A few weeks ago I was working at Zinnia which is random because I don't usually work there, and a woman purchased one of my baby monsters.
She was going to send it to a friend in Switzerland.. I love that one of my monsters now lives in Switzerland. Today, Tamara sent me a link to flickr to show me what happened to another one of monsters. He is having quite an adventure. Please go check out what Staci Lee has been up to- it made me laugh!!
And an estate sale, well really even a good dumpster can make me happy. I probably shouldn't really tell folks that part. Yesterday, even though I need NOTHING, I went treasure hunting at the local city college swapmeet. It was great because the heat and the holiday kept the crowds away- well not all of them- I ran into these 2 nice girls..
Michelle Caplin - and Hannah of Hannahmade-
Lucky for me they like me. And lucky for me we were not shopping for the same stuff, cause they are younger than me and I am sure can kick my ass. I do have a rule though, if you flip me the bird, you pretty much get your picture on my blog. My Dad was the first one to find out that I mean it. I also met this cutie yesterday..
I instantly wanted to go home and take a nap in a bowl. How does he make that look so good?? Anyway, I did score some great finds. I got 2 lovely metal frogs that are now holding photos in my living room, and these beautiful cards...
I love numbers and letters- I might just hang some of these on the wall as is. They came in a set and I don't need all of them so some are listed on etsy now. Oh that patina makes me nuts!
Happy 4th of July to you!!
I got pulbished!!!!
In this awesome zine.....
this digital piece.....
which I am sure will be available at Zinnia-
( **giddy**)
June gloom that is. I love this. As many of you know I don't do heat well. And dry heat is just stupid. Yes I love when this burns off and the sun shows up, but I don't mind a little chill. This is the weather that I often find myself wandering in the yard dead heading spent flowers or pulling a weed or two- unfortunately I am still in my p.j's and I am brushing my teeth at the same time. I do love to multi- task. There is just a softness this time of season, and it is short- so I relish it. I probably wouldn't if this was our weather all year.... but for now- if you see a women brushing her teeth wearing crocks and in her p.j.'s give her a cup of coffee and she will probably weed your yard for you.
In any relationship, there comes a time when you let down your guard and show your true stupididty. It isn't a bad thing at all- we all have stupid moments. One of my great ones happened early in Harry's and my relationship. We still talk about it. I have no idea why I thought the way I did, and it still makes me laugh- my moment in the sun involved birds. You know in the morning when you hear the birds kinda cooing? Well, for some reason I got it in my head that they were - wait for it- morning owls. You know, if there are owls at night, there must be morning owls too- right? Harry fell out laughing at that one, and it made me laugh too-and then he set me straight that I was probably hearing pigeons. So, then I decided to call them morning doves. To this day, some 16 years later we still call them morning doves and it is our joke. Good thing I didn't mention the unicorns to him. What brought all this up was a new project I am working on. When I showed it to Harry he wanted to know if it was a morning dove-and then we laughed.
So, that party that I had been working on... happened. YAY! Paul, Joe, and I had been planning since Feb. and getting things in place for it all to go smoothly, and it did! We also had the help of lots of friend who brought food, drink, helped set up flowers. It could not have been done alone. The back story to this party is that our friend Tamara ( owner of Zinnia) had been saying she was going to have a 50th birthday party- which she never did. So when her birthday rolled around again, we jumped on the chance to make it a really special day. It was a complete surprise to her, which made it even more fun for all of us! My brother Turin was so helpful as he spent a day hanging lights through the trees. We set up the cutest bar area, with big buckets and huge container of lavender lemonade. The lemonade container is a bee skep. How cute! The day before the party, we got flowers and Joe and Kari made table arrangements in little vases and jars, and Paul and I hung paper medallions through the trees and placed jars with candles all around the perimeter of the space.
Roses, mint, queen anne's lace,daisy's and bachelors buttons. It couldn't have worked out better!
paper medallions!
and in the dining room from the chandelier...
here is one very blurry pic. of the tables dressed..
It was such a fun evening, so many wonderful people- good food and music-my only regret is that I didn't get very many pictures. You must go see more at Paul's blog. He really captured the magic of the evening.
It has been a rough go lately. It kept me from blogging too, I just didn't want to complain even more than I already was. I will give you the short version. Dad in hospital ( he is fine thank goodness) , childhood friend died,then identity theft, cat died, brother in hospital ( he is fine too- thank goodness) It all happened within a month, and it left me kinda shell shocked. I was actually scared when I woke up each day, at what I would have to face. Thankfully my family is all well- but my dear sweet #1 cat Neko did pass. I have dreaded this since the day I finally admitted that I loved her. She was my soul mate kitty. And she was a really good friend. She will always hold a little piece of my heart.
The remaining kitty clan is adjusting. Poe just runs around and bites things. Anything actually. I have never seen a cat gnaw on a chair before. Tonight he found a super ball- you can imagine...Jackson, I think misses Neko, even though they never got along. I think that we will all find a balance after some time.
Once the tragedies stopped, Harry and I felt the need to bond with friends, and have some joy in the house. So, a party has been planned. I won't tell you much, but I wanted to show you this.. doesn't it look cute? After a warm day of yard cleaning,
and then some watering and washing down- I am loving how everything is growing like crazy... and FYI
Poe helped.
He made me say that- he was gonna bite me otherwise.
Be well & kiss your loved ones.
Who couldn't love this hidden face? Really. I let her sleep on the laundry and didn't fold until Monday, and yes, I did put her "bed" back into the wash.
This is what you get when you pile 5 loads of clean laundry on the dining room table. Cat hair. Of course in our house you are bound to get cat hair anyway...
So let me tell you a story.... It was so spring around here and I was so oddly motivated (don't worry, I am gonna see my Dr. about that ASAP-ish) that I got so many projects done this weekend. I am so proud of myself. I really mean projects too. I painted a bathroom AND did all the cut in first. That is considered optional in my painting rule book. I usually cut in while doing the whole wall. I also spill a lot of paint. I planted, weeded, and planted again. I built more sweet pee t-pees. I went to 2 dance classes! I had a mani /pedi. I off loaded 2 large shelving units in my studio, and then put all the stuff back in the new shelves. I did lots of laundry (for the cat).I hired a guy to carry gravel up the hill, and broken things down the hill. I got rid of stuff. I taught a class and washed litter boxes and snaked a drain. Here is the educational part to the story. While washing litter boxes, it is most undesirable to have the water splash up and land on your LIP!!! I actually had to take a shower- I considered using a pumice stone on my lip. I was grossed out the rest of the night. I didn't even want to sleep on the clean sheets I had just put on the bed. The next morning, I had to snake a drain. Again, very very undesirable to have water from drain splash on your lip. They do not make water hot enough to clean your lips. Soap and wash cloth until numbness sets in does nothing for your mental state. But, I promised educational. I kept thinking about my gross out issue and came up with this solution- and please feel free to use this... especially you parents out there. I figured a health layer of Vaseline would probably keep any cooties off, but why stop there?? How about a small piece of saran wrap on top of that??? It is brilliant don't you think!?! Do you think it will make me look crazy? Do I care?
I'll bet you try it.
O.k. kids- stay clean and I'll see you soon!
but it is definitely spring here. Yesterday was a crazy beautiful day- very nap worthy. Today is sunny but much cooler- and we have some rain warnings for this week. Very spring in L.A. Something that I absolutely wanted to do this year was get some sweet peas in. I missed my window of opportunity last year, and the yard just didn't seem as happy without the show that the peas put on. I have branches that I have saved, and I build these crooked crazy t-pees, and use twine so the peas can climb. For Easter I have a huge egg hunt and it is very fun to hide eggs in with the flowers.
Usually I go to a local nursery to get seeds by the scoop, but they didn't have any this year and I was forced to buy them in little packages. It is making me be very careful with the few seeds that I have. When I get a scoop, I am very generous with my planting. A few here, toss a few over there..
I also decided to put in a little bit of lettuce. I wish lettuce was a summer crop. That is when I want to eat salads! Anyway, the lettuce will look very cute with my sweet pea t-pees.
Can you belive it gets to looking this bad every year? I can't. I actually like the weeds when they are green and flower, and the cats love it. They stalk around chasing moths and jumping things- a true adventure.
Jackson, will usually come out to be with me while I garden. She stands guard- making sure no jumping things get me. Often with her coloring, she will blend in and become camo kitty.
These are a few of the volunteers from last years nasturtiums. I love volunteers. These guys are growing in a stone and cement composting bin that my great grandfather built for my grandmother when he was out visiting her one year. My grandmother accidentally planted a lemon tree to close to the opening where you would get the compost out, so now I use it as a planter. I love nasturtiums. So did my grandmother. My Mom always thought of them as poor peoples flower. She grew up on a dairy and the flowers that they had were hollyhocks and nasturtiums. She thought geraniums were much better. I never cared much for geraniums-but their ease is growing on me.Meanwhile in my grandmothers memory, I scatter as many nasturtiums as I can. Wish my sweetpeas luck!
Hope you have a lovely day-
