journals so much and I couldn’t decide which class I wanted to take. She is teaching a monthly online photo journaling class – it’s not too late to sign up because it begins November 1! Take a look at her blog here for the description: The Poetic Eye

    Here are a few photos of her and her work from Journalfest.

  • The last 24 hours of this blog proved the importance of two things. One, if you’re going to write your own html code, be sure to close those tags. Two, backing up your files at least every few months or so is a really good idea.

    This is part of the reason I decided against being a web programmer. I hate troubleshooting code. Hate it. Also, I didn’t want to dedicate my life to constantly learning the latest greatest techno crap. Also, I started seeing web programmers apply for jobs as administrative assistants. So I figured that I might as well stay a secretary, and it’s worked out fine. I’ll let other people worry about the latest bells and whistles.

    I’ll save the rest of my writing for my coffee pot post in the morning. It is time to read an actual book now.