Friday Foto 4/20, Miscellaneous

I love Johnny-Jump-Ups (Violas). They may be my favorite spring flower. I buy new ones each year, but the ones from previous years live up to their name by re-seeding themselves and coming up everywhere. Mostly in my veggie bed:

So before I got sick I turned over the veggie bed and dug out the Johnny-Jump-Ups and put them in pots for the porch. It's always fun to see how they cross-pollenate from one year to the next. The ones in the first photo are a combination of some all purple ones with some nearly white ones from last year.

I'm definitely on the mend, but I'm taking it slowly so that I don't over do and knock myself out again. I worked a half day at the Boone gallery on Tuesday to ease myself back in to it, and went to a Chiropractor appointment yesterday. That felt good, as my back was hurting from all the sitting and laying around I've been doing. But I'm still tired and needing a nap every afternoon. I just hope this is still a need for healing and not habitual laziness!

Yesterday I finally got back into my studio for a couple of hours. Nothing major, but my goal was to make one piece and I made two. Remember my brainstorm back in February about stockpiling work and firing it with student work each week of class? Well, I didn't take into consideration that my class would be cancelled for lack of interest. (That is such a disappointment in so many ways. I spent a lot of time and money buying supplies and getting things ready and now I'm not sure I even want to teach it any more. I guess, since I have all the stuff, I'll give it one more shot. Then that's probably the last one.) So, I fired one kiln load before I got sick, and those pieces are still sitting around waiting to be finished. The second kiln load was to be things that had glass imbedded, but I had only made a couple of pieces for that firing. The two I made today can go in that batch, so I might fire the kiln over the weekend. The third batch will be copper, but that will be awhile. I'll post pictures of some finished things later.

Well, I think it's time for my nap, so I'll cut this off for now. I'm SO glad to be feeling more normal! I mean, more normal for me... and we can guess how "normal" that is!

Friday Foto 4/13

I'm still healing, but I took a short walk around the yard today to see what damage last night's hard freeze did. Some of the flowers on this quince are still looking good, some are not. I love the color of this one and I don't see it very often. I see lots of red and white quince, but not this salmon color. Unfortunately, this bush has to be surrounded by hardware cloth, as the deer think it's a yummy salad I've planted just for them. Not much else has come up through the mulch, but the hostas that ventured forth are mush today. All the crocosmia leaves are brown, too. Maybe these things will recover. We'll just have to hope for a big rally on both their part and mine.

Friday Foto 3/2

Has another week gone by already? Time flies when each day is the same as the one before.

I was working at Hands Gallery yesterday and could not stop looking at this beautiful mosaic made by Kirsten Tiedemann. Sorry for the reflections of the light cannisters, but regardless of that, I think you can see why I was mesmerized with it. So bold and colorful!

Have a great week everyone. Thanks for stopping by!

Friday Foto 2/3, Miscellaneous

• This is to remind us all of what it looked like in February of last year. Yesterday was Groundhog Day and it doesn't really matter if the rodent saw his shadow or not. If we get six more weeks of winter like we've had so far, it's fine with me! We've had a few little snows, none more than 3", and none recently. Both last winter and the year before I was constantly checking the weather reports and comparing with my schedule. It's been nice knowing that I can get out any time I want to!
• If you've been reading for awhile, you know that I've been on sabattical from jewelry making since the beginning of the year, and that's been just what I needed. I'm enjoying "piddling" (Which I read in this month's Southern Living Magazine is a cause well worth a lifetime of study.) and not feeling pushed to do anything that I don't want to do. It's described as "The act of passing time, without waste or regret". All the art supplies have been living on the dining room table and I've been dabbling with that whenever I feel like it. I don't have anything to show for it, as most of what I do is Art Journaling and therefore I'm not willing to share. However, I do have a large blank canvas that's been taunting me for some time, and I may start laying paint on it any day now. I'll share when/if that's ever done.
• The yearly house/studio purge has been going well. I have two closets and most of the studio sorted. I got rid of lots of stuff - some to Goodwill, some to other people and quite a bit to the dump. I finally went through my Mother's jewelry box and decided to sell some of her pieces. I put all of her Wedgwood jewelry up in my Etsy Shop and sold some gold pieces at a local gold buyer for a very good price. This is all to help finance my trip to the PMC Conference in Cincinnati next June where I'm looking forward to meeting some of my "imaginary" friends in person!
• I do have jewelry ideas that are knocking at the edges of my brain trying to get out and I've sketched some so that they don't get forgotten. I don't think it will be too long before I'm back to working with some metal because I'm starting to get excited by that prospect instead of thinking of it as "work" or a "chore". This is good.
• The next big thing to work on is taxes. Ugh. Not my favorite thing, but I can usually have everything ready to go to the accountant in just a few days once I get going. I just need to move all the paints and brushes off the dining room table first... or maybe just bring in another table temporarily?

Whatever's going on in your world this week, I hope you have a good one and I'll be here just piddling along!

Friday Foto 1/27 - Fog Likely

The area I live in is nicknamed "Fog Likely". It's near the east side of the Blue Ridge Mountains and we get this weather phenomenon called the Carolina Wedge. It's when cold air gets dammed up against the east side of the mountains and traps the fog here. There used to be a big yellow sign on the old highway that said "Fog Likely Next 4 Miles". So... Fog Likely. When you tell most locals (that have lived here since before the new highway was completed) that you live in Fog Likely, they know exactly where you're talking about.

Coming home from the gallery last night was one of those nights that, to me, is worse than driving on snow. The fog was so thick that I could barely see beyond the hood of the car. There's an intersection with a light that's 2.5 miles from where I need to turn off the highway to get home and I always set my trip odometer because sometimes that's the only way to know where to turn. I have to turn left, across the other two lanes, so I guess that there's no one coming, then stomp on it to get across and hope for the best.

My friend, David, who has a farm near by.

An even stranger thing about this is that I only live 10 miles from the gallery. It was totally clear when I left there and the horrible fog was only the last 3 miles, or so. Welcome to weather in the mountains!

Sorry I Forgot Friday Foto

Mrs. Lola McGillicatty Spottybody

Sorry. I got busy on Friday and forgot all about the Friday Foto thing. Then I spent all weekend cleaning and organizng my studio. Purge, purge, purge! Several bags to go to the dump, and two give-away boxes. More about that later.

I was just thinking that wouldn't it be cool if we had calico humans? I think I would like having brunette, blonde and red hair all at once. Maybe I'll start a trend.

Friday Foto 12/30

Actually, several photos today.

Between all the holiday "stuff" I actually finished some pieces that have been on my bench for quite a while. The the toggle/pendant below was one I made the first time I worked with Bronze Clay and finally put together when I found the right shade of seed beads to go with it.

And this one is a conglomeration of several copper charms and connectors that I'd made and had stored up. I decided it was time to do something with them. I put them together with some copper chain and some etched jasper beads.

And, a silver ring that was an idea in my head for a long time finally came to fruition.

So, that's it for the year, folks. I'm not going to be working on jewelry for awhile because the season is over and sales won't pick up again until the tourists return in late spring. Our Blowing Rock gallery closes for the season (it doesn't pay to heat the place) and I can put that inventory in the Boone gallery.

It's not like I don't have enough to do - the projects are all crowded in my head - more to come on that subject soon. I hope everyone has a happy New Year!

Friday Foto 12/23

Happy Holidays, everyone! Here's a little Christmas eye candy for your enjoyment. Be sure to look closeley at the tattoo on David's ab.....

I've been having fun with http://www.photofunia.com/ They have several templates that you can imbed your own pictures in. Wouldn't it be cool if the President had a picture of me?

And, this one.... oh, my....

I've done some with my friends' faces and with that, and the "Elf Yourself" video I did with their pictures, they're going to run every time I pull out my camera from now on. I've obviously had too much time on my hands this week!

As usual, I'm going to be doing a lot of driving and a little visiting over this holiday weekend, but it will be worth it to be able to see all of my family. I hope you and yours have a magical Christmas.

Friday Foto on Saturday

Blogging has been the last thing on my mind this week. Sorry I forgot the Friday Foto yesterday, but luckily, I remembered that "when all else fails, post a picture of your cat".

It's a busy time for everyone right now. I'm no exception, even though I don't have a lot of holiday shopping to do. Every time I think I'm all finished, something else comes up that has to be done/bought and that has a lot to do with Mercury being retrograde. At least I know I don't have to go back to WalMart for the rest of this year and that's a big relief! Have a good week, everyone!

Friday Foto 11/4

Tomorrow it will be one year since Lola showed up on my back porch hungry, injured and very vocal. I'm so grateful for her company!

I'm feeling... well... kind of "pissy" today. I want to crawl inside my shell and hide for a while and not deal with people, so that's what I think I'll do.

I hope you have a great weekend. I'll be back next week after I crawl out of this mood.

Friday Foto 10/21

This giant Praying Mantis (or is it Preying Mantis?) was relaxing on the side of my house earlier this week.

It's been a crazy week, with a few more busy days to go before I feel back to "normal". The show last Saturday was phenominal - gorgeous weather and good sales. Can't ask for better than that at a show. Then the President came on Monday and that shot the whole day. Appointments, meetings, and gallery days have eaten up the rest of the week. I need a little studio time, right now!

Friday Foto 10/14

Busy, busy week getting ready for a show and no time to take new pictures. So here's one of Lola's awesome whiskers. She's been so helpful this week, mostly using her curiosity for quality control inspections.

Wish me luck tomorrow. I really need this to be a good show!

Have a lovely weekend!

Friday Foto 10/7

This is my neighbor's dog and cat, anxiously awaiting her arrival home last evening. My car and hers look similar and I always hate to see the disappointment on their faces when they realize it's not hers. They're so cute all snuggled up together.

This has not been a good week for me. I've had a lot going on, and I haven't felt too good because I've had to deal with bad hives again. (They never go completely away, but this week was worse than normal.) I think I figured out that cheap Vitamin C tablets make them worse. Once they're out of my system I'll be better, I'm sure.

Have a good weekend everyone, and thanks for stopping by!

Friday Foto 9/30

Photo by Dale Forrest

There's a strong cold front coming in from Canada and it's supposed to be windy with a high temperature in the 40's and snow flurries tomorrow. Not a fun way to bring in October. Hopefully that Canadian cold front will also bring the package of supplies that I ordered three weeks ago from a Canadian Etsy shop! Have a good weekend, everyone, and stay warm!

Friday Fall Foto

Happy Autumnal Equinox, everyone! This godenrod is a sure sign that summer is finished.

Friday Foto 9/16

This is a patchwork hill of Christmas trees. Did you know that North Carolina grows and sells more Christmas trees than anywhere else, except Oregon? It used to bother me that people would cut down a perfectly good tree and bring it in their house for a few weeks, until I moved here and learned that they're only a crop, like cabbages. It's just a crop that takes 10-15 years before harvest. It won't be long now before they start cutting and shipping them out - usually around the end of October.

There's a chill in the air this morning and my furnace came on. It's cloudy and I'll be in "Fog Likely"  before the day is over. (See this post for an explanation.) Seems a little early to me, so I'll go dig out some socks and a sweater.

This makes three weeks in a row for Friday Foto. I hope I can keep it up. Thanks for reading and have a good weekend!

Friday Foto

I've had some friends visiting the past couple of days and yesterday we went up to Grandfather Mountain. This was taken near the Mile-High Swinging Bridge at the top of the mountain. There were clouds and fog, but that's typical for that elevation. The red berries are mountain ash.

Friday Foto

Lola sometimes gets jealous of my computer.

I'm going to start this ~~ A simple post on Fridays of a picture and a description. I'm hoping it will encourage me to take more pictures. I promise they won't all be Friday Feline Fotos, but Lola is such a fun (and cute) subject, so you'll probably see her quite a bit. We'll see how long I can keep this up.