Dear Blogging Friends, I appreciate your concern to what Jeanna nicely asks, ". . .where the hells are ya?" Time flew. Words stuttered. Thoughts blocked. Fog erased sentences. I shrugged it off by becoming a mad demon downsizing the stuff in the garage and house so that all the stuff that has been in storage for 15 years may get shoved into the garage.  Of course, the decision to make this happen was three weeks before the Husband had his first cataract surgery. Once that happened, he won't be able to lift, carry, and manipulate heavy objects until June. (He has his second cataract surgery in May.) Success! Everything got moved and fit in the garage. Success! The Husband was able to read 20/25 on the eye chart with his new left lens less than 24 hours after his procedure. Pretty good from 20/800. "Keep busy" is the advice some people like to give those who recently lose someone. I didn't understand that when the First Husband died in 1995 nor

The other day, friends (whom I've known since elementary school) and I were kidding about not knowing what we want to be when we grow up.  Then I realized that I did know and that I was doing it: Playing at being an artist. And, not just with words. Whooo-hooo! A couple weeks ago I finished my first painting. It's on the concrete step outside the patio window. Some of you may remember the bottles I painted earlier this month. I let a few of them dry on that concrete step, which left paint stains. I decided that painting over the stains was the best way to get rid of them. And, so I did. BOOK PLANTER I made one! It was easy-peasy. If you want to give it a try, do a search for "book planter" in your browser. One of these days, I'll share my method once I've got it down. I have another book ready to be planted and four more prepped to carve. My first book planter became a housewarming gift. The yellow glassy thing (in the middle photo above) i

Once upon a time there were people who collected other people's trash and resold the items. Some of these early recycling entrepreneurs were said to go down the street calling out something like "I'm here for any rags, bottles, and bones." Rags, bottles, and bones. For me, it would be books rather than bones. But, I'm not looking to purchase any rags, bottles, or books. Not at all. I mention the phrase because the past week, I've been repurposing fabric scraps, wine bottles, and old books. RAGS The elephant scene (above) is my first try at fabric art. I machine stitched everything but the the red flowery thing, which is the top of a tree, onto a purple napkin. The zipper is the second, if not the first, one I've ever sewn. I have several more purple napkins and a whole bunch of scraps so I might experiment with more fabric art. We shall see. BOTTLES Last year I decided to make a garden border with wine bottles that I collected mostly from our

Last year I discovered that I enjoy repurposing stuff into colorful planters and whatevers to hang out in the garden.  The last couple of days I've been getting ready for when I can set up my work table on the patio. I've already got a whole bunch of things set aside that have potential into becoming garden art. a bunch of plain tiles a plastic storage bin (from a freezer?) a metal Christmas tree stand cut pieces of garden hose rocks soup bowls part of a bougainvillea stump the Husband pulled out from the front yard a floor lamp with several arms  a vanity dresser 2-gallon black plastic pots wine glasses wire food wrap organizer old decayed boards A lot of fun coming up ahead.   :-) I'm hanging out at several memes. Hope you have a chance to check them out. Thanks to all the wonderful hosts! ABC Wednesday Thursday 13 I Like Thursdays   

Here we are again, Molly the Cat and I, uniting for another post. MOLLY'S MONDAY #16 Missus Lady asked, "What shall we write about today, Molly?" I flicked my tail. "Aren't you coming up with me?" She slowly climbed up the second set of steps to the upstairs landing. I flicked my tail. "Then I'm just posting photos." I flicked my tail. OFF MY GROOVE That Missy Girl! I appreciate her escorting me up to the first landing. I have no idea where she decided to snooze. Zzzzzzzz, I feel like my head has taken a snooze. It's what happens after I play several rounds of an online word scramble game or do an online jigsaw puzzle or two. Yup, I'm back to doing the puzzles. Two months ago , I swore off doing online puzzles because my fingers locked in Spock's "Live long and prosper" sign. So far, my fingers have been okey-dokey. Knock on wood. I've been having a slow time getting back into blogging, or any kin

Ha-haaah! Two days ago marked one full year of posting every day on this blog. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Last October I was feeling quite aimless.  Within two years, the Mama died of old age, the Husband got a pacemaker, and my reproductive system, along with a bit of cancer, was cut away. Yes, I had an excuse, if I needed one, to feel aimless.  Except I didn't want to feel aimless, which for me could lead to digging a deeper crevice in which to fall. So, I committed myself to this blog. Post every day I told myself. Original posts, preferably. On wordless days, I looked in my archives for something to share. One year later, do I still feel aimless? Buzzed is more like it. Buzzing like a bee flitting from one flower to the next. My flowers are artsy and craftsy repurposing rojects of all manner. Fun projects are revealing themselves to me, left and right. What to do? Which to attempt first? I also want to finish reading Anne Perry's Dark Tide Risin

The fog rushed back in after the sun said good morning. It was strange to watch it fill in the sky rather than fade westerly. Thick, too. So pea-soupy thick, the birds flew low overhead. If I hadn't seen them I would've thought they were bats by the sound they made. Plap, plap, plap.  The other day I mentioned that I was painting a rice dispenser, which can hold about 25 to 30 pounds of rice, maybe a bit more. A couple years ago I tried selling it at a garage sale. No takers. Earlier this week I decided it can sit in the garden rather than the garage. The Mama stopped using it a few years after the Husband and I moved in with her. She switched over to storing rice in big tins that once held her favorite crackers. I think she simply liked the idea of keeping rice in happy looking canisters rather than a dull plastic looking thing. The rice dispenser is no longer dull, and it no longer stores rice. Now, its job is to hold potting soil. Ha! Here's what the other

I'm like a kid with new toys. Outside waiting for me is a 30-pound rice dispenser to get a coating of modpodge and a wooden bookshelf to either be painted or decoupaged with paper or fabric. And then there are the succulents looking forward to their new flashy, colorful homes . This morning we brought home a bunch of boxes of children books from our storage locker.  Oh gosh, oh gee, more new toys! Yaaaay! Some of the boxes may hold some of my books, hurrah! I know I didn't get rid of my Winnie-the-Pooh books and A.A. Milne's children poetry books.  All the books will be like brand new since I haven't seen them in 15 years. Before we can open the boxes, we need a bookshelf ready to receive the books. Hmmm. Mi scusi, per favore, madame e signori. :-)

Have I already mentioned that I am in a painting frenzy at the moment? Rocks, warped boards, planter pots, dishes, and whatever else comes into my vision when I have leftover paint on my brush and and plate. Waste not, want not is me. I mention it, again, if I have, because there is a three-foot metal rice dispenser outside waiting for me to finish painting. So, not much chatting from me today. Would painting something a day keep the doctor away? I'm good for months, if that's so.

This morning I had a wonderful time imagining and experimenting while soaking in autumnal sun bubbles. My intention was to make wreaths out of apple branches I pruned last week, but I couldn't find the green wire that I set aside for the wind chimes the Husband and I will make out of keys. I lost track of the wire on Friday. Yes, I know I should've put it away where I could find it, but that was where it was, until it wasn't. Just as well. The apple branches didn't look exciting, so I threw them in the compost bin. When I turned around, I saw a pot perfect for the pineapple sage plant (aka Pinya) we bought yesterday. Look at the photo above to see the painted result. The Husband said the combination of the colors reminded him of the Southwest. My inspiration for the blue was the blue in Sitting Bull's war shirt as portrayed in the movie Woman Walks Ahead . Have you seen it? It's about Catherine Weldon, the woman who painted Sitting Bull's portrait,

Toot-toot. I came home with first, second, third, fourth, and honorable mention ribbons for my entries in our county fair this weekend. Toot-toot. "The Train Thistle" is what I call my dry floral arrangement for the category San Benito Hidden Beauty , in which participants must use dry vegetation native to our county. I picked thistles. I entered three dry arrangements and three fresh ones.  I entered one of the Mama's geraniums. I can imagine the Mama's spirit smiling as well as tsking as to why didn't she get a blue ribbon. My painted gourd for the garden art category got honorable mention. That was nice of the judges to give me a place, because there were only four of us participating. Each year fewer adults take part in the various baking, canning, crafts, floriculture, fine arts, sewing, and quilting divisions. That's too bad. When I brought in my flower arrangements, one of women in charge commented on me having the most entries.

I decided to enter the garden art class in the repurposed and recycled crafts category for the county fair. The instructions were simple: Take one item (any item), photograph it, then turn it into garden art. My first idea was to make an asterisk out of a tree branch. It worked, but looked too clumsy. Next idea was to create an elephant out of chicken wire. It was turning out well but safety became an issue with all the sharp points. So I abandoned the project for another day. Then came the mini aluminum decorative milk can, pictured above. Too bad I painted the lid shut so I couldn't plant a succulent in it. (I'll work on getting it open later.) Finally, something worked. I painted one of the Mama's dried gourds that I found in the garage. It's one she grew for seeds. If anyone asks me what it's purpose will be in the garden, I'll say "Birdhouse." lol Time for me to clean up and take the entries to the fairgrounds. When I get back, I&#