Do you remember a 1940s cartoon in which a slick wolf sitting in a nightclub starts howling and making big eyes at a sultry femme fatale voice singing stage right? No, then check this youtube link and come back, please. Back, good. We can proceed. That wolf was me when I laid first glance at the decoupage rocks in the sunlight. Whoaaaaa! These are my first experiments decoupaging rocks. Yup, they are. (Imagine my big smile!) A decoupage rock is one of my planned entries for the county fair in a few weeks. Maybe one of these if I don't get a chance to play with more possibilities. Easy-peasy: Paint one side of rocks white. Dry. Paint other side of rocks white. Dry. Tear pictures to fit rocks to your pleasure. Glue pictures to rocks with decoupage medium.  Dry. At first I wanted to use pretty paper napkins for my pictures. I got excited about shopping at the party supply store. Then I recalled the last time I was there. The aisles were messy and little kids talked loudl

Despite the current state of our world and the fruit flies in the backyard, I am enjoying the summer with the Husband, Molly the Cat, and Friends.  Yes, that is a bureau in front of the house. It was Mama's, one of the first pieces of furniture Daddy bought her in the late 1940s. I brought it outside earlier this year but only got around to painting it in June. I like to think Mama's Spirit is okay with that. On Saturday, my high school graduating class held its annual Class of 1971 Scholarship fundraiser. For the past 10 years or so we have awarded a $2,000 scholarship to a graduating senior. We're the first, and still only, class to have established a scholarship at our high school. Pretty good for us, slackers. Yes, we were when compared to the achievers in the class on either side of us. That's okay, look at us now. Go '71 HayBalers! For the fundraiser's silent auction, I donated this one-of-a-kind, perfectly imperfectly handcrafted coffee cup cozy. 

Lately, I've been thinking again about earning a bit of pocket money. If I applied myself, I could find a writing gig or two, but I'm not ready. I don't know if I'll ever be ready again. When I was a young thing living in San Francisco, I daydreamed about being a street artist selling her creations to locals and tourists. I had one major detail missing in my daydream. I didn't create anything. Nada. Zilch. Zip. But now, all the experimenting I've been doing with paints, fabric, plants, and junk, maybe, just maybe, my daydream may come true. And, if not, I'm certainly having loads of fun. I'm also learning that there's more than one story in a painting. When I started painting this tile, I thought about creating an outdoor scene with overt dollar signs and calling it Stand United Against Greed. I was ticked off at that moment about the current government's dismantling of environment laws and regulations. The result is what you see

i That apricot tree grew from a seed that Mama ate and planted, which came from her Blenheim apricot tree. That makes this a second generation tree, but not necessarily a Blenheim according to some experts. The apricots are delicious, Blenheim or not. ii I can forget something I thought of minutes ago because I climbed upstairs to the office so I could plop it into the computer. Where are pen and paper when I need them? iii Two Sundays ago we stayed overnight in a faraway place and it wasn't because one of us had to have surgery. Hurrah! That's what our last few overnighters had been. Not two Sundays ago. We drove straight across the state to Shaver Lake in the Central Sierra Nevadas. A lot of driving that we weren't used to, but it was well worth it. iv How fun it was to zig and zag, to go down a road with matured abandon (mature abandonment? oxymoron phrases, both?). Left, right, right, right, left. . .too late. oh well,  turn right, this road runs paralle

I've been barefooting in crazy fun, hence the absence this time. :-) The Husband is continually rediscovering delights with his new lenses. For instance, whenever he comes back from throwing the garbage, he gleefully reports that he can see so many stars, bright ones, too. Wait until he sees the night sky in the Sierras. Oh my! I got brave and made an appointment with the ophthalmologist to get the process going for cataract surgery for me.  I want to see a lot of stars.   Molly the Cat seems to like the new changes we've been making both indoors and outside.  Look at her sitting on the throne, a makeshift bench in the backyard. She claimed that this evening. In May we decided to throw a party as a means to get us off our lazy derrieres. So, the past two weeks we've been cleaning, clearing boxes from rooms, moving things around, and putting up stuff on the walls. We had a wonderful superfun party last Saturday. And, now we have a clean house. As for me, I'

Tried and True? Or, an experiment? That's what I asked the Husband, who took himself out of the science fiction story he was reading for the nearly-one-too-many time, within probably 15 minutes. I am a fortunate woman because the Husband didn't ignore me, nor grunted, then ignored me or snarlingly said, "What." The Husband, instead, looked up from his book and asked, "I don't know what you're talking about. What are you referring to?" ("Now" is what I added in my head.) "What do you think?" I asked. "Should I make the olive cheese balls the usual way or try something different?" He pondered and considered (I love that) before having a level-headed discussion with a whirly-minded woman as myself. We agreed the only constant (kinda) was the cheesy-buttery dough because the types of olives and cheese rarely were the same combination as the first time I made the recipe. I could refer to the recipe, but I do

1. The outdoor work table is set up for the summer. Whooo-hooo! 2. I wore a bra all day yesterday because I had planned to work in the front yard (which didn't happen). Must not scare the citizens, you know. So different from the days of youth when I thought nothing of wearing nothing beneath a cotton ribbed tank top. 3. Flower seeds in my bra! I have no idea how long they've been wandering within that space between the cups' lace and backing. I can't get them out without cutting the lace, and that I'm not going to do until I buy another bra. The flat seeds look familiar, which I'm sure are of flowers I've grown, but what kind of flower eludes me. How did the seeds get in my bra? Probably when it got washed with a pair of shorts which pockets I didn't search. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.   I enjoy slapping paint on wood. These pieces of redwood were once part of a wooden barrel that I broke apart earlier this year. They'll look good in the yard somewher

In about 15 minutes, a public community TV station will broadcast live our city council meeting. I don't want to miss the broadcast because a lot of feathers ought to be flying at some point of the meeting. One of major issues is back on the table to discuss: An appeal to stop the construction of  a building for condos and retail stores, as well as a building for the local community foundation on  a block in downtown Hollister that has been vacant since the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. That's all I'll say so I can get my tortilla chips and lemonade before the meeting starts. I''ve created two photo collages for Mosaic Monday , a meme hosted by Angie of Letting Go of the Bay Leaf . The light switch covers I painted in May are the subject of the top photo collage while the faces in rocks off the side of highway make up this second collage. For the latter's inspiration check out the highway wall photo (last one) in yesterday's post . Click here t

1. I just turned on the computer so as to maybe write a post. How long has it been? 2. A City water department employee told me over the phone that the $150 credit on our utility bill was for the deposit we placed when we opened the account, which is returned after three years at an address. I don't remember forking over $150, nor does the Husband. 3. I called the car rental place for a pick-up. It's a free service, so why not? We've been renting cars the past few months to get to the Husband's eye appointments up in the crazy freeway world of the San Francisco Bay Area. The Husband's cataracts were destroyed and he can now see 20/30 in his right eye and 20/25 in his left eye without glasses. 4. Sudoku is my newest addiction. I did 5 or 6 puzzles this morning. Yesterday, lovely friend L dropped by with a Sudoku puzzle magazine in LARGE Print. Whoooo-hoooo! 5. Pride vs. Prejudice  by Joan Hess is what I'm currently reading. Today I learned that the woman accuse

A few weeks ago Saturday Night Live featured a video about two women talking about their hobbies. Oh my gosh,  I recognized myself. When I was a young single thing living la dolce vita in San Francisco, a guy I met for coffee asked, "What are your hobbies?" "Hobbies?" "Interests. What do you like to do?" Totally stumped, I was. I liked to read and write, but I didn't consider those activities as hobbies. They were simply a part of what I did.  Without trying, in the last three years, I've embraced hobbies. Sewing, drawing, painting, gardening, and crafting are what have showed up at my door, thus far. That guy at the cafe 40 years ago? I never saw him again. SO, MOLLY DID The other day I didn't feel like folding the pieces of fabric I laid out on the bed in L Studio. It wasn't going to bother me if Molly the Cat felt like lying on top of the fabric. I told her so, too, before I sat down to contemplate how much of the vari

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