Favorite Quote

I am behind in the ATC exchange I play with my friend, Lambie. I haven't felt very creative lately. Of course, that parlays into an excuse. Then more time is spent in the composting than in the actual composing. In a discussion with an author friend, she said there is no substitute for sitting your butt down and working. She's absolutely right. You can't create if you don't do, and you can't do if you don't create.

So, made a couple of attempts on May's ATC theme, favorite quote: Never miss an opportunity to keep your mouth shut.

In cleaning, I found my Pilot Parellel pen. It's a fountain pen, but you can fill it with nearly any fluid, unlike a regular fountain pen. Usually, I don't use a fountain pen for my work, but decided it might be fun to play with. It was until I went to erase my guidelines and the ink smeared! Just too humid for the ink. Made a second attempt, but decided the writing size was too big for the 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" ATC card. Dug out a small size dip pen and voilà!

Ziller acrylic glossy black (I learned my lesson ), Mitchell 5mm on marbled paper. The screamer is made from a pop top from a soda can, fuzzy yarn, and google eyes.

Virtual Lunch

Yesterday, my friend, Tam, from The Land of Here There Be Dragons and I shared a virtual lunch. I thought we would be chatting on IM, but Yahoo Messenger was having problems so we used the old-fashioned, but reliable telephone.

The plan was to eat lunch and watch a Big Valley episode. We chose "The Challenge" because it's an episode that for some reason or other was left out of the lineup when it was shown on Butchermark. Neither one of us wanted to be chomping in the other's ear, so we ate lunch before chatting.

Tam and I cued our DVD and watched the episode while making snide comments. It's also helpful that we each like a different hero.

The episode was written by Margaret Armen who also wrote episodes for Star Trek. I thought it was funny to hear two of Dr. McCoy's lines. "I'm a jurist, not a photographer." Bones was always saying things like "I'm a doctor not a brick layer." Then there was the ubiquitous: "He's dead, Jim."

Tam, a country girl, was amazed I could recognize that Misty Girl was really Misty Boy. I spotted the dingle. She asked if that was what it would be called on the subway. Told her I couldn't use any of the words it would be called on the subway as she would turn 4 shades of red.

As to Misty Girl being Misty Boy, no wonder the Barkley children never married. Ma Barkley wasn't able to correctly tell them the story of the birds and the bees. We just slay us.

Thanks for a fun break, Tam. We'll have to do it again sometime.

Another Delay

Got an email from the contractor. The job he was finishing up was delayed by some heavy thunderstorms and rain this week, so he has to back off the bathroom. On the bright side, all the fixtures and stuff should be in by the time the demolition begins, and I can post a picture of Colt in the tub again.

Clean and Ye Shall Find

For months, I have been searching for a small book I altered. It contained notes and examples on how to alter a book. I looked everywhere and still could not find the book.

Today, I've been cleaning the laundry area and the computer area so the contractor will be able to get to the bathroom floor and when the bathroom is done move the washer and dryer upstairs into the bathroom.

So, I've been cleaning, tossing, and moving stuff. I moved a couple of cartridge boxes for the laser printer and what did I find on the floor behind them? You guessed it in the cheap seats! The little book!

And the first thing I did after I scanned the cover? Put the book where it belongs with all the books on altering books.

Chicken Little's Rite of Passage

Chicken Little. That's what we called The Eldest when she was little. That was yesterday. Yes, I'm sure it was yesterday. Today, I drove The Eldest to jury duty. I was in my mid-thirties when I got called for jury duty for the first time. She's eighteen. Almost nineteen. Yesterday, she was four.

There was no place in the courthouse lot to drop her off so I drove to the art museum where I teach and parked there. The courthouse is a block from the museum so we walked. I fought the urge to take her hand as we were crossing the street. Wasn't it yesterday that I took her hand and walked her to preschool? Yes, I'm sure it was just yesterday.

I left her at the corner. Who was that young woman walking away from me? She looked so confident. I fought the urge to make sure she went in the building.

So, Chicken Little was called to jury duty. An adult. A rite of passage. My rite of passage too. Letting go. Not hovering.

New Bathroom Remodel Schedule

The start date for the bathroom remodel has been pushed back a week. The fixtures have been ordered, but will take 3 weeks to come in. This way, the contractor will be able to begin demolition and hopefully, by waiting another week to start, all the fixtures will arrive on time so there's no lag time. So, the new countdown is ticking!

Calligraphy School

The Massachusetts calligraphy guild, Masscribes, is offering a year long calligraphy class for its members. The class will meet one Saturday per month starting in September.

Lately, it seems a lot of calligraphy classes are getting real artsy. That's not necessarily a bad thing. This class is a back to basic nuts and bolts lettering class. A chance to hone skills. And I'm so excited I got in!

Oh, there was no skill to that, just the first 15 applications in by 1. July would make the class.

7 Random Wonders About Moi

My friend, Alesia, tagged me. I've been tagged before, but in the spirit of good sportsmanship, I'll try to come up with 7 different facts I've never mentioned.

1. I'm a hooker, Southpaw, kackhanded, lefthander. Yup, that's me, the devil's spawn. I attended parochial school, just the place you want to be when you're lefthanded. I was fortunate the nuns didn't force me to write with my right hand. During penmanship classes, Sister would walk up and down the aisles, and if she saw my paper tilted the "wrong" way, she would yank the paper and turn it the way a right handed person would slant their paper. I'm a hooker because of the nuns.

2. I hate clowns, actually I'm afraid of clowns. I was visiting Knott's Berry Farm with my friend, Alice. It was during March so not many people were there. A clown was approaching us, and I made Alice cross the street so we wouldn't have to interact with IT. The fear came from a hideous bank my cousin, Robert had. It was red and white plastic in the style of a 19th c. clown. You put a coin on the clown's palm, pulled the pom pom on his hat and he flipped the coin into his mouth. When I was very little and we visited, I had to take a nap in Robert's room, and the clown with that hideous grin would be staring at me.

3. I hate cheese. Hate the texture of raw cheese, like cheese and crackers cheese. I will eat some cheese though it must be cooked. Mozzarella on pizza is ok, as is ricotta cheese in ravioli or lasagna. Grated cheese on pasta is ok too, but that's it.

4. Many know of my obsession with cowboys. Two years ago while attending a conference in Dallas, my friend Laura took me to my first rodeo. The first thing I commented on when we entered the arena was "What a gawdawful smell!" I may love cowboys, but Little Princess that I am, prefer my cowboys and their animals sanitized!

5. In college, I changed majors like most people changed socks. I started out as pre-med. The year I entered college it was more fashionable for pre-meds to major in psychology instead of biology or chemistry. All freshman psych majors at the college were assigned a big brother or sister. When my big brother a 4.0 student, doing distinction work (mini-thesis), and GRE scores in the heavens was rejected by Duke (the college, not John Wayne), I decided as an incredibly average student it would be best for me to change majors. I went to the English department. I studied Medieval English literature. Course when I graduated school, most employers were not impressed I could read 3 different dialects of Middle English. I ended up going to Control Data Institute and became a computer programmer so I could earn a living and feed myself.

6. You would think someone who loves cowboys and Westerns would be an avid horseback rider. Besides the horses outside the grocery store, I've only ridden a horse one time. A high school friend was an equestrienne and into dressage. She invited me to a show. Her friend, had a companion horse called Amy and she asked if I would like to exercise Amy. Amy was a comfortable plow horse. I was assured Amy was very gentle. Riding Amy would be like riding a bicycle without pedals. Yank on the left rein to turn left, right rein to turn right, pull back to make her stop, kick her with your heels to make her go forward. Sounded pretty easy. They boosted me onto Amy's back. She was a lovely ol' gal and shaped like a barrel. My little legs stuck straight out on either side of her. We were walking through a field, doing ok, when Amy caught a whiff of her companion, Russell T. Boomer getting a snack. She turned on a dime, and raced clear across the field without so much as a by your leave to me yanking back on the reins to slow her down! She tore up the grass with me bumping on her back and trying to hang on.

7. Most people expect my all time favorite movie would be a Western, and they'd be dead wrong. My number one favorite movie of all time is The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)starring Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal. It can be enjoyed on so many levels, as a sci-fi movie, as an allegory. I never get tired of seeing it. I still get goosebumps when Gort opens his visor and the laser flashes or Klaatu tells the assembled scientists, if they don't tell their leaders to shape up, "We'll reduce your Earth to a burned out cinder."

Murals

Today was such a rainy, dreary day. I was a slug. Alternated between watching Fall Guy on DVD and surfing the Net. Kept going back to look at the mermaid tiles by David Delamare.

I measured the space above the sink and there’s room to put a small mural measuring 12” h x 24” w. I waffle between the idea the mural will add color to the sterile room or if it’s too much. It’s rather pricey per square foot, on the other hand, it’s art.

Then come the choices. Medina, pictured above, is stunning. The predominant colors are more green than the cobalt blue I’ve picked for an accent color.

I also like the mural labeled “Curious”. I’m not sure the colors would go with the cobalt.

The “Reading Mermaid” has the deep blue, I’m looking for, and possibly could be turned into a tile mural. Have to write to ask them. The website states almost any of his artwork can be turned into a tile mural.


I wish I could see the colors of the murals up close and in person. The background wall tile will be white. The floor will be white with a few cobalt blue diamonds in the pattern. The sink is white with tiny dark blue almost black speckles. Are these features neutral enough to go with any mural?

What to do, what to do? Any suggestions? Himself likes the reading mermaid the best. I like her because the background will go with my beloved blue. Besides, seems fitting to put a mermaid reading a book in a bathroom. After all, it's one of the activities people do in the bathroom.

Coming Together

I probably shouldn't blog this so as not to jinx our luck, but....seems like the bathroom projects is starting to come together. We took a trip to the plumbing supply place, and got a run down on the estimate for the fixtures. Turns out to be almost half what we thought it would be Since we bought so much from them, they gave a very generous discount. Also, since this is the second start on this project, the first plumber had ordered the shower kit and toilet. Those items have been sitting in storage since Jan! The sink, vanity, fixtures will take three weeks to come in, but the contractor will have enough stuff to keep him busy on his start date.

Long before I met Neptune(my 360 friend), I had decided the theme for the bathroom would be mermaids. I found some mermaid hooks and thought those would be fun instead of towel bars. I saw some in resin which I liked, but waited too long and one of the mermaids, the blue one I liked best, was discontinued. She who hesitates! Found the ones pictured and decided I liked these better. (Tam, you'll have to have Miss Mossflower knit bandeau tops for the mermaids should you come to visit. ) Not only is there a mermaid, but there is also a Neptune hook. Liked the idea that Himself would have a hook of his own to hang his towel on. Besides replacing towel bars, I plan to use 2 mermaids to hold up the curtain rod for the window.

Som beautiful mermaid paintings have been done by David Delamare. Besides having prints of his work for sale, he also has available tile murals. Thought a mural would be pretty cool, but sadly they are too big for the dollhouse bathroom. Maybe I'll decoupage mermaids on the cabinet doors, a suggestion from Tam.

So, that's the update. As Hannibal was fond of saying, "I love it when a plan comes together."

chimney sweep, red toadstool

Fixtures and Tile

What an overwhelming process picking out fixtures and tile can be. I pretty much knew what I wanted as far as shower, sink, toilet, faucets went. Though I imagine I drove the bath consultant nutty telling her no grooves.

Tile turned out to be another matter. I had in my head a pattern called Dot and Octagon with white octagons and cobalt blue diamonds. At one tile place, we saw the pattern, but it made us both as the octagons and dots were tiny. We went to Best Tile, formerly Boston Tile. It was like walking into a museum. The floors, walls, displays were covered with gorgeous tile, stone, mosaic. The possibilities were endless if you had the and the room. Mostly what we saw was meant for the McMansions and not our little dollhouse. I complained to Himself that poor people need tile too. He said I should start a company. I came up with the name Porpie. Best Tile had beautiful tile, but I had that octagon and dot pattern stuck in my head. Himself suggest we could do the same thing with 4" x 4" white and cobalt tiles. The tile guy would be able to nip the tiles, but that would add to the cost of the job. I left disappointed.

Later, I was sitting in the sunroom playing on the laptop and found a folder labeled bath which I obviously had saved during an Internet hunt. Lo and behold, there was the octagon and dot pattern at Lowe's. We went to check it out and the octagons and dots were a bigger size so people won't when they go into the bathroom. I left a happy that is until the estimate for the bath fixtures arrives. I'll probably need a difribulator.