Pitiful Pearl

Yesterday was not a good day.  Didn't feel well all day.  I did write and schedule several book reviews for the book blog, but that was about all.  I finally gave up on getting anything done and settled in to read for a while; that wasn't entirely successful, either.  Took a long nap.  Read a little more.  Went to bed.

Better today, but not exactly perky.  "Enjoying the benefits of ill health" as the saying goes.  Today, I feel well enough to do a few things, but not energetic enough to do what I should be doing:  laundry, vacuuming, etc.  Balance the checkbook?  No.  Nothing that involves strenuous activity of mind or body.

Well enough to read and drink a cuppa green tea (or several).  Yes.  Maybe watch some of my latest Netflix acquisitions and do some embroidery. Yes.  I think I can manage those items quite nicely.  Yesterday, I was unable to enjoy the benefits of ill health; today I can.  :)

Cock-a-Doodle-Do

I think I'm finished with the rooster lady. 

click to enlarge any of the photos

She's picked a flower from her garden and gathered her eggs.

She's been sanded and gessoed (repeatedly), painted, crackled (not that the crackle is really visible), washed with brown a couple of times, and sealed. 

I played with her a while, and created a collage, now it is time to call it a day  and let her go fry some eggs for breakfast.

The picture on the far right is before she got her skin tone; she has a kind of Kabuki Mask look in that one.  I was disappointed in the crackling; it is too fine too show unless you are looking closely.

I'm not that happy with the other two in progress, but sometimes they surprise me, so I'll give them another chance or two.   

Yesterday's yoga practice was a routine for anxiety.  Not that I was experiencing anxiety at the time, but I often do have difficulties with a generalized anxiety. Today I concentrated on neck and shoulders, again, not because of specific complaint, although I do have occasional problems with neck and shoulders, especially during the winter months.  Tomorrow, I think I'll try a Viniyoga practice for hypothyroidism.  My medication adjustment seems to be working quite well, but I am having fun going through the various practices.
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Amelia and I went to see The Girl Who Played With Fire at the Robinson last night.  The film, based on the second novel in Stieg Larsson's Millennium series, is Swedish and has subtitles.  Although I've read many reviews of the film and most are very positive, Amelia and I were disappointed.  The film concentrated on the action and not the characters or even on Larsson's original plot.  It was like visual outtakes of action scenes from the story slapped together in more or less chronological order, without all the meat of the meat concerning character development and background. 

We both wondered how much we would have understood if we had not read the book before seeing the film.  The characters had little depth and didn't fit our vision of how they should look.  It is always difficult to accept a film after reading the book because you have formed such vivid mental images of the people, the locations, the events.  Larsson's books are long and involved; the film must have been a great challenge when deciding what to include, what to omit. I didn't find their choices entirely successful.  It will be interesting to how Hollywood approaches the transition from novel to film.

After the movie, we went to Indigo, an Indian restaurant.  Amelia ordered lamb dumplings and I ordered roasted eggplant.  Then we split...  Both dishes were delicious.  There was plenty left over for take-away, too!
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Did you know that you can actually alter DNA by what you are thinking?  Glen Rein discovered that people holding DNA (genetic material) in solution in a test tube were able to alter the DNA by "allowing their hearts to be full of positive and loving emotions."

Believing that your thoughts and emotions can change your attitude is one thing, but seeing scientific studies that illustrate the concept in some factual way is marvelous.  The same participants were given ECGs and their heart rhythms became more rhythmic when thinking loving, appreciative thoughts.  Read an excerpt about the studies here. 
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Back to working on the 3 dolls in progress.

Friday

Another lovely beginning to the day!  Another day with low humidity!  Wonderful!

I'm also excited because Amelia and I are going to see The Girl Who Plays with Fire this evening at the Robinson Film Center. 

More work on the dolls yesterday.  It is strange that I can spend so many hours and have so little to show for it.  On the other hand, the hours fly by, and I'm usually amazed to see that it is almost time for Fee to be home, and I still haven't so much as thought about what to fix for dinner.  Today, sand and gesso, sand and gesso...


Cool link to Dr. Seuss, stories behind the stories.   

And watch this emu dance to impress his lady!

:)

When I got home from last night's yoga class, the house smelled wonderful.  Pizza in the oven!  Not the homemade pizza I'd planned to make, but Papa Murphy's Take & Bake.  Delicious!  While I'm always grateful for the things my sweet husband does, I really appreciated coming home to a Mediterranean pizza.

So... the house smells like great pizza, food is imminent, AND THEN 

Fee shows me my early birthday present (really early) from Amelia!  A Nook.  The Kindle is great, but you can't share books or check out library books with the Kindle...and you can with the Nook!  I read too much to have to buy books, so I'm selective in the buying. 

Books on quilting, crafting, yoga, history, psychology, popular science, etc., I'll read more than once and refer to frequently, and I am perfectly willing to purchase these.  Fiction, however, is usually from the library or from publishers who send me Advanced Reader's Copies.  Now I can share "borrow" books from Amelia and check out library books and read them on my New Nook!  What a wonderful daughter!

A little more progress on dolls:

 Yeah, it is going pretty slow, but I did get some more paper clay.  I keep getting sidetracked, in all kinds of ways. 

This morning's sadhana was a practice that emphasized inhalation.  My morning practices (which I love) had become a bit too routine, and I was doing pretty much the same thing every morning.  Adding a little variety for the last few mornings (emphasis on lower back, emphasis on scoliosis, and today, emphasis on lengthening inhalation) has been fun;  especially since the last two night classes have been strenuous, doing the slow and easy morning routines feel especially good.  I've been using Gary Kraftsow's practices for the past 3 days and enjoying the benefits.

Bryce Eleanor

 just left.  I miss her the moment she says, "Goodbye, Jenny Claire!"  We had our Good Morning, Granddaddy! Good Morning, Edgar! Good Morning, Stinker! Good Morning, Lucy! Good Morning, World!  moments.  She ate her strawberries, got dressed, suffered her hair to be brushed, gathered her things, and went off to see her accomplice in crime, John David. 

Every Wednesday morning, she cheerfully gets ready to leave so she can go see John David.  Quite a pair, those two.

We spent of time yesterday looking for "the missing L" (it took me a while to understand what she was saying, but the ABC puzzle held the clue:  the L was missing.  A blank space.  We looked and looked, but evidently Edgar had managed to secret it away.  In the pic below, the L was still present.

This morning, we found the missing L, but by this time the Q was missing.  I'll have to search for it in a little while when I begin the whirlwind clean-up of gathering books, blocks, etc. and putting them away until next week.

She took a couple of books with her to day care, along with my little notepad that I really didn't want her to take.  It has a picture of her and Jenny Claire's Jottings (Amelia gave it to me), and I use it for my errand and grocery lists.  Bryce Eleanor, however, was reading the blank pages, telling her own story as she flipped the pages.  I was so enchanted with her story that losing my notepad was less important.

Yesterday, I did a long slow yoga sadhana for the back.  The hour passed so slowly and so quickly with not one strenuous asana:  just breathing, relaxing, and stretching and warming the back muscles.  It made a world of difference, and I will be heading upstairs for a repeat in a few minutes.  Although, I can do strenuous practices and some difficult poses and enjoy doing them in yoga classes, my preference is for my own practice and concentrating on breath, taking my time, losing myself in an almost meditative state.

The weather right now is wonderful!  We are having a cool snap; the high today is predicted to be 93 with low humidity.  How greatly appreciated is this relief in heat and humidity! 

Then back to work on some dolls.  :)  How I love the feeling of time passing in that slow/quick way when doing yoga or working with clay and fabric.  Tai Chi, yoga, playing with clay, sewing, embroidering, doodling/moodling...all take me away from past and future and into a lovely contentment.

What is going on in your world today?   What activities put you in the zone, that strange flow of absorption and joy?  Physical, mental, methodical...?  

WIPs

Finally, getting back to working with dolls.  Am I completing all those I left in process?  No, but at last a little inspiration for some new dolls.

...different stages of progress.  Actually, lady with the rooster is one of those that I tried to get back in the swing of things with about 2 weeks ago, but abandoned because I didn't know what to do with her.  Then I cut the top off of a papier mache cone I'd made and stuck her right on.  This led to cutting out an opening in the cone and the seeds of an idea.  She still wasn't going anywhere, so I made a rooster, altered her hat, and stuck it in.  Now, I'm liking her.

The other two, I do have ideas for, but since it is rare that my ideas carry through from beginning to end, I'll hold off and see if these two will allow me to direct them, or if like the rooster lady, they insist on their own path.

Inspiration

Found this zombie pincushion over at Art Threads, and I thought I share it with you.  It made me laugh to think of performing a little voodoo while sewing! Deborah has a tutorial for this pincushion and two others, so check out the link!

Right now, I could use a cat pincushion;  Edgar knocked over two different lamps yesterday.  His imagination must be huge; he leaps from counter to couch and goes into predator mode.  Lord help whatever gets in the way.

Here is the reason I had to take down all decorative items from above the cabinets:

The ceilings are 10 ft.  

He really is Sweet Edgar most of the time, but...

Musical Poems and Roasted Tomato Soup

Last night Fee brought home the new Natalie Merchant CD, Leaving Sleep--a lovely compilation of children's poems that she put to music.  It is full of fun, delightful songs from (mostly) little known poems for children.  There is also a little book that accompanies the CD with a short biography of each poet and the poems themselves.  Take a listen to The King of China's Daughter or Bleezer's Ice Cream!  Such fun!  Thanks, Fee!

I made a roasted tomato soup from P. Allen Smith.  Delicious and so simple!  Substituted half & half for the cream; it was very, very good.

Mail Delight

Wonderful surprise in the mail from Debby of These Are Pieces, Too-- the 2011 Reading Woman Engagement Calendar!

Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

THE READING WOMAN is a celebration of all women who love to read. Whether it's at the close of day or just at the close of a door. Whether it's reading aloud to friends around the fire or suspended, mind and body, in a hammock.  Poems or potboilers, fact or fancy, it's the pleasure women find in reading that is presented here.

 It is full of lovely paintings of women reading and quotes about reading like this one (one of my all time favorites) by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu:

  "No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting."

Thank you, thank you, Debby, for thinking of me when you saw this and for sending me such a lovely gift that can be appreciated in so many ways!

No Rain

We keep missing the rain.  It can storm a half mile away, but nary a drop at our house.  The hard part is the anticipation; when the clouds get dark and the wind builds and whips the trees, I'll bring my books in from the patio table and stand grinning like an idjit waiting for a storm that doesn't happen.

Monday while I was at the grocery storm, it poured.  I was soaking wet before I could get in the car.  I went about two blocks and the streets were dry.  Isolated thunder showers, indeed.

The increase in my thyroid medication appears to be making a difference.  After only a few days, my energy level has improved.  Or maybe it is because both yesterday morning and this morning, I put in an hour of yoga.  At any rate, I was up at 5:30 this morning and ready for the day.

We've had a few days at less than 100 degrees lately, but the humidity is so high (85% this morning) that the heat is still a problem.  I need to mow the lawn, but haven't worked up to it yet...and may not.

I started Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden yesterday,  fairy tales within a fairy tale. Echos of childhood favorites like The Secret Garden permeate the book as well.  A delicious read!

What should I be doing?  Vacuuming cat hair, laundry, dusting, balancing my checkbook.  What am I going to do?  Guess that remains to be seen, but I have a feeling that I'm going to sneak up stairs and work some clay.

I suppose I could put on some laundry first...

How is your Friday stacking up?

Here's a great link to a free ebook on making memory quilts (via Quilting Arts).

I keep saying I'm going to make a memory quilt, but I never do.  Maybe this will inspire me, but I've not done any quilting in a while.  My favorite quilts are baby quilts.  I haven't done any art quilting in quite a while. 

Circles and Squares entertains Bryce Eleanor when she visits.  She spreads it out and plays on it, reads on it,  places Edgar on it (although he won't stay), covers herself up on the couch with it, and even takes it to bed with her.  It probably gets more use than any of the baby quilts I've made.

Dr. B upped my thyroid meds again, so maybe I'll have a little more energy.  Have been going to bed early lately, sleeping for about 9 hours, and still get tired (and apathetic) during the day.   Maybe I'll get back to my doll making or begin a new quilt.

Because I've been unusually tired, I've also skipped several morning yoga practices and several classes.  This is a paradoxical situation, because if I begin the day with an hour of yoga, I have more energy.  As Amelia says to Bryce Eleanor when she hurts herself, "Shake it off!"  I'm going to try to do just that and get back to some of my favorite activities.

Today is Amelia's anniversary (a long distance one, since Chris is in Baghdad) and baby brother Marty's birthday.  Happy Anniversary, Amelia!  Happy Birthday, Marty!  August does have some highlights in spite of the heat!

Baton Rouge Express

Got home late yesterday evening.  Exhausted.  We stopped by New Roads on the way down and had lunch.

Bryce Eleanor examines the remains of Granddaddy's lunch.

Amelia and B.E.

Then on to Baton Rouge and the hotel.  Eric brought Max and Mila and Fee and Amelia took all the kids to the pool.

The Derby Match between the Baton Rouge Red Sticks and the Hattiesburg Hooligans was at 6:00, so we had just a little time to relax before the match.  We met niece Megan and Drew (the newly engaged) and walked down the river front to the match.

The B team that Erin plays on won their match!  None of my inside pictures came out and the ones outside were poor.

Sunday morning, we played with the kids in the pool, then walked to a pizza place for lunch. 

The cousins were worn out from hours in the pool!

Max was almost comatose.  

After lunch, we headed back.  We had planned to go back through St. Francisville and take the ferry back to New Roads on the way home.  Since we didn't get away until around 1:00, however, adding the extra hour to the 4 hour drive home was too much.

We missed one of our last opportunities to take the ferry; the John James Audubon Bridge will be completed soon, and the ferry will cease to exist.  Although the bridge will be much faster, I hate the thought of the ferry crossings becoming a thing of the past.  The width and power of the Mississippi is best viewed from crossing on the ferry.   A charm that will soon be a thing of the past.  Here is a link to a blog post about the ferry and memories of a retired ferry captain.

The other thing we had planned to do was to see Hemingbough, where Megan and Drew will be married in March.  Maybe next time we go to B.R., we can spend the night in St. Francisville at one of the historic B&B's and find Hemingbough.

Just as I was finishing this post, Megan sent me a link to her gown.  It is so beautiful!  She will be such a beautiful bride.

Baton Rouge

We are up early this morning.  I've already done my hour of yoga and am ready to finish gathering things together before we go pick up Amelia and Bryce Eleanor and head for Baton Rouge. 

It will be a quick trip, but we are staying in a hotel on the river and should have plenty of time in the pool before going to Erin's Roller Derby match.

Off to shower and get ready...

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Ballet Open House

I skipped yoga last night so I could attend Bryce Eleanor's open house at her dance studio.  My face ached from smiling during the 30 minutes of so watching 2-3 year old ballerinas.  My heart sent thankful messages to the teachers who manage to get any kind of coordination and attention from the tiny divas with short attention spans, loads of energy, and wondrous enthusiasm!

It was such an uplifting experience to watch them try to follow instructions, look around to see what their neighbors were doing, find themselves in the mirror and then become utterly lost in their own reflections.  They were beautiful and funny and clumsy and poised and completely engaged (although sometimes only with their own little worlds).

Elizabeth looks so graceful; B. E. looks as if she might take off.

It was a delight, a joy.  It was better than a recital where, in spite of the lovely costumes, you are at a distance.  This was more about how the teachers reach their little students and encourage them.  This was play with a purpose.  This was watching two young women instill a love of music and dance in a normally rowdy group of little girls.

plie

Flowers for B.E. and Elizabeth.

I forgot my camera, but Amelia took lots of pictures.  These are our two stars, Bryce Eleanor and Elizabeth.

Update on a Boring Life

Well, I'm back, but have little report.  I've been in deep reading mode lately.  It is hot, really hot, as Robin Williams said in Good Morning, Vietnam -- "hot enough to do a little crotch pot cooking" --  Miserably, undeniably hot, and humid.

Nothing has interested me much lately, so I pick up a book and begin reading.  Clean the house?  Yes, beautifully, then ignore it completely for the next few days.  Have a brief episode of healthy cooking for my husband, but surrender when he refuses to alter his habits.

We kept Bryce Eleanor last weekend, which was a joy.  Mostly.  I read Rian's report this morning of Riley (the dog) and his "sweet pee" accidents.  Bryce Eleanor had a couple of "sweet pee" incidents this weekend.  I'd say, "Do you need to tee tee?"  She'd say, "No!"  Then within a few minutes pee all over the place.  Good Lord - that kid has a huge bladder!

She is only 2 and a half, and she rarely has accidents.  Mmmmm...that leaves the possibility of deliberate quite open.  Whatever!  Or I could blame myself for acquiescing to her frequent requests for apple juice....  When she looks up with that smile and says please, I find it easy to comply.  After cleaning up a couple of gallons of pee, however, I hardened my heart and abandoned the completely doting grandmother in favor of Sweet Reason.

We read lots of books.  She loves to read and the books were scattered all over the house.  She is so funny now, because I hold the book and turn the pages, and she tells the story.  Her stories sometimes coincide with the text, but not always.  If I do manage to get in a few lines of text, she likes to echo certain phrases.  The funniest of her repetitions come from the book A Dignity of Dragons: Collective Nouns for Magical Beasts (with beautiful, beautiful illustrations).  Hearing her repeat "a slinking of were-jaguars" or "a tangle of gorgons" makes my silly heart swell; she tries to imitate my words, but can't quite manage and has no idea of their meanings.  Still she seems to love the sound of  phrases such as "a grace of unicorns" as much as the illustrations.

I need to go to the bank and to the library.  Actually, I shouldn't go IN the library, I should just put my books in the deposit box and avoid going in, but I won't.  I have 6 books left to review and really shouldn't be getting any more until they are done, but I'm weak.

You can check my book blog for recent reviews; still to be reviewed are the new Elizabeth George, a couple by Steig Larsson, Alan Bradley's newest Flavia mystery, one by W.E.B. Griffin, and an ARC that I wasn't that impressed with.  The George, Larsson, and Bradley books are all good reads.

O.K. -- I guess I've droned on long enough.  Have a great day (and if you've read some good books lately, please share)!

Stinker

Sweet Edgar.