Days 13 and 14: From a Distance and Flowers

From a distance this little guy looks so sweet, but in fact he is a punk!

Jerk cat, I stepped outside tonight to try and take a couple pictures, next thing I know, I look down and there is a little white cat standing next to me on the wet back porch!!! Of course all night he had been SO cuddly, I thought he had mended his ways... NOPE!

From Sunflower Market of course!

I love that I can now get fresh cut flowers for $4.00.  Let me pause to add that I love that I can now get quality, not wilted and sickly looking fresh cut flowers for $4.00.  Flowers just make everything seem so homey and welcoming!

Day 10, 11, 12: Something I made, Fun and Close up

Okie dokie; here we go... Something I made..

Stoneware with handmade paper

I was fooling around and made this abstract piece.  I was trying to come up with a clever way to glaze it.  I wanted something organic and this paper just seemed the best fit.

What's more fun than a puppy?

Something Fun... Daisy was rolling about in the yard being a goofy puppy.  I tried to get just a good picture of her puppy nose, but it ended up just being blurry :(

Black stoneware from 2009

Close-up of this little guy I made in my figure class my last semester of school, only finally got it fired.  It is so small it fits in my hand; and I have always loved it.

In other news, Maverick is feeling MUCH better.  He is still a little swollen, but seems to have perked up.  We still have to get the fence fixed.  hopefully when our landlord comes over they can help with that.

Also, the hoarder's room is no more!!! YEA!  It is down more to just a cluttered table in a really clean room.  That's where I have been, trying to de-clutter our lives.  My head is about to explode from not being able to art, so I am glad to almost be back to productive!

Day 9: Faceless Self-Portrait

So for this one I was trying to find a picture that summed up my life in a nutshell:

If I'm stationary, there is typically a cat in my lap; most often this one.

Oh Petey! (Which is short for Pedro.. because Pedro means Peter in Spanish).  Petey was Kristie's cat; I was with her when he was adopted (the only little guy that was awake, he licked my hand it was so cute.. then he didn't sleep for two years and was a psycho!)  We were driving home with him coming up with random names and then said Pedro (this was around the time of Napoleon Dynamite) and he poked his little kitty head in between the seats as if to say "Yes, you need something?" so the name stuck.  He is especially co-dependent as of late, and if someone is at the computer he wants to be a part of the action!

Tonight we had an incident.  The dog next door got her little (not little) pitbull head under the fence.  I'm sure Mavers went up to sniff her and see what was up, and he got bit.  Now she got bit too, and scraped up from coming under a fence, but Mavs needed to go to the ER vet.  He is now on puppy painkillers and has a swollen sad face.  Bryan is very upset.  Daisy seems to realize there is something wrong because she hasn't been chewing on him.  Poor sad guy :(

Mavers, before getting his faced torn up; being very tolerant of me shoving a cat in his face and another hanging out looking for food.

The spare room soon to be studio AKA the hoarder's room is just about cleared out and open for business.  Between moving and shoving extra things in, and then clearing out the art studio, it just got out of hand.  Almost better, just in time to be productive AND get started on artwork for holiday gifts (both for giving and for others to purchase).  Also getting paid for 2 pieces next week, so yea! Money for the bank :)

Day 7 & 8: Something New & Technology

Ok, so I warned you, late always.. um sorry.  Anyway, day 7 is something new

New display including picture of Bryan, Green Beret shadow box I put together and of course Gover as Captain America.. AWESOME!! (Grover by James Hance)

There used to be a shelf there, but it wasn't very stable, Bryan mentioned something about the screws not being in the studs (even though I used those anchor thingies).  So I took it down tried to use a stud finder (which Bryan says works because it beeped next to him) to find studs to screw into to make more stable... and that's why t looks like there are bullet holes around Bryan's picture.  I have given up on the shelf.

Day 8: Technology

Joystick used for playing Portal 2 (me) and helicopter games (Bryan) and the speakers we plug our phones and computers into for awesome music

This picture is less exciting to me.  Meh.

Off to get ready for work, Friday = Monday in this house

Day 6: Childhood Memory

This one was fun, I have been planning it since last night, then a few more elements came in.. genius!

Tea, food, and books, yea!

So, as anyone who knows me can attest to, I LOVE to read.  Love as in slightly obsessive it is a bit of a problem love.  Growing up "Castle in the Attic was one of my favorite books (I think it may have been one my older brother loved also).  The tea cup of course is representatve of tea parties with Nan and the cousins growing up.  Initially that was going to be it for this picture.  Then in my cookbook stack I saw my copy of the "Super Market Cookbook" (Silver Jubilee addition).  Complete with a dedication:

"Respectfully and affectionately dedicated to MAMIE DOWD EISENHOWER the housewife of America's No. 1 household"

I found this particular copy on Ebay for around $5.  My initial run-in with this book came every holiday season growing up in Nan's kitchen.  It contains (notably for me) recipes for the perfect pie crust, and coconut custard.  Also suggested luncheon and dinner menus by season such as this peach for a Wednesday in the fall (for those ladies on a limited budget):

Luncheon:

corn and potato chowder

shredded pineapple

tea

Dinner:

veal stew with vegetables

lettuce salad

lime jello    coffee

Priceless eh?  Also included in this picture (a fluke at first) my Kitchen Aid mixer which is both a beast in the kitchen and a great childhood memory!

Day 4 & 5 My Favorite Color (combination) AND Someone I Love

Ok... slacker slackerson that I am; two day catch up... first, my favorite color (combination)

The postcard that I made for my aunt to start our pen-pal adventure.

So maybe it is my artistic training, maybe it is just my indecisive nature; but I don't know what my favorite color is.  I DO however have a favorite combination.  I love the look of aged with bright and bold.  The contrast of the different types of richness just make me happy.

Now the hard one; someone I love.  Not because I don't have anyone I love, quite the opposite, but because the someone I love that lives in the house with me doesn't like his photo taken.

Bryan.  This is what I deal with on a daily basis.

  So now I'm caught up.  It is funny how Bryan is so supportive of this project and so difficult at the same time.  What you can't see from this picture is that Bryan is laying in bed studying, Maverick is laying next to him, Petey is laying on his feet and Daisy is on a pillow at the foot of the bed as far away from Petey as she can be.

  In sad news, my mom found a dog running around, a little chihuahua, older dog.  She was so sick, they had to take her in and have her put to sleep.  So sad for the little puppy and for my mom and James (her boyfriend) having to deal with that.  So hard.  Take care of all your four legged fluffy friends, they can't take care of themselves!!!

Day 3: Clouds

Hurray for getting to take pictures of something other than myself! Today is clouds (as the title implies).  Last night and this morning we got a bunch of much needed rain (which also brought in some cooler temps).  For those outside of Oklahoma it has been 100 degrees or over, well about forever (if you measure from the beginning of July until now).  Today the high was in the 80's, almost brisk, ha ha.  Anyway, lots of gray this morning, too much even for this picture, and when I just went out to take it; BAM cloudless sky.  I had to look hard but I found some.

I also found the moon!  (This was Bryan's pick for favorite .. he won't always have deciding role, but for today we gave it to him)

I also went to Sunflower Farmer's Market today.  Breath of fresh air here in OK, it isn't all organic, but a ton of it is, and the bulk area is awesome!  I think we can save a ton of money here (as long as I avoid impulse cheese buys which is a problem.) I limited myself to one exciting cheese and got some raw milk cheddar which I will be trying soon.  It is still SUPER busy because t is so new, so slightly a hippie mad house, but I figure that will settle shortly.  As of now the best times to go are during church on Sunday, 10 am on weekdays, or closer to when it closes at 11.  Since I live the vampire life the times works out for me.  The other option is to bring a friend, I brought 2.  We were able to find parking easier (though Krystle came after Brandi and I, so we only reduced cars by 1) and also wade through the crowds a little easier. (Or do the ol' you wait by the cart, I'll be right back!)

Also yesterday I forgot to mention, we had near tragedy, I thought Luna died!  Some background, Luna is the only 4 legged friend I have acquired on purpose.  Pedro was supposed to be a temporary arrangement for my friend Kristie (her husband is allergic, so I got full custody), Oliver was supposed to be a present for Bryan's mom (but he would have had to been de-clawed* or an outside cat and I couldn't do it, then they decided visits were better anyway), Daisy was supposed to be shipped out to a good home (and instead stayed in ours), and Maverick came with Bryan. So Luna has a special place in my heart.  She is also "special" in a very real way.

"Hi, I'm Luna-Tuna.  You know Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter, I'm the cat version of her.  I like nargles, also cat kibble, and sometimes I think I am a fish, I also sleep VERY soundly!"

Basically everyday is a brave new day for Luna.  So I walk in the bedroom and see Luna at the foot of my bed butt half hanging off, one eye open, tongue half sticking out, and not breathing, I say her name, yell for Bryan to come look and then as I walk closer say "Oh my god I think she's dead!" I put my hand on her and she still doesn't move until Bryan gets close, then she jumps up and looks at us as if to say "hi guys, where's the cat kibble?"  That would have put a damper on the day for sure.  I now refer to her as "Luna who's not dead", because she isn't, she's alive.

So I'm off to get ready for work, last night was more dead than a horde of zombies (and less exciting too).  Let's see what awaits us tonight.

*More on de-clawing later, for now just know it involves toe chopping! Not ok!