Work and Change

Change rolling through
at steamroller pace
lives upending
pseudo work families
torn askew
anxious, unsettled
human feelings raging
the good of the institution
outweighing the good of a few
good morning coffee greetings
reshaping and forming anew
it's just work after all
and the work goes on

Sometimes you just gotta drive!

Rhi gave up her job at the barn and I am loving having her back to run around with on Saturdays. Today we headed out early with the intent to visit Baker Creek Seeds. Started with breakfast at IHOP and yummy blueberry pancakes. Since we were so full we decided to walk over to the blind center across the parking lot.

We found a great old antique desk with book shelves on either side and a footrest on the bottom. Solid wood and an amazing $20 price tag. Score! We need to clean it up and sand it, then we're going to paint it in a fun color not sure what yet. We're going to use a different color and stenciling on the back of the shelves. This was discussed extensively while we were getting it loaded and brought back home.

So when we got back on the road we went East on 65, yes I was thinking Marshfield instead of Mansfield. Needless to say our navigator took us on an interesting route. But that was okay because we were seeing a lot of pretty scenery on the way and we have decided to dust off the camera so Rhi can get some black and white scenery shots to display on the new desk under glass. I'm thinking if we also paint the top with chalkboard paint we can write little notes about the photos and change them out when we get tired of them. I think photos of rock houses would also be interesting. We used to live across the street from a rock house when I was four and I kind of have a thing for them. Plus they're hard enough to find to make it interesting but there are enough of them in the area that it's doable. 

We ended up out in the woods on a twisty, hilly little dirt road in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere. Oh what, you want us to turn down that goat track navigator? What, make a U-turn in the cow pasture navigator? Some people don't have faith in the navigator but I have confidence in my little phone app - at least that was what I was telling myself as we inched over the crumbly concrete bridge with the sparkly little creek. It was all good though. Navigator was just taking us in by the back route to Baker Creek. Ta Da! There it was - not open of course. Apparently they're open Sundays but not Saturdays. We were into the drive by then though so really "eh", no big deal. That's when we discovered there was a front way out. So we reset the navigator and headed back to town. 

We got to see several Amish folk out in their horse and buggies as we went through Seymour. Crane, Seymour, outer Mongolia, I'm not sure where all we were today but we found an amazing flea market on the way back called " ComeOnIn" Antiques. 

We found an old cowboy tub in the front yard, there were benches and pots, wheels, and fountains made out of whisky barrels with old pump handles attached. Lot of bright sun in this picture. 

The inside was also amazing. We found this wooden salad bowl right off the bat and the owner (I assume he was the owner, nice old guy who followed us around a bit. I think he was really happy to show off his stuff. and he gave us a five dollar off deal when we asked about the price. Yep this lovely salad bowl set came home with us.

Every nook and cranny was full of interesting things, there were glass doorknobs, and steamer trunks, bowls of crystal chandelier pendents (oooh sparkly). Here are just a few of the things I liked...

Spinning wheels and vanities oh my!

Chandeliers and cupboards... which by the way I really don't know where I would put it but I want this turquoise cupboard. They have lay-a-way. Awsome!

When my spellchecker gave me options for mannequin one of the choices was manliness... maybe in a Dr. Who sort of way. LOL

Gumballs and Spartan helmets and whatever that mannequin is holding up there. I was a little bit frightened. But wouldn't a Beta swimming around in one of these gumball machines be cool. Wonder if they're waterproof?

You can't tell from this picture but Rhi really wanted the Spartan helmet.

There was stuff on the ceiling too. Check out the umbrellas...

The purple one is my favorite. We stopped to look at some old windows on the way out and I snagged a fresh blackberry or two off the bush next to them.




I think we will be checking this place out again real soon! I hope we can find it. We have a card that almost blew out of the truck on the way back. Rhi saw the top lifting off the box in the truck bed and I whipped over to the side of the road. She said "of all the areas along this highway, you had to stop in the one with the big pile of horse crap!" and it was fresh. What can I say - there were a lot of Amish out today.

There's something wrong with those cats!

One of my favorite old Disney movies was "That Darn Cat" with Dean Jones as an FBI agent chasing Hayley Mills' Siamese around the neighborhood in search of a kidnapped bank teller. The cat's name was DC but other names were implied. Names I've been known to hurl toward any of the three maniacs I live with.

Huge crash in the dining room a little while ago. The dogs were in the living room assuring me that they didn't do it whatever it was. Of course it was Petey. She had her dog food snack earlier and wandered off for a sprawl on my desk. The crash was her pushing my shredder off in the floor. She couldn't have just slid it off she would have had to stand up on it and push it over with her front paws.

Did she run away from the crash? No she planted herself in the large pile of shredded paper scattered all over the floor to investigate her handiwork. I think she did it in a fit of pique after searching my desk for pipecleaners (her latest obsession) which she did not find. She likes the new straight ones, not the three or four bent up ones she has scattered throughout the house.



Cleo is obsessed with hair ties. She ransacks Rhi's nightstand and dresser on a regular basis. She likes to throw them in the water bowl, the catfood bowl, the bathtub - hours of kitty fun. It must be an obsessive compulsive Calico thing. Also she can hear a sheet being fluffed from all the way across the house and runs to get under it before it hits the bed.



Of course Silver has a thing too. She's not a Calico but she does have one blue eye and one green eye. She is always looking for a warm spot and demanding that you hold your arm just the right way for her to achieve it. She's also been known to burn the fur on her tail trying to curl up on the pilot light on the stove. You'd think she'd only have to do that once to figure out that it was a bad idea.

I just went to check my laundry and Cleo was hanging upside down off the dryer watching the clothes spin.

Then there's the stray living on the porch... let's call her Giselle. She's found a spot under the bathroom floor where she can cry to be let in. Yes she is worming her poor pathetic little self in. She slept on my lap today while Dixie used her as a pillow.


 The dogs like her - the cats, not so much. I think they feel a shifting in the crazy!

New Years Resolution

I've never been much into the whole New Years resolution thing. It's always seemed more like wishing on a star than making a plan to me. Not a big planner, going with the flow, being spontaneous is more my style. But it's never too late to try something new. I think I'm going to start small though. My Christmas week off has been pretty well sidelined by a stupid cold and the energy level has been slow to come back. I need to get back into my exercise routine. I miss it and it's affecting my outlook. I'm also going to work on not letting things at work bother me. This one is difficult because it centers around the false belief that I can control anything in my working environment. Not gonna happen - so I will refocus on what I can control at work. I will clean my desk!


On the home front I have many daily examples of how to be unencumbered by worry or stress. Cleo has her hairtie tracking pursuit. There's one in the cat food dish as we speak. Silver has her single minded pursuit of the warmest place in the house. The dogs have their constant shifting search for the perfect snooze spot. Not going to be my bed, I'm going to win this one this year. Crap wait, where's Sage. Sage, get out of my bed!


As far as projects of late, there hasn't been much going on due to the lack of energy. I have found the medicine cabinet at the right price for my bathroom redo. My horrible, horrible little postage stamp bathroom is screaming for a makeover. But now that I've found the medicine cabinet and have purchased the white paint the bathroom's days are numbered. Cleo and Scruffy are determined to take up the stick on floor tiles to let Giselle come in. Giselle is the stray that is living under the house and crying to come in at night. Giselle would probably have already wormed her way in if it weren't for the fact that Silver and Petey have threatened to eat her liver everytime she's come in. The dogs could care less, what's one more strange little cat sister. If I can only get them to take up the rest of the tiles I could get busy on a painted floor. 


Meanwhile, baby steps till I get my energy back. Here's the cabinet before...

Loads of sanding ahead, then a nice white coat and some glaze. I've already found a little crystal knob for it. It's going to be beeoootiful when it's done. 






Until then the babies say it's time for a nap and apparently my leg is an integral part of their plan.

Nothing for it but to relax and finish my Anthony Bourdain marathon.

Feeding the Spirit

Yesterday was a good day. I am so lucky to have found something that nourishes my inner being and a lovely group of women to share it with. My ballet group met for coffee before class yesterday. Yeats was quoted, topics were varied, laughs and stories were shared and then we went back to the studio and danced. I came home with both mind and body stretched. When you feel good the creativity flows and crafting is the natural extension.

My list of things I would like to make is long and ideas that I can steal are abundant. Rhi and I were in JoAnns and I ran across a white feather boa. Naturally the only thing you can do when your imagination is captured during the Christmas season is make a sparkly. Of course I had plenty of help with this project.

You wouldn't think Petey has the energy to be helpful.




But you have to consider her nature.

Which is why I end up with so much help on my projects. She couldn't resist the feathers! I already had my handy dandy pipe insulation for the form. Just added some sparkly ribbon to cover it up and add a base for the fluffiness. You have to watch when you're hot gluing the form because the hot glue gun will melt it if you let it sit too long on it. This was a nice simple little project for an afternoon.

This is what you end up with. This is going to be office decoration. Hope I don't lose too many feathers carrying it to work!

I also found a little basket for a dollar at the flea market. Painted it bronze and threw some Christmas at it. I think I need some more balls. Oooh those would look really good in my little punch bowl that I see sitting up on the shelf. I may rethink the basket.

I love Doris Day.

There it is, I won't apologize for it. Here's what brought it up. There's a song that Marie has been playing in our ballroom class that I was pretty sure was Doris and I really feel the rhythm of it when I dance. I don't think anyone can truly appreciate big band 40's and 50's music unless you've danced to it. It soars is the best way I can describe it.

Anyway, back to Doris. Doris Day started out as a singer in Les Brown's band in the early 40's. They had a big hit in 1944 - Sentimental Journey. So, much as I love Doris the actress... I'm a sucker for old movies what can I say. Unliberated or not I still love The Glass Bottom Boat, and That Touch of Mink. It makes me smile.




I had it in the back of my mind that I've heard Doris Day singing the Bosa Nova. I didn't run across that on Youtube but I did discover that she did a Latin Album. Interesting. Here's a link to youtube to a couple of really great Doris Day songs from her Latin album.

How Insensative

Quite Nights of Quiet Stars

Now that I've got that out of my system. I've got to go run around with Rhi for the afternoon and then it's back to craft this evening. I've got a purse to bling up and a chandelier for the bedroom to make. So many projects so little time.

More to come.

Spanish Olive

What happened to this weekend? I had so many plans for things to do sigh... Well I did get one thing accomplished. My Waterfall furniture has been crying out for a new background since I got it. The mood to paint struck me at Walmart this weekend. I'm still annoyed with them for not carrying Kilz interior paint in the satin finish. I loved that stuff and I can't seem to find it anywhere else. Anyway I was going to get the Glidden but they didn't have any more of the base in the satin finish so I ended up trying the Better homes paint. I do love my satin finish. I'm not sure I would get that again. It's very thin which for a messy painter like me is a bad thing. However, I love, love, love this color. Spanish olive is a little outside of my comfort zone with more of a yellowish base than I'm used to. I tend to gravitate more toward cool colors like tourquois and blue greens. My bedroom was purple before this. My furniture says it likes it. So here's the first coat.

Now I have to find curtains - gold maybe? Or I could go radical and put up black curtains. Decisions, decisions. Now I have to find new artwork as well. This is why I don't redecorate often. I can't stop.




It wore the babies out helping. I had the gate up to keep them out while I was painting and Dixie surprised herself and leaped over it. I don't think she realized what she had done until I shooed her back out.

Poor exhausted babies.