Scattered and Unfocused....

Yesterday I wasn't able to use the computer very much. We had lots of thunder and lightning and there was something strange and wet falling from the sky! I think it was rain but since I haven't seen any for such a long time I'm not sure!! :-) But while it was stormy I kept the computer off....so not much got accomplished online.


It wasn't quite this dramatic but I like this picture from the internet....maybe because it has a lavender sky!!

********************************************

I've been doing some soul searching recently and I've come to the conclusion that I'm suffering a bit from blog burn-out. My thoughts are scattered this way and that and I have so many different interests that my head is spinning. I'm constantly getting on my own case if I don't post something every few days, and that isn't what blogging is about. When I started this blog it was fun and I tried to think of interesting things to write about.

Could it be that I've run out of anything to tell you?? Or is it just that I am scattered and unfocused and want to try everything? Whatever it is, it's getting in my way.

I have two online classes coming up in the next little while, one is the "All About Faces" painting class with Paulette Insall and the other is Sara Whitmire's Altered Journal class over at Joggles. When they begin I want to be able to give them my full attention. Paulette's class begins October 6th and the day after it ends the class with Sara begins.

So I'm going to be a busy bee. Plus I'm thinking of making some changes to my blog. Maybe even moving it to another site. So with all these things going on I'm not sure how often I'll be posting....or visiting right now. I'm sure it won't be daily. I hope you won't forget me and you won't give up on me but you might not see much of me for awhile.

********************************************
Happy Birthday to my cousin, Mary Anne and also to Gemma!!

Where's Autumn??

I'm sure you all know I'm waiting impatiently for fall to arrive here. Today we're expecting temps of 98º!! So no fall-like weather today. Just sunny and hot. So when I saw an autumn test on Sara's blog I just had to do it.

Your Autumn Test Results

You are a dynamic, vibrant person. You aren't afraid to pursue your passions. When you are happiest, you are calm. You appreciate tradition and family. You enjoy feeling cozy. You tend to be afraid of change. You are never ready for things to be different. You find hard work to be the most comforting thing in the world. You like the feeling of accomplishing something. Your ideal day is active and full. You like to keep busy with your favorite things, and you appreciate a routine. You are very impatient. You spend more time waiting for something than actually enjoying it.

The Autumn Test

This one sounds a lot like me! In fact, this little test comes very close to being 100% right about me.

Now I have a question (technical) for you. Do you ever visit blogs that cause IE to tell you there's a problem and it has to shut down?? This happens every time I visit Sara's blog! So consequently I read her blog on my google reader and if I want to make a comment I send her an email!

Being in a Purple Mood....

This morning I tried to catch up on a few blogs. If I missed you don't worry, I've still got more to read!

There isn't much going on around here now that the excitement of a birthday has passed but I did see this a few days ago and of course since it's about purple, it caught my eye!

I got the supply list for my upcoming painting class and went out yesterday and got most of the things I need. The rest had to be ordered online. I'm getting excited about this class!



Other that that, I'm just still cleaning and re-organizing the house. Seems to be an ongoing project for me! No art is being done right now. But I'm sure that once the class begins I'll have lots to show you.

Celebrating Being 65!

Thank you to everyone who sent me cards and messages yesterday. It was wonderful. I still have lots of emails to answer and I promise to get to them today.

First of all I want to share a very special gift with you. As you know, Gail and I have been friends since we were about 9 years old. She is my BFF. When she sends a gift you can bet it will be something really great and this birthday was no exception. Just look at what she made for me....



This is a handmade doll that is about 12" tall. She has fabulous spiked white hair, little wire glasses, a sparkly purple outfit and purple earrings, painted toenails and purple sandals! She sits on the edge of my desk with her legs crossed and she has a small book with her. The book is beyond special! It's all handmade, too and includes small photos of me and Gail in 5th grade, a photo of my grandma talking on the phone (which is one of my favorite photos of her!), and even some little paper dolls because Gail and I used to spend hours drawing paper dolls and designing their outfits. Oh, and there's also a miniature of one of my drawings along with a bee!! It is truly a little work of art in itself. I just wasn't able to get a good photo of the book although you can see it beside the doll in the photo.

Gail also sent me a beautiful journal....



She definitely knows how to spoil me!! Thank you, Gail!

And that wonderful Kai sent me the cutest little wind chime....and guess what....it's purple!!



I hung it on a hook on the fireplace so I could get a photo of it but it's going to hang in the window of my studio. I usually have the window open in there year round and the breeze will make the wind chime tinkle. Thank you, Kai!

Maryellen sent me one of her fantastic ATC's....



The background is gold and doesn't show up too good in the photo. On the back it says this is #1107!! That's how many ATC's Maryellen has made! And I'm lucky to have several of them! Thank you, Maryellen!

I got many other gifts but I won't show them all to you. I got books from my daughter....wonder why she did that? :-) And my son called me from Alaska. I also got a phone call from Lisa, and a couple of my friends who don't have blogs. So I had a pretty busy day. Not to mention the great dinner I had....red snapper and scallops....yum! Oh, and HB got me a birthday cake, too. But you know me....I don't like cake so I really didn't eat any.



Oops! Now how did that photo get in here??

PS - I added a new photo on my profile, too.

A Milestone....

License plate


Map of Route 65


Kawasaki Motocross KX65


2008 Mercedes Benz CL 65 AMG


Map showing in blue the population over the age of 65.

What do all these photos (not mine but taken from the web) have in common?? They all contain the number 65. And why is that important? Because today is my 65th birthday!!!

I had all kinds of plans for things to do on my blog to celebrate. Notice I said "had"....they have all fallen along the wayside! One of my biggest problems has always been that I have good intentions but lousy follow-through! Hopefully I can work on that character flaw during the next 65 years!

Now I'm off to eat cake and open presents. I'll share those with you tomorrow.

More From Portland....

There was a fashion show after the dinner on Saturday night in Portland but since I forgot to take my camera I've had to rely on Pirk to share some of her photos....she took tons of photos! The following ones are hers....



This was absolutely gorgeous in person! A one-sleeved shawl, so lightweight and flowy....I just loved it. Done is very light gray and cream. Very elegant.



This was one of my favorites, done by a woman named Beth (sorry I don't know her last name)....you know I love the color!



And speaking of "that" color!! This freeform sweater was made by Margaret Hubert and was another of my favorites.

Last here is a gorgeous freeform shawl done by Bonnie Pierce....



Margaret Hubert was kind enough to let me copy this photo from her blog....I'm in the bottom right corner! And that's Pirk in the green tee shirt snapping photos!!



I also got to meet Drew Emborsky, The Crochet Dude and here's proof!



And speaking of Drew, he lives in Houston!! Crazy Aunt Purl mentioned on her blog that he is without electricity right now as are so many others. I wasn't even aware of what Ike was doing because Pirk and I didn't turn on the TV except one morning to get the local weather.

I think that's just about all I'm going to post about my trip to Portland. The rest of my photos are on my flickr page if you're interested.

Portland Was a Blast!!!!

What a fun trip I had going to Portland and meeting Pirk and all her freeform crochet buddies. (When you click on the freeform link it will take you to a page about freeform crochet and on the right side there is a link for "Tree of Life"....if you click there it shows the book they all created showing some of their freeform crochet work. Believe me, it's beautiful!! It's not your grandma's crochet!)

I left home about 6 AM the morning of the 10th and drove as far as Redding, CA where I stopped for the night. It was about 2:30 PM when I stopped and I had not pushed myself too much. I stopped along the way several times just to get out and walk around the rest areas.

Then back on the road again bright and early the next morning. I actually got to the hotel ahead of Pirk who flew in from Toronto. Even though we had never met before, we knew each other immediately. I don't think we stopped talking from the moment we met until we had to leave! She is such a fun person and so easy to be around. We shared a room and had "slumber parties" each night, staying up late to talk and laugh.

Here is a photo of the two of us....



For some reason my "boob" seems to be glowing!! I don't know why it looks like that because in person it didn't but anyway here we are laughing and having fun. I think this was on Friday night. The tee shirt Pirk is wearing is funny. It reads "Yarned and Dangerous"....and she is most definitely yarned! She has lots and lots of yarn in her stash. The vest she has on is all freeform crochet and it is gorgeous. Dummy me didn't get a photo of it!

Here are a couple of photos of the market at the Knit and Crochet Show....



Just look at all those luscious colors!!



Piles and piles of yarn. I actually bought some of this yarn! It's Merino Superwash Wool from Newton's Yarns.



Isn't that a great color?? I thought it would look good with jeans. I'll probably knit a scarf since that's about all I can knit!

I met so many wonderful people on this trip, and I'll tell you about some of them in another post. For now, I'm trying to get back into my "normal" routine and also catch up on the 350+ posts I've missed on all your blogs while I was away!! You'll see me around Blogland and I'll try to catch up on my emails in the next few days.

For now it's good to be home but I miss Pirk and all the other fun people I met. I will try to make a Portland folder on my flickr page so you can check over there later today.

I'm Portland Bound!!!!

This will be my last post for about a week. I haven't talked about it until now but I've been making arrangements to meet up with another blogger. Pirk is going to a knit and crochet show in Portland, OR and I've driving up there to meet her!



I'll be leaving here very early on Wednesday morning and arriving in Portland sometime in the early evening on Thursday....then I'll be returning on Sunday and Monday. Two days up, two days there, and two days back....it's about 1000 miles one way. One of the little problems of not flying!! But I'll just keep my feet on the ground, thank you very much!

Pam, if you're reading this, I sure wish you were already out here 'cause then I could meet you too!

So today I'm getting all my chores done and all my stuff ready to go....I doubt if I'll have much computer time. If you don't see any comments from me for a few days you'll know why. But I'll see you all again when I return.

PS - don't forget to read the previous post and reply....please.

Would You Please??

I have a favor to ask of you. Rather than send emails to each and every one of you, if you read my blog, please send me an email (found in my profile) with your mailing address. I'm trying to update my address book and maybe even get an early start on my Christmas card list!!


Image from the web.

Thanks!!!!

Me....Me....It's All About Meme!!

By now you all know I can't resist a meme! Recently Giggles did this one and I thought I'd give it a try. If anyone wants to do this feel free to do so....it's a finish the sentence meme.

1. My uncle once (actually more than once) played Santa Claus for his community. Everyone would give him the gifts ahead of time and on Christmas Eve he went around to all the houses and gave them to the children.

2. Never in my life have I ever touched a snake!

3. When I was five my parents were my world. As an only child I spent most of my time with my parents....or alone. I lived in a cocoon-like world, very protected and shielded from everything.

4. High school was intimidating! I was not one of the "in" crowd, was very shy, and walked around most of the time with my head down!

5. I will never forget to keep an open mind. I like to learn new things, learn about different cultures, see how others live, and just keep learning whatever comes my way.

6. Once I sent a tumbleweed through the mail!! You can read about it here!! It's rather timely since it's hurricane season again!

7. There’s this boy I know who is growing up so fast and becoming a young man....he's my grandson! He's my youngest grandchild but he's not a little kid anymore! He's in high school (home schooling) and getting very tall, his voice has changed and he sounds very grown up. Where do the years go??

8. Once, at a bar, I pretended to be someone else. A guy I dated liked to act out different scenes and pretend to be different people so we would go to a bar, decide ahead of time who we would be, and then we would go in and act out whatever kind of characters we were supposed to be! It was a lot of fun and sometimes got a lot of attention....I think that was his whole thing!

9. By noon I hope I've accomplished something artsy! It's supposed to be 103º today so if it isn't done by noon, chances are I won't be doing it!!

10. Last night I played with Photoshop. Still trying to learn it!!

11. If only I was born a computer geek! Then all this would come easy to me.

12. Next time I go to church it will probably be for a wedding or a funeral!

13. What worries me most is the safety and happiness of my kids.

14. When I turn my head left I see a window looking out onto our side yard.

15. When I turn my head right I see the new printer, the telephone, and LuLu sleeping on the side desk.

16. You know I’m lying when I don't want to look you in the eye.

17. What I miss most about the Eighties is my youth!! I had a lot of fun in the 80's....and some bad times, too.

18. If I were a character in "Lost" I'd want to be the love interest for either Sayid or Sawyer or Jin!! Of course, they'd have to do some fancy magic with the makeup to make me look young enough for them but that's their problem!!

19. By this time next year I hope we can sell our house and move to TN.

20. A better name for me would be Miss Routine! I like my routines and always have trouble adjusting to changes.

21. I have a hard time....see above!!

22. If I ever go back to school it will be to study art.

23. You know I like you if I I talk to you! I rarely spend much time talking to people I don't like.

24. If I ever won an award, the first person I would thank would be HB. He's been very supportive of me from the beginning and he always encourages me in whatever I do.

25. Take my advice; don't let your age be a stumbling block to anything you want to do.

And just so there's a continuation of the "age" thing, last night I was trying to draw an older woman....



I'm not completely happy with it but it's a start.

Yep! I'm Purple Inside Too!

Just so you know....even my favorite drink is PURPLE!!!



It's a purple smoothie in a purple glass! Could it be any better??

Since it's hot this afternoon and I've been running all around doing stuff, I decided to treat myself to a smoothie. I made this one with non-fat plain yogurt, Lite Vanilla Silk soy milk, a banana, some frozen blackberries and a couple of frozen sliced peaches. Yum!

Today I bought myself some new watercolor pencils (Derwent) and a book about mixing colors.... and I got my hair cut.

That's always a good day. I like my hair short short short and spiked! My hair may be gray but I don't want any "old lady" haircut!!!

The Queen of Everything....or Maybe The Empress

I recently saw this on Tammy's blog and you all know how I love these quiz thingies!! Plus they sure help out when I don't have much to write about!! This one is fun....

You are The Empress

Beauty, happiness, pleasure, success, luxury, dissipation.

The Empress is associated with Venus, the feminine planet, so it represents,
beauty, charm, pleasure, luxury, and delight. You may be good at home
decorating, art or anything to do with making things beautiful.

The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

I tease HB that I'm the Queen of Everything but I guess now I'll have to change it to I'm The Empress!! He probably won't buy that either!

My collages for Collage Play With Crowabout were getting way behind so yesterday I finished two of them. The one for Week 4 was very late but I did it anyway. Here it is....



And here is the one I did for Week 5....



These are so much fun. I've never been good at working with a theme but this isn't exactly a theme....just images that you can do whatever you want with. I just wish I could figure out what will write on my pages after I paint them. Nothing works for me....I've tried Sharpies, several different kinds of gel pens, Micron pens, and even paint pens but nothing will write without clogging and skipping. It's maddening because I know everyone else writes on their pages! What don't I know???

Down on the Wind Farm....

I thought we'd take a little field trip today! And maybe learn something about one of the alternative energies. As some of you know, HB is an electrician....not the kind that wires house though. He works on big industrial projects and right now he's working on a project that will eventually build 84 new windmills.

This project is being done about an hour and a half north of where we live, on a privately owned ranch. Here is one of the areas being prepped for seven new towers. The elevation ranges between 3500 and 5500 feet above sea level. All the roads had to be built especially for this project.



That item in the foreground is a drill used to imbed fourteen 30' long steel rods into the bedrock where they are held in place with epoxy, and anchor the windmill towers to the earth. I think this shows some of the wild beauty of this area....and also looks somewhat like a scene from a science fiction movie about another planet.



The photo above shows the first two towers at the Pine Tree Wind Farm. That is a 150 ton crane, and the parts of another windmill are all laying around waiting to be assembled.



This shows the assembly of the rotors. Each blade is 120' long and each blade weighs 12,000 lbs. The hub in the middle weighs approx. 15,000 lbs and the whole rotor assembly is approx. 50,000 lbs when put together. So these aren't the windmills you might see on your grandpa's farm!!



It takes two cranes to initially hoist the blades into place and the coordination of the lift is very tricky. This shows some of that procedure. There are actually two men on top of the tower on the left. They communicate with the crane operator with walkie talkies so they can direct the placement of the rotors. The towers are 213.3' tall. Not exactly where I'd want to be standing!!



This is a photo looking up at a completed windmill....the rotor diameter is 252.6' and when the system runs the rotor spins one revolution every two seconds. Each windmill produces 1.5 mega watts of power.

So that's where HB spends his days.

After the Weekend....

Well, I survived the loooong weekend!! But I have so much to do today that I don't have much time for my blog but I promise I'll have something tomorrow.

I managed to fulfill my promise to clean my side of the garage. The other side remains the same though!! HB didn't get to do much on his side. He did manage to dismantle the swing set in the backyard and one of our neighbors took it for their grandson so that's good.

And we spent the day yesterday with family so that was great. We don't get to see them too often so it's always nice to catch up. HB took some photos but they're still in the camera and he has it with him....so tomorrow I'll show you some photos.

On that sorry note I think I'll get back to laundry, cleaning, and other extremely fun things (said with a bit of sarcasm!) I'm finished with errands. I did them early. I hope to get to the studio too. I'm way behind on the Crowabout challenge!!