More Progress on My Happy Place

I've decided to name it My Happy Place because I am goofy.

My tarp arrived and I was worried that I ordered the wrong size. I measured the floor width (about 10') and ordered a 12x20 tarp. I should have measured the pitch of the roof, not the pitch but the size of each side of the roof. BUT, ta-daaa, it worked fine. I did have to wrestle with it a while of course. Couldn't make most of the auger-things corkscrew into the ground but got 2 in just in case it gets windy sometime before I finish battening down the hatches.

I guess I'm a closet hillbilly because I love bluegrass music. My grandmother was born in West Virginia, something I didn't know until we moved there for a few years while my husband was transferrred there on a job. Sooooo I must come by it naturally. My grandmother never grew up in West Virginia, no, they headed to the Dakotas to people the plains as the railroad was being built. The story I heard was that the railroad wanted families; big, solid, religious families to inhabit the new railroad territory. So, off they went. I don't know if it's true or not but, hmmm, they were a huge, religious family. The point is that there is going to be a Bluegrass Music hoe-down in Golden Gate Park. As much as I have trouble in crowds...I really would like to be there!

SFFD

The last day of the stay for the grandkids we visited one of the San Francisco Fire Department stations. They rode in a tanker truck and helped reload the water when they were finished with the ride and demonstration. Their faces just glowed inside the truck they were so thrilled! Yay, and thank you SFFD - you are the best!

Seductive and Ruthless?

Gee, just when I was ready to retire for the night in my flannel pj's. I ran across this "What does your name mean thing". When I typed in my name, I couldn't stop laughing, EEK, if this is me I have some serious character flaws to work on! Uh, the photo is the ruthless Mata Hari boys and girls...

Here it goes:

You Are Seductive and Ruthless
You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong.You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know.You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do.You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out.Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia.Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person.You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily.Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality.

Odd, it doesn't mention my list junkie habit.

Check it out here: http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyournameshiddenmeaningquiz/

Must Make More Lists to Be Productive!

I don't really like marigolds but I can grow them. It took me a long time to finally do something with my fish, it had a variety of troubles. Also, in the yard I dug out 2 big jade plants, they grow like weeds, I put something in that said, "Drought tolerant". Pink somethings.

This fall I hope to make a jacket like the one in the photo. I'll use a wool/silk blend. I am going to have Whirlygig Yarns at Etsy help me. She is going to dye the yarn for me. Initially I wanted an out-there color but...I'm rethinking that. My first thought isn't always my best.

The work on the studio is slow. I have ordered a huge clear tarp to prevent the leaks I have. It should be here later this week. Guess a few those things that corkscrew into the ground along with bungee cords should work. I ordered the tarp at Creative Shelters, they had the best prices that I could find. It's kind of creepy that I just finished reading "The Road" and here I am shopping at a place called Creative Shelters...

And yes, I do agree with my friend that declared "The Road" a very depressing book but a good depressing book...
My list junkie tells me that if I don't make lists I don't get things accomplished. Note to self: make more lists.

San Mateo County Fair

It was kind of disappointing because it was so small compared to 5 years ago. We ended up going on Seniors Day, they were being bussed in from everywhere and the sad/funny thing is that no one even ASKED for our ID's; we got in free too. Oh, well.

No horses, very few cattle, no weaving, lot of quilts though. The quilters were there in force, good for them!

Well, we made it to the pig races, then a treat and off to the carnival to lose the treat (almost anyway).

The bumper cars were so much fun the grandkids had to go twice. A robotic section was also a huge hit!

Learning More About the Loom

My old loom is so beautiful, aren't they all though? Well, her name is Sabina and I've never changed the treadle/shaft relationship. For my doubleweave experiment I had to mix them up. I found out that my treadles don't make my harnesses work the way I thought they did. Harnesses 123 are supposed to rise so I hooked them up the the treadles I wanted to use for that and I had the 4th harness rise. Proof positive that my mind thinks backward.

And!!! Double weave is sort of like magic, the kind of magic that happens when pulling a cylinder on the wheel. What fun, the kids will go home with a book bag or a tube if they just want a reminder of their week here.

I am getting worn out but it's a good worn out, we have gone to the beach numerous times, the county fair, learned to play mah jong (and they beat us the stinkers), and learned to weave in just 3 days. See my little weavers go! My granddaughter is so helpful, if her brother was tired of weaving, she offered to help him finish his project. Sounds like there is a weaver in the making. Clay tomorrow!!!

Double Weave Made Easy?

Ok, I was told by someone on the Internet that to double weave, double the sett and thread a straight draw (ha, I think I'm learning weaver lingo). Then do a few shots of tabby followed by: 1, 123, 3, 134. Can it be just that simple?

The grandchildren are coming to stay and I thought that a weaving project for idle times would be good - a book bag would go quickly and they could go home with a complete project. Sounds just fine. Too late I read that the weft should be twice as thick as the warp. Well, they are going to be the same size.

I hope that the yarn I selected will lend itself to colors they both like. My grandaughter can use some purple, burgundy and lavender weft and my grandson can use darker greens, browns, etc. Of course they can use what ever I have and they like....any colors at all. I got some chunky kind of yarn so it will weave quickly. I have never woven with this size, it will be fun to see the results.

Still no word from my weaving teacher, I hope he's ok.

Sun, sun, sun, a perfect day in paradise. Life is good, very, very good. I worked a few hours on the "studio" and ouch is all I can say! Ouchy hands and feet...

Absolved of Sloth

Believe it or not, this is progress, slowly I am making headwayon the studio scene.

All is forgiven, it was a mistake, I am not guilty of sloth, LifeLoomsLarge has heard my confession and counseled me. Thank you! It's just time to get to work out there in the greenhouse. Neglect over several years and one big project on top of that left it a mess.

SO!

I wanted a ton of pea gravel; 1.25 c/y (engineer talk from my hubby), he helped me understand how much pea gravel that is. I want it anyway, a person can't have too much pea gravel can they? Instead I got a couple of 75#-ers and will spread it to see if my space needs a ton.

What do I want? A studio that doesn't leak (hahaha) - I can work on that, my nephew has offered to help me. A studio large enough to do wheel work, handbuilding, etc. with enough shelves - Lowes or Home Depot or Craigslist or even Freecycle can help. The space is sufficient but more shelves would be great. Water - have that but it needs some fine tuning.

Do I want to mix my own glazes? ????I don't know. It sure saves money...I was sort of trying to go the earthenware route for a while though...well, I'd just need the right frit I suppose.

It's vintage, can I sell it on E Bay??? Out it goes, last week my garbage can weighed a LOT, I put many bags of dried out clay into it as well as lots of other stuff like this E Bay vintage lot.

My girly basket from JoAnn, I think I can rinse my tools off and it will drain!

A girl needs some music, it looks funny I know. I'm going to see if I can find a decent station and just push the off or on button thru the paper. I have trashed 3 radios so far, this one is four. I saw a nice one with an ipod deck - there would go my ipod probably...

The Shameful Sin of Sloth

Been thinking; always dangerous...why aren't I getting the message to be more careful when buying online? When will I learn? This will be my last whining session about poor me and my woes with my Internet buys!

I haven't heard from my weaving teacher, maybe he's on vacation or something. Should I try things on my own; how daring, huh?

I started cleaning the greenhouse and I am ashamed of my sinful sloth, will I learn to be tidy and clean each time I leave for the day? I don't know.

Beware Best Brand Value and Discount Book Sale

I do look over my charge card each month.

I ordered a book for my daughter online recently and I'm here tonight to say watch out for these guys at Discount Book Sale.com . I am not linking to them on purpose; I don't have permission. Just here to report the facts...

What they are doing sure sounds like fraud to me and I repeated that word to my customer service man in Manila (not Florida) several times. In any case, when you buy a book there all is fine and dandy then you get an email from another place; Best Brand Value. com saying you are welcome to shop with them and blah, blah, blah. I didn't read it all and find out they charged my charge card $19.95 because they were offering me a membership and that I had to cancel it within 3 days if I didn't want it!!! This was buried in the middle of a really spammy looking email.

I just talked to a customer service rep in Manila and refused to get off the phone and insisted upon a refund and a cancellation. Well, he couldn't issue a refund because it was beyone 3 days but he said but he could cancel it. We went round and round. OK, he was in the midst of cancelling it but I wouldn't budge on getting my refund. "This call is being recorded ma'am he told me". "Good, I am glad it's being recorded because what you are doing is called Internet fraud, it's illegal, I am reporting it to my police department and my credit card company and I'm telling everyone I can what is happening", I replied. I asked for the US address since it is supposed to be in the US. I got a P.O. Box in Old Color Guard, Florida.

I didn't see that they automatically signed me up for a trial membership and who were these people, and where did they come from - I didn't even buy from that company; it is very sly....and they would charge my charge card automatically every ??? month? until I cancelled.

Blah, what a bad way to end a good day. All is well, I wouldn't back down or get off the phone, he assures me I am going to get a refund...

List junkie says:

Call credit card company and alert them; no charges from discountbooksale or bestbrandvalue either!

Watch out my friends!

I am babbling, thanks for listening and beware.

Going Solo

I am taking this fall off...no ceramics class! I'll work on my own with clay out in the leaky old greenhouse. I am inspired by my fellow ceramic artist at Big Ocean Blue and not too distant neighbor, she is building her own small ceramic studio on her property. I feel like cleaning up my space and really making it useable and keep it like a studio instead of the place I work and stash stuff!

List junkie says:

1. Clean "studio"

2. Buy clay and supplies

3. Get ahold of my weaving teacher to help me plan my jacket and learn to double weave and make (or follow) a design.

4. Plan piece for competition in the spring.

5. Call my sisters, call Joe before he moves.

My sister asked for one of my tiles so I wandered down to Sanchez Art Center to take a pic of "the wall" so she could see which ones have sold. There was some sort of controversy in front of my space. What in the world could be happening I wondered? I casually strolled past and couldn't figure it out, I examined the other art; throroughly enjoying myself, stolled past again, the controversy continued. I went into the other wing and then returned and took a pic of the wall, the couple there told me that they reserved during the special patron night (before the opening) 3 of those tiles and 2 were sold to other people now. So, that was it...how maddening that must be! When I told them that I was the artist, they were so pleased to meet me and I them! The long and the short of it is that I am going to make them replacement tiles, similar to the ones they reserved. Win - win. Double win for me. I am still blown away by the whole thing, I've sold about 20; all I can say is, "Wow". Happy, happy, joy, joy!

The tile shown is one I will re-produce, not exactly but one very similar.

Let's Finish Up With The Tiles!

The End.