ArtShare MeMe

Artshare Meme
I saw this on Deirdre's Sloppy Studio Studies blog, she saw it on Emmy Schoonbeek's blog (and she saw it on Arlee's... who saw it on Skybell's ...)

So if you want to play along, read this and you wil get a piece of art from me , but you must follow the instructions.

The first five people to respond to this in the comments section will receive a piece of artwork from me.

BUT, in addition to the comments you have to post this same blurb to your blog too and continue sharing the art with people who respond to you.

What will you get?

It will be a surprise, but you will have it before the end of November!.......

Rusted Hollyhocks, drat!

I spoke too soon, the hollyhocks have rust now. But, hey, it is the end of October and new plants have sprouted and are blooming. "Always look on the bright side of life!" Tuneful whistling..

Here is a white and frilly one. Not bug eaten, but affected with rust a bit.

And another thing in the same sunny corner of the garden is borage. The happy plant! With yummy blossoms.

Lastly, my new favorite picture of Zelda the wonder dog. This is our ugly front door screen, which I have been scheming to replace for years. It has been repaired many times. Son Z crashed out of the house one morning kicking the bottom corner out.
Then Spike the teenaged cat (no longer kitten) started going in and out. So it got a little bent out of shape.
Then Zelda ran through it when she was dashing for some deer on the lawn chasing action. But she can't come back in that way, although she tries, and gets stuck which is rather hilarious.

Think I oughta get a new screen door now??

New Roof, Hurting Tree

Here's the new roof, overlaying the existing house, as seen through our almond tree.
This is our final weekend to empty out the top story of the house, next week the roofing, siding and windows go in so they can bust through into the existing house. How exciting!

But we've noticed that this poor almond tree has moss and lichen growing on the lower part of it, I'm not sure what to do with it! I suppose I could cut off the affected branches and see if that helps or not. I'd hate to lose this tree, it is the squirrel's favorite!

Superfluous Signage

Here is my favorite new sign around here. It says "HILL". Talk about superfluous! (I've been thinking about that word all week, finally got to use it, hooray!)
I drive this road everytime I leave the house.

Here's a closeup of the sign which cracks me up. Someone has added stickers that spell out"DUH!". Indeed. DUH! What is your clue that this is a hill people? Geez, you've just been driving for a bout two miles with your car pointed downhill, and all of a sudden you need a sign saying "HILL". Whattawasteo'money!

Puffy Cloud Detail

Here is a detail of a quilt I just finished for the Fabled Fibers challenge. A cloud made with tuelle net, chiffon, angelina fiber and lots o' stitching. Now that I look at it, the cloud is almost Africa continent shaped. I guess you can find anything in the clouds if you look hard enough.

A buncha stuff!

I just finished up a quilt, but it is for a challenge, and I can't show it quite yet, I think. I'll check and let you know.

Dead flowers are pretty too! Oh yes they are! Finally found some marigolds which are blooming away, gotta keep them pinched back, I sprinkle the deadheads around in my pots for extra color. This is a columbine plant in this pot by the way, done flowering for the season of course.

A rather hefty Garlic braid, part of our last basket of the year from Camp Joy. Good thing we love our garlic around here! I'm going to miss all that fabulous, fresh, organic produce every week. Especially the tomatoes and the grapes.

Peak of the roof is on now. Starting to look like a house again! My studio is almost emptied out into the storage unit we rented. I feel really silly carrying my boxes of fabric out to the car, driving 12 miles, transferring the boxes into the storage unit, and driving back. And then I'll have to do it in reverse. Whine, whinge! At least I HAVE fabric to drive around in this silly fashion, oh and a car, and gas money.

Are you voting? Are you registered? If not, why not?!

Walking up and down my street

I've been parking a ways up the street so that the contractor's and their giant trucks can use the driveway. Of course it is the steepest part of the road, makes for good exercise, and Zelda the wonderdog likes the extra walks. Of course I had to take my camera along since it sees so differently than I do!

A nice view. BUT See that red? It's poison oak! Aieeee!

The red berries of autumn, don't they look yummy? Not sure if they are edible. Wonder if they would dye something red??

What's this? The new kitty, Spike is following us up the road, meowing rather pitifully. He doesn't know any better.I scooped him up and loaded him in the car to drive back to the house. He wasn't happy about that at all!

Zelda sniffing her way down the road.

Not scared of my own shadow! Nope not me! doesn't this shape look like one of those clay Chinese warrior statues?

Early fruits of fall. Don't eat them even though they look like pears.

First view of the new roof as you come down the road. Framed by the dark shade of the redwoods that surround the road that I'm standing on.

Here's how it is looking from the driveway. Wow, a high peak!

Zelda in the construction zone. No she isn't helping with the digging of the the new patio site. Lazy dog!
She is also "helping" the workers as they move all the materials around. Helping meaning tripping or bumping into them. Helpful isn't a well-defined word for a labrador I guess! Luckily they all love her and great her every morning.

House Progress!

House Progress is happening! Here is the framing of the part being added over the garage. It is soooo fun to see where the new room are, and if they are as we imagined them. We picked out windows too. I'm most excited about the garden window over the new bathtub in the "master bath".
The roof for this part is going on this week, it will reach over the current peak of the house. Then, we'll be busting out the existing walls of the upstairs. Which means boyz room and my stooodio are getting packed up in the next week. Wish me lots of unflagging energy please, I'll need it!

West Coast Pyramid

Poetry Thursday on Friday

Picture of newspaper bales to be recycled from Murfy Recycling in Australia. Isn't this a beautiful picture? I went looking for something to illustrate this post, but this one stopped me in my tracks. I love the colors, but the lines, horizontal across the bale and the ceiling too are really striking. This reminds me of just how much we recycle now. Our recycling bin is twice the size of our garbage bin. The recycling bin is always, every week without fail overflowing. Usually the garbage is maybe 2/3 full. We are really into this recycling this now. It has become a habit, not a problem anymore to do it.

Yes, I'm a day late, but anyways. For Poetry Thursday, here is a poem inspired by the headlines in the newspaper I read today, the San Jose Mercury News of Friday, 10/13/06.

I Read the News Today, Oh Boy

by Julie Zaccone Stiller

Shock, Sadness, Despair

Emotion packs the headlines

Warning, Pervade, Balk

Action words carry the mood

Mystery, Crash, Waste

Solid yet slippery concepts confuse

Political, Bigger, New

Describing our world in easy terms

Murder, Arson, Poisoning

Destroying life and property

New, Testing, Matters

Questioning what comes next and why

All in one page

worries of the society

on center stage

keeping us entertained

as we obsess

who can we trust with our future?

Do you Nanowrimo?

It is almost that time again.
I'm going to try one more time.
This is it.
The last time for me.
And I fully intend to finish 50,000 words in one month.
Even with all the construction craziness happening, I'm going to do it anyways.
I won't be able to quilt really, so this will be my creative outlet for the month of November!
If you want to add me as a writing buddy, let me know...

Self Portrait Tuesday: Mustache Confidential

Self Portrait Challenge is all about the flaws this month. So, Gulp, here it is: the only thing I obsess about.

My flaw, my stache, my mark of aging.

My old-lady Sicilian mustache is showing right on schedule. I'll be 42 in December. I remember petting my great-grandma's mustache (a little bent-over Sicilian lady). She was called Mama Nono by the way. I asked her about it, in that innocent way that oblivious children have and she responded with an unsatisfying answer about that is what happens when you get older. So I put that aside as just one of those weird things grownups say. Then I got older myself. And lo and behold there it is, just as she said.
I've tried just about everything to get rid of it:
- bleaching (works, but the hair is still there, just less noticeable),
- waxing(lips swollen,cracked, and numb, a bad reaction),
- depilatory(lips numb for a week!)
- tweezing (ouch).
I refuse to even try shaving. Oh well, guess I'm stuck with it and shall try to wear it proudly as a mark of my Sicilian heritage! And as a badge of achievement for making it to this advanced age! Woohoo me!

I know I'm not quite a bearded lady yet...but who knows! I may eventually have great-grandchildren to terrorize with my excessive facial hair.

Well, if I have to have a mustache, perhaps I will grow one like Salvador Dali's!

Meme Catch-up

Time for some meme (or MeMe) action.

DebR wants to know: And the rules are, I have to answer JUST yes or no. No elaborating or explaining or equivocating. Sheesh. So to leave you wondering the sordid or boring details, here are my answers.

Have you ever:
1. Taken a picture completely naked? yes
2. Danced in front of a mirror naked? yes
3. Told a lie? yes
4. Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back? yes
5. Been arrested? no
6. Seen someone die? no
7. Kissed a picture? yes
8. Slept in until 5pm? no
9. Had sex at work (on the clock)? no
10. Fallen asleep at work/school? yes
11. Held a snake? yes
12. Ran a red light? yes
13. Been suspended from school? no
14. Pole danced? no
15. Been fired from a job? yes
16. Sang karaoke? no
17. Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? yes
18. Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? yes
19. Laughed until you peed? yes
20. Caught a snowflake on your tongue? yes
21. Kissed in the rain? yes
22. Had sex in the rain? yes
23. Sang in the shower? yes
24. Gave your private parts a nickname? no
25. Ever gone to school/work without underwear? yes
26. Sat on a roof top? yes
27. Played chicken? no
28. Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? yes
29. Broken a bone? yes
30. Flashed someone? yes
31. Mooned someone? yes
32. Shaved your head? no
33. Slept naked? yes
34. Blacked out from drinking? yes
35. Played a prank on someone? yes
36. Had a gym membership? yes
37. Felt like killing someone? yes
38. Cried over someone you were in love with? yes
39. Had Mexican jumping beans for pets? yes
40. Been in a band? yes
41. Shot a gun? yes
42. Shot a bow and arrow? yes
43. Played strip poker? yes
44. Donated Blood? yes
45. Ever jump out of an airplane? no
46. Been to more than 10 countries? yes

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Several others on the blog ring have done the 5 weird things about me meme. This is an intriguing one, and I started to do it right away and then I had to think it over. Is it things I think are weird about me? Or things that I think *other* people would think are weird about me? A shift in perspective, eh?

So 5 things I know you'll think are weird about me:

1. I am entirely proud of my belly stretchmarks from having my kids. They are a beautiful, now silvery smooth reminder of that extremely special time. And they remind me also that my body is very powerful and flexible, sometimes I need that visual, visceral reminder when I'm down about how I'm feeling.

2. I love to eat dried seaweed. Seaweed crunchies are my favorite. I can't eat too many because of the saltiness. Better than eating chocolate all day long. My acupuncturist suggested them last year, and I get some whenever I go to the health food grocery store.

3. I sleep with my baby blanket under my pillow. It is pink crocheted cotton, and the cool texture helps me go to sleep superfast. It has one hole which I tried to repair when I was learning to crochet (around age 10), the yarn I used for the repair is bright green. As I recall, my great-grandma made it for me, and it has always been on my bed.

4. I wear my hair up all the time, yet I have long hair. It just makes me hot or cranky or fussy when it is on my neck. It gets in the way when I am gardening or painting or sewing. Why not just cut it short? Gooood question! Don't expect an answer though, I haven't figured this one out.

5. I have about 30 bottles of nail polish and hardly ever polish my nails. I keep buying it though. An old habit? Wishful thinking? Delusions of grandeur? Yup, all of the above.

So there, many tidbits so you'll know just how weird I am....

Poetry Thursday

For Poetry Thursday today, a body related poem. Thanks to Dover and DaVinci for the illustration.

Body As Temple
By Julie Zaccone Stiller

I am more than my body
My visible parts claim only the physical space
I am in here, inside this soul-temple
My container, receptacle, pod, vessel
I am seeing out through its' windows
My eyes have seen many glories
I am holding this pen with its' crabbed digits
My fingers do the walking
I am hearing the world with its' receivers
My ears hear more than is said
I am moving over the surfaces
My moveable temple always ready for the feast

Pets Hanging Out

Zelda the wonder dog, waiting, oh so patiently for the boys after school.

Spike is very relaxed now. I've never had a cat that lays down like this. Funny beasts they are!

Self Portrait Challenge - Imperfection of Me

For the Self Portrait Challenge this week.

Imperfect me, imperfect rose. Still beauty-full though! Celebrating imperfection. That is what makes me (and you too by the way!) *interesting*. And I mean interesting in a GOOD way.
What is imperfect about this part of me? The bad skin, even on my hands these days. Every little cat scratch or bug bite turns into a big deal.
What is imperfect about this rose? Well it is not supposed to be a triple, only a single, variety is Mt. Hood by the way.

I still love my hands, and my roses, imperfections and all. Obsessing about what isn't perfect is perhaps for the young, I know I vaguely remember doing it a whole lot, way back when. Maybe now I've realized that life is too damn short to spend worrying about every little thing. Work with what you've got, move on, enjoy your life, now!