Box of Amazing Stuff!!!

At the auction, sometimes there are things that no one wants. This past auction there was a lump of leftovers.... and I was told that I could have this old box that was full of vintage fabric (yay!). I finally got around to bringing the box to school today and we unpacked it- discovered that it was full of treasures!

Included: quite a few sections of nice vintage fabric, the yo-yo spread (pictured) it only needs 3 small connections- looks like it fits a double bed, quite nice.... the apron Ariel is modeling (I let her have it- it was *tiny*) a nice section of heavy white satin (Neena claimed that), old tea towels partially embroidered with "it's an art", stencils, fabric treatment paint, glitter, stickers, nice scrapbooking collage paper, a random sea bean and a wooden paddle shaped like a hand and inscribed " To Mrs. Brown from Reggie J." I'm guessing Reggie J. was not exactly a model student. I'm thinking I'm going to repaint one side of the paddle (it has a rocking horse decal on it), save the original inscription and turn this into my hall pass. Cool stuff- useful, amusing, artsycraftsy- Christmas come to visit all over again. I'll take an abandoned box o'stuff anyday!

Treats!

The manz always knows how to make my day better. Even though he was feeling awful, he made breakfast this morning (yum!) and my lunch...tucked in a surprise of black jellybeans.

I love black jellybeans best of all....few people do (the manz, Melissa, Barbie, Daddy) but they have such a nice bite to the sweetness. Overall, I'm more of a fan of the old-school spicy jellybeans- licorice, vanilla (Mum's favorite), cinnamon, clove, mint, lemon- than the flat tasting cheapy fruit kind. The good fruity kind is nice- starburst and the like- but Grendel eats all of those. I do like Jelly Belly's (especially popcorn, sweet tea, coffee) and even some of the Harry Potter kind (grass and dirt are my favorites! go figure~)

Jellybeans are one of those things that lurk around all year, but are best eaten in the spring. A seasonal (fruit? vegetable? seed?) they form in colorful plastic eggs that hatch into sugary goodness. The proper way to eat the jellybean is to nibble off the outside (you do this by putting the whole thing in your mouth, otherwise your hands turn jelly-bean color) and then enjoy the squisky middle. mmmmm..... of course the black jellybeans turn your lips, tongue, teeth a lovely shade of zombie-gray.

Right now the sky is zombie gray and it is pelting down sklish- which is kinda thick slushy rain that is not quite ice, but wants to be. It's cold, I have class tonight, and all I can think about is hot tea and garlic bread. I could live on that sometimes.

Mad March Hare!

Hellos all- I must explain my absence for the past few weeks. It was the end of winter, and I was bogged down in the sticky mud of Feburary- everything here has been brown and grey and covered in mud, cold... normally things that I am ok with, but with the combination of stress (work work work) and the cutting down of the little woods across from our house (to build a waste water pump station) I got kinda down in the doldrums. Nothing bad, just to the point where I was just mono-focused, feeling like nothing was being accomplished by me... tired, cold, wanting to just rest and eat and sleep. Which gets nothing much done, except adding to the bleah attitude- a self defeating cycle.

But sometimes those times of backwash are needed- I just hermited away (sorry I haven't been more social) and let the manz take care of me (he takes excellent care) and pushed along. Work. School. Pepper's Wedding- grendel came home for it, and it was beautiful- but I was feeling kinda blue, with the boys growing up and all. Charles is down with a horrid cold, then on Sunday- minutes before taking Grendel to Raleigh- the computer (Sophia) broke. Just refused to turn on- supposed she is having her time of doldrums as well.

But last night there was a rabbit moon- a beautiful bright rabbit moon to wish on for the changing of the seasons. Spring always begins for me on March 1, and with a new brightness and hopefulness for moving along. The air is cold still- we may have more snow tomorrow- but the forsythia in the back yard has a few blooms on it, and there is hope.

Valentine's!

Valentine's weekend- and our 2 month anniversary- and snow! We woke up Saturday to a yarden full of snow, at least 6". I know this isn't much to some of you (Melissa!) but for down here it is like a miracle.

Saturday morning I kept taking pictures, even before it was light outside. The manz made a huge breakfast...then, we bundled up and headed out to play in the snow.

The snowus is made from snow mainly just from our cars- and hidden talents came swiftly to the surface. I started shaping the snowme while he toted snow- but I mostly just created a lump. (Hey! I heard that thought!) anyway, we switched and I happily ran about collecting buckets of snow and sticks while he put his artistic talents to use. The snowme actually *looks* like a snowman, plus his creative shaping..... all the neighbors driving by (of course, it was all guys at this hour) gave him 'thumbs up'! She is beautiful and I was amazed- while he was finishing her I started on the snowmanz. Not as impressively made (his head kept falling off) but he is tall and thin...the manz sculpted the face and I found some Spanish moss for the beard. Then he came up with the idea for the sign- a bit of paint and a few nails and we were finished!

I took pictures and sent them into CNN ireport- they 'vetted' them (meaning they were selected to 'belong' to Turner for use- they sent us paperwork, so that must make it official) and put them up on their web site. We do have the ireport link on our facebook pages- it was our 15 minutes of fame!

Anyway, *this* is what made the weekend special. Homemade romance. Making snowmen, driving around town to see the snow, sharing wedding photos with his folks, laughing at Turrello playing with the doggs, being together. All these years of Valentine's days, and I never knew- never really knew- how magical the day could be. It's about how you feel- that steady warm glow when you love and are loved- warm enough to keep you even in the snowiest of winters.

Wife Dressing

We acquired this gem quite by accident at Angel's auctions last Saturday- (sorry for being slack on the blog writing- it's on my endless list of things-that-need-done) anyway, back to wife dressing.

Written in the 1950's by Anne Fogarty (who I never heard of, but who was quite famous in her day) it is a guide to being a well dressed wife. So far I have broken every one of her rules- things like 'no jeans in public', 'no pajamas in the kitchen', 'always carry a tote with spare: makeup, hose, shoes, scarves'.... while elegant advice, and I can happily fantasize about being well dressed... it's not happening right now. I love jeans, though I usually wear skirts. I don't have spare accessories in my tote, but I always have scissors, tape, lots of black pens and a sketchbook. I don't worry about pajamas in the kitchen because the beloved manz does all the cooking. But I do 'dress for eventualities'....

case in point: yesterday. Yesterday it was cold to start with, incredibly windy and muddy, and school not only lost power but had a bomb threat at the same time. This placed us all outside in the wind and the mud until they wrangled up enough buses to stick us on until we went home. The situation was complicated because *all* the schools in the area lost power at the same time and the county was dismissed.... because we share buses with the elementary school, usually they go home first, then us. That had to be scrambled because they had to move the elementary buses over to the high school so we wouldn't all freeze... that is, everyone but me, who was sensibly dressed for the season.

What was I wearing? a long double skirt over cotton leggings and cowboy boots, red thermal type long tshirt with a gray sweater, and my most awesomely warm winter sweater coat (hand knit wool from Peru with a hood, pockets and the wool is unprocessed so the lanolin makes it waterproof and wind proof), and my scarf-n-gloves the manz gave me at Christmas. I was warm and snug while those in 'professional dress' were freezing in the wind, struggling to stand in the mud in heels, keep their short skirts in place or their long pants out of the mud. Sometimes, unfashionable is good. very good.

Sleepy time for kitties

Sleepy time for kitties, sleepy time for kitties, sleepy time for kitties now has come~
Nestle in the beard, nestle in the beard, nestle in the beard and purr purr purr....

Turrello likes to nestle in the beard, under the blanket, loves the manz- who sings to him the kitty song all low. Turrello just closes his eyes and snuggles right in...... today is cold and rainy, and I just finished talking on the phone to the manz (he calls me almost everyday when my day is done! yay) discussing dinner. The roast isn't ready, so it is hotdogs or out... I'd be happy with garlic bread (I can live on bread) but I'm happy with most anything. Just so it's warm and filling and I have a good hot cuppa tea in a while.

I have homework to do (of course) but the book is closer to being finished... will snuggle up and work on that. I have to photograph and resize pictures for class on Thursday, but it is a pain to try to do that when it is so dark. So...I'll photograph tomorrow am (supposedly sunny) and with a bit of luck all will be well. I just keep trying, moving right along.

But now the day is done and it's time for home and tea and love and rain on the roof. What could be better than that I'd like to know?

Ice

Outside the bedroom window, after the ice storm- a good reason to go no-where all weekend. Cozy in and do at-home things, mainly homework, watching shows with the Manz (who made feasts of mansketti, chili, garlic bread... big breakfasts of sausage, grits, eggs), and taking naps. (Hooray for the electric blanket!) I did stay rather drowsy all weekend though...

And now it's a new month, and new resolutions! I am determined not to let the blogging slide, and since I can now edit photos on Evie, I can happily write away in the morning while still being snug in my chair with coffee while the manz watches his show and pampers the cat. (Turello is the most pampered cat ever...he even has his own little song...that is tomorrow's post!)

Anyway school is going well enough- my classes at Trask are new and we are all in the honeymoon stage still... college classes are interesting but demanding. I have been spending alot of time on the virtual reality class, and doing studio work for my thesis. I need to commit time to working on my web page (learning dreamweaver), but I have stalled a bit this weekend and inspiration was.....napping. Which is ok, except I have a deadline tomorrow, and I need to have 2 more works done. Looks like me and the bigscreen tonight. The research class is going ok, a bit slower, will have a chance to work on that some this week (I have endless wrestling duty Wednesday... I can take Evie with me and write, write, write). Finished the taxes yesterday though, and now I have to do the FASFA, finish my essay for the doctoral program (it's the last part of the application that I have to do) .... ducks in a row, ducks in a row.
Then there's the whole national board thing- there is supposed to be a workshop on it Saturday, maybe I'll go this time. Argh. I just need to force myself to concentrate and focus. (Cookies help) But truthfully, I *can't* work *all* the time.... I need manz time, relax time (not when I'm sleeping) pet the doggies time (kitty likes to *play* with me- he gets all his pets from the manz). Call mum time, sisters time, friend time. Bath-n-book time. I do have all these things- I'm just feeling hyper this morning. In a good mood hyper way. In a shut my eyes to endless student loans and just move forward cause we might win the lottery or they might forgive them because I am such an awesome person kind of way. (other student loan solution is to just stay in school forever... which seriously is an option. I love school, am good at it and don't mind it at all...plus there are *really nice* tax breaks for students).

And now, it's oatmeal time. (see, that is my diet plan. Oatmeal during the week allows for manzmade breakfast extravaganzas on weekends....but sometimes he makes lovely toast for me. This morning though he is so comfy and the cat is snoring away on his lap...so I suppose I can make my own oatmeal. I am so spoiled! and it is so wonderful`)