Trouble Sleeping

I'm tossing and turning tonight. I don't have any friends or relatives in Joplin but after listening to stories all day and experiencing a range of emotions, I'm feeling on edge with nothing to be done in the middle of the night.

I dropped my glasses earlier and the lens came out so I have to run to get those fixed tomorrow. Bother!

It doesn't help that Petey has decided to perfect her Flying Walenda skills tonight. She fell off the bed with a loud crash, then she tried to scale the wall off my nightstand and fell. Then she finally landed in my laundry basket with a crash. I think that might have been the intended target all along. Unfortunately I'd finished laundry earlier tonight and it was further down than she thought it was going to be. There's something wrong with that cat.

Guess I'll try this sleeping thing again and see how it goes. My thoughts go out to all those folks who aren't in their own beds tonight. They've got a rough road ahead.

Phase III of summer tent fun

I started off the weekend with a bit of a disappointment - Seraphina was down again. Didn't get out to survey the damage until late Saturday, in between a weekend of rainy annoyance. The center section was down and filled with quite a bit of water. I couldn't reach the water to start bailing so I thought about it for a bit and then came up with a solution. I tied a string to a bucket and then, since my twine was pretty rough to the touch, I tied the other end to a small stick. This allowed me to toss in the bucket and then wrap the twine around the stick to reel it in. The first bucket worked but I found that it was a bit heavy to pull up. So I switched to a smaller bucket and used the same method. Interestingly enough it confirmed the idea that what I really like about fishing is the casting part. I found it to be quite a satisfying rhythm to toss in the bucket, reel it up, dump it, and toss it back in. It will be interesting to see if I can lift my arms tomorrow. Anyway, once I got that accomplished, I was able to get into the tent and assess the damage. I was afraid it would be much worse than it was. Of course there were puddles in the tent to clean up but not too bad. The chest had fallen over and it took a bit of propping up to get the roof back where it should be. My next grand plan involves six foot rebar on all four corners and bamboo across the top.Course I could use rebar across the top as well but I don't want it falling on my head. I wonder if lightning will be an issue? Probably not, it would be grounded after all. Off to the hardware store tomorrow evening. Rhi and I checked out rebar at Lowe's yesterday but I think I want to check out Ace Hardware as well. I'm really liking Westlake Ace Hardware on Campbell right now. Rhi wants some of those scary little lighted nomes that they have.

The next craft project for the tent is going to be painted floor rugs. I've always been intrigued by the idea and I've found that the tent floor holds paint very well. I think this would give me that layered rug look I want without having to actually do multiple layers of rugs. I'll have a couple of painted ones and then layer with a material rug. Still looking for the perfect garage sale find on that. Ooh and I can plant some flowering vines to grow up the rebar.

We had our ballet class Sunday instead of our usual Saturday to accommodate Marie's schedule. It was good. Still taking baby steps but I feel just a little bit more flexible and am following the steps just a little bit better. We worked on pretty arms today. If I keep at this I may someday be graceful which will be also be nice but the major benefit I expect to derive is that I will be more flexible. Ballet is awesome for increasing flexibility.

I'm watching River Monsters while I type. What is it about this show that is so fascinating. Maybe it's the guys accent or maybe just the excitement of the unknown. What could it be that killed those cowboys or what was it that ate that guy over there. Could it be piranhas, could it be giant stingrays, no it's giant electric eels. I'm not going in the water ever again. But I have a strange urge to be out there throwing out a line with that guy.

My Starry Night

I've just about finished tinkering with the chandelier for the tent. My camera is not taking the best of pictures - everything is much more sparkly in real life.

Not that the tent has anything to do with real life mind you. It's purely for relaxing and dreaming.

Twinklies without flash.

Twinklies with flash. You can see some of the draping here but not the way the drapery glitters. I think I need another couple of yards to be satisfied.

Lighted stars without flash - lighted stars with flash. This is the section over the table and I wasn't sure they were going to work.

Apparently they needed to be jiggled.

The table is a work in progress. I just finished my second coat of gold on the top and need to touch up in the daylight and think about which pattern I'm going to add. I have a couple of Morrocan furniture designs for inspiration but I think I have an idea. I may start with a sun to match the little lights overhead and build on that.

Yep, I'm liking this idea. 

Also, I'm giving some thought to some painted floor cloth rugs. They wouldn't be as tactile as a real rug hmmm. I'll have to give this some thought.