Friday!

 Erin was in town yesterday, and we had lunch at Retro 521 

in the East Bank District.  Delightful daughter and delicious lunch!

Garden

Outgoing Mail

 I took advantage of the back to include another 

Will Rogers' quote and stamp.

The Delray Beach Historical Society

will have a Snail Mail Camp

for the second year in a row!

This and That

To counteract the depressing news, I've been gardening and playing upstairs with collage and clay--trying to avoid the negative influence of this crazy world.

We've had a great deal of rain this spring, which has been wonderful for the garden (including weeds) and gives me time to rest and recover from all of the activity.   On sunny days, the constant bending, digging, planting, weeding makes me stiff and creaky, and I rest more often than I did when younger.  I walk out in the morning full of energy and vigor, and come back in depleted and decrepit.  Recover.  Start again.  Wait for a rainy day to play inside.

I don't mind the rain, but the continuous threats of severe weather are problematic.

I love the seeds from the various maples.

The garden is shaping up.
I have much work ahead on other areas, but this section is getting there,
and this is the area I see when I sit outside.

Playing with paper clay

I started these figures a week or so ago, 
and when it rains or is just too hot and humid,
I get out the paper clay.

Reading/Books

A few favorites that I've finished and have scheduled reviews closer to release date:  

The Girl in Red by Christina Henry (fairy tale retelling & dystopian)

After the End by Clare Mackintosh (very different from previous books, but touching)

The Liberation of Paris by by Jean Edward Smith (nonfiction)

Fun fantasy authors:  Jeff Wheeler, Michael Sullivan, and Mary E. Pearson have great series that I devour greedily with each new installment.

Mail

Outgoing Mail

another little paper clip collage

Postcards to grands

Painting Rocks, Making Dragons, and Other Stuff

Annie's last letter mentioned that she was painting some Kindness Rocks.  I remember reading about the project, and since I have a pile of rocks that need to be hauled off AND Bryce Eleanor was coming on Saturday, I washed some and brought them inside.  Would she be interested, I wondered, in painting some?  

We ended up painting several and distributed three around the neighborhood on a late evening walk.  The rest she has taken home to place in her neighborhood.  

But then she wanted to play with clay...

dragon in progress

Dragon is now wrapped securely in plastic wrap with misting to keep him moist.  Hopefully, she can finish him next weekend.

Outgoing Mail

:) I've already used one of the book page

cut outs Connie sent me on Annie's letter below.

Thanks, Annie, for a timely suggestion on Kindness Rocks!

 🐌

Bryce Eleanor on Hershey.  Her first horse show.  

All of the kids were adorable.  

B.E.'s category was walk/trot,

a good place for a seven-year-old

to compete in her first show.

I forgot my camera and had to steal this photo from Amelia.

After the show, Amelia and Chris came over and visited for a while.  

Amelia and Chris were going to a Kentucky Derby party...

so Amelia had made hats for her crew.

Bryce Eleanor decided that the wolf mask

needed a nose.  

She found one of my peat pots and showed me.

We cut it down a little,

and she painted it black.

Sadly, I didn't get a photo,
after we made the adjustment,

but B.E. was right.

The nose when painted and attached

made the mask MUCH better!

After Amelia and Chris left,

B.E. and I worked on little houses,

tiny animals who will live in them,

and B.E. sewed up the wolf tail

to go with her mask.

We didn't get finished painting the houses.

Bryce Eleanor wasn't as interested 

in painting the houses as

with working with the little animals.

She added air dry clay for 

ears and tails

and painted them.

I coated some pretty fabric

with a fabric stiffener,

then we cut out 3/4 circle shapes

for the roofs.

The solid colors roofs

are made from that Dollar Tree craft foam.

Now, for clean up

and getting ready to get back to my stuff.

Halloween Clown

I'm calling it quits on this guy.

I tried painting a paper towel

for his outfit,

but it was just not 

flexible enough.

So I stripped him down again,

and used fabric, 

and gave him a little crow for a friend.

Underneath his jacket

beats a bruised heart.

The bearded lady

turned him down.

He hasn't gotten over it yet.

Fred, or Drop Dead Fred, as Fee calls him!

Dance Parties and Dragons

I went to watch Bryce Eleanor at her horseback riding class Friday afternoon.  I nearly melted in the 96 degree heat with about 80% humidity.   And I wasn't wearing long pants, boots, and a helmet like B.E.  When the class was over and  she took off her helmet, her hair was wringing wet.

When we got back to the house, she went straight to the shower.  Not really.  We negotiated, and the popsicle came first.

Friday night, she planned a dance party.  Apparently decorating is involved when preparing for a dance party.  She got into the drawers where I keep some seasonal decorations and created an eclectic theme that included Valentine stuff, glittered rats,  Halloween and St. Patrick's Day and Valentine's banners, Christmas decorations, etc.

She sent an invitation to Fee, but by the time she finished decorating, she had pretty much lost interest in the dance party.  Fee and I were spared after only a few minutes of dancing "like there's nobody watching." 

Saturday morning we worked on creating black cats (like Lucy) by painting t.p. rolls and making a cat face and then, a dog and a dragon out of air dry clay. She is much fascinated at the moment with Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout and the dragon Toothless. 

We had to put them in the oven to speed up drying because she MUST take the dragon home.  She liked the silver effect of the aluminum foil so we didn't clay over the legs.

I made the dog, but it wasn't as cute as B.E.'s dragon.  The dragon ended up with iridescent purple puffy paint eyes, but no other enhancements or embellishments.  

The dog, on the other hand, eventually modeled a black tutu (from a left over bit of gathered black tulle, a green collar, and a purple leash).  

After dog was dressed in the tutu, she decided it had to have puppies.  B.E. shows no interest at all in dolls and turns up her nose at the ones I make, but she is always big on animal and animal babies.   We had to make 3 tiny puppies to go with Mama Dog.  Didn't get pictures of the finished puppies before Chris picked her up, but they were no more than an inch long and had wire legs stuck in the clay.

As usual, I had a lot to do after she left--just to be able to walk from room to room.  The studio, which admittedly was already in a state of disarray, now has fabric all over the floor.  She auditioned quite a lot before deciding what to use for the tiny collar and the leash.  I wanted to just make a small cut and tear the fabric for the leash, but she insisted on cutting it.  Not exactly straight, but plenty long.

Admired the perigee moon last night.  So pretty.


UPDATE:  Amelia took a pic of B.E.'s work and shared it with me.  Thanks, Amelia!

One-a-day Again

Yesterday, I made patterns for the doll heads I finished painting.  I cut out, sewed, and stuffed the body for the witch, and luckily didn't have to make many adjustments.  I have a pattern for the Frank N. Stein's body, but am not at all sure what fabric I'll use...or even if I'll use the pattern.  

I'm getting into the studio each day, and most days, now, I'm getting a lot of hours in.  With dolls, it is "hurry up and wait" - for  clay to dry, for paint to dry, etc.  But since my studio has a door to the attic, I can use it as an oven in the summer :) -- which speeds things up a little.  

Fortunately, the heads look a lot better now.

Another flower brooch a la Julie Arkell and Mandy Patullo.

-------------

I picked the following up somewhere.  Eliminated most of them, but these ring true for me.

You Know You Are from Louisiana if...

 You can properly pronounce Lafayette, Bossier, Natchitoches, Opelousas, Shongaloo, Pontchartrain, Ouachita, and you know that New Orleans doesn't have a long “e” sound anywhere in it.

You know that the true value of a parking space is not determined by the distance to the door, but by the availability of shade.

 Someone you know has used a LSU football schedule to plan their wedding date.

 You know everything goes better with ‘Tony’s’.

----------

I have about 20 books in the TBR que, and I've read several lately that I've really enjoyed. Some reviews I've already posted, some I haven't written yet, and several are scheduled closer to publication dates.  My book blog stays busy.

It is too hot to do much gardening now, especially with humidity ranging from 50-85%, so I'm glad to have fabric to play with and books to read.

Have a Happy Fourth of July!