Cutting of the Tiny Things…

Hey. This week. Yeah. I am in pajamas today for pajama day, but it’s a bit warm and I have a meeting after school and 17 errands to run, so if I’m smart, I’ll pack a pair of pants that isn’t flannel for later. Am I smart? Sometimes. I feel like this is a practical thing though, and I’m OK with those.

I’m not sure when I will get home tonight, but I do know I will be cutting things out tonight. Late. And tired.

I got the good news this morning that my newest quilt will be going to the SAQA Fierce Planets exhibit. Good news, since I made it for that one. Two for two! I make them and they leave.

OK. So this was Monday night’s cutting of the tiny things.

Top box, to do. Middle box, done. Bottom box, trash.

Then last night’s…

Flipped top and bottom. I still have a few 1300s to cut out, but mostly I see 1200s and 1100s. So maybe 700-800 pieces done? I’m definitely into Amy Coney-Barrett (her pieces, not the person…definitely not into the person), but I still have some of Ketanji Brown Jackson to go. I ironed pieces going from bottom to top; I’m cutting pieces from top to bottom. I’ve been cutting for 7 hours and 44 minutes. So yeah, it’s going to be at least 15 hours. That’s half the ironing time though.

Boychild left, Simba does not understand. He just barks and barks for the first night, every time.

The girlchild is coming this weekend, and he doesn’t understand that either. To his credit, he slept through most of the night, although I think everyone was awake at 3 AM for some inexplicable reason. I could do without that shit.

This is too true.

OK. Teaching, meeting, teaching some more, another longer meeting, then cat meds, watering the parents (they come home tomorrow, hallelujah), Home Depot for slats, trash out, cook dinner. Sounds like a lot. It is a lot. I could do with less. Then more cutting. I graded last night, a lot. I feel like today it’s not happening. I mean, maybe in class, but not at home. Not after all that.

Slow Draw

Six minutes. No way am I getting this written in six minutes. OK. Loaded pictures. Write when I can. Last day of training today…will be glad to be done, but I’m going right into copyediting. My choice, I know. Gotta pay for the dryer fix, which I think finally happened last night…hopefully.

Still drawing. Over 10 hours into just the drawing…

There are some things happening below.. I just haven’t drawn (and in some cases, thought of) it yet. It’s a slow draw.

Kitten is entirely unhelpful. Luckily it’s warm enough that she won’t stick around. I’m also watching a class online.

Finally got the last justice drawn and the bottom of the main legs, then started with the pedestals.

I usually draw fast enough that people don’t have time to tell me what they think I should be doing…not so much with this one. So lots of people telling me things and I know I don’t react well to that. When my daughter tells me she doesn’t like to be told what to do…and I know where she gets it from.

I have an opening tomorrow evening in the LA area. We’ll be driving up and going to one or two other exhibits and then the opening.

My piece in the show is about childbirth.

Looking forward to the opening.

I’ve continued to stitch while in the training. I really don’t focus or concentrate without that. Maybe I should teach my kids to stitch. I suspect that would cause more issues than it solves. Interesting idea though. Computer, stitching stuff, class stuff.

Same desk, yesterday, zoomed out so you can see the drawer being used as a desk on the left, plus stitching stuff on the right. It’s been crowded but it works. The light table is behind me with more class books and stitching stuff on it.

After class, I’ve been trying to finish spreading gravel back here. I was doing this early last year but then the septic fix happened and they dumped a bunch of dirt over some of it. Yes, it’s taken me forever to get to this. I also have gravel for a path that the boychild was going to help with…or not. It’s hot, sweaty work so I can’t do it for long in summer, but I’d like to get the rock piles out of the front yard.

When I’m done in the corner, Nova takes over.

She’s got that highlighter fully under control.

This is so true, especially during this training. I don’t get enough steps in during summer. Hot doesn’t help.

I had my last physical therapy appointment yesterday…he’s recommending I see a musculoskeletal specialist and get an MRI. Finally…it’s been since mid-November. Simba is getting his teeth cleaned, so it’s not going to be a fun day for him. I’ll be moving more gravel, stitching more stuff down, and drawing more. I need to test the dryer and get the pool to stop making that noise. I also need to start copyediting, write a bid for another job, and decline a third one. And then start prepping science calendars for the upcoming school year. It’s ok…I’ve got 19 days of summer left. It never feels like enough, and I certainly don’t feel like I’ve gotten enough done… but that happens every year and I just need to accept it. Until then, there are a lot of books to read and a lot of art to make.

Sculpture and Beer

Sitting in an airport again. Listening to boarding assignments and the high-pitched squeals of an obviously tortured child. Got food and caffeine in me (never enough of the latter). We had a good trip…wish it would have cooled down more so we could’ve hiked at least one more day, but so be it. We never made it to either of the National Parks, so we’ll have to come back anyway. We were constrained by how long the dogs’ bladders would last…speaking of the two dogs, Gracie and Betty are bed hogs.

These two drawings are still only preliminaries for some idea developing in my head. This smaller one was done in two different breweries we walked to…

The bigger one was done in the evenings…

The basement was cold; hence the Christmas socks.

A view from the second walk…warm but mostly shady.

We also did some wandering in the Fremont area…

Can’t miss the troll…and Lenin…

His left hand appears to be dripping blood.

We also went to the Olympic Sculpture Park, which did engage the Man, but I enjoyed it.

I remember Richard Serra’s Wake from the last time I was here.

And Alexander Calder’s Eagle, which I think looks like a dog.

Love & Loss by Roy McMakin…or at least the ‘&’ part.

The Man looking reflective.

Probably wondering when we can stop looking at sculpture.

Part of Mark di Suvero’s Schubert Sonata…

Part of Seattle Cloud Cover by Teresita Fernandez.

And Echo by Jaume Plensa. It’s ok, I rewarded the Man with a brewery visit.

So we’re glad to be going home…I’ve been gone 11 days, so I will have a very needy cat and probably some dead plants, based on the boychild’s texts of doom. Hopefully the bee swarm is gone. Next week looks busy, but I’m definitely finishing that quilt that’s been waiting for me. That gets priority. That and the dryer. Thanks Seattle for the break. May the next trip be sooner than 8 years from now (that’s how long it’s been since I was here last). May it also be cooler.

Tourist Day

It’s been a long time since I’ve been gone this many days. It feels weird. Am I more productive? Making more drawings? Stitching more? Nah. I’m reading a lot, zoning out some. The drawings are unfocused. I’m tired, but that might be because its light at 4:30 in the morning. I’d sleep better if the room were dark, I think. Reality check: I never really sleep well.

But it is nice to hang out with the dogs. It was nice to see the niece. She has continually improved with age.

Yesterday was the 4th, Independence Day, problematic across the board, both as a nation (god DAMN we’ve fucked up a lot of things in the last year) and personally (we flailed on fireworks watching, and ended up standing on the trampoline, the deck, and in my brother’s upstairs bedroom to see bits and pieces. It’s OK.). We cooked some food, played a game, I drew some…working through something I started a few days ago but much bigger now.

Obviously not done. I did some embroidery yesterday too, not a lot. Sitting outside…it’s hot and humid, but OK in the shade.

Today was our tourist day…we went to MoPOP, which was cool. Jimi Hendrix drawing…

Also by his girlfriend, Kathy Etchingham…in 1967…the year I was born. The year Kurt Cobain was born (Nirvana exhibit).

Good holiday photo there.

Creepy scene in The Walking Dead with all these zombie heads in tanks.

Lots of cool exhibits in MoPOP. From there, we went to the Chihuly Museum.

Glass is fascinating. The reflections in the glass, the reflections of the glass, light bouncing off the glass. Amazing.

I have a friend who works in glass and sometimes does one-on-one classes. I’ve thought about it, but the heat and sharp glass stuff freaks me out. Maybe someday.

Dorky selfies all over Washington.

We’re back at the house, the dogs are peed, and we’re relaxing. We have dinner plans tonight with a friend of mine from San Diego who moved to Portland and whose son lives here in Seattle. Talk about reaching out! Tomorrow, we may walk the dogs on a longer walk (although it’s still gonna be hot), who knows? And then Friday, we come home. I need to do a copyediting bid. I turned one down that was a little out of my wheelhouse…but this one would work. I’m always thinking about money; it never feels like there’s enough. And summer has no paycheck, so that’s part of it. I’ll get paid for my week of professional development, but probably won’t see that until August or September. The mortgage still needs to be paid in August. With magic money.

But for now, I can just write a bid, stop thinking about the bee swarm in the composter at home, don’t worry about getting that quilt done or what the next quilt will be, don’t think about how the dryer needs fixing or the computer that isn’t behaving and probably needs to be replaced (desktop or laptop?). Too much. Stare at the greenery and read some more… Take dogs for a walk. Draw.

Lots of Green

Yo. Still in Seattle. I have not moved here. Winter weather scares me. But the trees and green and flowers are nice. I will never get those in San Diego, it’s true.

I didn’t write this morning because it was day 2 of get the fuck up early and get out of here to beat the crowds hiking. We were pretty successful at that. I haven’t done much else: read a lot, stitched a little, drawn a little. Too many distractions. Too easy to zone out. Plus lots of driving. And hiking.

Did you know Seattle has a sugar tax? Weird but intriguing. Not sure it would stop my students from buying soda. They’re pretty hooked.

So what have I been doing? Damn good question. Graduation party for the kid of a friend (really proud of him for getting through). Hanging out with the niece (a bit) as she gets ready to go back to a dig. We set up two tents and determined that (1) her new cot would not fit in the smaller tent and (2) my bro has a way nicer tent than I have. All good.

I drew a little more on the second drawing, not much.

There was a dog in the way. I turned around and turned back and then there was no more drawing.

I also drew before dinner last night…didn’t finish, but this is a rough start to the next quilt.

Needs to be bigger. And more complicated.

Sunday morning, we were up early and headed out to Little Si for our first hike. It was good we got there relatively early, because both parking lots were full when we got back.

This wasn’t a hugely long trail, but there was some up. We are out of shape…two people in physical therapy at the same time for a variety of ailments…

Hiking in Southern California is so much hotter and browner and drier. We appreciate the green, the ferns, and the moss.

Wait. Look. It’s us. We think that’s Mt. Si behind us. We didn’t hike that one. It was too high.

Lots of green. And a bench.

5.12 miles. Lots of up and down. Lots of people. It was nice though for most of it.

Then today we got up early again to hike to two alpine lakes, Talapus and Olallie. This was a longer hike, 6.25 miles.

Lots more trees…not as hefty a climb.

Cool bridge.

Cool lakes…

Olallie…

And Talapus…

That is not the same log jam.

Also, a toilet with a view.

So tomorrow we are taking a break from the hiking, I think. Maybe spend the day drawing and stitching, with a walk down to the water for fireworks. Maybe a longer walk with the dogs.

We are trying to relax. And get more sleep. We suck at the latter.

I feel like we need a down day. A book day. A drawing day. Also, though, I need more milk.

Dumplings of Fury

Still in Seattle. Trying to be relaxed and all. Apparently I suck at that. If you know me, you know that already. I have been drawing…at first, just a little bit every day, just because there wasn’t time. But after everyone left, there was more time. And normally I would have written yesterday, but I’m off. No clue what day it is.

Wednesday was graduation chaos.

Wednesday night (?) I managed some more on that drawing…might have been in the afternoon, now that I think about it. I stitched a little on the Sue Spargo Homegrown block at graduation. I finished one the day before, and then started this one.

I worked on it yesterday too…I feel weird sitting in the house when the cleaner is here, so I sat outside and stitched.

I finished the bottom part of the house…still need to do the roof and the tree, plus I missed a flower. Whoops. Not sure how much of this will be happening over the next week. I don’t usually draw when there’s an audience…I can handle the Man, but not a lot of other people. So once they all left, I could draw. So here was what I added Wednesday afternoon.

Thursday, everyone left except me, so I planted myself on the couch and realized that’s where the dogs like to be too, and I drew some more.

I also went for a walk…

It’s so light here, late at night, at 4 in the morning. I’ve been sleeping with a pillow over my head.

This drawing isn’t done. There’s a blank space in the top right. But another one popped into my head, so I started drawing it yesterday.

Also not done. Summer break has had some issues so far that make me feel like I’m somewhat out of whack, maybe even incompetent or out of of it, so working through that? In drawing?

Saw some friends last night…and this place…

Dumplings of Fury. Perfect.

So today is my friend’s son’s graduation party (she’ll tell you it’s her party), so we’re going to that. My niece will be showing up at some point to pick stuff up. We’re planning hikes for the next two days before it gets super hot here. Not sure what happens after that. Hikes? Touristy stuff? We’ll see.

It’s a Dream

Made it to Seattle, where it’s a different level of chaos for a few days. Lots of family interactions, which is alternately nice and overwhelming. I stayed up late last night just to read for a while…I think this last school year, or at least since January, reading every day has allowed my brain to rest, to stabilize. This explains the number of books I’ve been able to bang through so far…this current one is 900+ pages long, though, and there are a lot of people here and very little down time, so I’m behind on my reading…hence spending time with my book last night at midnight. Like a weirdo.

I did some quilt planning at the airport while drinking awful chai tea.

I mostly read on the plane. It’s not a hugely long flight, so it’s not worth it to pull stitching out, although I did draw, just to be doing something different with my brain and eyes.

I feel like complicated drawings that fill all the space. So that’s what I did.

Yesterday was busy with people and errands and talking, so I managed some relaxing stitching. I can never just sit, y’all. I need something to do.

I finished one block of Sue Spargo’s Homegrown and started another. I’ll probably take one to graduation just because there’s so much sitting-around crap and see above: I don’t sit around well.

I drew last night after everyone went to bed, watching some Alaskan reality show. I just needed some down time.

It’s not done. It needs more stuff. I’m not sure what.

There’s dogs that need walking.

And lots of pets…

Anyway…..gonna go shower and walk the dogs, then read, draw, and/or stitch through graduation. It’s pretty chill here, except for some interrupting school stuff that has caused some stress storms here. Next year will be um different. I’m channeling positivity from somewhere. Tomorrow is a bunch of trips to the airport with Zoom science teacher interviews interspersed. Then hopefully a chill afternoon and evening with just me and the dogs, plus a retirement webinar…I’m not retiring yet, but the level of insanity school has become is why it’s so much on my mind. I’ll probably still have to work after I retire from school, but I’m hoping for something I don’t have to bring home every night, that doesn’t dominate my weekends, and that I can actually take a vacation. It’s a dream.

Quiet Unfocusing

Slowly banging my way through this to-do list. One of the things on it is “weed whack” though and that’s a few hours of crap. The stupid battery on the weed whacker lasts a whopping 15 minutes, so that limits the time I can whack…pros and cons? The yard will never be done, but I can hopefully get two trash cans filled by tomorrow’s pickup. Last night, I was trimming in the backyard and kept hearing this weird mechanical sound. Finally looked up in the sky and saw a drone hovering over me. Flipped it off…continued flipping it off…it finally flew off, probably with its 10-year-old owner laughing his ass off at the old lady brandishing clippers.

I started cutting pieces out on Sunday, did a bunch Monday…

That puppy is totally unhelpful most of the time. Keeps trying to put her nose in everything.

But when she’s out, it’s fine. Last night, I cut for three hours because I just wanted to be done…

Annie still was so helpful. At one point, she got her nose under the tray where I was collecting the trash and tipped it over. But then zonked out.

Just under 8 hours to cut it all out. I am ahead of my original plan…which is good. I leave for Seattle on Monday. I’m thinking maybe I can get it ironed down to a background before I go? Maybe? I can get a good chunk of it done anyway.

Girlchild is in Nevada, hopefully getting to San Francisco tonight, since she has to be at work physically tomorrow. Crazy trip.

So today we need to walk the dogs, I need to fill another trash can with weeds, I need to sort the pieces I just cut out and start ironing this quilt together, I need to pick up cat meds, do the rest of my laundry (which means reattaching the vent because the Man fixed the dryer but pulled the vent partially off in the process), and read more…maybe eat food. Certainly I’m not sleeping enough because the puppy is not good at mornings. Anyway…it’s break. And I can tell that some people are irritated that I get time off and they don’t. Well yeah, I worked 12 months (probably much more) of hours in just 10 months…so it’s like when I did 10-hour days for 4 days a week so we could have a 3-day weekend (pre-teaching years). But I get that it feels unfair in the moment. Just remember all the nights and weekends I was working and you weren’t and maybe it will seem more equitable. Sigh. There’s a lot of unfair shit in the world…I’m just trying to appreciate the quiet unfocusing of a teacher summer.

Dysfunctional

My computer doesn’t seem to want to work right today. I’ve restarted it multiple times and it just gets slower and slower. It won’t do what I need it to do. My brain is having similar issues. I’ll be in the middle of a task, leave the room to get something related to that task, and I’ll start a whole new task without even thinking about it. Finish that and then remember the earlier task. It’s school-break brain. Or recovery brain. I’ve written a ton of things down so I don’t forget them…because forgetting is all I do at the moment. Plus there’s just a shitload of things that need doing right now. All the things I put off because I was teaching and there wasn’t time for much else.

Also I’m still so tired. Not sleeping well. Not sleeping long enough. I’ll get there. Just not there yet. Took a nap Friday. Considered it Saturday and Sunday but didn’t have the chance. And right now, I have a dog behind me and a dog next to me. Seems unlikely.

So Friday night, I started ironing Earth…

Saturday, I managed to finish ironing all the Wonder Under to fabric…

I’m pretty sure at some point (not that photo) I organized all the fabrics. But didn’t count them or take a photo (see note about brain above). Oh wait. I did take the photo at least.

Counting though. Hmmm. Could do that now. 114 fabrics. Very few greens. Because it’s in space? Space is not so green? At least in my head it’s not.

Then last night, I started cutting them out.

Didn’t get super far. Was hoping to be further along. Oh well.

Meanwhile the Man is trying to fix the dryer. Cheaper than getting some repair person to come in.

Can’t dry the laundry until he finishes. The part comes in today. Let’s hope it works.

Girlchild is driving across the US, moving from Boston to San Francisco. I’ve been tracking her and her friend Alessia, who is getting her to Denver.

Then her dad is meeting her and helping to drive the rest of the way.

Sorry, Cleveland.

I’m curious how being scared in a gas station bathroom is not a personal record. They’re currently in Nebraska…it’s going to be nice having her in the same state.

Yesterday, we headed over to the parentals for dinner and I actually remembered to take a photo.

There was this weird conglomeration of a 100 or more crows being really loud and flying around the neighbors’ house. Mom and I walked over and the crows were attacking a juvenile hawk. There were two of them. We stood around and eventually the crows left, so now we are crow enemies forever, right? They’ll remember us? The two hawks made it into a tree, but the one that was being attacked was making its I want my mommy cry.

Very strange to see so many crows involved. Nature can be so vengeful. Speaking of…

Seems legit.

OK well I’m on the couch with the ex’s puppy because he’s on a plane to meet the girlchild, I have 78 thousand things to do and can focus on nothing, and I have a webinar in less than two hours. This blogpost has taken forever to write on the iPad (finally gave up on the computer). Puppy has her nose on my arm. So sweet when she’s not trying to eat shit and/or escape. I’ll read for a bit, maybe nap, then be productive in some way. Maybe.

Breathe Deeply of Vacation

So I’m writing this in the car after sitting through a blob of traffic described as “The Incident at Dunbar” (road signs could say accident, same number of letters, because that’s what it was). We made it to the first rest stop and driver switch. We meant to leave at 9 AM, but shit happens. It’s fine. We’re not in a hurry. Just driving today to Organ Pipe National Monument. We are just doing a short trip this year; the Man doesn’t have a ton of days saved up and we have a concert in San Diego next week to get back for. And the weather is going to be much warmer than we’ve had for camping in a long time.

I did manage to finish stitchdown on the quilt.

That was Wednesday.

Thursday I lost internet on and off all morning, so I was trying to do the non internet things… like cleaning the floor so I could pinbaste…

Camping gear in the background. I fell the other night and banged up my knee, so kneeling for pinbasting was a challenge.

That was my goal, to get to this point. Come back from trip, quilt and bind in time for May 5 entry. Such a pain. Then I can finally iron the other one together and see if I can get a third one done.

I also finished the second May Homegrown block (Sue Spargo).

The bird just needed a beak and some feet. I have two more with me for campground/car stitching and I hopefully brought June’s blocks as well (hopefully because odds are I won’t get to them).

Luna trying to get packed. The animals freak out when we pack up.

Kitten rubbed herself all over my new boots so I wouldn’t forget her.

Anyway, time to stitch for a while. We are on the dead boring straight flat bit of Arizona. Lunch stop at some point, then campground and hopefully a sunset walk/hike to wear in our new boots and breathe deeply of vacation.