You Will Keep Making Mistakes…

Hey. Halfway through the work week. Woke up out of a dream that I don’t remember, but I do know I wanted to finish it. That said, I want to finish the bad ones as much as the good ones, because I want to know how things end. This is how I end up reading the next book in a series even when I’m not really that into it. I’m not sure it’s a useful trait, but it’s the one I have.

I’m tracing Wonder Under this week. It looks pretty boring, but there is always a cat involved.

She starts out lying on everything and eventually gets annoyed with my moving her around and leaves.

Mostly I’ve been tracing a lot of big background pieces with the occasional burst of tiny mushrooms.

See? Side by side. The big pieces take longer to trace. I always like to get 100 pieces done in an hour, which is the amount of time I have most nights, but last night, I only did 90 because they were big pieces.

I’m in the 200s…I won’t be done until early next week. But there’s always progress.

Here’s one of the quilts that went to the photographer. It actually has a name, Interminable Wait.

Hand embroidery with light threads, so easy to photograph! Ha.

This one’s name is percolating. I have a potential…I’m mulling over it.

It’s coming. I’ll post both of them on my New Work page in the next couple of days with details of size etc. Nice to have real photos of them.

I’m exhausted from work and the heat…it’s so hard to sleep when it’s hot. The windows have to be open, so it’s light (full moon coming) and loud (cars and nature and the neighbor’s roosters…drive me nuts). I need to clean the kitchen and laundry room floors soon…here’s the natural detritus on the floor of the laundry room telling me how it feels about contributing to the dirt in there.

I did it right before I left on my summer trip. I haven’t done it since. TIME! I don’t have enough time. I come home and read a chapter of my book and then grade stuff and then deal with food. Yesterday I had a meeting that I thought would be 15 minutes go to an hour and then I had to drive to pick up my quilts, so I didn’t get home until 5:45 and I was half dead. I still feel half dead. Not sleeping enough. Plus we did a lab yesterday. Those are also exhausting. You know what else is exhausting? The world. One of my school board members and his wife do videos every week and last week, we saw a clip where she is claiming teachers are evil predator communists who turn kids into the opposite gender.

Lady. I just want your kid to wear deodorant, not lose all their papers, charge their Chromebook, come to school, and have a pencil. What the everloving fuck are you talking about? Please don’t vote for the two Project 2025 ignoramuses (ignorami?) in our district. Text me or email me for names. I’ll be canvassing against these sweethearts in September.

This was too true…and then Dolly Parton died. A good person. Instead of the other 80-year-olds who are performing evil predatory things on our country.

Reality is that we DO have to go to work and pay the bills and pack lunches. Plus this…

I made a quilt about that.

Meanwhile, this is me.

Always.

OK. Work. Finishing up all the lab writing stuff and starting to talk about how to write claim, evidence, and reasoning. Again. There was a minor bit of stupid behavior yesterday but no one was sent out. A couple people were told to stop touching things. Ever. Always. Never again. And the principal violated one of the safety rules. Good teachable moment there. Then pilates after that. It’s hot here; did I mention that? Then home to grade and cook and maybe clean a floor, if I have the energy for it (unlikely). Then tracing into the 300s. It’s all planned out. I need to make at least one video today…without my co-videomaking partner. Awkward. Bringing a tripod instead. Can’t replace her really, but it’ll have to do for today. Need to make some copies for later in the week too. Like maybe for tomorrow. Should really figure that shit out. Missing half my science teacher brain…I minorly messed up the lab in Period 1 and revised for the following periods. Glad I did that at least. Learn from the mistakes. Sometimes you can avoid making them in the future. But realistically, you will keep making mistakes all your life and you will need to do your best to fix them, and the sooner you become comfortable with that, the better.

Weird Wiggly Space

I’m still in a weird wiggly space, although this is more about relearning the routines I forgot on purpose over the summer. Remembering that school controls everything, however much you try to control it back. Ultimately, if you don’t do the work, you’re not ready to teach, and that’s a problem. Your problem. So sure, you can say, oh I’m going to take this weekend off, but if you didn’t do the work Friday for Monday, then you just fucked yourself over. That said, I’m not ready. I did some work but not all of it, because I didn’t have time to do all of it. Hoping to do some of it actually AT work today (what a concept). We’ll see how that goes. Two-hour staff meeting at the end of it. Could do without that. Apparently not an option.

I did do art things this weekend though. I finished two quilts, went to an opening, delivered the two quilts to my photographer, and started another one. Not a bad progress report.

I finished the binding and sleeves on this big one…

And then took a really crappy night photo of it…

Saturday, I ironed it and dehaired it and packed it up for the photographer, who will do a much better job. On Saturday, I did the last little bit of embroidery on this, on the phone…

Had to add the mail app. And then I quilted the background with the machine…

I did most of this embroidery at the residency.

Smaller, but not less time-consuming when you do this to it. So I also ironed it, dehaired it, and packed it up for the photographer. Two in two days sounds impressive, but the other one was almost done before I left. I just didn’t take it with me.

And now on to the next one…which I started as a drawing at the residency, after listening to/watching a bunch of videos about fungi and mycelial networks…

I enlarged what I’d drawn so far…there will be more. So there’s the next one.

I also put this together, Rooted by Sue Spargo…

I’d finished the embroidery a while ago. I also put the borders on, but there is some stitching on the borders, so I’ll need to prep that. Didn’t get to that last night…I was doing other artsy stuff instead.

Saturday night was the FIG Master Glitch opening at the Techne Art Center in Oceanside.

It’s a big space and we have a lot of work in it.

I have 6 pieces in the show, mostly big pieces, and they’re all upstairs.

Some of them are older and haven’t been out for a while. But if you’re one of those weirdos who is always looking for the penis in my quilts, that’s a legit penis in that one. Meant to do it. Not hiding it.

My work is surrounded by the ceramics of Linda Litteral.

There’s lots of reasons to go to this show, even if you didn’t make it to the opening.

There’s a lot of art.

There’s some great burger joints in Vista, which is pretty close.

And I will be there Saturday, August 29, from 1-6 PM. It’ll probably be less crowded then.

The Man did an admirable job of trying to get photos of me with my work…which is hard when it’s spread out along a balcony basically. That guy wouldn’t move. So he’s in my photos.

And you get a good idea of how big some of my work is.

There’s a small one! Anyway, check it out, open Tuesday-Saturday, 1-6 PM, through September 30.

Busy weekend. Busy upcoming week. I’d like to make it to ceramics today after a month of being away. Not sure what I will be looking at. I know the glazes I ordered came in, but I don’t remember what I was doing before I left. Should take better notes. Glazing, yes. Be more specific. I’m hoping I’m not completely knackered by the end of the 2-hour meeting. What are the odds? But otherwise I won’t be able to get there until Friday. And I’ll be tired then too. Gotta get up, despite the tired part. I don’t have to cook tonight, but I suspect I have to empty the dishwasher. I think there should be a rock, paper, scissors thing for that, because I didn’t have a dishwasher where I was…I just had to wash them all myself. So I think there are some assumptions that might need blasting.

Speaking of blasting, is it true that the dumbass government I didn’t vote for is thinking about using nuclear weapons on Iran? Like WTF? Are they idiots? I mean, I guess I know the answer to that.

So much incompetency. So many bad decisions. Not even sure where to start.

Except I need to go to work and (ironically) teach about safety in the lab (don’t set off a bomb, any kind, especially a nuclear one). Then sit through two hours of yammering. Then hopefully go to ceramics. Then come back and discuss the dishwasher. And hopefully get to drawing at some point. That’s the plan anyway.

Hard Reset

I knew it would be a hard return, coming straight back into school from the residency. All of a sudden, life is full of stuff you need to or have to do, and yesterday, I talked for almost 6 hours straight. Today I have no voice. And I was exhausted after Period 1 yesterday. So much interaction, so many moving parts. Kids already testing the boundaries (nothing new there). So many names. So many things on the to-do list. And after school is already full. Although today, I’m just coming home and sewing, because I need to finish two quilts by Sunday afternoon and there are a ton of things already on the calendar. I can go to ceramics on Monday…once these are at the photographer. No pressure.

Kids started at school yesterday. There are a lot of them, more than last year. Some of them are truly a joy and some are already a challenge. The biggest challenge is figuring them all out though…so more of that happens today. I make today easier so I can rest my voice, but also walk around and take every kid’s photo (they love that…or they don’t). This weekend already has work attached to it, depending on how much I can get done during prep. No matter what, there’s always Sunday work. That’s the joy of summer…no Sunday work. No stressing out because you didn’t do all the things you need for Monday. Yesterday afterschool me was exhausted, but I remembered to pull the papers for today, which is good, because I didn’t holepunch one set back in June. Whoops. It’s fine.

Here’s the team photo as of yesterday. We’ll retake it when the missing member returns in two weeks.

Tuesday night, I finished the quilting on the big piece I was working on before I left. Wednesday night, I cleaned the floor, trimmed the edges…

With Scribble’s help…

And got the binding machine-stitched on.

Last night, I put the sleeves on, drove to my stitching meeting, finished eyebrows and fingernails and did most of the phone.

Need at least one more icon, maybe two, then some background quilting (tonight?) and it’s going to the photographer on Sunday. Then I came home and started the handstitching on the binding…

I’m coming home today and finishing that. Hopefully. So it can go to the photographer. I gots deadlines. Sigh. It was nice not having some of those for a while.

I already have a pre-drawing for the next one…which has a deadline. And I dye painted two for the next deadline. So I’ll be doing a final washout on the dye paintings coming up and then I’ll start finishing those into things that may or may not need/want embroidery. All the while continuing to go to work and not letting that take so much time. Wish me luck on that one. Already looking at residencies for next summer.

I brought home some dried plant material that I really liked…but had to put it up high because cats.

But I need that residency because…

It’s harder to do that when you can only make for an hour a day. So many people say it’s a gift to have the hour, but really, the balance should be better. My kids don’t need me like they did when they were little. My job is something I’ve been doing for years…I know what I’m doing. Why can’t I spend more time on art? The demands on a teacher these days are insane. Over the top.

So I bought a new lunchbox this year. I was fighting it because I’m like, I only have three more years…I don’t want to buy a new one now. I’ve only had two lunchboxes the entire time I’ve been teaching…the first one was my son’s old astronaut one, when he went to middle school? And when that finally ripped, I bought one of those freezable ones…and that’s been going for 15 years? It’s no longer going. When you shake it, it sounds like rocks inside. So I bought a new one, the same damn brand. I guess just because I retire from teaching doesn’t mean I won’t need a lunchbox, that I won’t need a job where I have to take my lunch. So I got another astronaut one. Think big. Think far away. Think artist residency in space! Oh yeah.

OK, I have errands after school. I am doing a cover page for Unit 1 today. Calm and coloring hopefully. I need to set up the pencils and find last year’s cover page for an example. I need to watch the two-minute video I’m showing. I need to set up the class for next week, so it’s not so stressful. It’s gonna be stressful no matter what, but it can be less so. Then come home and stitch. That part is good, meditative. I’m actually kind of looking forward to that…some people try to design so they never have to do hand stitching, but it’s a good place to sit for a while.

On the Road

I took one really bad photo yesterday of yellow hills north of Los Angeles. It’s Interstate 5, y’all. Nothing pretty about it. We drove for 9 1/2 hours yesterday and made it to Sacramento, where I lived for a few years as a kid. Lots of stupid car behavior. Lots of trucks. Not much else. Hot. Finished my book, which is good, because it’s due back to the library tonight.

Window is dirty too. Great photo. Today we head to Lassen National Park, which will be much more picturesque and photogenic.

Before we left, I had at least one panic attack…you know, as an introvert, I sign up for things and then when it’s actually time to do them, sometimes I panic and think WTF was I thinking, this is crazy, I just want to stay home and pet my kitty and be a home body and finish my quilt, but I know that’s not really what I want, so I make myself get in the car and prepare for this crazy adventure.

Really though, I just needed another 90 minutes or so to finish quilting this thing…

I just had the right side left to do…it is a LONG side though. I did make time Thursday during all my errands to buy binding fabric so when I get back, I can finish quilting and bind this thing for a deadline I didn’t think I could meet. AND I brought stuff with me to draw the next two possible quilts….got more deadlines coming.

Wednesday night, I finished the outline quilting…that’s the longer bit…took about 6 1/2 hours…then the background quilting on this piece is just the dark blue bits, so the edges, and some stuff at the top, plus some smaller bits in the middle. I got three hours into that on Thursday.

So it’ll be done in August. Hard to walk away from it when it’s so close to done, but I didn’t bring my sewing machine with me. On purpose, yes.

Ok, need to pack up the car, find a Trader Joe’s, buy ice (so much for the new cooler keeping ice longer…although it was over 100 degrees for at least four hours yesterday), then drive to Lassen, figure out what hikes we might be able to do, and settle down in our glamping cabin in a weird not-really-a-resort. Looking forward to it. Animals and house are being guarded and fed by the fam. It’s all good.

Make a List…Another One…

Yup. Totally writing late today. Just woke up running and didn’t stop until right now. Tomorrow’s to-do list is equally nuts. I made it to ceramics Monday? I did one layer of skin color…

I ran out of the two brown colors (and forgot to do one hand obviously). I went to the clay supply place Tuesday and they only had one of the two browns…so I had to order them. I’m not going to finish the underglazing before I leave unfortunately.

The skin needs two more layers and then I can do all the bones and flowers and everything. So that will all happen when I come back. I’m going to go in tomorrow and pull the neck (which is a separate thing) and put it in my damp box so it doesn’t dry out too much. Also leave a note about the stuff that needs to be fired.

Quiltwise, I started quilting on Monday…

And I did more yesterday during the day…

I’ve only got a little more than 3 hours in. Last night, I spent over 2 hours cleaning, ironing, and packing 6 quilts for the Master Glitch show opening in Oceanside on August 15. I delivered those today, hallelujah, finally got into a show (OK, it was kind of guaranteed, but I’ll take it)…in case you think I always get it…uh uh, I don’t. I go through dry periods and the rejections pile up and I take deep breaths and enter more shows. That’s where I’m at right now.

ANYWAY, I want to get this quilted before we leave, or at least mostly quilted. I might need to buy the binding fabric tomorrow, because when I get back in August, I can’t go to the quilt store until Saturday, and it’s already pretty booked up. Tight deadlines. So I’ll be quilting tonight and tomorrow for a while at least. I might be halfway through the outlining…and there isn’t honestly a lot of solid background, so I don’t expect it to take forever, but tomorrow is kind of crazy.

Here’s the Open Studio announcement for my residency!

Excited about that. Although I guess I will have to have something to put on the walls then. Ha! I drove back from acupuncture today with all the things in my head that I needed to remember to pack. Clothing is in a pile on my bag. Not sure it will fit and I’m missing a few things. Last-minute laundry tomorrow night.

It’s been super warm here…and Simba was feeling it last night.

Poor crazy dude. Honestly, I think they won’t miss me when I’m gone…where am I supposed to sleep anyway?

Foot of the bed, obviously. Bowie eventually moved, but put his claws in my foot at some point during the night.

Little psycho.

I got this ad from somewhere…

They’re wool. Seriously? I’m allergic. I would die. Obviously they’re in my head though. I am packing light. Maybe. Maybe not.

By the way, the World Cup semifinal today between England and Argentina was all decided between my getting in the car and arriving at school (I had to copy some stuff for August). And Hegseth doing testosterone testing? I’m so confused by this guy. So confused. But if he’s overdosing on the stuff, it would explain a lot. Here’s where we are right now…

I am appreciating the lack of work thought in my head (OK, yes, I did copy something today, but it’s because I didn’t have time the day I left and it’s been bugging me, and I’ve learned that when things bug my mind like that, the best thing to do is find a way to make it go away. Now it’s gone. Poof!). But I have lettuce anxiety and voting anxiety and ICE anxiety. And anxiety about reproductive rights. And women and children and LGTBQIA in general…and POC. All of those. But you know what? I no longer have daylight savings’ anxiety?

Oh wait, I do. I don’t know if we are falling back in fall or not, and if we’re not, it’s apparently going to be dark until 9 in the morning. Or something. I’m not sure. I’ll let you know in November what that really looks like.

OK. Gotta go quilt or pack something or IDK what. Make a list for tomorrow. I’ve charged everything that needs charging. I’ve figured out what cord goes with each thing that charges, but I still have extra cords. Always. I think the Man just bought us something else that needs charging too. I’ll let you know. Next time I post, I should be in a car somewhere. The boychild will be here dealing with animals and watering for a bit, and then the ex. Then I’ll be making art. Hopefully lots of it.

How to Do Stuff…

The summer heat is here, although not as bad as it will be in September. It’s muggy and the air moves slowly, though, and I just sweat no matter what. My head is full of chaos…making decisions is difficult at the moment. My head is doing all the trip planning, making sure I have everything I need. The bathing suit top came in today and fits perfectly (thanks to the goddess of boobage), we ordered a new ice chest last night that will stay cold longer, and this morning, I started packing things up into stuff coming in the car vs stuff being shipped in a box. Weight is a lot of that or if it can spill or if I can live without it if it doesn’t show up. All stressful. I bought a new ironing pad that can survive the heat of the car…no matter what, our trip is going to be overly warm. Crater Lake looks like it will be in the high 90s (ugh). The wonder of traveling in the summer…this is why we like spring instead.

Quiltwise, I finished stitchdown yesterday afternoon…after doing some on Friday night, almost done.

We were gone for about 24 hours Saturday/Sunday, so here was Sunday afternoon…

Then I found a backing, washed the batting, cleaned the entryway floor and tried to clear it out enough to spread this thing out…

It’s not very wide, about 40″, but it’s 80″ tall, so not small. And complicated as hell, of course.

Last night, before I started quilting, I fixed two pairs of pants that had been waiting about a month. One pair is going with me, and the other is ready for the start of school. SCHOOL. Yeah, I know, but I’m coming back right into it. I’ll be quilting today. After I decide which dyes to take with me and whether to take anything else to color things with and whether to take another slow stitching project, because I don’t have enough? Crazy really, considering what I’ve packed up. I don’t think I need more stuff. Really. I do hate being bored or not inspired. But I don’t think that will be the case. So pick the dyes I’m taking (I’m not taking all of them), then figure out how to pack the dye stuff containers that are too tall for the boxes I have OR go through the garage for a bigger box OR ask the boychild if I can borrow one of his, because it’s not clear and will protect things from light? IDK. I’m in waffle mode. I can’t make decisions. I did well so far this morning; went through my dye info from last year’s self-directed residency and made some decisions about what materials I needed.

I finished the squirrel block, so I can leave it behind.

I’m bringing a few more for the first part of the trip, plus brainless sitting around, which does happen.

The Man and I went to Julian for his birthday…went to two cideries (England v Norway).

The second cidery…

We then checked in and headed to a winery for the end of the game (sound only) and to get some food elsewhere (beginning of Argentina v Switzerland)…

Crows were active. Back to the room where the Man took a well-deserved nap and I tried to finish a book that was returning to the library today (don’t worry; I finished it a few hours ago, which is why this is late).

Then onto the last place for the finish of the Argentina game.

We’ll be in Lassen National Park for the final. Not sure we’ll be able to watch it; might be hiking, and that’s OK.

Julian was pretty dead. It was hot and warm and cloudy and muggy, but it was a good break from being here, I think. We’ll be repeating the experience but a long way away starting Friday. The Man is going to help me drive up to Bend, with lots of nature on the way, and then he’ll fly home to work and deal with animals. I wish him luck. He’ll probably appreciate the peace and quiet and the bed to himself (plus four cats and a dog). He’ll live on hot dogs, burritos, and beer (nothing new there). All is good. I’m revising my food list based on the Cyclospora outbreaks…that’s the last thing I need. If I can find a farmers’ market for a few veggies, I will, but I’m shifting toward the stuff I can cook. My brain keeps a never ending cycle of how to do stuff going on inside, so I don’t forget silly stuff like tape or Saran wrap. I think I’d live without them, but it’s easier to have them. The notes I took at the last residency were useful–reminded me of things I would need for this one. Smart former self helping today’s self.

Meanwhile, one of my quilts finishes up in an exhibit at the New England Quilt Museum on July 20, and then ships to this exhibit…

That’s a detail of Dale Stuart’s quilt in the show. Amazing work. I’ll hopefully be starting drawings for the next Soul Stories piece for 2027, plus another piece hopefully for a show here in San Diego. If I get in. All I’m getting are rejections at the moment. I take a deep breath and power on. I go through phases where nothing gets and then it all gets in. It’s not a reflection on myself or my work…it just is what it is. So in response to that last rejection, I entered another show for a group I’m in that I’ve never shown with…so hopefully that will happen. If not, enter again. Make more work. Enter that. Repeat.

Ooooh…here’s another possible topic for the next Soul Stories quilt.

I’ve got some work to do in the yard to help with this. For when I get back.

From the book I just finished…

This might be a good summary of how I work. I do these painstaking drawings, number each piece, trace them, etc. And then pick all the colors out without a color master, just to drive all the perfectionists bonkers. Yup. That’s me. Hell, I drive part of my brain bonkers every time I do it. And yet, it works.

OK. It’s the middle of the day and I need to consider eating lunch. I have physical therapy today for my knee/heel today (she took on my heel, which I appreciate) plus book club. Don’t remember which book, but I know I read it. I need to pick a smaller number of dyes to take with me, decide if I’m shipping one box or two, decide what I will store things in during the trip, cut some paper for large-scale quilt drawings, start quilting, and breathe. I really should also sand the fascia and do a second round of Bondo in there. Go through my written supply lists and make sure I’m getting those things packed. That’s just today. Tomorrow is a whole ‘nother list of lists. And notice I didn’t even mention ceramics…yikes, I think I’ll stop by today after PT. And see how things are going. And I’ll try again the next three days, see if I can get the torso ready to bisque fire. If not, it can sit, and I’ll bring the neck home and put it in the damp box for the next month? I guess? Ugh. So many things to consider.

Not in the Car…

Well sleeping in is not a thing I’m doing this summer. I try. Sleep is just an absolute mess, honestly. I try. I put my pillow over my head, I deep breathe, I meditate. I’m taking a sleep tincture; just added some Chinese herbs that should calm my whole system down (ha! as if that’s a thing…OK, sure it is for some people, but I seem to roll in overdrive). I’d just like to make it to 8:30 AM without waking up 47 times…and that’s not happening. I was sure I’d sleep last night because I hadn’t the night before, and usually, exhaustion sets in, but no. No such luck. Ah well. When I am retired, I will sleep badly at night and take a nap in the afternoon, when I am lagging. Stay up late, like my brain prefers…make up for it later. For now? I will just be tired. I still get the things done; I just yawn a lot.

Some part of it is probably planning anxiety. I always get like this with a trip, and this one is complicated by the art stuff. The residency is so far away from everything that I have to be sure I have what I need with me, whether in the car or shipped. So that’s a lot. And my brain obsesses over the lists of stuff and making sure I’m getting stuff done every day. Because I don’t have much time before we leave and I go back to school right when I get back. It’ll be fine, honestly, once I get in the car.

I’m not in the car yet.

So I’m trying to get the current quilt to the pinbasted stage before I leave. I finished ironing it to the background on Wednesday night…

It’s kind of a crazy piece…I started with a drawing I did in a very long staff meeting last year of just the center head and the arm and the birds, and then I added to the top and the bottom. I was just going to do the head and shoulders, back in January, when I got another assignment that needed to be done quickly, so I put this aside, and by the time I was ready to make it, there were political issues pressing on my mind (again), and I had to add to it. Kind of a living in this world, but unable to ignore the crap thing. Which is real, of course. I’m lucky to not have all of it in my face every day (as long as I don’t interact with the world in any way). Especially in summer, when I often hermit through huge chunks of it. This year, I’m gonna hermit in (what did my daughter call it?) Buttfuck, Oregon. Don’t be offended, Oregon; she just means in the middle of nowhere. And it’s not nowhere to those who live there. It’s just isolated. I’m ready for isolated.

It took almost 18 hours to iron it together; I’m guessing at least 5 total to stitch it down. I’m 2 1/2 hours in…

I did some in the afternoon…and some at night.

I’m up in her upper torso. One arm is mostly done. So am I halfway? Not quite, but close. Like I said, another 2 1/2 hours ish. Hopefully done today? We’ll see. I had plans for clay, but I don’t think the timing is going to work, since I have to cook dinner and I have pilates at a weird time plus a breast MRI. And I need to ship some stuff.

I also put the binding on this dye painting from last year.

I quilted it the other day; it still needs the hand stitching, but I can do that later. What I really wanted was something I could slow stitch on and maybe finish in August for all the shows I need to have work for when I get back.

I did my back-to-school shopping yesterday. It had to get done before I left. It was simple, but let’s see if I remember where I put everything when I get back. I’m trying to be logical, but August brain may not agree with July’s logic. Hard to say.

I have two more art exhibits I need to enter before I leave. I still need to organize and pack; I organize a little every day. I think and worry about it way more than I do it. But I will get there. I want to finish this squirrel before I go…

These Spargo blocks are perfect for the car or for sitting around in the evening, but this one is almost done, so it’s silly not to just finish it before I go and start the next one on the way north. I need to finish the background stitching around that leaf and then add five ladybugs. That’s what will take the most time. I’m not sure I’ll finish painting the fascia before I go. I need to sand and put another layer of Bondo in the bad wood, then prime a couple of times, then paint three times, I think. So probably not done before I go. The yard will never be done, so there’s that.

I will get done what I can. That’s all I can ever do. I’ve never been gone this long before.

This little cockatiel was hanging out by the pool yesterday.

It talked to me. I talked to it. It had a friend flying around. It was warm? Maybe it needed a break? By the time I found it some water and food, it had left, but it was here for a long while. Not a native bird, for sure.

One thing I need to do before I leave is deliver my work for this exhibit. I’ll be at the opening.

That’s the plan anyway. It’s a big space; should be a good show. Speaking of making cool things…

Let’s hope…because this is the alternative.

Watching the government go after people with differing opinions…well, that’s not a democracy. That’s not patriotism. That’s another form of government that we fought against on multiple occasions.

Yeah. That isn’t going to improve in the next month. OK. Today. Shower, then boob thing. It’ll be a week or more (last year it was 10 days) until I know it’s all clear. I still haven’t heard back on the brain; same deal. It’s summer and info trickles. Not really worried about either of them; low level health anxiety always rides in the back. But I’ll have a new brain picture to use in a quilt, right? Then pilates at a weird time. Plus stitchdown. And shipping. And crossing things off the to-do list. Love that part. It’s the best.

All for Good…

Yo. So crazy right now. Need a secretary to prioritize things. I had a friend in town for the last two days and she helped with some of the errands I needed to run (I made her go to REI), but every time I would cross one thing off my list, I would need to write two more down. It’s freaking me out! Hoping to cross a bunch off today…gonna pack some stuff up to get it out of here, then go get some stuff. Not sure when I’m making it to ceramics. And I want to finish ironing the quilt top together today…sometime. Somehow. There’s only about 150 pieces left and then it needs to go on the background. Stitchdown, then pinbaste. I really need it pinbasted before I leave. Even then, I’m not sure I’ll be able to get it done for the deadline. Oh well. It’ll go somewhere…although at the moment, I don’t seem to get into any shows. That said, my Unsustainable quilt will apparently be at Houston with the Soul Stories show…there was a moment when it might not, but now it is. Woo hoo! I’m hoping to go, but money is always the issue. And time. As always.

So I haven’t been ironing as much as usual due to said friend in town, but here’s Monday night…

I didn’t get much done…the sun, one of the birds, some overlapping arm stuff, and the one smaller figure.

Last night, I did almost two hours (much better!)…yes, if I am ironing, it means I am not doing other things, like getting ready to go to Oregon. Or finishing painting the outside of the house. Or even watering, which is a bad thing. Plants need water, but I can only do it in the evening, and I have not been home in the evening for four days? Five? Not sure.

I got the rest of that arm done, plus the other smaller figure and most of the larger top figure. She needs an eye and then there’s three hands coming down and all the detritus that goes with them. Not a lot…at this point, the entire rest of the quilt is ironed together and rolled up at the bottom of this picture. Insanely. It’s a logistical nightmare, needs to be weighted so it doesn’t fall off the ironing board, and I’m constantly ironing around all those things that help it stay on the board. I’m close.

So who was I hanging out with? I’ve known this woman since middle school…

We see each other at least once a year, because she is very good about coming down, and now that the girlchild lives near her, I sometimes see her up in San Francisco as well. I made her walk three miles on the beach, fed her sporadically (OK, honestly, she fed me), made her watch half the Belgian/US game (ugh…it’s ok that we lost, really), and dragged her on a tour of malls and plazas of San Diego. I had an original plan of all museums, but then they were almost all closed, except for the Mingei yesterday…molas for the win!

Also indigenous glass…there were two pieces by Angela Babby that were just amazing…

Yup. Glass. Kiksuyapi 1890 (Remember, Don’t Forget) about the Wounded Knee Massacre. Her work is glasswork that is fired in a kiln. Check it out…it’s amazing.

The exhibit also had a bunch of more traditional glass art by indigenous peoples; beautiful work. I don’t remember why I thought going to the Mingei was a good idea, but it might have been this…

An entire bathroom, refrigerator, microwave, and fire extinguisher made out of wicker. Weird yes, but interesting and thought-provoking…and amusing. This is by India Thompson, an exhibit called Looks Like Home…does it though? Fun to see. I’m sorry we didn’t get to the other museums/exhibits, but they weren’t open, so that kind of sucks, because I don’t think I’ll have time to go before I leave. Ah well. Life happens.

See, we did eat food, just at weird times and trying to mollify my blood sugar, which was all over the place.

And last night, we went to dinner with our requisite male attachments…mine is celebrating his 60th birthday this week, so the poor waiter tried to light the candle about 6 times and it was there for seconds, we yelled “Happy B!” and it went out.

I didn’t even catch it. But we had a good time and good food. I enjoy hanging out with her and she made things a little easier by helping me shop…for a bathing suit, of all things. She also got some stuff…it was all good. But now, I am on the quest of getting everything ready to leave next week, plus making sure everything here is done. EVERYTHING. OK, not happening, but I do need to buy a few things for school (anathema!!) and the trip still, plus send out some packages, and enter some art shows, and finish some ceramics and I don’t know what else, because every time I turn around, there’s something else. It’s going to be fine, and it’s my fault for deciding I was taking the Man somewhere this weekend for his birthday…it’s too hard to come up with appropriate gifts (although I did think of one AFTER I booked this weekend…sigh). So I’ll be gone for like 24 hours, plus I had to fit all 8 July pilates classes into 2 1/2 weeks, so I have pilates like every other day, plus another 5 medical appointments. Hopefully no more than that. It’s summer, so getting test results takes forever…trying not to think about all those things. Occasionally I forget about being a teacher too, until I see this stuff.

Damn socialists…trying to take care of the people. I bet the Islamic Republic of Japan doesn’t do that (oh my, when will someone admit the Prez is losing it).

Lovely mural on the way back from downtown on one of my many trips to and from there to pick up my friend.

By DABSMYLA, a husband/wife team of muralists.

Gonna need to get gas this week. Need to pull all the camping gear out and start organizing what we’re actually taking, since we’re not really camping. Just camp cooking really. Definitely getting more excited…I mean, I’ve been excited about this trip since last October…so yeah. I’ve been taking notes on all the middle-of-the-night drawing ideas that pop up when I can’t sleep. Ready for those too. How many pairs of scissors will I need? All of them, I think. No, not really.

OK. Today. I have acupuncture for my foot…I have pilates. I need dog food and school supplies. I need to iron. I don’t need gas yet, but I will soon. I need to bondo the fascia wood. I need to paint and water. I need to fill at least one greenery trash can. So two of those things could be done before I shower, because it’s gonna be hot today and tomorrow. I say bondo first and then see how much time is left. If I bondo now, I can sand this evening and get this damn thing primed and painted. So no ceramics today…maybe tomorrow? We’ll see. So much to do. All for good though…getting the house taken care of and getting me ready to leave.

Readjusting…

Officially panicking about getting everything done that needs to get done. Pretend you’re a teacher and you have 8 weeks to catch up on life and relax and reset…but then you don’t have all those weeks to do the stuff that needs to be done at home. I don’t usually go on vacations during the summer, so I’m not used to this. I go during Spring Break and accept that nothing will get done during that time. So I’m readjusting. Trying anyway. I’d really like some things to be done for sure, but I keep adding more things. Like this wonderful kid…

There’s the girlchild, backpacking in the wilderness (beautiful place), and I just realized today that her birthday happens while I’m in the middle of nowhere and I need to deal with that before I leave. Next week. Hmmm. OK. Add that to the list. I tried to deal with cat litter yesterday but there was a lack of information. OK. Well. I guess I won’t be dealing with that. There is someone else who can. This is where you realize how much you normally manage. And it’s OK to leave and let others do it (or not, and then it’s late), but the list is there, living in my head.

So I ironed a lot this weekend. By choice. I should have done some other things, but this is fairly normal behavior for me during the summer. This is Friday night…

Made it into the main central figure…then Saturday night, after all afternoon down at the bay (more about that later) and then fireworks…

Got the torso and arms done…then last night and afternoon…

The head is done. I’m in the 1000s at this point. I’d like to just sit home and iron, but a friend is in town, so I’m racing around a bit, trying to get some of the to-do list done (and mostly failing, honestly) so I can hang out with her for a while. I’m hoping none of the doctor’s visits/tests require followups at this point, because I don’t know when I will do them. Last night was the brain MRI for the ocular migraine; not expecting any changes with that. I’ve had two of them already. They are fascinating to look at. Then dermatology and breast MRI later this week. Plus another acupuncture appointment. Dammit; I think I need to book another one of those before I go next week. Crap. OK. See? It’s crazy. The stuff that’s supposed to be helping me is stressing me out.

The fourth at the Bay…with the Man’s band, Radio Thieves.

I danced for a little while, but then was tired and hot. I read a lot too, which was fine. I had to kamikaze down early because the Man freaked out about parking…it was crazy down there.

Those overalls. Yikes. Anyway, we booked out after the second band, around 6:30 PM, got home, I ate (he ate there), then we went over to the street above my parents’ house (no we didn’t tell them…we were out of it) and watched the fireworks with the dog in the car so he wouldn’t freak out. He’s good, but whines and barks with all the noise. He got a big treat afterwards for being a good boy.

I saw this…is that a badger? Really? They have badgers?

I’m excited about that. Weird, I know. I am.

Last night, I packed a few beads and sequins for the two quilted, dye-painted quilts I’m taking with me for brainless slow stitching. I quilted this at some point over the last three days.

Ideally it will get a binding sewn on before we go. I painted this last year on my self-directed residency while waiting for the post-biopsy notification (it took 10 days, but it was fine). I also have to pack the box to ship…I have piles on the girlchild’s bed and I keep culling. Don’t take too much! But also, I’ll need bandaids because I’m like that. I got a serious scrape at the grocery store yesterday. Took forever to stop bleeding and it’s not small. Not stitchable though. I’ve been cleaning it and putting antibiotic cream on it and plastering it with a huge bandaid, but the timing sucks for an open wound. Hoping it starts to scab up before we leave. Added to today’s shopping list? Giant bandaids. Of course.

In case you think I stop thinking about science over the summer.

Those hands though.

This is for the political idiots.

A lot of sci fi focuses on the ideas of communism…but I don’t think most Americans do. But someone is obsessed with it. Ignorant, but obsessed.

Here’s the second sculpture; I went in on Friday and finished glazing it.

I still need to finish my other piece…I wanted to be able to bisque fire it before I left. Not sure I’ll be able to do that honestly. Running out of time.

I’d love to be able to do this…

Working on it.

OK. Today. Is a clusterfuck. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to get some of the shopping done that I need to do while dragging my friend along with me (sorry, not sorry…she just wants to see me and talk to me and get fed…those things will happen). I need to do one more thing before I leave for that. Hopefully I’ll be ironing tonight though…I need to get this thing at least pinbasted before I leave (ha! ha ha ha! Did I tell you I’m gone this weekend too? Yeah, I know). It’s hot here today; hoping it’s less hot at the beach; that’s where we’re going first. Not sure about the rest. All the museums I planned are closed today and most are closed tomorrow…which sucks, because it’s shows I wanted to see and they’ll be gone before I get back. Sigh. WTF world. Not doing a good job of relaxing y’all. Nope. Not. I’ll get there, but not yet.

More Fun Than Ladders

Whoa. It’s been seconds since I realized it is now July. It is July, right? WTF. How did that happen? I know, the inexorable march of time forward blah blah blah. I’m leaving for my residency in 17 days. I did start making a pile of stuff on the girlchild’s bed. I fall asleep to lists of things I need to pack or ship (I need an iron for sure…do I need a ruler? Unknown.).

I have been chipping away at all the things…the back deck railing is painted. The fascia is a mess; I’m surprised the people putting the gutters up didn’t say anything (then they would have had to DO something). So I’m doing something. On a ladder. Fun times. I started painting the other half of the east-facing deck wall. At some point, I will need a ladder for that as well. I don’t like ladders. I got my car fixed and got the radio replaced. I’m very happy about that…I upgraded a bit so my phone connects. Excited about that (weird thing to be excited about unless you’re about to leave on a million-mile driving trip). OK, it’s not a million miles. Short route is only 847 miles. One way. So it’s not a short distance. Longer than we usually go for a vacation, but the Man is only going halfway. The first day of driving will suck, but it will be fine after that. I’m really excited. Trying to control the need to take everything I own with me. Hard to do. I’m a hoarder at heart. Yardwork is slowly getting done, but since it will never BE done, it’s fine. A little every day. Mostly. I figured out all my medications and how to organize that…that was a challenge.

In quilt progress, I cut stuff out on Monday night…

Yesterday, I finished cutting stuff out in a couple of hours, forgot to take a picture, and then spent 90 minutes sorting them.

I’ll start ironing it all together tonight. I might put a small dye-painted quilt together first, so I can add it to the pile coming to Oregon. I think I’m going to bring two of them with me and try to finish them there; I have so many shows coming up that I want to enter and so little work that’s available.

I went to ceramics the last two days…when I took the class, I wasn’t thinking about (a) where to store these things and (b) the fact that I needed to finish them. So it took about 2 1/2 hours to glaze the smaller one…

It’s Stroke and Coat, so it’s one and done. It’ll still need to dry for about two weeks before it can go in the kiln though.

This is 2 1/2 hours on the second one…

Probably another two hours to go. Here it was before I started glazing.

I think they’re just going to go out in the yard to scare the squirrels away. I like the idea of these. I might make more? I don’t know. I need to finish the upper torso of the other one and get it bisque fired before I leave. Yikes. It seems like I have plenty of time, but I have a lot of stuff planned in the next 2 1/2 weeks. The Man has two shows, we have a weekend away for his birthday, a friend is visiting for two days, and I have four different doctors’ appointments? Maybe 5. Plus getting the fabric prepped and entering a few more shows. Plus all the house and yardwork. It’s a lot. Plus I sat in the library parking lot today so I could return a book. I like to NOT leave the house if I can get away with it. It’s nice here; there’s a breeze, it’s sunny, but not too hot, and it’s quiet at the moment.

Anyway. So the day is almost done, but the car radio got done this morning. I think I’m going to go put gloves on and do the kind of dangerous fascia wood treatment, so I can patch it this evening. Sand it tomorrow? Maybe paint Friday? The sun has to be in the right place for all the painting stuff or it’s too hot. For me and the paint. I’ll keep letting my brain percolate about what to take to Oregon. I found the cute little iron mom bought me…so it’s going. I thought about that at about 1 AM, when the Man’s snoring took a turn for the worse. Fun times. Tonight, I’ll work on some fabric stuff, probably ironing stuff together and quilting. That’s the plan anyway. Looking forward to it. More fun than climbing up and down ladders.