slowly she turned

Living the Slow life in North Carolina

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  • Saturday morning coffee pot post

    Just start writing.

    Oh, did you read that? Sorry! I was typing to myself again.

    Out of milk. I can’t drink my coffee black! I drained the last few drops of milk from the bottle Sandy finished off last night. Better to drink my coffee black, or dark, dark brown, than to not drink it at all though. My main vice these days is caffeine. I’m caught in the vicious circle. Without it, I get vicious migraines. But I get migraines anyway, just not so bad. And I need more and more of it. Then I wake up in the middle of the night. I go to bed early. I get plenty of sleep, albeit light sleep. I get up early. I drink my two big mugs of coffee. On weekdays, I follow this with some kind of cold caffeine. I keep going back to Diet Pepsi. I keep saying that it’s my last one. On weekends, I manage to keep away from the soda because I don’t keep it in the house. I make peach iced tea, or we eat out and I order iced tea.

    This morning: pick up milk, go to farmers’ market where my CSA chicken is waiting for me, go to post office to mail Lida’s beans, come home, make meat loaf and put in the oven. Pick, wash, and spin lettuce for a salad. Lay down the latest cardboard I collected this week along the path I weeded a couple of nights ago. Lay down landscape fabric and mulch. Somewhere in here, eat lunch. Admire the Back Forty. Go to Deep Roots for rice, coffee filters, snacks, etc.

    Il Sandino will probably be up and at ‘em earlier than usual, so plans may change. But I know that he plans to take me out for dinner for our anniversary tonight. We usually go to one of two places: Bianca’s or Bert’s.

    When Stew, Joyce, and Jeff came to the house last night, I picked up Mama Kitty and everyone petted her. She was into it. So I put her down and we were standing in a circle around her. Jeff knelt down and held out his hand. She went to him and he petted her. She was quite a social butterfly. I was well pleased. I feel like ‘Enry ‘Iggins.

    My tomatoes continue to die, although I think that I’ll end up with what I need for canning. The Critter dug up my best eggplant and broke it. Damn that Critter! It was the only eggplant seedling that looked healthy. The latest crop of beans are emerging. This weekend I need to mix the rest of my potting soil mix, plant the peppers and cucumbers and rest of the eggplants and tomatoes in containers or whatever spots I can find. Also need to work in some of these worm castings around the tomatoes I have in the ground already.

    I have an idea cooked up for a special thank you for Ricë, who, in addition to the cool people stamps she sent me earlier this month, sent me some wonderful vintage alphabet stamps. It will be fun to make this! Also want to get going on the cut-off shorts project she is leading on her blog, and get my fabric Italy travel journal started enough so that I can put the pages in a project bag and carry it with me to stitch on during waits and slow times wherever I am.

    Oh yeah! Finish backing and photographing the “By the Sea” woven ATCs, so that I can trade for that beautiful needle felted and embroidered one reserved for me!

    Those are the plans. We know that they seldom go that way, but Mama Kitty assures me that it’s okay if they don’t, as long as she gets her daily massage. I think that I’m going to promote her from production assistant to artistic director.

  • Whee! I’m an M.A. now!

    This day was important in several respects. Partly, because I celebrated receiving my M.A. in Liberal Studies with my husband, Kristina, Deb, Randy, Karl-Heinz, Charlie, Debby, and other MALS classmates and faculty today at a very nice ceremony at the O. Henry Hotel. Partly, because it is my 21st wedding anniversary, but Sandy and I will celebrate that tomorrow night. And partly, because it was the last crazy busy day at my work until late July, and I’ll be able to mentally relax for a good long time.

    So it was wonderful that I ended this multi-level lovely day on the breezy patio of Fishbones after work with my friend Jeff, Joyce, and la Stewie!

    Yes, I did officially graduate in December, but it wasn’t a time of celebration for me. So I’m glad that the ceremony for December graduates was in May. We had fun and we got some of the Italy classmates together for a photo, plus we reenacted the famous Karl-Heinz tiramisu photo with Charlie in reverse.

    From October 2006: Karl-Heinz hogs the tiramisu in Spannocchia

    From May 2008: Charlie scarfs down the desserts at the MALS ceremony

    Laurie, Karl-Heinz, Deb, Charlie, and Debby

    Laurie, Jean, Deb, Randy, Karl-Heinz, and Charlie

    Me and my mentor, friend, and inspiration, Charlie.

  • Back Forty and Me Update

    Okay, I’m better. The only real reason I write about my headaches, other than simple life journaling, is so if I go to see a health practitioner I can remember better if there is a pattern. The last time a doctor asked me about cluster headaches I didn’t really understand what she was talking about. When I walk into a doctor’s office, it’s like my brain shuts down and I can only think about how to get what I want and get out. I realize that is probably not a good strategy, since I don’t have a medical degree, but I had some bad experiences with doctors in my younger days when I trusted them completely and didn’t do my research. Now I research all drugs and diagnoses obsessively. I have a nurse practitioner that I like a lot now, but she has been in and out of sick leave with cancer, so I am not always able to talk to her.

    Actually, I’m just happy that I don’t faint at the doctor’s office any more. That got to be embarrassing. Talk about brain shutting down.

    So this afternoon I got a little bit done. I went to a department party from 5-7 p.m. and then came home, fed the cats, and mixed up several wheelbarrow-fulls of potting soil for my Roma tomatoes. I mixed potting soil, topsoil, old soil from last year (yeah, yeah, yeah, not good procedure), peat moss, greensand, bone meal, and this worm compost stuff that was rather expensive but a little bag seems to go a long way. I was happy to see a few earthworms in the old dirt that I dumped into the mix. If the tomatoes get diseases, then I won’t do that any more. But this variety is pretty disease resistant – I don’t think I would do this with my older heirloom varieties.

    Some of the tomatoes I planted last week died, but my secret of gardening is one that I learned from a wise organic farmer: plant twice of what you need! Heh.

    Works when you have more seeds than you can give away or plant. By the way, Leda, those beans are coming soon. I can’t seem to get to the post office when the line is not out the door.

    I’m still busy as a bee, but life will slow down considerably beginning Saturday and continuing through the end of July.

  • meh

    Might have to write this week off too. Stomach problems gone, cluster headaches remain.

    Any bright spots in between will have to be spent working, gardening, or cleaning house, since it is slightly possible that Mama mia will come up for my graduation ceremony on Friday afternoon. The rest of the tomatoes won’t wait much longer – they look raggedy.

    Mama Kitty just gets sweeter and sweeter though. Now I can cuddle her on my shoulder and nuzzle her on the head. She likes nuzzling. It makes her purr louder. She stretches out like Squirt. In a way, this is breaking my heart. In a way, this is filling my heart. Augh.

  • Well, dang.

    I finally get some time to have some fun in my studio, and I got some kind of bug. I got most of my errands done yesterday, but by the time we got to Lowe’s I was starting to feel it and we decided that we couldn’t handle the crowd. I missed Deep Roots, too, but I have enough groceries to last me for this week from the farmers market and my freezer.

    So much for the art weekend. I may still get back to it tonight. Just being able to look at the computer screen for a few minutes is a good sign. Considering all the illness I’ve been around at work this spring, I’d say that I’ve had pretty good luck. When I do get something, it tends to hit hard then go away fairly quickly. Maybe it’s the raw milk boosting my immune system.

    I just put dinner in the crock pot. This is an easy thing to do when you don’t have time or energy. Cut up two carrots, two onions (I used leeks from my garden), and a celery stalk and put in the bottom of the crock pot. Put in a whole chicken, about 2-3 lbs. Add herbs, salt and pepper, and 1/2 cup water. Cook for 8 hours (or until it seems done) on low. You can add other stuff, as long as you have room. I had some rosemary inside, so I stuck some inside the chicken. Normally, I’d stuff it with parsley and thyme and sage too. Some wine and mushrooms would be excellent.

    My chicken is free range uncertified organic from a local farmer’s chicken CSA. Carrots and leeks and herbs are from my back yard. Other stuff from Deep Roots Market.

    Okay, bye. At least I can read a book now!

  • Saturday morning coffee pot post

    Aaaaahhhh. It’s been a while. Waking up my brain cells, getting ready for my weekend. When I do a coffee pot post, I plan my day or weekend and write as long as the coffee lasts.

    Today, I’m going to pick up my milk, go to the farmers’ market and grocery shop, go to McKnight’s Hardware and buy potting soil, pebbles, mulch, and organic fertilizer IF they have it, go to Deep Roots and grocery shop, go to Harris Teeter for beer, go to Pet Smart to stock up on cat food, and maybe hit Lowe’s for a Dremel Stylus and whatever I couldn’t get at McKnight’s.

    Tomorrow, inside I need to do some cleaning and finish laundry. Cook some big dish like lasagna. Outside, mulch paths, mix potting soil and plant the rest of the Roma tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and cucumbers in containers. Later this week I’ll weed some more and put down wet newspapers and pine straw around my tomatoes. Weed whack the front and side yard.

    Really, this outdoor stuff can’t wait any longer. But I swear I’m going to prioritize the art work – 3-4 hours a day on weekends, a hour or more on weeknights.

    Something strange and sad happened in my family a week ago. My aunt’s husband and ex-husband passed away on the same day. So my cousin lost her father and stepfather, each on opposite sides of the country with her in Colorado. I never met my ex-uncle, who was a successful photographer for mainstream magazines and seemed to be a very cool guy. My uncle, who married my aunt in their 70s, had a great sense of humor, and took my aunt all over the world. I’m sorry that I didn’t get to spend more time with these two men.

    ::rant alert::

    Bob Herbert really nailed the Clintons in his NYT column today. The next time somebody says to me that people aren’t ready to vote for a woman, I’ll have ammunition for why not THIS woman. This sexist reasoning really bugs the hell out of me. Basically, saying that since I’m for Obama, I’m a sexist. I’m not “ready” for a woman president. If I was for Clinton, would that mean that I’m a racist? Isn’t it sexist or racist to pick someone because of their gender or ethnicity and not on the basis of their characters? Give me a woman candidate who is not an obnoxious, do/say-anything-to-win liar, who is a better choice that the other candidates, and she has got my vote. BUT she has to be the best choice. Any other reason to vote for her would be sexist. Sheesh. In some ways I feel like this election has set back feminism.

    ::end rant::

    Anyway, I was glad that North Carolina went the right way. Maybe we can wrap this baby up soon.

    Coffee is almost gone. I’ll probably be blogging a lot for a while. Stay tuned if you’re interested. If not, I hope that you’re having a great time living your life away from the computer!

  • Wow, what a difference the new set-up of my studio makes. I think that I’ll be able to get some great work done this summer. I pinned my fabric swatches up to the curtain hanging in front of the shelves, and a cork bulletin board has bags and strands of beads tacked to it. My Lyle Lovett poster and a cheap Diego Rivera print of a weaver are on the walls. My little window air conditioner is cranking so it was very comfortable. I re-listened to one of the Oprah/Eckhart Tolle podcasts and enjoyed it. I don’t write about it, but I’m deep into navel-gazing about my artistness.

    I wove on the scarf for an hour and switched to a straight twill in the middle which will make it go much faster. When I get to the last 15 inches I’ll switch back to the striped rosepath. I painted over some pages in a spiral book that I’m altering for a journal. This one will be my wild child journal that I’m promising myself will remain private, so that I feel very free to experiment and screw up a lot!

    Now I’m hitting the sack early as my energy has been low all week. I think that I’m perimenopausal again. Or maybe truly menopausal now. As the fabulous Zha K said to me the other week, I’d like to skip hag and go straight to crone. I’m really pretty well-adjusted about aging – maybe because I’ve seen what a great late-middle to old age my mother is experiencing. My ex-boyfriend from my senior year in high school sent me a photo of him and his daughter, and for some reason it made me feel old. Also a little sad, because I treated him so badly and he didn’t deserve it and doesn’t hate me. I don’t feel old very often.

    Last night I couldn’t sleep because of the allergy itchies, and finally I got up, took an pseudophedrine and an Ambien, and joined my husband on the sofa, where I discovered that we were under a tornado warning. Maybe not the best timing on the Ambien. But, we barely got a raindrop. Did have an F2 and F3 tornado in the area though. Wow.

    This weekend I will be playing a lot of catch-up with grocery and basic house supply shopping and mulching and weeding and housework, but I’m planning to spend at least 3-4 hours each day in the studio.

  • Back Forty update

    Planted Amish Paste tomatoes behind garlic.
    Planted the rest of the mystery heirloom tomatoes and one Yellow Pear tomato around the white Nanking cherry tree.

    Ate sugar snap peas.

    Currently drinking a beer.

    Next: to the studio, to weave off that scarf.

  • Works in progress

    Another device to help me focus: a list of my works in progress. I’ll post about these and photograph as I actually progress. From the oldest to newest might be the best way to go, although I doubt I’ll proceed in this order.

    1. Fabulously ugly scarf III – still on the floor loom in the studio. Weave it off and fold up the loom. I want the floor space for summer.
    2. “Labyrinth” tapestry – looking forward to this one, actually.
    3. Skirt and clean Bev’s fleeces, send off to be carded and spun.
    4. Tobacco ATCs
    5. Woven ATCs – back them and photograph. Soon, especially since this awesome ATC is waiting for my trade.
    6. Second tapestry box bag – will probably be put on the back burner, quite honestly.
    7. “Elements” tapestries – finish backs, make a quilted block to mount them on. Photograph.
    8. “Mindful presence” collage, stitch, embellish, quilt.
    9. Add beads to the “dingleberry” on the closure for the book I made for Dan Essig’s class. You gotta love his warped sense of humor.
    10. Begin adding content to this book – a nature journal.
    11. Begin putting together second coptic stitch book before I forget how to do it (kit from his class).
    12. “Writing” collage – for lack of a better title right now
    13. Embellished cut-off shorts (a creative hit from Ricë’s blog)
    14. Begin a fabric art journal about my trip to Italy.

    Lord. You can tell that I don’t have children. I do have a full time job, a vegetable garden, and five needy cats and a husband, though.

    I’m particulary energized this weekend, because I won the alphabet stamp giveaway from Ricë! Am I lucky or what? I may have to erect an altar to this woman.

  • Studio update

    I realized that I’m never going to get started again on my artwork until I clean up and reorganize the giganto mess I made in the studio and the happy room before I went to Art and Soul. It’s like a maniac went through everything and tossed it around. Well.

    I set up a folding table for my painting and stamping, and arranged a workspace and storage space for my supplies. I had the absolute perfect display and storage space for the stamps that Ricë sent to me, and I have more space for the ones I’ll be making. So I’ll be able to see them all, reach up, and pluck just the right one for my journal.

    I made a list of works-in-progress and works-in-head and I had eleven items on the list! Whew!

    I moved my floor loom over so that I’ll have some space at my work tables to get up and move around. One of the things on my list is to finish the scarf that has been on it since last summer and then I’ll be able to fold it up for a while.

    I ordered a Japanese screw punch with five bits from EBay for less than $30 with shipping. Assuming that it is the same kind I used in my workshop (it looked the same), I saved about half the price. I distrust this luck. EBay is not my playground, and normally I avoid it like the plague. We’ll see.

    I am ready to play in the studio this weekend. Woo hoo!