Well, Hello There

The denizens of Casa de Crazy spent much of the day outside...and can you blame us, when it was in the mid-sixties all day? The Evil Genius even manged to get a wee sunburn. Nothing horrible, just a little pink here and there.

While Someone worked his cute tushie off, I spent a chunk of time whittling wands our of Forsythia branches. I even made a little one for Bird, who promptly asked me why it wasn't working...he was trying to magic some plants from outside where Someone was re-potting them into his room. I told him he was doing it wrong and to practice. He was busy all afternoon.

Some neighbors put in an appearance, announcing that it may yet freeze, it may yet rain, but Spring is truly nigh.

See that speck a bit left of center? Bat.

Honest, look.

Lookit 'im go!

He (or she) was having a feast, and there were several others enjoying an evening's flight, too.

Go, bats, go - they eat mosquitoes by the ton and are most welcome here.

Hello, friends!

Then there was this fellow in the woods.
The first of his clan to make himself known, but there will be many more in the next few days - they don't take snow (hah!) for an answer.

I Spent the Weekend...

...getting my hands dirty.

It was nice outside, nice enough to prompt digging a new garden bed, removing grass and planting it where it can take root and perhaps amend a mud pit in the yard where cars once parked.

Diggin' in the dirt sure was nice. Now we just have to wait a month to plant...because warm, sunny, and tempting though it be out there, one doesn't plant in Redneck Central until April unless one wants to do it twice...the second time just after the rogue freeze that often rolls through around the end of March.

So what'd you do this weekend??

Another Shameless Plug

I have a new post up at Mainstream Green , and there's more than one picture of a really sexy guy playing with a power tool...

Shameless Plug

I have been posting scads of new things on my Etsy site. No photographs, yet - I am still trying to convince my scanner that it IS a scanner and not a paperweight - but lots of chain maille and other jewelry. Just in case you want something new for Spring, or need a birthday, anniversary, or St. Swiven's day gift.

Shade and Sweetwater on Etsy

Click, shop, validate my existence...

Ladies and Gentlemen, Elvis Is In the Building

My friend K gave me the green light to post pics of her new wee dude (warning, there may or may not be a partial boob-shot in here), so I give you Elvis*:

Uh thangyou, thangyouverruhmuch...

Wee little monkey toes...

Well, it ain't a peanut butter, bacon and banana sandwich, but it's a start...

The King needs his beauty sleep...

Whadaya mean, I can't have a peanut butter, bacon, and banana sandwich for at least another year?

*Names changed to protect the innocent...but did you SEE those sideburns??

Wait a Day

Sunday we had this: Monday we had this: Wonder what tomorrow will be like?

Sprung

Or at least, Springing...

About a Baby

My friend K had her baby yesterday. Oh, wait...did I mention that my friend, bandmate, sister-of-my-heart was pregnant? Yeah, about that...oopsie.

She had a boy, seven pounds, nineteen inches long, full head of hair, and (no kidding) sideburns. I'm calling him Elvis because that's not his name and hello? Sideburns! Awesome!!

I went to visit them in the hospital and took a bunch of pictures, but am not publishing them yet because I figure it's only fair that she get first crack at makin' the little feller famous in the Blue Nowhere, since she went to all the trouble of growing and birthing him.

Instead, I will regale you with photos of the little lad's room.

K likes to decorate her children's rooms, give them style and personality. She went with earthy colors for Elvis; chocolate brown, sage-ish green, and medium pale blue with forest critters were the main design points.

Because I'm broker than our political system (but far less shady), I offered to make her a quilt, as I did for her daughter The Bean. She gave me some fabric (seven different prints!) and the go-ahead. Here's a close-up of the quilt:

I love the owls.

I made a little pillow for Elvis's rocking chair...but it was too small to be a butt cushion, so I'll make another. Good thing he won't need it for a while!

Here's the quilt on the crib. I made a simple semi-random patchwork and backed it with coffee-ice-cream colored anti-pill fleece. No batting - the little guy doesn't need to roast! I didn't do any fancy quilting...just ties the corners of the squares. It's washable, portable, and cuddly, and as long as K was happy (she was) I wasn't going to get too fussy with it. I like making quilts people aren't afraid to use.

The awesome bumper that matches her color scheme? Another friend found it at Goodwill for maybe three bucks! Sweet!!

Check out the insanely cute baby biker boots! I want a set just to put on one of my Teddy bears.

K is an artist...she does wonderful things with glass, with mixed media, and with paint. One of the things I love about her kids' rooms is how she surrounds them with herself, with her love and creativity. Lucky kids. She painted these owls based on the fabric:

Don't you want one for your own?? She's hireable...although you might have to wait a bit...she did just have a baby.

And then these little guys, too, because why not?

And then got a little funky and linear and other artsy phrases:

This only looks like an empty canvas:

Really, it's an amazing piece of potential waiting to be fulfilled. She's going to paint it with a nest (I think) and fill the nest with photos of the people who will surround Elvis in his life - family, friends, people who will love him, tease him, and maybe occasionally give him presents. Cool, huh?

And then there are the Ugly Dolls. I love Ugly Dolls. I keep threatening to steal my son's...they are so full of the awesome.
Because K travels to sci-fi conventions a lot, she has access to vendors who sell the dolls, and she brings them home with her. When I win the lottery, I'm buying a whole set, just for me. Meanwhile, I will play with Elvis's when he's not looking.

Look at this doodad...it's got pockets for holding toys or nappies or bearer bonds in!

Bird has a dragon one that K bought him several years ago...I bet she got the frog at the same place. Ikea, anyone??

Finally (I heard that sigh of relief!), a last look at one of the little lamps in the baby's room:

Good grief, isn't that just fantastic?

I don't know where she finds half this stuff...but I do know there are few babies in the world that will come home to a room so filled with love and welcome - a room put together by his mama, his papa, his mama's and papa's friends and relations, everyone happy to welcome another life into the circle. We're all family, here.

Welcome to the circle Elvis!!

Twenty Things That Nurture Me

Got this from Braja. Check her out (as if you don't already know her blog!)(and if you don't, what are you, living under a rock?? She's a blogging rock star, fer cryin' out loud!!)(No, really, she's at least eight kinds of awesome on a regular basis).

Blue - shades and shades of blue, from palest sky to deepest Atlantic. Contrary to what the psychology world claims, blue does not depress me..it calms, soothes, and even uplifts my spirit.

Music - I love making music for and with others. Drumming and singing together around a fire at night is magic in itself. In music I find peace, power, solace, joy, and connection.

Photography - capturing the world in still frames and showing my often skewed vision to others, sharing moments frozen in time, is a real pleasure.

Fabric - I have a stash of fabric that make my mouth water - colors, textures, patterns, things that literally made me drool. Some of them are grouped together to one day become...something. Some are simply pieces waiting to become...something else. I especially love cotton.

Water - drinking, bathing, swimming...water is a thing of nurturing for me. When I am ill, it's water I want, and no other medicine will quite do.

Moonlight - cool, blue-silver, gentle, her light casts shadows and brings strange life to things...and I love being out beneath her, soaking it all in.

Sunlight - warm, golden, pouring down in honeyed streams...since childhood I have loved the scent of sun-warmed skin.

Earth - rich, heady perfume rolls up from newly turned garden beds, and I breathe it in and am drunk from it. To bury my fingers in her, set seeds to root and grow, is an act of hope, a gift given and received.

Snow - cold, clean, whit, soft, hard, ever changing, ever different.

Someone and the Evil Genius - playing baseball on the driveway, throwing darts in the garage, teasing Rook, playing chess, gardening...there is something tremendously satisfying in watching two people I love being happy together.

Reading - I have had no more faithful, no truer friends follow me from childhood to today than books. I still have many from when I was young.

Cats - furry little contradictions, the wee darlings.

Flowing Water - the sound is a song that I will one learn to sing. I steep myself in that subtle music and am timeless.

Fire - fire runs in my family; we like to burn things. There are two rules of fire here at Casa de Crazy: Fire is always hungry, and fire is never safe. The crackling tune is a counterpoint to flowing water and blowing wind, earth's drums keeping time to it all.

Rain - the smell, the feel, of a summer's rain soaking through my clothes to my skin...sweet...

Flute - I can play or listen for hours.

Singing Bowl - mine is quite large, made of crushed quartz. It has a chip in it but that doesn't seem to make a difference. I will coax it into song, then plunge my head down into the bowl and feel the sound pulsing through me...ahh...

Words - well written, well spoken, well crafted words. Playful, charming, painful, sweet, I've never met a words I couldn't love.

Ancient Evenings Lotion - perhaps a bit shallow, but the smell makes me smile and it does keep my poor abused hands soft and smooth.

Seeds - little bundles of potential, hopes and dreams in tiny hulled packages.

Thoughtfetti

More cruise stuff tomorrow or whenever I get to it...just takin' a little break.
~~~~~
Have you ever hear the saying "Madder than a wet hen"? Have you ever seen a wet hen? They don't look mad to me...just irritated. I wonder where that saying came from...
~~~~~
If revenge is a dish best served cold, and revenge is sweet...does that mean revenge is ice cream?
~~~~~
When people ask where I'm from I tell them "Redneck Central" but I wasn't born here. When I first moved here, I didn't have an accent, and resisted taking one on...until one day a few years ago I woke up channeling Callie Duquesne from CSI Miami and just gave in and went with it. People underestimate a gal with a Southern accent. Fine by me...bless their hearts...
~~~~~
A few days ago I was cleaning house, up and down the stairs putting things away, moving about quite a bit. I was hot. I actually said "Good grief, I'm sweatin' like a whore in church!" What the hell...am I now channeling PG-13 Hee-Haw along with Callie Duquesne from CSI Miami?
~~~~~
I won't tell you what I was shakin' like, but I will mention that the euphemism I used is one I recently learned from Someone, who is a font of colorful words and phrases. My vocabulary "improves" daily.
~~~~~
Do you think the guy in the back of the bobsled is worried that the fellow in front of him had beans for dinner?
~~~~~
Confirming my redneckery...I was chatting about investing with a very intelligent, investment savvy fellow on the cruise, and after making it clear that I am the opposite of savvy in this area, I said "My idea of investing is buying land, building a house, fencing it all in and buying a shotgun." Ohmuhgod, I can't believe I said that. At least I didn't say anything about my retirement plan...wining the lottery.
~~~~~
Does anyone else wish the announcers would just shut up and let them watch the figure skating in peace? Or are we no longer allowed to have our own opinions as to the performance of the skaters?
~~~~~
Does anyone else think Johnny Weir was hosed? Or that he should have been part of the exhibition skate because hello? Fabulous!!
~~~~~
What's on your mind?

Aww, Poor baby*

*Best if read while dripping with sarcasm.

I just read a headline that says "President's Hourly Pay Isn't So Great: If you factor in all of the time that he puts in, Barack Obama's salary works out to only $45.63 an hour."

Really? Is that all? Poor baby...imagine only making $45.63 an hour, with your meagre benefits being a large, fully furnished house, an on-call chef, personal security, limousines and aircraft of several varieties at your disposal, the best health care available in the world, Camp David for vacationing in, laundry service, and your every need and/or whim met almost before you know you have one. Let's have a fund raiser, shall we?

Pfft. And tch. And bah!

Dominica

Dominica (Domineeca, not Dominihca) is a beautiful little volcanic island. She doesn't have any beaches to speak of - most of her charms are wild, rugged - hiking in the rain forest, taking a canopy tram, river tubing, or taking a tour of the island in general.

And, of course, there's sailing...
We took a driving tour. The roads are bumpy as Hell, and narrow enough to cause more than one gasp as we cornered and faced oncoming traffic. Our driver has a future in rally racing. I didn't take as many pictures as I'd have liked - hard to catch anything while driving ninety-miles-per-hour over what feels like roads made of speed bumps.

I did learn a few things about the island - they are keen on Cricket: And they are poor. The median annual income is $1,500 ($US). Unemployment is at 40%. Crime has climbed from 1% to 4% in recent years, due largely to drugs (cocaine). Much of the housing looks like this:Or worse.

There is a definite difference between the Haves:And the Have-Nots: I thought the island beautiful. I thought the poverty heartbreaking. Boarding our huge ship full of every luxury imaginable, probably throwing away more food in one meal than a Dominican sees in a month...put things in perspective.

A Short Visit to St. Thomas

On St. Thomas, we went to the beach...Coki beach, a place we've visited before and enjoyed immensely.

Look, I saved you a seat:

Ahh...what a view...

And the natives are a friendly lot...

The Blues (In Half-Moon Cay)

"The Blues" takes on a whole new meaning in the Bahamas (where Half Moon Cay is located):

These blues I could live with:

Into deeper water, now - St' Thomas, here we come!
Nope, these blues aren't bad at all...I'd be happy to have 'em again and again...

Caribbean Hues (Cay Colors)

No, not really - not without Someone and the Evil Genius I wouldn't...but I can see why people would feel that way...

Colors everywhere, bright and warm, cool and breezy, delighting the eye...

Everywhere jewels, glistening in the sun...

I took nearly one thousand photographs. Don't panic - I don't intend to bore you with show them all here...just a few from each of the beautiful places we visited on our ten day quiltstravaganza.

Glimpses of Half Moon

Our ship, the Noordam:
A little flora greeting winter-weary travelers at the dock:
This reminds me of something...hmm...:

Just a Tease

I'm busy today, getting back into the swing of things...so it's a short post. This is a view of our ship from Half-Moon Cay. Apparently the major cruise companies have all leased islands from The Bahamas and made them into private monuments to excess destinations.

More later...I have to get my arse in gear (speaking of arse - I managed to buck the trend and actually lose weight on a cruise! Sweet!!).

Guess What...

I'm home - bless Mums heart for pulling a marathon style drive and letting me bring us on in to Casa de Crazy instead of stopping for the night three hours away. Thanks to her, I got to spend an Evil-Genius-free night with my sweetheart and wake up with him on Valentine's day - the kid was with his father, and it's not like V-Day means that much to me, but it was nice...and I was beyond ready to be home. I had a lovely time (despite the lack of free wi-fi) and will happily bore you to tears tell you all about it later, when I'm done unpacking and have caught up to myself.

Also, I am rather chuffed to tell you that my modest little quilt square took second place in the challenge. Squee! I am no the proud owner of twenty of the blocks (including mine and Mum's) which I may one day even turn into an quilt of some sort.

While it was a lovely cruise and I visited and learned about some beautiful places, I am glad to be home with my family - the Evil Genius returned home this evening, the cats have almost forgiven me for my prolonged absence, and Someone and I may stop grinning and touching and kissing and other mushy stuff one of these days...but probably not.

Now if you'll excuse me...I have what seems like a half-million photographs to sift through, which is the perfect way to send a day forecast to be snowy. I wonder if it's too late to get back on the boat...I could fit Someone and the Evil Genius in one suitcase and the cats in another...

Flat Aunt Becky got in on the action...

The winning square...marvelous!