Nowhere You Have to Go

I do love the middle of July. Well, except for trying to pay bills with no paycheck. That’s stressful. In my district, we get paid at the end of June and then not again until the end of August. Now we go back to school on August 9, so it’s a challenge to pay August’s mortgage and other bills with the one check from June that already paid all of July’s bills. Forget traveling…I start panicking about having enough money for the summer sometime in February. This year I’m OK, despite the huge construction/remodel expenditure, although the August credit card bill includes the carpet costs (oh ouch). Deep breaths.

The part I love is when days start popping up that have NOTHING scheduled on them. No meetings, no exercise class, no Zooms, no nothing. Yesterday. That was the day. There’s one next week too, I think. Today, I only have pilates, which is fine…good for me, actually. It’s such a relief to get up in the morning and think, there is nothing you HAVE to do. There is nowhere you HAVE to go. I mean, my brain has a to-do list, so it’s not REALLY nothing, but I’ve been working super hard on carving out 6-hour art days from these. I do yardwork as breaks, I move furniture and crap back into bedrooms in between bits and pieces of art, but it feels so much better than the crazy that is my work life. This is what Saturdays used to be like. Pre-COVID. I need to find that Saturday vibe again.

Meanwhile, I’m totally enjoying these parts of the summer. The rest of this week gets a little whack-a-doodle, but it’ll be cool. Monday, after the news program, I was pretty tired, but I rallied and ironed. This is part of the left side…about reproductive rights (what’s left of them).

And the right side is about the war in Gaza (and everywhere else…sheesh).

There’s bombs falling all over this piece.

Monday night, I ironed a lot of toes…although I may have ironed just as many on Tuesday? It was just a lot of toes. And an unwieldy large piece, which seems to be how I spend all my summers…delightfully.

I really wanted this ironed together by the weekend, but I think I just lost part of Thursday and a big chunk of Friday, so we’ll see. I did manage to get the legs done in the early afternoon yesterday…

And then started into the torso of the left figure last night.

I’m missing some pieces…one seemed to just have been missed completely from the piece it should have been attached to, but the other five are just not there. I was missing two pieces in an earlier part, and they showed up in the wrong box (I need new glasses, y’all), so I’m just gonna wait it out and see if they show up. If not, I’ll retrace and cut them: two nipples, one elbow, and two heart pieces. Weird to be missing so many.

None of them are crucial to continuing to iron. There was an arm piece missing that was more crucial, so I recut it. So I’ve ironed all the way through about piece 650, but I’ve also done a chunk of the 700s and 800s, with one in the 900s. So I’m close to halfway with almost 12 hours in. I’ve been putting in about 3-4 hours of ironing a day (depending on the day…Sunday was a cluster). Another 12 hours at the same average is about 3 days…but there’s challenges coming up in the next few days, some art events, some people events, some family events. So like I said, end of the weekend? Then iron it to a background, stitchdown, etc. My goal is to finish it by the time school starts for real (August 15…ignore all the prep beforehand, even though it will suck up time). We’ll see…I’m in San Francisco for 5 days next week, so that’ll slow me down. It’s good to have a goal though.

I made it to ceramics yesterday and spent a delightful 2+ hours cleaning up the lines on this and adding more…

And then clearing out the background…

And starting the color…

I really like the black and white, but I also love the color…

This is for a series of garden poles/stakes that my studio is making. It was a test for me to see if I could make a roundish shape (I can). Also a test of this new-to-me clay (which was free). All good. I really need to go in tomorrow and work on underglazing the top of the other piece too, since its partner is on the greenware shelf. The winged woman finally made it into the glaze fire…woohoo! After getting mansplained and whatevered by a couple of people. She IS unstable, yes. Imma have to do something about that. I’m thinking of making her a base of some sort to extend what’s there. Not sure how. Gotta think about that. One of my favorite parts of the clay stuff right now is that I rarely know what I’m doing.

The new kitten finally got a name…Bowie.

He’s a sweet baby except at 6:52 AM when he wants to play. In the bed. By jumping on all the sleeping things, including me, the Man, the dog (not pleased), and all cats. Toes especially. And then he crashes and I’m wide awake. Ugh.

He strangely lies on the floor like he’s a dog. Anyway. He’s a good eater, has a chill temperament, except when he’s got the rips, and is very accepting and interested in all the other animals. Kitten is still ignoring his presence, but her 16th birthday is in a few weeks and she’s pretty happy sleeping most of the day, hidden in my office. The other two are still negotiating how they feel about Bowie. They like the smell of his food, but that might be it.

In politics…WTF, USA? Like really. I don’t understand ANYTHING that’s going on in my country right now, although I’m amused to see my district is being cited by the state for removing LGTBQIA from the sex ed curriculum. Hmmm. I’m not going to comment too much, because I’m on that committee, but here’s a link to one news story…and a link to another. That’s the first time I’d seen the ‘more palatable and proper’ comment. I say, let’s go! Hold us up to that standard! I know we’re rewriting this fall anyway (ugh, I hate two things: this committee and creating curriculum by committee. I LOVE that we’re going to get the chance to add to it.).

But also this…

Not my religion. Also this…

I won’t say his name, but he’s not more important than elementary school kids and their teachers. And if you think he is, we aren’t friends.

Also this…

Not a fan of Project 2025, not a fan of the RNC, not a fan of the crazy states who regulate the uterus more than guns. I’m sure if you’ve read this blog for a while, this is not a surprise…but just wanted to be clear about it. I can’t watch/listen to much of it (it’s OK, the Man is doing it for me)…but when we put power and money ahead of humans, it’s never going to end well.

OK. Today. Fabric. Ironing. Lots of it. Still moving/culling things in the living room that need to go away or find a home. I might be able to move the table back today. Depends. Boychild is still on the Lake Fire. He rode in a helicopter yesterday to his worksite…apparently that was fun. I’m sure he’s exhausted…he doesn’t think he’ll be back until next week…so it’ll be over 3 weeks since he left. He’s rocking a cold at the moment, so I don’t want him coming back until he’s not contagious. The fire is getting under control, a little every day. Hopefully he’ll be home by Monday, so he can see his cousin and uncle…they’re coming in for a soccer tournament, so that’s my Friday morning. I haven’t been to a soccer tournament in a while (don’t really miss them). Gotta find my chair and my sunscreen. But for now, more tea, some breakfast, some ironing. More yardwork (got one more trashcan to fill by tonight), more moving things. Pilates later…

Still Buggy…

Am I awake? Sort of. I’ve been UP for 5 hours, showered, fed most of the animals, drove to a news station, and did a live session about an art demo I’ll be doing at the Oceanside Museum of Art on Friday evening. Here’s the TV thing…

I’ll be doing my demo from 6:30-7:30 PM…it’ll be the bugs! I have some I’ll be ironing together (LIVE) and some I’ll be embroidering (also LIVE). That stuff is way easier than standing in front of a camera. Then I came home, changed out of real clothes, ate breakfast, moved some more furniture (endless, right?), and wrote some stuff. My plan is to iron stuff together until I need a nap (all the others are already napping)…

Simba was napping until the kitten (still nameless) grabbed his butt.

OK, it was obviously a busy weekend. Quiltwise, I finished Why. Not. after quite a few months’ lag.

It’ll go to the photographer once I finish the other one.

Then Friday, I made some bugs…cut out some Wonder Under, ironed them to fabrics…

I left one as just Wonder Under to use in the demo. I also made two of each, one more realistically colored and one colored for San Diego Pride Weekend…

I’m saving some to iron down at the demo on Friday, but I did iron 5 of them…

Yes, that’s 4…I think I hadn’t finished the outlining on the 5th one yet. This was Friday’s finish. Saturday morning, I outlined the 5th one and then quilted all 5.

The rest of their legs will get embroidered on at the demo (or after…depends on timing).

Then I finished one all the way with a binding and a sleeve…

Note to self…easier to embroider legs before the sleeve is on. And last night, I embroidered this one’s legs…

They seem like they would be really easy to make (they are), but they are still time-consuming. That sweet little bug took 2 hours and 19 minutes to make. So yeah. Not sure they’re saleable…but they’ll go on Etsy eventually. I’ll post all of them when they’re done. If you’re local and want one, don’t wait for it to go on Etsy. Just a heads up.

Here’s all the fabrics that got used on the bugs…

ANYWAY. So that was bugs. Not on the Bingo card for Summer 2024; neither is the microwave dying, and that’s also definitely happening.

I finally started ironing the Crones quilt together on Saturday…my goal is to have it done this week…which I have now lost Friday, so Imma do it quick.

The bottom was full of some fussy tiny pieces, which look awesome when done but are a fucking pain in the ass to iron.

Gaza war on the right side…

Loss of reproductive rights on the left. I have about 4 hours in and I’ve done about 250 pieces. I’m planning to do a bunch over the next 4 days. And also move furniture, do yardwork, paint things, possibly sleep, read my book, and maybe eat. I’ll be ironing as soon as I finish writing this thing.

I did do clay on Sunday…picked up the four finished clay pots for the Man’s bog garden. These two were pretty basic, although the glazes didn’t do what I thought they would (they never do).

These two were a test of a satin glaze, which turned out much better than the first test run.

So I’ll probably do this on the big sgraffito piece that’s on my shelf at the studio right now.

Meanwhile, I finished underglazing the bottom half of the next sculptural piece…

The colors will change a bit in the firing.

Flesh colors are always fun.

This is drying out right now, getting ready for the bisque fire. That sea monster is hysterical.

Here’s video of the whole thing…

Hopefully I’ll be underglazing the top this week. And working on that other sgraffito piece. Gotta schedule clay time into the ironing time.

We also hiked Saturday…it’s been warm, but not AS warm…and that’s the first deer I’ve seen at Sweetwater.

I’ve seen their prints in the dirt, but never the actual animal. So that was cool.

This California horned lizard was not AS cool…because it was unfortunately dead…but a good-sized one.

Oh yeah, Imma need more caffeine today. Lots more.

The older ladies are still unsure of the little beast.

There was some play yesterday and today, with a lot of consternation involved.

Not from him. He does not give a shit that they are all bigger than him. He is a sweetie, very loving, very people-oriented. But also a scratchy hyper demon. No name still. We have until tomorrow (self-imposed deadline).

I gave my SIL such a card for her birthday.

I hope she’s better at it than I usually am.

Also, need to go to this national monument. Put it on the list.

OK. Drink LOTS of tea today. Also maybe nap. Iron a lot. Maybe go to Home Depot…I was gonna go Friday night and then just didn’t (it’s open until 10 PM…avoid the contractors and go late). Contemplate the state of the union. And 20-year-old boys with automatic rifles. And crazy-town conspiracy theories. Consider the future of my country (that’s a big one…a scary one). But mostly iron. Looking forward to communing with some fabric.

Progress on 1700 Fronts…

It’s delightfully overcast this morning. I will take this July gloom (which will probably not last) and do nothing with it. I really should do something…yardwork when it’s cooler is smart. But NO. I have a ton of art stuff I need to do today. I’ve been putting off the bugs and the ironing of the new quilt, and I can’t put it off anymore. I’m spending three days doing that (and some other stuff, no worries). I’ll do some yardwork, but probably in the evening. I’m not awake enough yet. I have a friend who gets up at 6 AM on a Saturday to do yardwork, and I’m like, um no? Not. I must have had a look of absolute horror on my face, because she laughed. Yes, I’m a night owl. She is not.

So progress here is slow because it’s progress on 1700 fronts. Today will include a trip to the garage to check if I have any roller painting equipment that is in decent condition…if not, I need to go to Home Depot (AGAIN). I did write the final check to all the contractors for all the work they’ve done. Just a reminder, it flooded here in January, and because it came from the ground (I am up on a hill, y’all) and not the roof, insurance covered none of it. Total was just over $22K to fix everything and replace carpet and put in gutters so it wouldn’t happen again. I only had that money because I started saving to remodel my circa 1980 bathrooms and kitchen about 5 years ago. I’m back to saving for those…things I wanted done before I retired. It’s OK…we’ll see how it goes. So now all the remaining work falls on me, because I didn’t have 3K for painting, so I’m doing it myself, and I’m not doing it all this summer, because I hate painting. And there’s a ton of digging in the entryway that still needs to happen. I’ll get to it. I have many ideas and not a lot of time to make them happen, because I’m also trying to recover from the school year, read 40 books, and do a bunch of art. Like you do. And then put the house back together. Yesterday, I emptied 6 boxes of books and organized them and culled a little and put them all away…

This was when I still had two more boxes to open. I was on a Zoom call during this and then a phone call at the same time. Took about 2 1/2 hours. I have two more boxes in the girlchild’s room to do today. Then all those boxes can go in the garage for whenever someone might need them. Oh, I also have a box and three bags of clothes to put away in the bedroom…I did one bag last night because I needed a bag to go to my stitching meeting. None of it is hard…it just takes time and energy. I also want to paint the closet this weekend and buy the paint for the hallway. Because that’s next week. After the boychild moves all his shit. Which hopefully he’ll be home next week to do. Ha! He sends us beautiful pictures…although scary, because fire…

We get daily (or so) reports. It’s hot, there’s a lot of firefighters up there.

So far, most structures have survived, so they’re doing a great job. This is the Lake Fire in Santa Barbara County.

I finally made it to ceramics yesterday…kept getting sidelined by moving stuff. I got these out of the bisque kiln fire…

The red clay fired so pale! I was surprised. It’s our studio reclaim clay and the little bit of red clay really colors the white, which is mostly porcelain I think. So weird. It’s an OK clay to work with…very sticky, but carving works well. So I dipped the two coil pots in glaze…and then I glazed the inside of the two outside pots, with a thin, watered-down layer of clear on the outside. Clear is problematic…it gets cloudy, sometimes it burns out some of the colors. So this is a test. I didn’t clear glaze the big one until the test is done. I like it too much.

I added a cloud of hair to the world figure, and of course, forgot to take a picture. I think it’s pretty much done for adding clay…I just need to underglaze everything.

And then our studio is making some garden stake totem things. I hesitate to call them totems, because I think of that as belonging to specific cultures. But I made a ball with holes in it, underglazed, and carved some yesterday.

Here’s a video so you can see the arms.

Fun stuff. I used some clay someone left out for free (I’m a clay slut apparently)…it’s a Longhorn with grog, I think. It’s definitely sturdier than the other clay I’ve been using. I appreciate that. On the one hand, I really like carving like I draw…but I also like the meditation of building things. So I guess I’ll keep doing both at the same time? If I can go in tomorrow or Sunday and finish underglazing the base of the world figure, it can go on the greenware shelf, and then that’ll clear a little space on my shelf…it’s packed right now with three boards of stuff. I’m an overachiever sometimes.

Speaking of, I got binding and sleeves machine-stitched on both smaller quilts and started handsewing one of them.

It’ll take me a few nights of sitting and watching stuff to finish them. That darker blue one is hard at night. It would be smarter to do it during the day. Oh well.

So yeah, kitten still is unnamed. We are trying names out. Earlier, I heard a lot of “ouch no ouch no” coming from the living room.

Kitten is sharp and pointy. He does sleep a lot.

That pic seems to have some Siamese inclinations. We’re pretty sure dad cat was at least part Siamese. Sisters are both orange, mom is calico. His face and ears and coloring are all different from them.

This is legit…

OK. Plan for today. It’s already 10 AM. Love the summer for that. Gonna eat something, then start ironing bugs (need them done by Monday, or at least some of them). I’m also going to start working on ironing the crones quilt together. I saw the deadline I’m aiming for and it’s closer than I thought. Summer does that…contracts in weird ways. Too much work, never enough time. I have a book I’m reading, I want to draw tonight. Will I? Don’t know. Maybe sometime this weekend. I have three days with not a lot of outside influences, which I appreciate. I’m hoping for maybe some relaxation with the Man in the next few days? We’ll see. But definitely art.

Getting Through…

Oh my. So today is carpet installation day 1. It is also the Man’s birthday (unfortunate that he had to get up early and the next two days are pretty stressful for the animals). Also we were hoping the boychild would be home from work to take the dog away for two days to his dad’s house. Nope. Haven’t seen him since the 28th of June, and now he’s at the Lake Fire in Santa Barbara County, so we probably won’t see him for a week. It’s OK. I’m in the office with the dog, who is stressed but has finally stopped barking. He got pets from the owner of the installation company, so that seemed to calm him down. He’s now listening to them pull up all the carpet stripping nail things, which I’m sure have an official name, but I don’t have the brain power right now to figure that out. I got up early to strip beds and pull servers (of course) and I have only half a cup of tea in me and my head hurts. Also we saw one cat take off down the hallway and we’re not sure where she is (she might be in the office with me for all I know). ANYWAY. And after all this, when I have new carpet FINALLY, it will be lovely. This carpet was put in by the previous owners and needed replacing when we moved in, but we figured waiting until the kids were older made sense (ha ha ha!!!), so it’s probably 30 years old? Maybe more? I’m guessing 1980s. It’s gross…but the work involved to move all the furniture and crap out of three bedrooms and three closets was why I never did it. That and not being able to afford it, although I think my parents were willing to pay for it. I just couldn’t visualize how to do it. And honestly, I’m not sure how I’m going to move all this shit back by myself…although the Man can lift up to 10 pounds, so drawers :-). And bedding. Sigh. As long as there’s a bed at the end of the day today, we’ll be fine. We do have air mattresses galore. And a tent. So we really will be fine. Probably not the nicest way to spend your birthday though. Although he could be teaching in a middle-school classroom…that’s how I usually spend mine.

So there’s been a lot of moving shit going on and prepping. A lot of doors to sand. I didn’t finish all of them. Didn’t even get close. Oh well. There were a lot of things I wanted done before the carpet went in, but I prioritized art over 8 hours a day of sanding and painting. As always.

After writing on Saturday, I made it to my quilt guild meeting. I was pretty out of it, but I did manage to stitch some hair.

I’m not sleeping well…it’s warm, I have a million itchy mosquito bites, and the puppy is fussy at night…mostly animal sounds and stuff. Raccoons, skunks, coyotes. The Man comes to bed late (he’s stressed about his back and lack of work)…so then I wake up and can’t go back to sleep. It’s fun. Really. Saturday was mostly a lost day…there were things I was going to do that just didn’t happen. I was really efficient Friday and then Sunday, I got more done in the morning before pilates than I did all day Saturday. Ah well. It is summer break, so I can get away with that. I read my book! That’s progress.

I did finish quilting the second piece on Saturday…and trimmed it for binding.

I had to clean the floor first, because…sanding. Dust everywhere. I trimmed the other one as well.

One of the plans for today involves getting the binding sewn on these two so I can handsew at night. I also packed up an older quilt that my SIL (and brother, whether he likes it or not) is going to hang in her dining room and hopefully sell…or if not, she can just stare at it until she’s sick of it and picks another one. So hopefully I’ll make it to UPS today. I needed to get that quilt and these other two out of the way so I could have room to start ironing the big one together. Hopefully tomorrow? We’ll see. I sense furniture moving in my future.

Claywise, I’ve been trying to go into the studio every couple of days. I tried fitting top to bottom…had to do some carving to get it to sit down.

The hands work OK though…that was the other worry. The upper hand is touching the torso, but helps it balance.

Then I got the heart attached…

I also built a hollow thing for a totem-type pole/garden stake series they’re doing at the studio…

I’m not sure the holes are big enough, but I can carve them larger if need be. I formed it over two bowls and filled it with newspaper…it was leather hard by the time I left. It’s been so hot. I underglazed one side for sgraffito. I figured that was the easiest/fastest thing I could make. I can carve fast if I need to…especially during the summer.

The dog is finally just lying on the floor, even though there’s banging going on outside the office door. Good boy.

I’ve also been working on the central panel for Homegrown…getting all those bits sewn down for embroidery.

I’m not looking forward to appliqueing all the velvet bits. Pain in the ass, velvet. Looks lovely afterwards though. But there’s like 25 circles in velvet. Ugh.

So we don’t know where Nova is hiding right now…but last night, she was in my drawers…luckily I thought to cover them with a towel. These drawers are at my head height. The cats sort of love our current hoarder household.

I can’t stand it. This is partly why I keep leaving for the studio! The Man lived in a tiny house for a while and his place was kind of like this…drove me crazy, but he tolerated it. I need more open space apparently. I did realize I need my work bag and keys tomorrow, and they’re on the fireplace hearth…about two feet into this chaos. So that’ll be fun to figure out tonight. I think I can reach it if I move about 8 bins and an old sewing machine. Hopefully. Should have thought of that before now, but oh well.

A friend posted this…

I kind of want to draw this. Somehow. My sketchbook is buried somewhere too. I need more tea but there is a guy banging stuff right outside this door…suspect the metal strip that is between the old carpet and the tile of the kitchen is challenging them. NEED TEA Y’ALL.

OK, today’s plan…binding on two quilts, finish packing the other quilt and ship it, take the Man out to his birthday dinner, write that other blogpost for the art group I’m in. Hopefully move some stuff back into the master bedroom. READ MY BOOK. If I’m ever allowed out of this room. Dog is chill…trying to keep him that way. Some days are just about getting through them to the quiet, organized, newly carpeted future.

Slipping Off Slowly

I just realized it’s July. I missed that. Hello July! It’s the only full month of break that I get. I have a ton of things to do still, but I’m doing a good job of feeling like I’m on break. I’m doing lots of art and reading books. These are good things. I’m feeling the burnout slipping off slowly. This is awesome. I need to do more of that. I need to focus on forcing that into the new school year. I can’t do this every year. I need my day job to be only a day job…not an every-moment-you’re-awake-and-even-when-you’re-trying-to-sleep job. The less my day job allows me time, the more I think about retirement from that job. This is also the month I don’t get a paycheck…somewhat stressful.

Am I also stressed about American politics and the Supreme Not Court and the possibility of 40 more years of Trump? FUCK YEAH. Will that show up in a future quilt (or 10)? Oh my, yes. Right now, the big quilt I’m working on has a ton of war, especially Gaza and those affected by that war, and reproductive rights, which have been a constant issue in my head for a looonnngggg time. And thanks to those who can’t stay in their lane and get out of other people’s uteri, that’s not stopping any time soon.

Meanwhile, I do a little bit of that big quilt a day…

I thought I might be done Monday night, but that didn’t happen…Tuesday night, it did.

Almost 22 hours of trimming pieces, and I didn’t do the smallest pieces. I don’t cut them out until the last minute so I don’t lose them. So up next? Sorting them. That’ll be a couple of hours. Gonna wait for that part of the house to cool down to do that. It’s the sunny side right now.

I also sandwiched and pinbasted the two smaller pieces that have been lying around.

This meant crawling around on the tile with my kneepads on, sweating my ass off.

Small quilts don’t take as long…

There’s the second one…

Both ready for quilting now. Won’t take long. Just need to get my act together to get them done. And my act is on summer break. So there’s that. I had a plan this morning and it already got exploded, but for a good phone call, so I’m OK with that. Real life often gets in the way of plans.

I wanted to get to the ceramics studio this morning. I got there yesterday and happily had the opportunity to put iron oxide on my piece…

And then I started to wipe off the excess iron oxide…

I have some more glaze that needs to go on…some satin clear in a few areas, and I’m going to update the cat’s white fur. I tried to avoid the iron oxide there, but that’s kind of impossible. Well, that’s not true. I’d need wax resist and I didn’t have any, and I really didn’t think of it until today.

This back picture is a better view of the color…

And it will brown out a little when it’s fired. So ideally I would go in today and finish that up so she can be glazed. The other pots are probably ready to go in the bisque fire, but I’m getting totally into the glaze being perfect, which is silly. Anyway. Maybe today.

I’ve also been working on the upper torso of the world figure. The plan with this one is to make a quilt that hangs behind it and comes down under it. The winged piece above will have feathered wings over the ceramic ones and some fabric coming out of the top smokestacks. That’s the goal anyway.

I added the second hand and did some carving on the face and the ‘hair’ and the shoulders…

This one will have mostly underglazes, I think. That’s the plan. It may change with time. I also picked up some more groggy free clay. Some Texas clay. I’m apparently a clay slut. I’ll use anything. I do know that what I’ve been using is not great for sculpture; it slumps a lot. So this will be good.

So what else? Reading. I’m so behind on gardening/yardwork and housework…the fixing part. I was waiting on the contractor to come in and finish the window, which he did yesterday. Now I need to sand some major areas before the carpet goes in next Monday. So that’s a deadline. We also have a heat wave coming in…they’re saying Friday and Saturday, but my weather app is showing Monday and Tuesday will be even hotter. Joy. Not.

I finished the Period book…fascinating stuff. New ideas, new science, about an ancient biological process.

“Require sterilization”…holy crap. That’s a thing? That’s so disturbing. I can’t even think of a reason why that makes sense biologically.

And this was the end of the book…kind of how I look at what I do in my quilts.

Lots of social media memes/graphics about our current political mess…

And this…

Our current Supreme Court is a joke.

I dissent.

In local news, it’s a good thing we moved all that furniture last Friday, because the boychild’s been working this fire for a few days now and will probably make it home for one day, maybe.

It’s east of here, and somewhat under control.

He’s still out there though. So Sunday night, I’ll have to empty dressers and move a few things, strip two beds Monday morning. Not too bad though.

Remembering this for the upcoming school year.

The last one seems relevant.

And lastly, Nova has found the roll of quilts that normally lives under the bed…now it’s 4 feet higher, but she’s still lying on it.

This is why they’re all covered in sheets.

OK. I’m watching the Stitchpunk Textile Talk, three artists whose work is in the show. I need to go to the ceramics studio. I need to get some greenery trashcans filled…although I just realized they won’t pick up until Friday because of the holiday. I need to buy a box to ship a quilt…the one box I have is buried way way back in the dining area…no chance of getting to it. And I need to ship the quilt that is currently on my worktable so I can start ironing the big quilt together in the next few days. I’ve got pilates, I’m almost done with my book (90%! So hard to not just read it right now), and I need more tea. Definitely slept better last night…the night before, there was a skunk or raccoon that set Simba off, and then two loose dogs around 2 AM that made us get up, our upper neighbors get up, Simba lost his mind, and it was just generally not sleep-conducive. The one dog got trapped in my yard and couldn’t figure out how to get out, so he just kept barking, and the other one was running around, all upset. He eventually got trapped in the upper neighbor’s yard, more barking. Scared dogs, so no persuading them toward us. We finally just opened all our gates and went back in, hopeful they would figure it out. And they did. Hoping also that they made it home, wherever that is. OK. Make a plan. Even if it’s reading and napping (sounds lovely, doesn’t it?).

Summer Achievement Unlocked

I have officially lost track of the days. Good job! Summer achievement unlocked. Well, except I still have to do things and some of them are on my calendar and sometimes I ignore my calendar, which isn’t very mature, I admit, but there are a lot of books to be read and that’s important.

House update: stained glass not installed (sigh). Tomorrow hopefully. Carpet ordered; hoping to get a start date today, although we are already moving shit in anticipation, because it might be Monday, which is some number of days in the future. I realized at some point that we might not have an actual bed to sleep in on the Man’s birthday. It’s OK. We have blow-up mattresses. We have tents. We’ll figure it out. I am jealous of every post I see of people in the mountains with pine trees right now. I love that stuff. Maybe later this summer.

So clay first. I finally FINALLY put this thing in the kiln.

I gave up on the snake head being attached. I’ll try again at bisque, and if that doesn’t work, there’s epoxy. I started her so long ago…I have a date of 4/19 on the greenware shelf to dry, but then I fixed some things and then underglazed at the beginning of June. I’m pretty sure I started her in March. She’s in now. Let’s hope she holds up. She’s supposed to get fabric wings and ‘hair’. So yeah. Iron oxide wash at the next firing. It’s going to be OK. Or it’s not. I realize I’m so so paranoid about the first kiln fire because of that one firing in college when everything exploded. I can remake anything though.

I have 5 pots on the greenware shelf, drying. I finally got to a point where I was happy with the underglaze on the sgraffito pot. The others are dryer but not dry enough. I’m super paranoid about drying speed too. But they’ll probably go in the kiln next week some time. And then the piece I’m working on, I started in April, the bottom part, then put it aside to work on the sgraffito piece. So I decided because of the height of my shelf and the dryness of the base to make the top separate, to have it slot into the bottom (might be a mistake). So I built a fake base and I’m building off that right now. I had it on the real base, but it’s getting too tall, and the arms need supports, so this is easier. I let it sit for a couple days in between each subsequent build to harden up a little, but not too much.

One arm is ready for a hand. The other one has an elbow and forearm that I’m trying to keep wet enough to attach, but might have to give up on…we’ll see tomorrow or Sunday.

I made the hands on Tuesday…

I need to work on hand construction. These are so blocky and solid, which I like and don’t like. But they’ll do for now. The face, I started that yesterday…

I draw a lot of open-mouthed faces, so I wanted to try that in clay. It’s currently hardening up a bit so I can figure out how to attach it to the neck. Plus hair…hair is weird in clay. So I’ll go in tomorrow or Sunday and attach the hands and/or the rest of the other arm, hopefully get the head on, or decide to do hair first, make sure it all still sits properly in the base. I need to make a heart too. I’m not very good at building with clay but I enjoy it. It’s hard to not be good at something, but I enjoy that too.

In quilt news, I’ve been cutting things out pretty seriously the last few days…

I’ve put in 10 hours and 40 minutes, and I’m more than halfway done. The pieces are put into the box with the lowest numbers at the bottom, highest at the top, and I work my way down. So I’m currently cutting pieces out in the 700 and 800s. So that means there’s probably another 10 hours to go.

I had two Zooms yesterday, which helped. Today, I’m supposed to be moving a lot of stuff, but I don’t have all the medical stuff I had yesterday…I am approved to lift things, though, and I don’t have TB (teachers have to be tested for that regularly). All good. The Dermabond glue on my boob scar is finally starting to wear off…pro: it will look better, con: it’s still sore. Not as bad as the biopsy though. The doc said all good, no need for more than the normal surveillance. SURVEILLANCE. Yeah that’s not what I think of when they say mammograms and breast exams. This thing wasn’t palpable anyway. Only found in a mammogram. Fun times.

Speaking of fun times, we have crows and hawks constantly squawking. This one was loud as heck yesterday afternoon.

Probably wondering where that other big tree is that used to be in my neighbor’s yard. They cut it down, Hawk! Cut It Down. I know, WTF?

I’m in the third book in the Alchemical Journeys series by Seanan McGuire…really enjoy this world.

I’ve finished 7 books since school ended on the 14th. Well, 8 if you count the one I finished ON the 14th (I didn’t). I love to read. I love to lose myself in other worlds. I love that I can read before bed and not worry about having to be up for work, although there is no sleeping in…someone started tree trimming at 8 and I was already half awake…and there was no sleeping through that shit. Ah well. Still more sleep than I would have gotten during the school year.

I do constantly say “I’m here” in response to those questions. This might be what I mean. I actually find it very difficult to come up with a pat response to that question.

Anyway. Today. Breakfast, more tea, more moving shit, putting quilts away (might need help with some of that). Cutting things out. I have two art shows to enter, I need to do stitchdown on that other quilt so I can pinbaste both of them, and I finished the center piece on the Sue Spargo Homegrown piece. I was all excited, thinking it was time to trim all the houses and sew them together, but no. The center piece has borders with big ballsy flowers on it. Hmm. I see. Wasn’t expecting that. Found the pattern and fabrics (that’s an achievement in itself right now). So I’ll get that process started (because now I won’t be putting those things together until probably Winter Break!). Ah well. It’s a process. It’s fine. Probably gonna go read something first. Reading sounds nice, doesn’t it?

Sweat…

OK, it’s officially the first week after the first week after school gets out. That first week goes through like a blur on a good year; add surgery into the mix and I’m surprised (or not) that I made it through 5 books and 11 interviews and not much else. Ugh. Not recommended. This week starts to feel a bit more like reality, a bit more like the summer I knew I was in for…the one where I want to punch people when they ask me what I’m doing this summer. I’m repairing my house post January flood. I had guys come in and fix the outside wood and the inside drywall, plus install gutters, which should make it never happen again, but I still need the carpet installed and paint in the hallway and potentially other places, and please let’s get the stained glass reinstalled…it’s been out since April, I think. Last night, I sanded old trim (oil paint previously…I never painted in the entryway, so it’s at least 26 years old), washed it, and put on a primer coat. The contract guys strangely painted the inside trim brown (outside color) without really consulting me, so I’m covering that with white. I had to pick a white for that whole room, since it had never been painted. I don’t mind painting, except when it’s hot and a lot of prep work needs doing, like here. I hate sanding. I can’t even reach the top part of the wall with the stool. I’m gonna have to get the ladder. So it’s a lot of that kind of work all summer. I need to get another coat of primer on today and then hopefully one coat of actual paint, so when the glass guy comes back on Wednesday, it’s ready to go. I also need to wash the hallway (on my hands and knees, love you Callie dog, but jesus, what did you do to the walls in there) and see if I can find the spackle. I know it’s here. I bought it last summer to do this and then just flailed. I can’t flail this time. It needs to get done. I need to move stuff out of the bedrooms too. And it’s hot, y’all. So that doesn’t help. It is going to happen though.

I haven’t posted since Thursday because of all those interviews plus just plain tiredness. I took a lot of naps last week. That’s normal for the week after school gets out. I’m feeling a little more with it now.

So what have I been doing quiltwise? I managed to iron at night (and maybe during the afternoon).

Thursday night…

Friday night…

Kitten guards the chair quite well. This was the last picture, must have been Saturday night I finished. ALL the fabrics…

24 hours and 5 minutes of choosing and ironing. 202 fabrics. An awful lot of browns and grays.

I started cutting out last night…

This is also going to take forever. That’s OK. It’s relaxing. I enjoy it.

I did get my sewing machine back on Friday, finally. Three months! It was a distribution issue mostly…but frustrating. And free. So there’s that. I haven’t had time to use it yet…hopefully today. I’d like to get these two smaller pieces done. They won’t take long.

I also finally made it back to ceramics. I did one day last week, but the rest of the week was hellacious. I started this piece back in April…

Last week, I added the spiny bits to the serpent and the ribs inside the torso…

This section is pretty leather hard…so I had decided to make the top of the torso a separate piece…

It won’t fit on my shelf otherwise. So there’s that.

Lumpy bumpy body. So yesterday, I started building the top part of the torso. Hard to do with this clay…it’s not very supportive. But I’m using it up!

The top of the torso slots into the bottom, which means adjusting for shrinkage (12%) plus trying to support things until they are able to support themselves. So it’s wrapped up and I’ll either go by this afternoon for an hour for the next bit, or tomorrow. We’ll see.

I’d like to build something like this next…

This is my piece, The Way Out, with its owner, Sara Vance Waddell, in the Dayton Art Institute exhibit Riveting, which runs through September 8 and includes some great feminist art. The exhibit is all work collected by Sara and Michelle Vance Waddell. It’s intriguing. Wish I were closer.

But I’d also like to make a ceramic version of this. Again, it’s probably not gonna fit on my ceramics shelf. Ah well.

Friday night, the Man’s band had a show at the Belly Up.

It was short, but high energy.

Unlike me. I napped before it (after 7 AP interviews) and went home without watching the second band. I was exhausted. I had a seat, though, thanks to the lead singer and his wife. Appreciated that. I don’t think I could have stood for 2 hours.

We dogsat Annie this weekend. She and Simba sometimes need to be way too close.

It’s hot and y’all are furry. Annie’s gone now…

Saturday night we went out to a place that has pretty good food, but some time ago (years y’all), the Man was pissed off about a rude bartender/staff person, so we just didn’t go back. Until now.

Not much room to draw, but it worked with this sketchbook.

Gutters got installed at some point and they had to cut some branches. I said I’d do cleanup on that (don’t trust them), and I’m glad I did because I saw a caterpillar clinging in that distinctive J shape that looks like it’ll cocoon, and sure enough, it did.

This branch will sit here for a while as whatever it is remakes itself. Not a swallowtail…it was a fuzzy black caterpillar. Should have taken a picture before, but I was hot and cutting things up. I have two trashcans full, and the next one requires gloves and a lot of up and down stairs.

Another picture of our ballsy rat friend and its stash of nuts down there.

Fat. I’m not feeding it. It’s the Man, and it’s only because he’s feeding the crows.

SpaceX again last night…we missed it but the owl cam got it.

Funny.

Still reading the Period book…you know, I didn’t know this about preeclampsia. Fascinating.

Science!

I’m not sad. It’s OK. I am slightly unfocused this morning. Hopefully I’ll find some focus after breakfast and another cup of tea. Plus reading. Maybe a shower. Painting first, because that’s sweaty. Enclosed room with no window. Oh wait, I said washing walls too. All that before shower. I mean, what’s the point in showering if I’m just working all day? And it’s hot? I’ll do it at some point…but not right now. Artwise, definitely cutting more things out, maybe ceramics studio for an hour, and I’d really like to do another big drawing for fun. Plus stitch down those poor quilt tops. That’s a lot right there. Moving furniture. Pre-shower. Definitely. Ugh. Eat, do sweaty things, shower, do less sweaty things. That’s really it.

Hard to Sit Still…

OK, I’m off on my writing days. It’s OK. I probably don’t actually know what day it is most of summer. It’s better that way. We’re so hyperfocused on days and dates when we’re teaching that it’s nice to take some time off from that. As long as I don’t miss any appointments.

Yesterday was surgery. It went well. I’m not in a lot of pain. Got rid of the heavy duty pain meds already. I feel better without them anyway, and now that I can take ibuprofen again, it’s effective enough. I get results next week. Meanwhile I’m mentally designing tattoos for the scar. It’ll be a while before I can do that, but I can still dream it. Everyone wants me to rest, but my body likes to move more than rest. I did OK yesterday…did a lot of stitching and watching videos. One was this Textile Talk by Dr. Teri Walker, who interviewed me at some point for an article she’s writing. Three of my quilts are in the talk, which was cool…

Shout out to all my political activist quilt friends also in this talk.

My surgeon had to sign the side he was operating on.

That sharpie is not coming off anytime soon. I have dissolvable stitches with a waterproof coating that will slowly deteriorate (I’m supposed to gently wash it with soap)…the plus is that I could shower today! There’s some adhesive that caused a mark and some other adhesive that will apparently take a few days to get the fuck off (not on the wound), so that’s fun. But I am no longer orange. I am signed though. WEIRD.

Stitching I did yesterday…

That freaking drizzle stitch tail took forever…

Finished the wings, put the eyes on, and started around the leaves…

I also finished one book and started two more. Wait, I think I finished two books. Hmm. I’m reading one on the Kindle app (nonfiction) and one in actual book shape (fantasy) so I don’t lose my saved up days/weeks on the Kindle. Yes, I guess that’s a thing.

I did ceramics on Saturday afternoon. This is one of the pots for the Man’s carnivorous plants.

It was fun to do, much faster than the last one.

I did a couple of coil pots too…

Just to use up the clay. I’d like to go in today, but everyone keeps yelling “REST” at me. You know, part of my resting is sitting on a stool at the ceramics studio and playing with clay. I could do that for 2-3 hours with no complaint.

From one of the books I’m reading…the last phrase especially.

Yes it’s a book about a bookstore. Once Upon a Tome. It’s amusing, but I’m not sure what the plot is. Or if there is one.

We hiked Saturday.

I’m allowed to take short walks today.

Hiking by Saturday? Maybe sooner. Except I’m doing all these school-related interviews Thursday and Friday. My fault for saying yes. My fault for giving a shit about who is foisted on me next year.

Saturday night’s drawing. New place for dinner. We liked it.

Nice space.

Saturday night’s ironing…I finished the tree in the 1400s.

It was easier than saving those fabrics aside until I got there.

Then Sunday night, I ironed all the fleshy bits on the first woman.

And last night (yes, last night I felt well enough to stand for an hour to iron), I did all the non-fleshy bits on the same woman.

Tried to add a lot of color. This quilt is heavy on the browns and grays at the moment.

Tonight (or this afternoon), I’ll start on the second figure. New flesh tones.

Legit.

OK, one of the things that sucks the most post surgery is that I have to wear a bra for 48 hours straight. I’m already done with it. I was done with it last night. I took it off to shower and it was hell to put it back on.

Not because it hurts…I just hate bras. It’s summer. It’s anathema to wear a bra.

This is the hood of my car…it is covered with bunny fur bits that were pulled out, probably by the hawk that was eating it…

In the tree above my car. It was sad. Although I’m glad only fur landed on my car. Ugh.

More random shit from the internet.

Also legit. And the last one…I swear…before I go REST again (I am tired of resting…yes, it has been 24 hours. Might be my max.).

Oh yes. Well, I will go read for a while and maybe stitch, or maybe come back in here and STAND. I was not put in this world to rest. Some people are very good at it. I fail. I get an F. Don’t lecture me about my body needing the time to recover. I think my body needs what makes me feel better right now. I know better than to lift furniture or dig holes (both are on my to-do list), but if I have to sit on the couch for another 8 hours, Imma kill something. Not a baby bunny though. I’m definitely watering things today. I’ll hold off on planting the other things, because I would have to use a big shovel, and I’d get shit for doing that. It’s a beautiful day out there though. Hard to sit still when there’s so much to do. Please don’t email me and tell me why I need to rest. I KNOW. I still don’t like it.

I Might Say It Every Year…

OK. Two days. Two weird days. No teaching. Finally. No coming home and grading or lesson planning. That was nice. I stayed late on Monday and finished up the last of the grades, the sex-ed opt-out kid packets. Three kids didn’t turn them in, haven’t turned most of it in. Their attitude? They’re walking across the stage anyway…why do the work? Great attitudes. It’s OK. They’re not mine anymore. They’re going to high school. I get new problems. I already know about one of them, so that’s fun. But we get new ones every year…this will be the first year in a while that we don’t know anything about the kids coming up to us. I’ve had some of this year’s kids for three years…6th-grade art, then 7th-grade and 8th-grade science. Pros and cons to that. Realistically, if we request a kid NOT come to us next year, they’ll be going to our friends on the other team, so that seems shitty. Anyway. This kid, we’ve got no choice. I’ll worry about it later. Right now, I gotta get through the next few days, which are a little nuts. Too much shoved into the next 6 days.

I went to the ceramics studio on Monday. I had some leftover reclaimed clay from the sgraffito piece and the Man had requested some pots for his bog plants, so I used up almost all of what I had…

I am going to make the coil pot a little taller…I needed it to solidify a little. I’m probably going to do a little carving on them when I get to go in next…not entirely sure when that is. Not today…hopefully Friday? But maybe not. I don’t know. Saturday? They’re notoriously busy on Saturday. I don’t want to deal with a bunch of people. We’ll see. One of the tiles made it out of the glaze firing, but the other one is still on the rack.

Fabric choosing is still happening, super slowly.

Everything is just super complicated imagery that requires a lot of thought for just 10 or 20 pieces. Takes forever.

I’m in the 300s still. Got two figures done in the flesh; one still needs her clothing done. Kitten is my stalwart companion. Oh no, wait…I am in the 400s. More than halfway through them. Geez. I think the big figures will go faster…it takes the same amount of time to pick 5 or 6 fleshtones, but the pieces are bigger and there are more of them. So less choosing per number of pieces. That’s my theory anyway.

I am exhausted. I had to stop taking all my supplements, including the ones that help me sleep. Good week for that. Be real, though…the last week of school and two weeks after, it’s all recovery, sleep, etc. I remember last year that the Man was irritated by having to go to work in the morning as I went back to sleep. But the tables are turned now! I know he wants to go back to work and hopefully they’ll figure his back out or release the work restrictions so he can go back. But he doesn’t get to complain about my sleeping in.

Ah sigh. I wish that were true. This summer is chock full of shit I need to do. Starting with today. Keep cleaning my classroom. I got some done yesterday. I have a bunch of paper that needs recycling. I got my yardsticks back from the other science teacher, who is leaving. So we get to interview again. Fun times. We will be practicing promotion for at least two hours this morning. Then we get kids for maybe one period. I’m putting on a video. Then out to the carnival in the afternoon. We might actually have clouds all morning today and tomorrow. A girl can dream. Still need sunscreen and a hat, but it’s not as bad as the sun beating down on you. Pilates after school. Tomorrow, there’s a staff party but hardly anyone is going. My team is not. Sigh. Then I have a stitching meeting. Friday, we check out, but I have to have this radio transmitter thing injected into my boob for Monday’s surgery, so I’ll be late to school. Hopefully it won’t be too uncomfortable. We’re almost done. That’s a relief. It’s been a rough year. I probably said the same thing last year. I might say it every year.

Very Fine…

Hey. It’s the last Monday of this school year. We’ve got four days. Four days of utter chaos and mayhem, but four days nonetheless. I can do four days. I think. Actually, I do have to be there on Friday, but usually not for long. Weirdness is happening this year on Friday. Complicated.

ANYWAY. Today I teach STI prevention, although 1st period might be trickling in one kid at a time due to bad scheduling. Not mine. Tomorrow I teach goal setting, although again, 1st period might get screwed. Whatever. I wonder sometimes what non-teachers think we do after state testing. Because we have to do something or we have anarchy, and not in a good way. Wednesday is all promotion practice and carnival (hat and sunscreen), and Thursday is promotion (also hat and sunscreen). My grades are mostly done; I have 23 kids who are supposed to turn in two papers each today. We’ll see if they do. So I might just have to tweak their grades…but probably not. And I need to clean my classroom. Not entirely sure when that is happening. Normally it would be during my prep or while the kids were watching a movie, but with 8th grade, there’s less of both. I’ll probably get prep today, but maybe not Wednesday. Who knows.

So artwise, it might feel like I’m gearing up for summer enjoyment, and I am hoping to (a) get my sewing machine back this week and (b) to actually have more time to make art, but I also have a ton of house stuff to do…painting mostly. Moving stuff so we can install carpet. That’s overwhelming in itself. Claywise, I finally figured out which clear glaze I was gonna try on the tiles…

They’re going in the next glaze kiln…the second one, a kid had me sign their yearbook with a fingerprint drawing, and I had washed it off but only sort of, so when I went to rinse the tile, some of it came off in the background, so I ended up putting a wash over it. It needed the contrast anyway.

So we’ll see how they turn out. Then I did more underglazing on the winged woman…

Broke the damn snake head off again. I have a plan for fixing it…I think I just need to fire this thing and then move on.

Nice kitty.

The quilt in process (well, the third in process) is still being ironed to fabric…slowly. Friday night…

Still down in the grassy knoll. Then Saturday…

Got most of that done, and Sunday, I moved up the left side…

Didn’t quite finish ironing men’s white shirts (see Kitten asleep in the top left?). But I’ve made it into the 300s. I don’t think I’ll be done this week, but I might. We’ll see. It would be nice to be done before surgery so I could just sit on the couch, bingewatching something and cutting things out.

We hiked…

It’s still all about the flowers…

Ah cudweed…you make everything smell like maple syrup.

This is what grading looks like…

Thanks Nova. So much help.

This is what I think when all the rumors at the end of the school year are whirling around.

It’s not all about classroom management. There are some definite social and parental issues here. Sigh.

Probably not cannibalism. I’ll leave that to the rest of you.

I’m still working on Sue Spargo’s Homegrown…finally to the center square.

It’s coming along. There’s a lot of stitching on it. Well, supposed to be. Not so much at the moment. It felt weird yesterday actually having time to stitch and mop the kitchen floor (which was disgusting). I didn’t have to lesson plan or post a bunch of assignments. Kids don’t have computers after today unless they buy them (so again, wtf are we supposed to be doing with them?), so I can’t put any assignments on there. A relief really. No more of that for two months. Woohoo! Anyway. Close. Not there yet.

Had my brain scan on Saturday. Results sometime this week. That’s a bit stressful. What’s worse…they find something that explains the visual disturbances? Or they don’t find anything? Sigh. Probably the finding something is worse…so that’s a waiting game. Also I’m full of gadolinium now. I’m waiting for my super power to surface. I forgot drawing with dinner…

OK. School. Teach the things. Leave school and go play with clay. Come back, finish grades. Or finish grades, then clay? IDK. We’ll see. Then iron. No more grades after today. That’s fine. Very fine.