Follow Up and Then Some

First.    Hmmmm, I don’t know what to address first…   I want to respond to a few of the comments to a few of my latest posts.   

Ah, let’s address the question of Wilhelmina.    A few of you will remember Wilhelmina, yes?    I had posted about her, oh back in February?   And then zipped off to Costa Rica, got obsessed with my tan, flew to AZ, Palm Springs, involved with a wedding, and of course, my favorite time filler:  blogging, and.   well…   Wilhelmina has ended up like this:

 

So, sndra of no link, I can’t show you ‘how it turned out’.   I have only the heart I glued on and maybe, not sure the pencil marks will show up in the photo, but I drew on her to get an idea of how to map out my idea.    I have collected a few more items that are concave and convex to attempt a ‘fit’ with her curves, and that’s about it.   Guess this calls me a procrastinator.   Have I ever told you about the Christmas stockings I was cross-stitching for me and Hub?   I got one done a couple of years ago.   The other is still only a half way stitched design and I started these is 1990.     I have dresses cut with their patterns still pinned waiting for me to just sew up that were begun in 1993.    Which means that the cross-stitched stuff has been stored in SEVEN houses, and the sewing project has been following through my last FOUR houses.   Did you all know that I move a lot?    Yep, I am living in my 7th house.   in under 20 years.    It was a much worse average before the last 3 houses but the 6th house was lived in only 4 months so maybe not?   whatever.

My messy craft room, Wilhie up close:

      I glued the ♥ a little too high…

Second, on my artichoke post, JavaQueen mentions that she saw artichokes in the store and wondered how to cook.    Honestly, my first thought is RUN TO GOOGLE and look it up?!     What I really did was actually open up the WordPress search and entered How to Cook Artichoke and found some good resources.    Whenever anyone asks me “How Did you Know…”, I can usually always answer, “I GOOGLED IT!”    Ok, somebody tell me what you call a word that has been watered down to mean the universal non-specific noun/verb and not the brand?  ie, Xerox, kleenex, etc?   ‘Google’ is becoming such a word, don’t ya agree?   (crap, they are going to come look for me now and demand a nickel.)

and Lastly and or Thirdly, my rant about commenting in the first half of the artichoke Wednesday post, was in no way to admonish any of YOU to leave me a comment (or I won’t visit you.?!  ha)   That is SO not the case!    I was only expressing a slight dissatisfaction with a particular activity on my other blog that is supposed to inspire community (duh, comment-leaving) where I felt I did MY  duty to the others and got no love in return.   It would be similar to my Photo Fridays if I always posted, commented on the other participants’ photos and NONE – ie, NO ONE, in the 6-7 weeks of ‘sharing’ – EVER came by to say hi.     And I can only assume it’s due to the variety and thus ‘chore’ of commenting on so many types of blog platforms.     (oh, PFers!  I love our sense of community but I know it’s not always possible to visit everyone each and every week, especially when we start getting hundreds involved, right?   good.   AND, btw, the theme tomorrow, FRIDAY the 13th, is UNLUCKY.)

Please, comment when you want to, don’t when you don’t.   Really, it’s OK.   I’m a big girl and I will get over it, and move on.    LOVE YA!    

OH, you didn’t think I was done, did you?!    I just HAVE TO SHARE THIS!   I planted zucchini!    Last FRIDAY!  and now yesterday they are not just babies, they are toddlers!!

 

  Yes, I know, I KNOW I planted too many.  I’ll thin the grouping down to one eventually, which is sad, maybe I’ll transport some instead.

 

New Project

Lately, I seem to have taken up residence in the Melancholy Dwells Hotel.   Or at least, driving the bus that goes there.    I also call these times the DREADS and, also, the Sit&Spins.    What someone described to me as being lost in the ugly colors of the rainbow;  the trick is navigating all the colors and enjoying the ride.   I think it was something like that, anyway.    Perhaps, my biorhythm valleys of ‘low’ are all in sync?  

I am not one to easily dismiss the negative thoughts that pop into my consciousness.   The “Happy” experts say to recognize these thoughts and then just say, “OK, I see ya, don’t need to BE ya.  Go away.”  and somehow, they – these negative thoughts – are supposed to drift off into the ether.   

But mine bring friends.    The shouldn’ts and couldn’ts and wonts.    That SHOULD family is big and burly and boisterous and drinks a lot.    SO rather than kicking them out, I tend to join in on the party.   

Anyway!!!    Stop it already!    It’s a good thing I’m going on vacation.

So, being in need of a new distraction in my life,  I introduce you to my next project.    I do mosaics.    Please enjoy some of my work: 

    Simple stuff, nothing fancy, really.   Both of these are mirrors…   The purple and teal was the very first mosaic I created.    I give more of my work away than I keep but I have a ton of objects just waiting for me to smash some plates and start gluing.   

Which brings me to the Next Project.   It’s a big one.  

Hub and I were discussing the space above our front door.   Curtains?    a huge vase or two?   WHAT?    We’ve lived in this house for 4 years now and I don’t want anything ‘up there’.     It’s fun to have a spot in the house that seems unfinished.   It entices questions from visitors and it bugs the mother-in-law.     And I don’t want to dust it.   (ha!  I wouldn’t anyway – stupid argument, that.)

For some reason – not even sure WHO it was…    We thought how cool it would be to have a mosaic’d mannequin!     And we could suspend Hub’s trombone from the ceiling  – it’d be COOL, MAN!  

I googled the internet for mannequins for sale and thought they were relatively inexpensive.   I don’t know why, but I thought they’d be hundreds and hundreds of dollars!    Of course, shipping and handling usually is possibly 3 bills, too.

Not having actually ordered anything, just kicking the idea around, we mentioned our grand idea to my parents.    

Come to find out, during hunting season, my dad placed a mannequin up in his tree stand so the deer would get used to seeing a human-like figure.     He got it from mom who used to work at JCPenneys.     It was buried in the attic; would I want it?

HELL, YES!     We rushed it to the UPS store to package and ship it home – they were quite amused and Hub and I were like little kids.   TOO FUNNY.

Here we are doing the ‘torso’ unveiling to Puppy-O:     (he was NOT too thrilled, quite suspicious.)

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And here is the space we plan on placing this soon-to-be mosaic’d mannequin: 

While I’m off & away attempting to tan my fair skin (I’ll get to a darker shade of pale) while reading poolside in warmer climes, I encourage all readers, friends and lurkers to leave me a little note suggesting a NAME.   Our colorful crazy mosiac will need a name, don’t ya think?   May I come back all happy-happy and excited to crack tile and smash plates and dig through antique stores for cute little porcelain critters, whatnots and scrabble pieces;  all charged to create!                                                      I plan on documenting my progress here and I THANK YOU for giving me some accountability and encouragement.                                            See you next month!  

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Oh, and Happy Leap Year Everyone!

Sincerely,   Curious “C” 

Friday Stuffs

a random collection comprised of miscellani:

Misc 1…     I have a new favorite ice cream:  Dove Chocolate & Brownie Affair.     I had decided that today would be an ice cream day.    I ate a salad for lunch to balance out the calories and then devoured this scrumptious delight.  YUM!   The packaging even has purple!  So, it was meant to be.     I love dark chocolate and this is the first I ‘flavor’ I discovered that has the original DOVE Chocolate.   DO NOTE:  it is topped with a Chocolate GANACHE Layer.    Oh my!   Of course, the 4 servings is laughable.    If I wanted the carton to last for 4 servings, I would buy the half gallon size!

Misc 2…    I typically edit my posts of a third of its original exclamation points.   I tend to be over enthusiastic when I write.

Misc 3…   I wonder if I should be a daily blogger or whenever the mood strikes me blogger…   Like with this one, I am teetering on posting this NOW or saving for later – hoping for more comments/viewings of the previous FREE RICE post.

Misc 4…    My mannequin came the other day.      Be watching for updates.  (It’s to be our winter project.)

                                                                   

Misc 5…   I have had a blogger tell me that she didn’t see any woo woo on my blog and she was surprised that I find hers so interesting!     and another fave blog I read talked about how we show so very little of our trueselves, a mere fraction!   how dare we judge or think we ‘know’ someone by their blog!    I don’t know about this.    I  wonder, I do.    I just wonder about it all.    

Misc 6…   a BUSINESS that I refer…    If you’ve read this from the very beginning, you know that I had a crash which really bummed me out.   Car crashes that do not have any physical human injury are extremely annoying.   (ones that do are scary!)   Anyway, I’ve since had the vehicle fixed and was very impressed with the  Auto Collision Repair (ACR) facility that did the work.   I’ve raved and told friends/neighbors about the gentleman in charge, the incredible service, blah-blah-blah.    and then today I get a letter.   It was a thank you letter.    Very nice, very professional.   BUT IT WAS ADDRESSED TO MY HUSBAND and not me.   My name is never mentioned or referred to .   My husband NEVER even dealt with them, never met them, never talked to them, NOTHIN.     It peeves me when a business can’t adjust to the person who is actually the client.   Hub’s name is listed first on the title? insurance policy? (yea?  so?!)   Why can’t  ACR guy change his stupid software that probably generated this letter to include my name?  or – gosh, here’s a concept – change it to ME since I’m the one he was in contact with?     I’m serious.   This crap bugs me.   

Misc 7…    I do take deep breaths when I feel myself getting agitated.    In…..    out…..      What’s it matter in the grand scheme of things?    The new energy is shifting and I must embrace the negative to enjoy the entire experience….   In….. out…..    What’s my lesson here?     Hmmmmm.

Misc 8…   I need to write my grandmother.   Her eyesight is poor and I’ve been yelled at that I’m not considerate enough of this fact.    ‘Yelled at’ might be a too strong term for the rebuke I was given, but its effect has been that I don’t want to write her knowing that the rebuker might read it.    SO, why don’t I just type it and make the font size 28 or 32?   I don’t know.     It’s been on my to-do list for months.