Lamp!

Last night at the auction I got this lamp for five bucks. I definitely do not NEED another lamp and now I have to figure out what to do for a shade. I think I'll try to make one.

I'm not spending ANY money on this project--it'll have to be made of all the bits and pieces I already have. A challenge I'll gladly rise to accept.



He's kind of a cool genie guy, isn't he? I like that the lamp part is at an angle. Blue Cat looks a little alarmed, though...


Something like this, maybe? Round would definitely be easier than the rectangular, pagoda shape. But the pagoda shape would echo the shape of the genie's cushion, and that'd be cool. Anyone ever make a lampshade before? Heh heh heh...
Last night I had an incredible dream that I was in Japan with some friends and we were there for only two days! No time to really see anything and I was really disappointed.
But we were hanging out in someone's kitchen and I looked out of the window at a pinky-gold sunset and saw a flock of cranes flying over, silhouetted against the sky, and thought, "Wow. This is my moment. This is the image I will take away from this once-in-a-lifetime voyage."
Kinda neat.

WALL-E

I took Esther to see WALL-E today. She enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as I did. It was a very sweet story, on the whole. And I loved all the little details and snarky bits, too.

There's lots of questions I have about the ending, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone. Doubtless most of you will have the same questions, anyway!

Mom, if you read this, you should really go see it. You'd love it, I think.

ACEO Battle Station

It's been really hot and humid this week, and unless I can turn on the little window unit up on the third floor and let it run for a bit before going up to the studio to work, there's just no way I can paint. It's too unbearable. So I set up my watercolor painting station downstairs in the dining room, at the table. Here's a peek:




Watercolors can be so gratifyingly simple: paint, water, brush, paper. It takes very little effort to set up, do some painting, and then put it all away.

Huge Pic Spam

These are some recent watercolor paintings and ink drawings--a few are still available on Etsy, but most have been sold. Thank you to those nice folks! You're helping pay the rent and y'all rock!

"As the Sun Lowered in the Sky" ink on paper, 4x6 inches

"Clara Gets Stage Fright" ink and watercolor on paper, 4x6 inches

"Sinister" aceo watercolor on paper, 2.5 x 3.5 inches

"Alma" ink on paper, 4x6 inches

"A Gentle Girl" ink and watercolor on paper, 5x7 inches

"Loretta in Pintucks" ink on paper, 4x6 inches

"That Far-Seeing Gaze" ink and watercolor on paper, 2.5 x 3.5 inches

"Vermilion and Gold" ink and watercolor on paper, 4x6 inches

"The Shadowy Girl" ink and watercolor on paper, 5x7 inches

I'm feeling a little better today. I hate feeling helpless, though.

MRSA Sucks

We just found out yesterday that Esther has MRSA, which accounts for the three staph infections she's had this summer. It really, really sucks. Now she's on Clindamycin after two rounds of Bactrim. I've fallen into the disinfecting routine--constant handwashing, bleaching the bathroom down every day. Towels washed every day, sheets washed three times a week, her clothes are all washed hot with bleach added. I look her over every night at bathtime to see if there are any little "mosquito bites". Every little bite or scratch gets swabbed with tea tree oil (which has been great, actually--but I missed this last one somehow).

Now I feel like we're a house of leprosy--there's so many associations with bad hygiene and slovenliness. And there's so little real information about it online. I'm keeping her away from her friends for a few days to avoid any of them picking it up.
Does anyone else have kids with this? Does the bacteria finally go away or do the infections keep recurring? I'm so tired of worrying about her--the infections are really awful.

WANT!

Ooooh, oooh! I just found out about this in the new issue of Bust, and I want it! I can't believe it's taken someone this long to do it, it's such a great idea...

The Office

The boy and I have been watching old episodes of The Office. I was watching the deleted scenes and in one, Creed tells the camera he was in a band called the Grassroots, and old photos of the band flash by. Ricky and I looked at each other with "NO WAY" expressions on our faces, I got up to fetch a Grassroots record from the shelf, and sure enough, Creed Bratton was the lead guitarist.


Hmm, that was a lot more interesting when it was happening...


But anyhoo, it's nice to know the guy's got work.

Porch Swing Project

Some friends of ours gave us a brand-new, in-the-box porch swing. They had received it as a gift, but had wanted an old school, wooden swing to hang from the porch ceiling. Our ceiling wouldn't support a swing, so we were looking for one with a base. So when Kelly offered theirs to us, I said, "Yes!"
She paused and said softly,"Are you sure you don't want to see it first?"
"I'm sure it's fine--you said it's brand-new, right? No rust or anything?"
"Wellll, I'll email you a photo of it first."
"Jeez, Kelly, how bad is it?! It can't be THAT bad, right?"
And she starts humming circus music.
So yeah, I kinda wish I had taken a photo of it before. It was a bright forest green and the cushion was green and white stripes, super bright, circus/termite tent stripes. It looked pretty awful against our new house colors. So Ricky decided to paint it and I made a slipcover and pillows!
It's kinda not as "hip" as I'd like, but the selection of outdoor fabric was pretty limited at Joann's. Still, I kinda dig that chicken fabric.
So, thanks Kelly and Ross!!



And here's some impatiens, heucheras, coleus, and a teeny hosta in the front flowerbed. After we get gutters on, I can finally start with the foundation planting!!!

Texas, Part Two

More photos from our Texas trip:

My dad lighting sparklers for the kids.


Aunt Paula with Esther. Esther wasn't too sure about the sparklers at first, but then she decided to try one for herself.


The next day we took the boat down to the harbor. I took waaay too many photos. Here's a shrimp boat.


Esther's first fish--a really small speckled trout (it got thrown back into the bay).


I just like this one.

Texas, Part One

Esther and I flew down to the Gulf to visit family for the Fourth. There's entirely too much to write about and too many photos to share, so I'll direct you to my Flickr to see more.
There was lots of family to visit with, lots of good food to eat, fireworks, water balloon fights, etc, etc. My dad took us all fishing in his boat--we went down the Intracoastal waterway to East Bay, then down to the diversion channel, then to the river. Esther caught her first fish, a little speckled trout (we threw it back). It was a really fantastic day to be on the water.


Esther at the patio table in her fabulous treehouse built by her grandpa:
Ya think she likes it?



My aunt and uncle live next door to my folks on one side, and my grandparents on the other. They live out in the country and it's not unusual at all. Anyway, we've got a small herd of longhorns that are sort of everyone's. Here's one of the cows:

This is Diamond and Biscuit, my Grandma's burro:


Esther was totally digging the waterballoon fights her older cousins and uncle were having:


After the party, watching the fireworks:

It's done!

They finished the house this morning! I took these photos about an hour ago and now it's hailing and raining furiously. I can hear the big chunks of ice popping off the windows--NICE. And I can see my tomato plants getting pummeled. The hail is pretty big--it sounds like the ice is cracking the window glass.
But whatever--here's a quick "before" photo:

And here's our new house!!