wood, beads and dogs, summer here

The wood is in the shed, but just like always doesn't look like enough. I might get another cord delivered...sale prices available til the end of June. Yeah, I'll get another cord...just makes sense.

The wood arrives, it's lovely dry beetle kill spruce and hemlock. "Beetle Kill" refers to trees that were killed by the spruce bark beetle infestation a few years ago and seasoned standing up in the forest. It's excellent firewood when it's cut down, fuel for devastating forest fires if left standing.


The shed before...

...and after. It just doesn't look like enough!Still room for the bicycle.
Dog waiting for the start of a road trip to go camping in the Yukon. My brother was coming down from Anchorage for a bluegrass festival near Haines Junction. Not the kind of camping and music experience I'm used to...tickets were sold out in January and cost 150 dollars! I listened to some of the free stuff and enjoyed the beer and campfire part of the trip. Best thing about camping at a provincial campsite: free wood!

Worst thing: partying kids, but this campground had someone that actually patrolled to keep the noise down. Pine Lake Campground near Haines Junction...spot #10.

more black birds

I think this one is better than the last...


It was so much easier to bead this one knowing what I wanted the wings to look like, where to put the bugle beads to make the wings shine. It's at the gallery waiting to become part of the property tax/firewood fund.

There's a couple of cords of spruce/hemlock coming today. Every time I say that I sort of sigh, it's a lot of work to get it in the shed, but it's really good to have it done and really really good to check it off the must do list. Months of summer drying make it happy winter wood too. It will make the bicycle storage space in the woodshed small...seasonal conflict of interest!

sold!

Hey guess what? Oh, you already read the title...yeah it sold! They're mailing me a check tomorrow. Oh how happy is my little money grubbing heart. Money from all sales will be put in the account labeled "property tax" until further notice. woot!

it's alive!

Dudes, sorry I'm being the blogger from lame land...but it's springtime in Alaska. (the rest of the line from the song is "and it's 40 below" but it's not, it's sunny and warm. I've already eaten my first salad from the garden! I have rhubarb that's doing what the 'barb does: taking over the universe one giant leaf at a time.

I have been beading and painting to keep myself from being a total lame land slacker...but I have to admit to having tan lines on my feet already. My favorite sign of not being totally employed is tanned feet.

One of the tulips that's come and nearly gone out by the porch...think I need to paint or bead this, it's so pretty!

Gardening...daffodils and tulips doing their thing, thank goodness for bulbs! 3 sunflower plants starting to shoot up wildly after a few cool nights under plastic. I had to replant them after the neighbors dumb-ass dog dug up the other ones. Lavender in the other warm and dry spot up front next to the sunflowers. In back: lots of cutting (as in not head) lettuce, the rhubarb, peas starting to race the sunflowers for height, last years strawberries flowering again (yay!) and a couple of different squash plants, zucchini and summer squash and one pot of decorative gourds. We'll see if any of the squash survive my fumbling. Oh yeah, and a couple of buckets of potatoes, because I loved squealing over them this past fall.

Guess I need to take more pictures. Thanks for waiting for me to come back from lame land!

done.

I finished it yesterday afternoon, finally! I mean really? It's just another embroidered piece...but it's designed to be worn so it needs to fit a human, needs to lie flat and hang straight. ...and it's the piece that caught the eye of the gallery owner!

The clasp is double snaps. I couldn't see putting a totally unrelated silver clasp there and don't really like the peyote toggles so I used some black snaps. Need to remember (again) that I hate white pellon and should only use black so it doesn't look like underpants are showing through the beads.

fish frames

I'm leaning toward having him break the 'frame' on 3 sides, like he's swimming in front of it. Still leaning that way after posting then editing. The lower bottom edge looks too rectangular and he's a square fish.

I really haven't been that busy...

I just seem to have had a lot to do for the (almost) month since I last posted. Activities have included extra hours at work (yay) a little more mercenary knitting (yay) and a trip to Juneau (yay again).

Folk Fest was going on while I was in town so I got to join in the chaos with the Hoskinsons. I love how involved they are in the music community there, I feel pretty lucky to get to be an honorary member with out being able to play more than a few notes. Nights of music at Centennial Hall were punctuated by the morning "Buddy Report" from Buddy Tabor. Damn that guy is funny...when he's not wandering the grave yard or mocking Rush.

I've been getting beadwork ready for the gallery opening at the beginning of May...brainstorming how to display the flat stuff with out frames. I want people to know it's fabric and beads, not a glassed in painting...texture on display. So with the heron, I'm putting in the twigs and will layer it on the blue and stiffen with pellon. Visual: is it better with the twig through his beak or just
below?

It's weird to me how the vertical line above his bill makes him feel trapped to me...or is it that he's in the swamp? Geez, I love a good annoying detail.

rocks

Icy feathers on the windshield of my car a few days ago. There's now about 6 inches of snow on that very windshield...and I've cleared it off twice! I think it's snowed about 16 inches since midnight. spring this.

Rocks front and back, or back and front. I hope the one in the upper right sells this year, it's been around too long. I'm trying to make a small 'basket full' to put in the gallery for the opening. It would help if I didn't let myself get distracted by embroidery thread!

a dog and her granny square.

bead 'weed

The superhero/heart cuff was one of my monthly bjp projects that was flat and had snaps to make it in to a cuff. Remember? I posted it waaay back when I was still doing that exercise. Anyway, it was small enough to fit me...too small for your average human wrist. I cut the snaps off and slid it on to one of those inch and a half brass cuff blanks and now it's sell-able! One more product for the gallery. whew.

The 'weed that's in the title: fireweed. Second only to ravens in the popularity contest that is Alaskan art. Hey, I buy raven and fireweed art so quit getting all touchy about it.

A little more beads...getting closer. I have another step done but haven't taken pictures yet. I kinda like this project..pink is way easier than black. HOWever...any beader reading this knows that pink, good pink, is usually dyed. I am taking a risk here, hoping that these little 15's are durable enough to be a cuff. I figure the beads aren't going to be touching skin and the owner won't be rubbing them with acetone (I hope) so the cuff should be ok. Damn pinks.

Oh yeah...Facebook buddies, pals, friends, I got offed by the book of face. My profile with the purple sweater picture suddenly is off limits to me, I can't sign in to it. It's some sort of witness protection program, I'm sure. They've taken my identity and given me a new one, what else could it be? Anyways. I am living in an apartment they've rented to me for a while under the assumed name Kelly Mitchell. Tricky eh? No profile photo yet but I'm rebuilding...assuming that once I get it all set up they'll give me my old life back. * pfft. * Not snubbing, just in witness protection...come find me!

winterspring, knittingbeads

All springy and shit...or maybe mid-summer, that's when fireweed looks sort of like that.
Mmmhmm, that's what the willows look like about now, but the cottonwoods surely aren't dropping leaves. Artistic license much?

MMph. Black and shiny makes a blind woman blinky. This will be wrapped around a brass cuff to make a bracelet. ...and I won't be making any more raven birds for a while.
Egg and butter plus fireweed, must have been a fire through this scene not too long ago. Apocalyptic beading anyone?
Oh thank goodness, we made it back to winter. Why look, it's snowing out in the real world too, all is well.