Gotta buy the kibble

Yesterday was my first day at the Mountain Market the local health food store and cafe that happens to sell beer and wine too. It was pretty good, busy and full of information like any first day of work should be. Lots of small purchases, prices are high (freight costs are way up) so folks usually buy for the day or for a meal.

An older gentleman came in looking for the Anchorage paper, but I think it was just a chance for him to point out how ignorant we are compared to him. The big city paper isn't making it to Haines these days since the main air carrier has been shut down by the FAA. The guy said he can't believe there hasn't been an out cry, we said you can get the news on line...he just wanted to argue. His 'test' for our lack of newsiness was the conflict in Georgia, when I answered him he said it's more complicated than that. Well, duh! Of course it is, I can't sum up the whole ordeal in one sentence you really-important-older-dude.

Other news...our governor has been chosen to be the GOP Vice presidential candidate! What the heck, she's only been in office for less than half of her term. It will be interesting (and a little sad) to watch her get raked over the coals, with every little blip tossed into the winds of the election. I wish her family great strengh, especially her teenaged girls.

home again home again jiggity jig!

Here it is! The sun came out so I could get a picture of my new home to share with you all. One of the 3 bedrooms is there on the right behind the lilac tree/bush. The dining room part of the open kitchen area is on the left and the living room is there to the left of the lilac. My camera has decided not to change lens lengths so I can't go wide angle to show you the wood shed further to the left. 3 cords of wood are coming soon...oh my aching shoulders!
See those mountains? That's one of the major reasons I moved here...my view of them is small, but they surround this town with all sorts of mountainous glory and wildness. It soothes my soul to know they're there.
My kitchen complete with dog bowls and lovely new appliances! The dog says she's not so sure about the placement of the great big swirly glass window thingy right by her bowls, maybe I could give her a piece of 'real' art like the Mona Lisa instead. Picky picky.

Beads and crafts will be found here eventually...right after I get those shelves set up and those boxes unpacked and start my job down to the market. The whole thing was further along yesterday, but I switched rooms...the small bedroom is too small for all my stuff! Oh, yes that one wall is VERY purple. We're talking bruised grape purple...the former owner was way into accent walls. Purple, dark blue, dark sage and really bad pantyhose are the accent colors. I don't feel like painting just yet, but you can bet pantyhose and bruised grape will be going away before too long.
The woodshed. Soon to be filled with 3 cords of firewood...I hope it's enough for the winter! There are alternatives, I won't die if I run out in the middle of winter (that would be a heck of a lot of wood burning), but I want to be prepared and don't want to get forced into buying a bunch of heating oil midwinter.

I'm not an addict, I can live with out the internet

...ok, I'm a liar too. I was with out internet for less than 2 full days, and I missed it so much. I missed being able to check out websites and look up words and check my email and... pathetic.

I'm going to be off line for a bit while I move to Haines and reset my life. I'm planning on not moving again for years and years and years. I plan to live in the same house for so long the paint fades except where the pictures are hung. I want my bead room to be so firmly established it has built in shelves.

I just forgot what I was going to say next...

more recent bead art!

Went down to the shop and picked up my leaf that was on display there. I like it so much, I might even frame this one to hang on the wall of the new home. The retail manager kept trying to get me to leave it with her, but there's no way. She seems to convince people it's some sort of honor to let her have their work, like she's their guru or patron or something.




Anyway...the fabric is wool/rayon yardage from Joanne fabric that I dyed with fiber reactive dyes. I'm pretty sure I washed the greeny-blue first, shrinking it all up and making it thick and fuzzy. The yellow-orange wasn't abused quite as much, just dyed and stitched. Is this the same fabric I used on that fish at the beginning of this blog venture?

trapped

Laughing too hard to leave the computer, trapped by the blog It's Lovely! I'll Take It!

I really should go pack some more boxes or walk the dog or wash some clothes or something, instead I'm practicing "laughter is the best medicine" to de-stress. Some day I'll learn not to pack my art supplies too early, so I can do something more productive to get rid of stress. Oh yeah, I said I wasn't going to move house again, ever. So I won't have to ever pack up my art supplies. ever. neverever.

thoughts and words

Reading over at Spirit Cloth about critics and words attached to art, then following a link to another site called Ragged Cloth for more good reading got me thinking. There's a bit on Ragged Cloth about leaves, suggesting it's bad to make art with leaves because you think leaves are "pretty" but instead make art with leaves because (paraphrasing) you think about leaves being evanescent or standing in as a symbol for all life. "Pretty" is a bad word in the fine art world, but maybe if someone isn't as highly educated or isn't as articulate, that's how they say 'evanescent' or indicate that they know leaves are part of the web of life.

I have no idea why I'm so obsessed with fish, but pretty, evanescent and web of life all pertain.

movin' movin' movin'

I've been trying to get as much done as possible before the actual moving day. Twice, I've had insanely busy day-before days and I really want to avoid the exhaustion and panic. The day before I left Juneau was awful...most of my stuff was already at the shipping terminal, and I wasn't sure I'd get the rest in my car. I was still cramming things into and tying things on to the car at the last second which was about 4 am. I left my recycling for the neighbor to take and felt like I'd been run over by the time I drove away to the ferry terminal. I don't want to feel that freaked this time!

I want to get as much back on my deposits (pet and security) for this place so there's a day of serious cleaning that has to happen too. I don't like the management here, but I have this 'thing' about leaving an apartment as close to move in ready as I can...and I want my money back!


Someone isn't helping though. She claims I've made her move too many times and will pack her pajamas when she's good and ready. I bought an extra big bag of food that you can see in the front of the garage picture, maybe that will get her highness interested.

There are more pages now, yay!

Check this out, some of the finest cakes ever at Cake wrecks!

wee tree

Tree art that celebrates the combination of glass and wool. I love the combination of matte finish fuzzy wool and the total other end of the spectrum: glass. This piece has a piece of wool/rayon felt I bought at a Joanne fabric store as the base. I think this hunk of felt was abused in the washing machine a while ago, but I don't really remember. Anyway, I needle felted the swirly sky color and the green ground color on then sewed beads to make the trees and flowers. Major attempt at not getting tooooo fussy on a project. I like the results and will be doing more of these little scenes.