Lady Fortuna

New painting, acrylic on 5'x 3' canvas on a wooden frame made from pieces of the old house.

it took me 4 hours to get the shading on her upper lip right

Big wheel keep on turnin'

And there are in fact four tuna, which makes this my most laboriously executed pun to date.

Go In The Machine!

These days, if it's not one thing, it's your mother.

Mine decided she needed to supplement her attic insulation with 4,500 cubic buttloads of cellulose insulation. (the fancy words are a lie, cellulose means shredded up newspaper)
In August, in the warmth.
The unconventional wisdom being, that if you insulate the attic while it's 100-plus degrees outside, that heat will be trapped there so that it can keep the house nice and toasty in winter.
So I got to clamber up there with an extended-range fluff bazooka and blast away at the rafters for 3 hours.
Before the dust started, it was a silent gray snowfall.

THIS is the power supply for fluff-blasting. It requires two able-bodied persons to stand over it and crumble the bales of cellulose into manageable chunks. During my turn at this, I discovered the work goes by more pleasantly if one sings, "Crumble crumble crumble crumble crumble" to nearly any tune that comes to mind. Sadly the vocals are not included in this recording.

And now my camera is dusty.

Wild Oats Part One

I have been living in the sewing basket lately, for Love and money:

the Kid's winter coat

My friend Elf's coat, he's a dapper mountain man

And my friend Elf's pants, because he's also an earthbender

these pants nearly kicked my ass, I tell ya. Never thought I'd get then done

Kimono for the Kid

The big Boro blanket has become all-consuming to the point that it warrants its own post; stay posted.

every stitch a delightful waste of time

Reworked my Dad's old moccasins (After and Before) into the Houseshoes of Slack,

to which he responds:

"Those shoes !
Resurrected !
Formerly a work of the most cheaply paid coolies, now transformed into a work of art that reminds me of the ancient skills of dedicated artisans who built and painted the great pyramids, the Roman colossus, engineered the worlds' first telescope with delicate, precise curvatures to match the natural state of the earth within a galactic state of magnification - yes - all this you've accomplished by rejuvenating the humble moccasin, transforming them into a wonderful kaleidoscope of colours in binding and decoration. The wearer of these coverings would be the envy of every right-thinking bipedalian. Nice work !"

The hairy parts of the moccasins got repurposed further into a finger tab for the kid's new bow.
New, as in she got it for Christmas.

Recently

English muffin injury (I punched the toaster)

Getting by with help from a friend

My ship came in

Home sweet hideaway

Mom made a friend

an expedition to the Museum

my first in many moons.
I had been to this particular one about a year ago, a week before it actually opened because i can't be bothered to verify such things before excursioning.
So. Loaded up the new saramobile with the Bean and myself and we voyaged to the Wal-Mart Cultural Manifestations for Proletarian Consumption Compound.
It's free don'tcha know!
But since you all are scattered far and wide across the internets and may not be within journeying distance I took pictures which I hereby share.

Big Metal Tree

The Museum

a model of the Museum made of toothpicks

Blue Morpho

I forget what these were called

What a large head you have!

Settling differences of opinion with a spirited game of Rock, Paper, Scissors

Bear beats scissors

Touchdown! |
(I know nothing of sports)

it's OK if the brushstrokes show

"Why cain't ya jes' paint sump'n Purdy, like Flaaars?"

these things are familiar

Big Scary Factory

Those PBJ's are good for the biceps

Maxfield Parrish(!)

Lotus of Divinity

the NO SMOKING signs were very prominent

the token "well I could do THAT!" piece

I saw this in a book once

 ....at which point my camera batteries ran out.
But in the spirit of sharing treasures with a wider audience, here's one of my own favorite things:  A fish-mouthed vessel, made by an artist who imprinted its ceramic surface with fossilized shells that are part of the dirt in Texas. Most recently used to keep spare change.

sufficient unto the day are the funds thereof

Things worth knowing

tube, additive, test, department

s Yellow             no additive                       Blood Culture                                                        Microbiology

s Red                  no additive                       Chemistry, Serology, Blood Bank                           Chemistry

p Light Blue         Sodium Citrate                 PT, APTT, INR, D-Dimer, FDP,                          Hematology
                                                                   Fibrinogen, Platelet Function(hand carry)

s  Gold, Tiger,       silicone clot activator       Chem Panel, CMP, BMP, Electrolyte,                    Chemistry
 Red w/additive     (5 minute)                       Serum Myoglobin, Serum Calcium,
                                                                   Serum Bilirubin(protect from light)
                                                                   Gold tube for cold agglutinins(warm sample)

pst Light Green      Lithium Heparin gel         Stat Chemistry, Stat Potassium, BUN                     Chemistry  
                                                                    Uric Acid, Blood Alcohol  Amylase/Lipase
                                                                    CK,MB(creatinine kinase), Calcium
pst Dark Green     Sodium Heparin gel        Stat chemistry, CMP, electrolytes, ABG's                Chemistry                           
                                                                   Ammonia(ice sample)

p   Lavender          EDTA                            CBC, BNP, H&H, HgBa1c, ESR(sedimentation),
                                                                    platelet count, Reticulocyte count                         Hematology

     Gray                Potassium Oxalate           Blood Sugar, Glucose, Lactic Acid(ice sample)      Chemistry
                            Fluoride(inhibits glycolysis; can be room temp 24hrs, refrig 48)

    Pink                  K2 EDTA                       Blood bank samples (Red tube for antibodies)      Hematology,
                                                                    compatibility tests                                                Blood Bank

p  Tan                   Heparin                            Lead analysis                                                       Chemistry

   Royal Blue         Heparin, EDTA, none       Toxicology, trace metals, nutrition analysis             Chemistry

   Black                 Sodium Citrate                  Sedimentation rate                                               Hematology

   Pearl                   Polymer gel w/EDTA        Viral loads                                                        Microbiology

and the spacing looks really spectacular in "edit" mode, buit it's crap once published. Figures.

Solstice, June 20

SUN, mixed media

Not a very good photo, see my shadow? I cast a shadow on the sun, how's that ; )

This longest day of the year sure feels like it. 

The spay-neuter clinic I've been working at is on hiatus until the new Vet arrives; 

when he gets here there'll be plenty of New and To-Do, likely changes to the anesthesia meds (which suddenly became my department due to pay cuts) and back into the swing of things, but for now there's nothing, and I miss the routine and the busy-ness of that good work.

My hands need work to do, meaningful work, making and mending, loving the living and dying. 

Since leaving the shelter I worked at for 5 years I've felt slightly unmoored. It was time to go, no question about that, but finding the next thing is an ongoing challenge. My previous job was janitorial work; I liked the zen of it, the bringing order to chaos, and the small Saints found tucked among the lifer custodians, the resoundingly human crew of night shift cleaners.

Henry Darger's artwork. Big Fan.

I miss shelter work, though I'm not sure I'll ever return to it. The never-ending tide of lost and unwanted and broken creatures was much to bear, but it was good to help and to hold, to comfort and care.  My friend has dived into it with love and grace, and I'm grateful to her and all the others who continue this work.

I'd like most of all to find a place for the things I make. Literally, as in not having to make little paths around the paintings and clutter in my burrow.

So far the only luck I've had is painting the local sports mascot on river stones.

votive offerings for the Cult of the Big Red Pig

Good thing it's local, the shipping charges would eat me alive. 

Minutiae

more paintings to come! Much thanks to my friend Nina for sharing my art with a wider part of the world.

all the fashionable blogs say ombre nails are "in the moment",

which sounds like the place to be

clematis



Lots of flowers around here. Some old girl keeps planting them.

Mom likes playing in the dirt...

...but hates to be photographed.



That's almost the face she made when Kid & I conspired to dump a large number of maple seeds on her, from the roof. She also made a sound which I'm unable to properly describe, except to say it made us giggle.

A dramatic reenactment of these golden wings slicing spirals thru the air, without indignant shriek:

That's my mop bucket cuz I'm cool like that. The dog is another story.

Made a Hat

...out of "Creepy-eyes Ted".


Ted's dead

 He'd been around since I was a wee small child in New Zealand, when my favorite colors were orange and yellow. He always had a bit of a staring problem, and according to Lily it was only getting worse (she had taken to covering him up with other toys)

right into your soul

 I was hoping to make use of his filling, but along with the urethane (couch) foam, there's chunks of styrofoam. Stiff rather than soft.


that's gross ted



So now he's my hat. Don't stare.