21-derful Years!

Good Thursday Evening All!
Hope your week has been GREAT!

Where to start..where to start....hhhhmmmmmmmm.

Oh hell, let's start with today....I have been married for 21 years today! Doesn't seem possible but there it is. I've known my wife for....ever! LOL! it's been 30+ years that we've been friends. Here's to another 30+!  :) Love ya hun!!

Tuesday my daughter came home from Baltimore. It's nice to see her smiling face! You never know how much you miss someone until you see them again. I'm glad she's home where I can hug her when I want to! She's going crazy though. She was in a city where she could walk pretty much anywhere.....now she's back home and can't really do that. And much to my surprise there were no horror stories to report from the airport. Thank Goodness! I even drove all the way to the airport this time. Usually I stop at the park and ride and let them deal with the crazy airport traffic. But I got in and out without any issue! Hurray!!

Tonight (yes, I know, I'm all over the place), my daughter made dinner for my wife and I. She made turkey parmesan over egg noodles. And a lemon meringue pie. Everything was terrific! Plus it was nice not having to cook!! Thanks sweatpea!

Sally has been doing well. She goes back to the doctor next Thursday to have the stitches removed. So she has another week of not being able to use her foot. She has been really bored, but seems to healing ok. I think after the stitches come out it will be hurting again. She'll have to get use to putting weight on that foot again. She gonna have some lovely scares though.......

one on top and one on bottom. the bottom one goes

half way under her foot. blah-yuk

I took her out last weekend. We went to The Mill to see a singer. We sat on the wall and she put her foot up like she's supposed to be doing. It was a really good show. It was Bartlee Norton. He's a country singer. It was the best show so far at The Mill. We had a great time and Sally got to get out of the house for a while.

Bartlee & Highway64

Bartlee Norton belting one out

OMG! I have to tell you about this dream I had.....It was so strange.

     I was sitting at home and the door bell rings *Ding Dong, Ding Dong*. So I ran down the stairs and opened the door. A young man in a cub scout uniform - first thought - sales call.

     He stands there and doesn't say a word, just stares at me. Then the adult with him fumbles for a bag - which is full of papers.

     Still not a sound from this kid. After a long silence he simply leaves.

     Before I can close the door a little girl in a tutu comes running up the stairs.....I say 'Hi, what can I do for you?" as I step back out onto the porch. At this point I see several more kids coming across the lawn. It's at this point that I realize it's October 31st and I'm not ready.....No Lights, No Decorations, No Candy.

     Panic sets in....I ran inside and began throwing any candy I had in the cupboards in a bowl. Running around frantically as I realized that I barely had 1/2 a bowl of goodies.

     I began calling for my wife to come and help me. She says 'Why are all these kids out here?" I looked out the window and a line had formed twice around the driveway and well into the road. Now I'm really freaking out.

     As I walk back down the stairs to the door it all seems like slow motion. I open the front door and all the kids begin running and jumping - on things, over things. They are running through the streets in the neighborhood - I can see them, not through their eyes but like I'm running with them, next to them. It's almost like they're wild animals. Howling, yelping, running, jumping.....skipping......

*RING, RING, RING*

the telephone wakes me up......

Now isn't that just strange? What's even stranger is that 99.9% of my dreams I can't / don't remember. This one was so vivid and so odd that it stuck with me for about an hour after the phone rang. Long enough for me to write it down. I must be freaking out cause, as a friend said, Halloween's coming like a witch on a turbo broomstick. I have so much I want to get done and I guess I'm just afraid I won't. Or at least that's the meaning I've given to this really strange dream. :)

Since I haven't been able to run up and down the stairs to work in my studio (I got some work accomplished, more on that in a minute) I have been reading. It's a book by Jack White. It's called "Mystery of Making It". Some of you may have read this already. I've gotten to chapter 7 and so far it has been very informative. I have even begun implementing some of what he has written. I will admit that finding time to read has been challenging but worth the effort!

Now onto what I did manage to work on......

I got the new burlap for my Scare-Me-Crow. It's an odd green color. Not overwhelming. You probably wouldn't even know it was green in the dark of the night. I got it cut into the pieces I need to wrap the arms, as soon as I get the new wires in place. No, the wires aren't done yet....I couldn't easily drag him up the stairs to work on him. Besides, my wife would have freaked out if he was standing in the kitchen staring at her. :)

it's green, trust me

And....

I continued to work on Moxie/Faerie....

I am really, really happy with the direction this lil' one has taken. I had picked up heavy yarn to use for the hair (last post, in the material photo). I started by taking it apart. Each strand had four separate strands. I then separated them into groups....white, green, white, green. And then cut them into the length I needed. I then started gluing them in place. One row at a time. I think I did two rows and then let them dry and then another two rows and let it dry. Then at the top, I went from the center out to create the hairline. It is so 'full'. It looks great! Wanna see? Sure you do! LOL

the yarn used

separated, ready to be cut and applied

first row applied

second row from the back

further along...

from the side. nothing on top yet

hair applied and drying. not 'fluffed'

I have yet to begin on the doll version of Moxie. I'm trying to not start on that one until I've gotten the faerie much further along. I really appreciate all the encouragement from everyone - the support has been great! Susie said I could do whatever I wanted - I warned her that would happen! LOL  :) 

BC & P update:

The crazy weather has all but killed my broomcorn and pumpkins. There are so withered and yellowed. The pumpkins haven't grown any since last post. The broomcorn has a couple of stalks that have gotten a little bigger, but the majority of them have browned and wilted terribly. I hope this new wave doesn't finish them off. It was in the 100's and then it was 85-95 and rain for a week and now its back into the mid 90's and dry again. BLAH!!! I want pumpkins!!  :)

I didn't work on my hat any at all. That's a garage thingy...all the banging isn't an indoor project. I just got my first booklet from DragonCon in the mail today. Wow! The list of people that will be there and all the things that will be going on is amazing. I'm excited to be going! My mead has been racked and is in it's second '30 day' period. Then I will have to rack it again. Then it can go into bottles for the remainder of the time.

I went by Micheal's Art and Craft store a few days ago on the way home from work....after seeing other posts about them putting out Halloween stuff! Bummer!! They had one measly little shelf put out. :)   Of course I asked. I was told that things would be coming in over the next few weeks. Guess I'll have to go again. Maybe at the end of the month. Hopefully Sally will be able to go with me by then. We can go to Michael's, Garden Ridge...maybe even Party City! HA!!

one little end cap - boo! hiss! boo!

I guess that's all for this post.....

I've got some new members too! YAY!!  Welcome aboard!

Jeff from Curse Of The Wolf's Heart....Great Stop Motion!

Olav Marahrens - illustration and sculpted figures (dolls?)

and 

Надежда Новгородская
couldn't find a blog?
Thanks for stopping by! I really appreciate you interest in my little corner of the world!

Til Next Time...
Be Good, Be Safe, Be Happy!!


TTFN
Now we're rolling! 118 and 38!!!!  Simple things make me happy!





Faeries Under A Fabric Moon

Good Morning All!
Hope your week has been productive and pleasurable. :)

It's been a really hectic week. I've been on 'vacation' this past week. My wife had foot surgery -actually two different ones - this past Monday and I've been home helping her out. Making sure she does what she's supposed to! LOL! She had a bone spur in her heel, so they cut the muscle, which is what actually causes the pain. And she had a titanium screw put in her big toe. The bone at that joint had turned to mush. It would have eventually collapsed if she hadn't had the surgery. She's doing well, bored out of her mind. She's pretty much been in bed all week. She managed to get out on the back porch the other day to visit with the neighbors - Amy managed to break her arm in four places this past week. The two of them make quite the pair. And yesterday we had to drive for over an hour to get her prescription refilled. It took a lot out of her. So she's back in bed today. Once this is healed it will hopefully take care of the pain she's been dealing with for months. *Fingers crossed*

BC & P update:
The broom corn is doing well. The one side is thriving while the other....well, not so much. The ridiculous heat we've been having has literally fried the smaller plants (the plants on my porch steps are struggling too).
The pumpkins have been producing a boat load of flowers.....no actual pumpkins yet. I've been having to soak the crap out of them due to the heat. There have been some amazing large flowers so far. Which is surprising since the plants themselves aren't really all that big. They don't seem to be branching out as much as they did last year. They seem to be healthy, just not large. Hopefully that won't keep the pumpkins from growing big though.

flowers! YAY!

you can see how many flowers despite the size of the plants

While I had the dogs out the other night I noticed the moon between the house. It was absolutely gorgeous! Just thought I'd share that with you. :)

framed by all the trees  :)

Since my wife is laid up and my studio is downstairs, I did the only thing I could. I took over the dinning room table. And boy is it a mess. Body parts, paint, brushes......wow, who knew I could create such a disaster is such a short period of time. LOL!!

I've been working on 'Moxie' this past week, seeing as how it was one of the smaller pieces that I could easily move upstairs. It's coming along very well....but....I...well...kinda, sorta deviated from the kit instructions. But, everyone knew that was coming. :)  I will have to say that I am very happy with the way it is progressing. It's only been a little work here and a little work there. I've been focusing on the 'faerie' version this past week. The 'doll' version will be next - after my wife can move around more freely.  I did find the material I will be using for both of them (last weekend before my wife's surgery). I came across some material for the doll that just jumped out and said 'pick me'. Anyway, here are some of the pictures so you can see for yourself.......

'Moxie' materials - the ones on the left are for the 'faerie'

and the ones on the right are for the 'doll' - except for the

'fur', that's for a totally different project

wing test - no veining yet

Moxie faces with gesso applied

faces being applied to bodies - this is where i

deviated - I painted the bodies, i wasn't

happy with the way the cloth looked at this point

beginning the 'faerie' face

'beads in a bottle' - what a wonderful idea :)

the 'faerie' Moxie so far....far from complete though

I haven't had much time to work on anything else. I still have to get the burlap for my Scare-Me-Crows so that I can strengthen the arms to compensate for the larger hands. My Wee Stuffies are still waiting for me - impatiently. The suede is waiting to be cut out for the vest for DragonCon....however, I did begin working on the hat from the leather. I got the brim cut out and stamped. Wow, about two hours worth of stamping, I think my wife thought I was tearing the house down. It was last Sunday before her surgery. So things are progressing, at a much slower pace than planned, but still moving along.

the brim cut and stamped

the darker areas are from the leather still being wet -

you have to dampen the leather to stamp it

the stamp i used produces a 'pebble' look

a closer shot so you can see the stamping - this stamp is

about the size of a penny. whoever thought that was a

good size should be slapped - repeatedly!

I guess that's all the news for now. Looks like I will be staying home this coming week as well to help (wait on, hand and foot) my wife. :)

Hope your upcoming week will be fantastic! Until then, enjoy your weekend!

We have two new members as well!

YAY!! I just love it when new people stop by to visit.  :)

Say hello to Teresa over at A Magical Whimsy

and to

October Boy over at The Deadwood Cemetery

Welcome to my world! LOL!

til next time...

Be Good, Be Safe, Be Happy!

TTFN

p.s. ~ only 115 days til Halloween! OMG that's too soon!! HA!