hand eye crafts

You take your son to the car dealership to pick up his car, having conversations, then when he goes in to retrieve his keys, and you start listening to the latest episode of his podcast. (When one of his tri-hosts said "Scream 7," Briton yelled, "7!!!"  I thought that was quite well-played.)  I'm watching him walk across the lot while hearing him in the car. Paving by the house is continuing.  They started early tonight.  It may have suddenly dawned on somebody that county schools re-open next week.  The first week of August.  Wrong.

I've never been one for lists, except fun ones.  No To-Do lists, but definitely Favorite Movies, Sexiest People, that sort of thing. Not sure if two things constitute a list, but here is Kim's Thursday: Water and possibly re-pot* plants Clear out the closet The first is done, I'm mid-second.  Man, I have a lot of gray turtlenecks. But look what I also have!  Yoda lights! (Say, "Yoda lights" over and over, and it becomes a nice little song.) *Re-potting did  take place.

Of late, the heat here has been triggering brutal headaches.  As bad as some of my other headaches are, heat/dehydration headaches have always been the worst.  Now, as a public service: My therapy session was moved to today.  Since I usually go in on Fridays, I'm thinking tomorrow's Saturday.  Funny how your brain has had patterns carved into it that we don't even realize.

 I'm not a good mandala person.  They are not calming.  That's probably because my tendency is to grab markers when I color, and they aren't the best for fine spaces.  The way to go is colored pencils. Plus, I get the satisfaction of stopping occasionally to sharpen the pencils.  So satisfying.

For reasons I can't really explain, over the past several days, I have been cutting out quilt pieces.  Not specific pattern pieces, just squares and small rectangles.  If they ever get sewn together, it will be haphazard rows.  I say, "if" because most of you here know that I have always loved cutting out pieces. Eagle-eyed readers (especially those residing in the Pacific Northwest) will see that most of the material came from the generous  Twinster .   One particular piece of fabric had its manufacturer's name along one edge "Marcus Brothers."  Fortuitously, my cut landed in a perfect place. Promise I did not plan that.  Ever since, though, I've thought to myself, "Well, if you wanna make broth, first thing --- ya gotta find a good quality Marcus."

 You're sent a string of pony lights.  You unpack them, but see that the lights are held together by the most convoluted twist tie ever.  Someone was either having a bad day that day, or had been chastised for loose twist tie work. Then you sit down with what is supposed to be connected picture frames.  You have instructions (with pictures), but none --- none  --- of the frames in the instructions are the same as the frames I spent over an hour yesterday filling.  I mean, really? I even tried winging it: putting the frames together on my own.  I got exactly two  screwed together.  There are a couple of frames I can hang on their own;  they don't have the holes drilled in them.  What does Charlie Brown say?  Aaaarrrggghhh.

Not knowing about honey and cheese, I feel like a significant part of my life has been empty.  I really like both, but pairing them was ever on my radar. Luckily, there are lots --- lots  --- of websites to help me.  There's even a Cheese Professor!  I am going, though, to follow Twinnie to  Honeyville . I realized that my bead tray has the face of one of those "Mahna Mahna" Muppets: A quiet Saturday at The Chez.  Tap has slept deep.ly. all day. And snored. Maybe I need to get him one of those  magnetic nose strips  that show up in commercials roughly thirty-eight times a day. Non-sequitur time:  I continue to stand on my opinion that Publix has the best subs;  sub shops can get in line behind.  Maybe it's the bread?  Today I got a Cuban, which I generally dislike, but it is delicious.  I'm eating it slowly to make it last.

 Walking out to get the mail, I came across this perfect  maple leaf on the sidewalk.   I took time to look at it, appreciate its beauty, then thought FALL IS COMING!!!! I failed to tell you that the store Hannah and I always visit has this I've been thinking about the cheese honey.  How different is cheese honey from other honeys?  What cheese(s) go with honey?   Finally got rain today, but just plain rain.  No thunder.  This week has disappointed me all around.

  Most all the plants look good.  A lot show very good growth.   Up above, the plant that looks kind of cactusy is Opus.  (Yes, the penguin.)  In the cat, specifically the cat's back, is Stanford.  I was relieved to find a cat planter that didn't have the plant coming out of the cat's bottom. Again, air plants don't get names. The day will come, we all know, that everyone in Equine Alley will be named.  I live a rich life. Speaking of... This arrived yesterday.  How do I not find a place for this gorgeous one?  I might have to start an Alley Annex on the opposite wall. How in the world could this have happened?  I saw one print of a horse on a sofa.  Who knew there were SO many prints of animals sitting on couches? For the past three days, we've been warned about thunderstorms breaking out at night.  Nothing.  Look, weatherpeople, don't keep teasing us.

 Why do things always spiral out of control?  Can they slant out of control?  Can they straightline out of control?  Swerve?   Why, no matter what else is served with them, do you keep going back and back to the french fries? If you can take a shower in the morning to wake up, AND a shower at night to relax you for sleep, how does the shower know which to do?  Is there curds powder, too? Does half Hell ever break loose?  Is it always all? Do the Four Winds ever blow at the same time?  Wouldn't they cancel one another out? How do people keep their glasses on their foreheads?  Not their heads, their foreheads.  I can't do it. Why do men use Grecian Formula?  I have yet to meet a woman who doesn't like ( really like ) a man with salt and pepper hair. More on hair: why are they called "beachy waves," or "mermaid waves?" Is it possible to sleep wrong on your shoulder?  Like you sometimes do on your neck?  Asking for a frie...

Today, I couldn't find my glasses for about 10 minutes, which was bad because I couldn't find my phone.  As in I couldn't see my phone in front of me. Twinnie sent a chest-puffing message to Tap about dealing with the roadwork.  With his little DayGlo vest, hardhat (he's all about safety) and whistle, he could bark with real authority.  The Loud Machines are not out there today, so he must  have skeered them, Aunt Kim. The leggings I'm wearing today have a print from mid-thigh down.   I've lost count of how many times I've brushed my legs today, thinking something was there. Check this out: Far left there?  Looks SO much like Hannah.  She'd accessorize it out just like that, too.  Second from the left is me, before I got my hair cut.  Yep, I got a new look.  Two weeks ago. A pixie.  I'll try to get a better picture for you.  No one else seems to like it, but I do.  What styling there is that can be done I haven't gras...

Since I'm doing the plant thing now, I'm looking at/for info on diseases and treatments.  Today, I was told that the leaves on my  peacock plant  showed clear signs of "droopiness." Words hurt, you know.  I spoke to the [still unnamed] plant and deeply apologized.  I'll be leaf-monitoring for the foreseeable future. Here in Athens Clarke County (we're united, you know): And it is a hellish mess.  Everywhere.   The last three nights, they've been "improving" the road beside my house.  BRIGHT LIGHTS!  Lots of beeping when backing up!  Big engines in big equipment being big loud! Truth be told, I don't mind it that much.  My bedroom is on the other side of the house, so noises are slightly minimized.  But there is Tap.  Tap, who will holler if I drop an empty paper towel tube in the kitchen.  He has barked and barked and carried on...  If I get up and look outside with him/for him, he settles.  It already ...

 Nicely done, Google.  If any of you are interested, search Google for "Spain," "Spanish team," etc., and watch what happens. I had the match on all afternoon, though I didn't have eyes on it constantly.  Right now, the NASCAR race is on. Some of my day was spent taking baby air plants from their parents.  Can plants have doulas?  Midwives? On top, the parent plant with twins!  Two pups from two different sources in the hand at the bottom. They look enough alike, though, that I put them together. Now, these two might be preemies.  They got to go into the special XXS jars.  Even at that, I had to put them in very carefully or they'd fall right in. Then there are these 3 guys.  Each of them was on its own, and I decided to move them all in together.  They've been christened "The Hudson Brothers."  IYKYK.

Going to bed last night, nothing in the world sounded better to me to eat than waffles.  I put out the pancake mix, the syrup, and my waffle iron.  Ready to go. Then, today, nothing sounded better to me to eat than a Gyro Plate from  Mediterranean Grill .  It's this great little place with an interior that reminds me of the Five Guys where Hannah once worked.  So, all the waffle makin's are still on the counter, and my take-out tray is on the stove, making it easy to grab bites as I go by. It's still bloody flippin' hot.  The restaurant had air conditioning, though, and there were no other stops for me to make, so I didn't have to get back out in the heat.   The tape measures and fairy lights jar project is done. Can you spot the issue, though?  Each light strand needs its own battery pack, and what are you supposed to do with all of those?  Not the smooth, quasi-magical look I'd like.  Still kind of fun, though, I suppose.

 Goldfish crackers are a genuinely universal experience, aren't they?  I don't know how many flavors there are, but it's a lot.  There were always some form/size package of them in the pantry when my children were growing up.  Hannah was a particulary big fan.  Remember the milk carton? Still just brutally hot here.  When I got in the car after therapy today, the outside temperature registered 104.   Time for some more introductions. The Boston fern on the left, looking scraggly, is Billrussell.  The Jerusalem rose is Sally.  Second from right is something with the word "heart" in the name;  that's been christened "22."  On the right is Vince.  You can see all the debris the the weather of the week has left on the deck.  There's been more wind and thunder than rain, so there is the deck to clean and branches and pine cones to pick up in the yard. You can also see a jerry-rigged lock system keeping the doors shut....

 Did y'all know about these? (By the way, the baby with the sunglasses does not  have fangs.  A trick of the light.) Then, you open to eat them, and you genuinely feel a little bad for eating babies.  But that feeling passes. I know some are watching the Tour de France at present, has anyone been interested in the World Cup?  Me either.  I did watch the Argentina / England game.  I had an appointment with my psychiatrist that was scheduled during the first half.  Driving home, there was practically no traffic, which I finally realized was due to people being somewhere watching the game. Framed.  But which way should it be hung? The only "giveaway" is the artist's signature. Can you imagine if this little guy were on a sofa?  My head would explode.

 This is all my yarn in the world. I honestly didn't realize I'd parted ways with so much of what I had.  I'm saddened and proud simultaneously.  Does that make any sense? Hovering in the background is the little table and sleeping lion that greet you when you come in the front door.  On the little table: I believe at one point I said I'd update you on plant names.  In the conch are artificial flowers.  They don't get names.  In front is Michi, in the scallop is Spat, and in the evening gown is Marsha. On the bottom shelf of the table is the one thing that could get me back to teaching.  Working at my desk, if a student came by, I'd grab the frame and hold it up to them without even raising my head: SPARK JOY OR GET OUT

 Oh, Sam.  You thoroughly delightful man. It's a slightly darker world now. There are a couple of purchases from Sunday I didn't share with you.  Dueling cats earrings: I can hardly stand these.  Look at their little boots! This is a worry stone.  It's basically a small clay leftover that a potter has depressed and shaped a bit. It's rough, though they did have glazed ones.  We each got one, and joked about racing to see whose will wear through first. Lastly, this note card which I bought to frame. Couldn't be any cuter, huh?  Well, hang on. CUTER!  The ears are amazing, but look at that eye.  It's both sleepy and adorable and  squinty and threatening.  Plus, once I get it framed, I can't hang it upside down!

 

Let's just say it was a bad day to wear white and order jeni's Milkiest Chocolate ice cream.  Thankfully, that was the last stop on Hannah's and my adventure.   We started at  Homegrown , at little store that we both love.  I got this "Madame Butterfly" print: Hannah fell in love with this: She, like me, has a gallery wall, and this got hung as soon as we got back to her place. Then we went to  bside , a little snack and coffee shop next to and partnered with  The Deer and The Dove , which is Hannah's favorite restaurant in town.  Next, the ill-fated jeni's stop.  It was, I will say, the first time we ever went in that there wasn't a long, long line.  And there were these magnificent powerful super-cold fans inside, which were so  welcome. Not a whole lot coming up this week.  An appointment with my psychiatrist, a therapy session.  Then, probably staying in the air conditioning and dodging thunderstorms.  The South i...

The loveseat is in place!! Yes, I dropped it on my toe getting it out of the box.  (Said toe is swollen.)  The pillows don't color-match  but they're lions.  End table(s) and rugs are all that's left. Guess what Mother Nature is providing now that my comfy seat is in place? Deep, rumbly, Sam-Elliott's-voice thunder all day, with occasional downpours.  Perfect. The socks are done!! I'm as proud, maybe prouder, of these than almost any else I've ever knit.  Next I might give a scarf a whirl.  Nothing fancy, just something to test my endurance.  I'm pretty sure there's a  Wool and the Gang  kit around here that will fit that bill. Off to see my daughter tomorrow.  In a shameless promotion of her employer, go try a Chick-fil-a peach frosted lemonade.  They do tend to come up with ingenious tastes in Summer.  For a number of reasons, I don't frequent CFA, but it is keeping a roof over my daughter's head, so...