She who works well under pressure

Well, I finally did a wee bit of artsy stuff and boy did it feel good! I've been running in circles for the past two months, and had not taken any time for making art. I did not even start a new journal this year, even though I had gotten supplies out and they have sat on my worktable all this time.

I've known all week that today would be my last day at physical therapy, and I thought it would be nice to take a little something to my therapist. But did I do anything about it, nope...  It kept percolating in my brain, even though I didn't know quite what I would do.  I knew it had to be something quick and simple. Finally last night about 7 p.m. I started running around like Chicken Little for awhile and almost gave up. But then  I grabbed a box of already in progress Artist Trading cards, but couldn't find a glue stick or an ink pad that was not dried up.  Yikes...I need to purge some supplies and reorganize what's left.  Anyhow, here's what I ended up with. Nothing to write home about, but it sure was nice to do something. Now that I am home, I need to clean up the mess I made while throwing things around.  The bottom line is, now I am jazzed about making stuff and am going to continue to finish some ATCs and maybe even start working on that journal. Sometimes all you need to do is say the heck with chores and things that have to be done and just MAKE TIME to create.  I know all this, why do I keep forgetting it?

The middle one is for Scott, my therapist.  Left and right are for Melissa the office gal, and Mariah the assistant, who loves owls.

Happy Spring!

Spring arrives in many guises all across the country. Nice and cool here this morning and got up to 80 this afternoon. It has been very windy all week, so the humidity is low and the weather men keep warning of fire danger.  The trees are starting to bud. No spring bulbs popping up through the snow here, at least not at my house.  No snow and I don't have any bulbs.  I did think that the hard freeze we had killed my little potted Pomegranate tree that "someone" forgot to move into the garage, that one week we had very cold temps.

 Plus, that same "someone" cut it way back in my absence.  However, the past week has shown it is recovering, at least one branch has some new growth. Poor little thing, I hope it grows to it's former size.  We bought it for our anniversary gift about 8 years ago and have managed to keep it alive all this time, So Far.

I've done a fair amount of moping and grieving the past few weeks, but have managed to get out a few times and do some things. We only went to a few of the SXSW festival happenings this year. The crowds just get larger every year and it is less appealing to us to deal with it. Here are a couple of the ones we did get to last week and week end. Getting there, we drove to the train station and took the train downtown.  It was a quite uncomfortable, like being in N.Y. or San Francisco. It was standing room only and in very close quarters. Ewww  It was even worse coming back, but we were on line early and at least got a seat this time.

 

 The poster show was amazing, mostly artwork done for music gigs but some movie posters too. Look at the cute little taxidermy guy that someone swapped for some posters.  The lady there said it was a weasel, but I think the white ones are ermines. Not certain though. He was really cute, if a little creepy.

Renegade Craft Fair is always fun.  They had these paper mobiles hanging from the ceiling all throughout the building. Lots of handmade things and workshop/make and takes.  I only bought some tea and a pretty aqua screen printed scarf.  There was a guy there from L.A.who had some gorgeous screen printed and handmade books.  It is hard for me to resist anything PAPER...but I managed. Now I am sorting through all my stuff trying to find his business card so I can drool over his artwork on his website.

Meanwhile back at the convention center, there was a lot going on there besides the poster show and Music Gear Expo.  There were bands playing on several stages and it got to be a bit much after awhile.  Hubby went to listen to music and I wandered around seeing some of the other sights.
I met these really cute young ladies in line at one of the venues.  I asked if I could take their photo, I thought they were so cutely dressed.  They are Kari from Nashville, and Ella from Atlanta.  Hope you can make out Ellas' huge wooden peace sign earrings. Believe me there were a lot of really cool costumes, most I did not get a chance to take photos of.  Most of these were taken with my cell phone as I need to shop for a new camera.

Long Ago and Far Away

Yes, it's been ages since I dropped by to let anyone know what's going on around these parts.  Mostly, I've been busy and too stressed to write about stuff.  Most of May was spent on another road trip to Idaho, a couple of weeks there, then back home to prepare for the home construction here.  All of June was spent with the house entirely torn up, with holes dug around and under, and yes even inside the house. Then July was spent cleaning up, unpacking the things we had to pack up to get out of the way for the foundation repair. Things are back to normal, house-wise, still a few needed repairs.  We are taking our time with that.

As usual, I am slogging through the hot, muggy, Texas summer. Another trip on the horizon though.  Back to Idaho, with a side trip to Portland for a mini-family reunion with Hubs people. Then to Chicago for a week, then back home. Anywhere we go, it will be cooler weather than here, thankfully.

I had tons of road trip photos from the May trip, but never got around to posting them. Most of them were shot from the cab of the Penske truck with the cell phone I had to buy the day before we left, because mine broke.  So, although some of them were interesting, none of them were spectacular!  We spent a night in Amarillo on the way, just so we could go see the much famed Cadillac Ranch. Out in the middle of a field.  At least we can say we saw it.  LOL

We stopped at several other roadside attractions along the way.  We actually took an extra day on this trip, just for that reason.  We stopped to see a place I had never been to in all my years of growing up in Idaho. The town of Twin Falls, with the lovely Shoshone Falls Park.   Very beautiful, even though we were told the water was at it's very lowest in years because they had not had enough snow or rain last winter.  Most times the water spray reaches the observation deck, which is in the bottom left corner of the photo, right under the rainbow.

 

Nothing much else to show, except...look at this beautiful plant growing in one of my neighbors yards. It is Agave, also known as century plant. This is the first year it has bloomed.   It is done now, and the base is dying out and the stalk is leaning towards their doorway, getting ready to fall.

Sunday morning clouds on the drive out of my neighborhood.

 I have not done a bit of artwork this summer, which is making me kind of cranky.  I have started sewing again, just a few small things, and making some plans for some needlework.  But no journaling, painting, etc.  Have most of my supplies still packed up.  I usually go through this drought of inspiration in the long hot summers here anyhow. Hopefully I'll snap out of it soon and get busy with something.

 

Restricted Movement, Small Art

I had my MRI last week. It was a weird experience. Funny, I was not nervous at all on the drive out there. After all, I've had many MRI's before. But...at the place I have been going for several years, I always request the same tech and he makes it a breeze. It takes an hour to get to Dr. C's place, and of course it's commuter traffic. I had taken a pain pill before we left home, and was doing some breathing exercises in the car. I was fine, or so I thought. They checked me right in, then moved me to the area for the injection. The guy who came to get me was really gruff(but he was wearing a cool scrub hat with airplanes on it) and kind of off putting. I was in so much pain that I had to ask him to call someone to help me get my bra undone. This has been an ongoing problem, getting myself dressed and undressed, for a few weeks. The gal who came in was real sweet, but I still had a heck of a time getting into the wrap around robe. Anyhow, all of a sudden just as I was entering the room where they were going to do the procedure, I had a melt-down and started crying and shaking like a leaf. I couldn't explain why..and they all started trying to comfort me, assuming I was scared because this was my first MRI. I felt like a fool, and kept trying to assure them I didn't know why I was crying. Actually, I think I am so darn sick and tired of feeling helpless and in pain! Plus I have been really emotional about my parents lately and all their health issues. So, anyhow, they bring out the big needle and the Dr. was real nice, etc. etc. Then after about 20 minutes they tell me they have to move me to another room for the actual MRI. I'm calmed down by this time, but still dizzy and a wee bit embarrassed. I get escorted out the building and across the parking lot, back to another building. Never had that happen before and it seemed odd...I felt like I was in some surreal dream. I've been having a lot of those lately as a result of pain meds at night. The rest of the procedure was easy. The tech was nice and talked to me through it, but it still wasn't the same as having Johnny O from the other place. After I got out of there, we headed straight for Starbucks. Then I came home and took a nap.

Of course I don't have the results yet, as I have to go IN to get them, and since I haven't been able to drive, have to wait for Hubs schedule to clear. Going on Thursday. But have already scheduled to start Physical Therapy next week. Dr. C says it will help to strengthen before surgery. Can you hear me screaming in pain already?? They are brutal at the PT place.

So, I can show you a couple of small pieces I did last week. I've been sewing little bits of things together, and resurrecting my embroidery skills. It's something I can do that doesn't require a lot of movement. I'm out of practice, but I do love French Knots. These are a little larger than 5x7. The one on the left is for my pal Sue. The girl in the photo is a sweet young model from Dallas whose fashion blog we like to read. Photo is kind of blurry I realize now.