A Good Catch Up Post

Posted on by Sandy Webster

Still walking to the gym when it is not raining.

The absence of the bleachers is filling in, and a sunny bit of lichen on the post outside the gym.

A bit of baking while the stone work was being done.

They make a nice quick meal.

The flag stone is all in place where I planned in the front.

And in the back.

And the back from the opposite direction.

In two weeks my yardman will return to put as many of these extra stones between the mulch and gravel out back and lay some outside the back porch door to step on. Plus put them down under the pots and where the big rusted sculpture goes between living room and bedroom windows. Still plenty to use up.

And I finally got back to my Meadow sketchbook. Mockingbird and swallows.

And to be delivered tomorrow are the proofs for the two books finished this past week.

I am such a visual and hands on person that I need to see them in person to see where corrections are needed before giving the go ahead. I had to learn so much about the process of getting them this far. They are about the size of a Billy Collins or Mary Oliver paperback and are priced at $9.99 USD from Amazon when they are ready. I might take the proofs to the poetry meeting this week. And that reminds me that one of the poets who writes with children in mind is coming over after the meeting to look over Burke and Wills illustrations

I think that might be my next project.

Anyway, I did love doing these books and reading the words of my life again.

And that reminds me that in a conversation with one of the men at the coffee mornings, he said he wouldn’t mind finding someone to share his life with. I asked if he really thought it was a necessity. His answer was yes. He said it would give him a “witness to his life.” He said I, on the other hand, did not need one because I witness my own life through writing and drawing. I found it beautiful that having a witness to your life matters to this man.

I am touched by his words and will pay closer attention to my witnessing.

Til later….

Finished the GOP

Posted on by Sandy Webster

First of all a picture of the girls having a nap.

Now the last of the gang that Kelly Anne Conway and Trump gave birth to. I needed to get the felt and pins off my work table so I could move on!

The first of this group was Santos dancing with DeSantis.

Then the worst Supreme Court in history thanks in good measure to this group of Ginny Thomas whispering Qanon theories in her husband, Clarence Thomas’ ear. Followed by Alito who can’t seem to keep church and state separate. Next Kavanaugh with a wife and daughters that matter little as he drinks beer and votes against women’s rights. Finally, Trump’s dream girl. Coney-Barrett wearing her favorite outfit.

And since then we have Margery Taylor Greene sleeping with the pillow guy, Mike Lindell…lots of QAnon theories dreamt up by the two of them. She is well armed.

Flip the pillow over and here is Lauren Boebert sleeping with Mike, keeping her gun handy and ready as ever to exchange name-calling with Margery. Both need to be sent to the principle’s office. Of course in this country their right to keep their guns handy is well-protected.

But the closest to a principle for them is the barely holding it together, McCarthy, head of the House of Representatives, who finds his very shallow self tied in knots by his crazies. He sits on pins and needles waiting to lose his position.

Next, as if the Republican party isn’t disgusting enough, we have Jim Jordan and Ted Cruz wrestling (what else) over who gets the title of most abhorrent in their party.

And finally, the boot licking Lindsay Graham. He is in position and wearing his Maga hat.

Now to shove them in that plastic bag with their leader and the rest of their ilk.

Good riddance!

I am working away on the two books to send off but have come to a halt on how to number pages in sections. I spent the weekend watching videos on how to do it, but there seems to be a mental block on my part. Help may arrive or I start all over with the videos.

Being seventy-nine seems to be getting in the way!

The yardmen are here digging up and moving all the dirt that needs to get out of the way for the granite sand and flagstone. They brought me four more lovely bamboo poles to place opposite the single one at the front entry.

I am going to go have a drink of celebration that the nasties are in the bag and I can get back to sketching!!

Til later…

Bamboo and Books

Posted on by Sandy Webster

My yardman came today with the last bamboo fencing piece. We thought it looked better in the center because it was quite tall, so switched it with the center original one.  It has been a cloudy day and the picture is not that good. he also brought a couple of extra pieces of good size bamboo poles. Not to waste anything I suggested we cut one to fit horizontally along the inside of my porch to hold in the shade from blowing into the screen, table and chairs. In my former home we had lots of bamboo at our disposal so posted two vertically between floor and ceiling in front of each shade to keep them from hitting us in the head when a wind came up.

Well here I just don’t want to see my neighbors gas tank and keep the afternoon sun out. But it still gets a bit breezy so…..

Now the bamboo is tightly wedged across to keep the shade from flapping and my neighbor has simply disappeared! Not really, but his side of the house has, taking the gas tank with it.

And not to waste a good long piece of bamboo, I had him cut it for the front entry. Notice he cut it a bit short and we used a stone to make up the difference. I like how enthusiastic he is about my ideas. Now he plans to bring another for the opposite side.

I am hoping to find a storm door with a built in screen to put on the entry doorway. It would make the best breeze flowing through the house from porch to front door.

The other day my neighbor called me over to see the deer in her back yard. I have not seen any since I left my old house where we fed them regularly.

It was a welcome break because I have been covered up with designing and laying out the poetry book. I had it all set and saved as a six by nine inch book, but then got to thinking that it just was not an “intimate” size for poetry. So had to start all over with a new template for the smaller size. I dug out a Billy Collins and Mary Oliver books to check if I was being a bit picky…..no, both of theirs’s are smaller than six by nine.

Then of course, I need to see it actually on paper because the cold flatness of the computer does not tell me where exactly things are.

I notice that the slightest adjustment can throw everything off so am most grateful that there is that clever “undo” tab to hit. That and a daughter who understands the hidden meanings of what a computer actually wants of me.

This week I will have three ton of flagstone and two ton of sand delivered so that my yardman and his crew can get started next week. Then once that is all in place, I can quit thinking about what else the tiny yard I do have, can use to make it more me.

That is it for now…I need to take a walk when the rain stops….

Til later…

A Lot Going On

Posted on by Sandy Webster

My nasturtiums seem to have peaked. I thought they would stay bushy and full of blooms, but they are getting leggy and want to either bloom or grow more leaves. It will be one or the other. So I will enjoy them until they just give up. I am not a gardener. Just buying them and giving them a pot was enough, or so I thought. Of course I water them, but they seem to want something else. Alas.

This morning I was watching Sadie and Dilly have a fur tussle.

I suggested a time out.

The trips to the gym after a heavy rain had me looking for the bright spots.

And after all this time of walking past abandoned bleachers, they finally moved them.

The image shows “the presence of absence” that I think says so much more than if the “something” was there. My imagination has a place to go and stories of things that probably never happened can come in and get told on paper.

And that reminds me that the last several days have been sorting the poetry and getting it all in the same font and on the correct pages for the book. Also a cover designed.

Then it was sorting out all the essays by putting them in categories or chapters. I am glad that so much was put down on paper. Now I will get those formatted and design a cover for the Essays book.

And finally I am also working on the pincushions. Here are the four extreme conservative judges hell bent on limiting our civil rights and taking us backward. From left to right is Ginny Thomas whispering her conspiracy theories into husband Clarence Thomas’s ear, Judge Alito with his catholic upbringing and faith determining decisions, Kavanaugh, drinking beer and keeping women in their useful places, and finally the handmaid herself, Coney-Barret.

Not nearly enough pins but at least it is a start.

I have a few more to go and then all in the plastic bag with their predecessors to have all the air removed. I should make Trump an orange prison suit after today but probably will wait awhile.

Til later….