hand eye crafts

Ron Turcotte rode Secretariat, which had to be THE most exquisite experience any jockey has ever had.  He rode other horses, too, of course, but this (and note the arrow pointing at the horse) had to be a dream. Ron has died, and I for one, thank him for what he did.

MONTHS ago, I got a couple of old books from a thrift store to use in collages.  Today, I pulled one of them off the shelf to see what could be done.  Well, reading the front flap of one made me decide to hold off. That sounds kind of interesting, huh?  The back half of the dust cover can still be used... The front cover is pretty: The tragedy mask is so much bigger than the comedy one --- does that portend a sad story?

I don't know why this didn't occur to me one of the other dozens of times I've been through my people stickers.  This has always appeared to be just a boy blowing bubbles, BUT that bubble looks like a skeleton's face! Quiet day here, after beginning kind of oddly.  Apparently, Briton and one of his co-workers were discussing the difference between "sex" and "gender," and he messaged his Sociologist Mom to weigh in.  Not expecting to come up with lecture on the spur of the moment, I pulled out a couple of pithy sentences: "Sex is biology, gender is belief." "Sex is an assignment, gender is a role." Amazing how some things come right back to you.

This morning, I woke up feeling what I can only describe as "claggy."  Gunk in my throat, nose threatening to go all crazy...  Y'all know.  It all wore off by mid-afternoon.  So this lovely, non-stormy rain, any of my teas, and my cozy blankets have sort of all gone to waste.

Things like this fascinate me Frankly, I  don't see the name of any pet I've ever had on either map.  I'll have to lobby for "Tap," "Barrymore" and "Zen" next year. I'm disappointed in Tennessee for its lack of creativity.  

With regard to a comment on yesterday's post: Pekingese are a peculiar breed, no doubt about it.  Shanghai was smart, intuitive and well-behaved.  The boy wore a bow tie for our Christmas Open House one year, and would rise up on his back launches to show anyone who asked. Rupert --- well, Rupert was long on personality but short on brain.  Or maybe he was also long on "Whatever. . ."  (Not a sarcastic one, but a "I can roll with that" one.)  He was a handsome, fuzzy shrug.   I had to get a new bread machine, and broke it in today with Milk Sweet Bread. The pan on this machine is deep, but not very wide, so the loaf is really more of a column.  The bread turned out to be really, really good, by the way. Over the weekend, I found and texted my children this photo with the caption, "Hannah is OVER IT." She was 1, and her brother took the picture.  My hair was significantly darker. Today is the birthday of, when you get right down to it, my Crus...

Dale and I had a Pekingese named Shanghai, and, of course, Hannah had Rupert.  This is a face I have seen personally: Tread lightly, people.

Twinnie  introduced me to Land of Nod Studios on (in?) Etsy, and I've been a kind-of-regular customer.  Her stuff is amazing --- I recommend you go to Etsy and look for her shop.  Be prepared for some weirdness, though.  😉 Anyway, here's a bookmark I made today using one of her stickers: Sometimes you have to make yourself chuckle, at least.

How beautiful is this? You find wonderful things when you spend Too Much Time on Pinterest.  The colors, the capture of the moment. . .  Also, the weathered wood.  I even have a board titled "Weathered Wood."  There's also one titled "Old Doors."  My tastes are eclectic, I know. One of my boards getting no filling is the knitting one.  I haven't been able to knit for two months, and it's beginning to eat at me.  I'm not looking to make Christmas gifts for anyone, so there aren't any deadlines.  It's just that I can only collage so many bookmarks, you know?

Today marks the first day in eight weeks that I am free, free, free from any upcoming obligations.  Nothing until my next therapy (mental) in two weeks. In purple crushed velvet hip-hugger bell bottoms vernacular:  OH, YEAH. I know most of you out there have real lives and clean up and dress nice and go out into the world every day.  And good on you.  For me, though, having places to be 3 or even 4 days a week is unwelcome.  Take a shower, wash my hair, put on clean clothes and make-up?   Eeeewww. Granted, almost all my trips were medically necessary, which takes the fun out of everything.  If I'd been walking on a beach or strolling through yarn shops: different tune. 🎶 Knitting is still out of the question, which is the only thing in this whole deal almost as bad as the still numb fingers.  I keep collaging, just to feel productive, I suppose.  Some of them I like a lot, some I toss soon after I finish them. Today was the first day of...

Y'all know that periodically I go on sorting/thinning out spells.  Here are a couple of things from one of my latest --- going through photographs. I don't know which birthday this was.  Usually these old-time pictures have some sort of date on them, but this one doesn't. My mother wrote in my baby book that I had long, slender fingers like my Aunt Louise.  They do look long in this photo. Also, note behind me purple crushed velvet hip-hugger bell bottoms.   OH, YEAH. I wore those things until they were practically threadbare.  There was a wide purple crushed velvet belt , too. And finally, look at my Beagle, Country.  She's waiting so patiently for some cake.  She stayed with us well into my college years.  I got her when I was in 3rd grade. On another pet front, here's my pony, Star. She's with foal, plainly.  She had 3 little ones: James, Rosie, and RG, in what some might call fairly close succession.  Her fertility is what led u...

 Still sort of reeling over Tap and Sister Twin.  I was scrolling through news stories, stopped to read one, leaving the top of her head visible in the next story down.  In my head I'm thinking, "That looks like Tap's head..."  Crazy.  I know there were girls in his litter;  I'm just saying. Sometimes something comes your way and makes you have to just sit down and ponder. My tooth is feeling better, though when the gel and/or Advil wear off, it acts back up.  I've worn my mouthguard a lot just to keep the teeth apart. Funny story about mouthguards.  When I was first diagnosed with TMJ, I went to the dentist and had an expensive (hundreds of $) mouth plate custom-made.  I bit through it within two weeks.  Ever since, I've bought plastic/rubber/whatever ones from sporting goods stores or online.  I haven't had a single one break or tear.

This is Tap.  This is a dog just identified in St. Louis because of her microchip. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!?

 Before, or very early in my whole tooth replacement saga, my "regular" dentist told me that a crown on one of my lower teeth (last one on the left) was beginning to crack, and would have to be replaced. Yesterday, the process began.  I have never screeched and waved my hands during a dentist visit.  Yesterday, SCREECH.  And she couldn't stop, because this was removing the old crown.  It.  Was.  Excruciating.  The tooth itself, of course, is cracked (hence the crown), so there were two sources of misery.  But she got it done, and she warned me that it would probably be tender for up to a week.  I was given some gel to put on my gum, and released into the wild.  Last night, I was primed to call the office this morning and ask to be seen post haste.  If my upper teeth even grazed that one, there was ⚡️nerve pain.⚡️ Today it's better, which saved me a phone call and some money.  All my chewing has moved to the right side, as ...

Sometimes I'll start a post because an idea comes to me, and keep it in the posts "line" until I'm ready to publish it.  One had been there for quite a while, and I decided yesterday to put it up. Only it didn't publish like it was supposed to.  If you're interested in checking it out, scroll down  and back in time    to July 7th to read "Am I the Only One?" Here's something super cute to take our minds off of all that: Everything inside is equally cute, and for some reason, this Samoyed got a solo shot:

 Today I got some super-cute bunny crafting paper: Can you stand it?  I must be extremely choosy when picking projects for it.  I certainly don't want to waste any. Quiet day.  I just finished a biography of Sargent Shriver, and have begun a book Briton's been recommending for ever.   It's called Pachinko .  It's a thick one, so it will take me a while.  So far, the writing is simple, kind of spare, and simply mesmerizing.

I have failed to let you know that my  Twinnie , when I wondered about birds and spider webs, did some research and found out that webs are duct tape for building nests. Particularly hummingbirds. THANK YOU. So, I've added some size to my collaging, though I'm still churning out bookmarks.  This is one I really like: The necklace is from a longer piece of trim, and the jewels in her hair were taken from another length of that.  For some reason, I am so, so proud of that necklace...

This sticker  has tasked me.  It's a clear one (PET, technically, I think), and these are difficult to separate from their backing.  I usually get them apart eventually.  This one I worked with for 35 minutes.  35!  Did I give up and go to bed?  I did. A lot of that was my index and middle fingers.  Their "paralysis" makes fine work a bit tricky.  I've also noticed that I'm dropping things really often.  That "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone" thing is true. Pinterest, as if you didn't know, very obviously employs algorithms.  "Have you seen THIS picture of Robert Redford?"  "Here's another angle of the Bee Gees on stage."  Well today, this showed up: It's a print for sale .  The thing about it is that three of those boots are boots that I own!  Starting from the left, #2, #3, and #4.  My feet are famous!  Sort of.