January Hymn

Well, I hope everyone's holiday celebrations were what you wished for; whether that was days on end of food, family and festivities or just quiet days of leisure alone.  As I said in my previous post, we had a couple of nice dinners at home with family and that was about it.  Watched a couple of movies and went out once or twice.  It was nice actually.
But, I am ready to move on into the new year.  I'm not going to do a year-in-review thing like I usually do because....uhh....let's see...I didn't do shit this last year!  Yeah, that's it.  So, we will concentrate on what I hope to do in this coming year!  I don't really do New Year resolutions either.  To me, you're either going to change habits or you're not and a new year never seemed to motivate me that much.  I've already been sticking to my gym work-outs for about 2 months now, so I'll just continue that.  I'm to the point now that I look forward to going because the exercise really does make me feel better, physically and mentally.  Lifts my mood considerably.  And, I've lost about 8 pounds or so, so to see some progress is great and encouraging!  Can't say that it helps my pain any, other than I'm not sitting down, but it still helps me in other ways.  On days that I can't make it to the gym I have measured out a mile walking/ strenuous hiking trail around the house here and I do that instead.

My work break ends tomorrow also.  One of my stores has already called with a new order so I need to get busy on that and restocking my inventory anyway.  It's so nice to know I can make all these things standing up now and not hunched over in pain.  Maybe this year I can even come up with, or continue, some new designs and colors.
So, speaking of scenery and getting rich (haha!), this year I finally got off my ass and designed a 12-month calender that features the critters and flora of my little Dragon Valley.  They are available to purchase HERE and you can preview so you know just what is inside.  This is a standard size wall calender but I may see about having a larger, jumbo size printed and available.  The standard size includes all Americans holidays and the spaces are large enough for penciling in notes and such.  And please know, I sincerely appreciate any purchases.  Many bloggers put advertising or other such means on their blog to raise a little money but I've never really wanted to do that.  I don't like the way it looks and makes the blog seem sorta impersonal.  However, a little money raised from photos I've already taken for this blog doesn't hurt, you know?  And all the photos featured in the calender were taken right here at home.  If these come out well I might do an all chicken one, or all flowers or such next year.

So, here's to a prosperous and happy new year!!

Autumn Changes

Happy Autumnal Equinox everybody!!  A little late maybe, depending on when you read this, but you get the idea.  Today was one of the very few first days of fall that actually felt like fall, in my recent memories.  In fact, the weather here the past few days has been gorgeous.  We've been enjoying not running the air and cooling the house by just opening the windows.
The weather has the animals feeling full of piss and vinegar too.  Mr. George has turned into a fine looking rooster and has been trying to put some moves on the ladies lately.  Mostly he has only succeeded in getting the crap bitten out of him.  The girls have been a long time without a male bossing them around and haven't cottoned to the idea of him doggin' them around, so to speak.  Can't say as I blame them.

Little T and Pumpkin are loving the free ranging too and are fitting in better with the main flock.  Not sure what is going to happen when Little T becomes Big T but I hope he and George can get along.  Little T is quite a character.  When he is out in the yard he is still sweet little T, loves to snuggle in your lap and get a good rubbing.  Come time to go to bed though he's like most youngsters....he does not like to go in.  In fact, when I go to pick him up and put him and Pumpkin in their little apartment, he will bite the living crap out of me!  He is serious!  He does not want to go to bed!  Fortunately, since he is still young, it doesn't really hurt.  Not yet anyway.  It's really kinda funny in a way.  I can just hear him saying, 'No Mama, I wanna stay out a little longer!  Imma big boy now!'

Several of the older girls are going through their fall molt so we are not getting a huge amount of eggs right now but that's okay.  A couple of our regular egg customers were so taken with the fresh eggs they ended up getting their own hens!  So, mainly we just give the extras to family and some friends.  I still sell a few dozen here and there.

And Pumpkin is getting to be a big girl too.  She is very sweet and the prettiest little thing.  I'm really not sure when she will start laying because I wasn't sure how old she was when we got her, but I suspect she will be another month or so off.

I finally managed to get a few photos of Susie sitting in my lap.  The young Buffs get very jealous when they see Susie or PeePee in my lap and usually rush over in mass to fuss and push them out.  In return, Susie and PeePee take any chance to bite the young 'uns when they are out in the yard.

Chigger gets a little jealous too sometimes but not often.  She is so good with the chickens.  I wouldn't say she is fond of them (Ramona was the only one that was kind of a buddy) but she knows it's her job to protect them.

So, that's the news with the critters.  The garden and flowers are not doing a whole lot right now, as with myself.  We are working on changing that however.  I'm going to take the opportunity during my next firing, when the studio is really too hot to work in there, to do a good clean up in the main garden and possibly get in a few greens for the winter.  Or at least get things cleaned up and put away.

I'm working on a few changes for myself also, at least for as much as the pain in my body will allow.  I've got to get back to working on the house and may relegate the weekends for that or maybe Friday through Sunday.  Secondly, I've got to start producing more work and income.  I feel my pottery has become rather stagnant in design, so I am working on finding some new glazes that I will be excited to work with and new designs.  I was always able to make a good living in construction and take care of myself but now, since that is not an options anymore, I've got to get my art work up to an acceptable level of income.  If I can come up with some designs I really like, and that show promise in sales, I may consider methods of producing on a larger scale.  Not to say the work would be mass produced but maybe not completely hand thrown.  It would still be all completely hand made though.  I have to consider the fact that I may not be able to always build every single part of the rest of the house and so to be able to hire out a few things would be nice.  Like maybe the roof on the other half.  I would like to finish this house before I turn 80 also.  So, I've got to get serious about this and quit screwing around.  I need a cohesive set of styles and colors that reflect my work as a whole.  As I've said before too, I'd like to expand a bit more into the restoration work also.  I don't really expect that to ever be a big deal but you never know.  One may work out better than the other and I enjoy both lines of work.  Or one may be my main job and then just do a little of the other on the side.  I guess I'm open to either as long as I can make a decent living with it and enjoy what I'm doing.

Any changes out your way?  Has Fall made an appearance yet?

Like It Never Happened

 Ya'll will have to excuse me for doin' a little braggin' but, since I had shown ya'll the beginnings of that restoration project, I wanted to show the final results as well.  I was quite pleased with the way things turned out.  The first image is a before and after collage of a couple of areas and then the finished pieces on the end.  The individual photos are just larger versions of those in the collage.

 I do have to admit though, unglazed ceramic is probably one of the easiest materials to repair.  The non-shiny surface is easily matched with paint and so repairs become virtually undetectable.  It still requires good attention to detail though.

This is the only restoration job I've ever done where the artist was still alive and I was able to communicate with them.  That was cool.  I emailed these images to Mr. Fleming with a little note and he replied with a very sweet response.  He said he was amazed at the quality of the repairs and forever grateful that I took the time to do such a good job.  That was really nice and I'm glad he seemed pleased.

The school also seemed very happy with the work and quickly accepted my second bid on another broken sculpture when I got it sent in.  This next one though is going to really test my mettle.  It's a large chunk of cast glass, something I've rarely worked on, and has to be done just so, or else the repair can be easily seen.

When I was still in construction I joked often that I could fix anything from a busted ass to a broken heart and there were a couple of times that I was really sweating bullets to pull some repairs off.  Ha!  But I always managed to do it.  This is gonna be one of those times too, I think.  But I enjoy it.  It's a challenge to restore these objects to their original appearance.  Jobs like this pay pretty good too and I think I may treat myself to one or two modern textbooks I found on restoration.  I have several books on the subject but most of them are quite old and many of the materials and techniques are not used anymore.  I may not be able to attend a school for restoration but I can certainly buy their books and keep myself up to date.

So, not much going on around the house right now.  We are trying to get the garden cleaned up for fall and maybe plant some stuff.  I am way, way behind on fall crops but I might get something before winter.  I hate to not have something growing at all times.  Even salad greens can add a good zip to meals.

The little Buff Orps are not so little anymore and we are letting them out into the yard now to try to get integrated with the big girls.  The youngsters are still pretty shy but they are doing good and really having a blast being out free-ranging.

We are finally getting some rain now so maybe I won't lose any of my dogwoods.  I've got to get my flower beds cleaned up too.  I've just let everything go to poop lately.  Oh well, needing to get everything cleaned up is just a good reason for me not to sit around, which is still incredibly painful to do.  Hopefully everything will be resolved by winter.
Hope things are cooling a little where you are.  I walked outside this morning and it was almost like fall.  I admit, I really hate to see summer go, but the cooler weather is delicious.

The Art Of Falling Apart

 Although it may certainly sound like it, the title of this post is not about me!  This is the new restoration job I have in Birmingham.  And yes, these are some peculiar sculptures at first glance but I think with a little knowledge of their history they make more sense.  These are two (see below also), wall-hanging sculptures that were created by Southern artist Frank Fleming for a particular private school in Birmingham.  If you check out the link you can see much more of Mr. Fleming's work and the wonderful animals and iconic southern imagery that runs through all his work.  You an also get the idea that his work is quite pricey, and you'd be correct.  Most of his work is cast bronze but he does do some work in clay and these are made of a mid-range, white stoneware.  So, how did a school come up with the funds to purchase work of this nature?  Well, basically, it's a private school for rich folk to send their kids to and the campus and buildings are full of sculptures and paintings, mostly by Southern artists.

I have long been a fan of Mr. Fleming's work and, if you once again check out where and who collects his work, you can guess that this is an honor and a privilege for me to be able to restore these pieces.  I really enjoy doing this kind of work and always feel great satisfaction in completing a job where you can no longer tell there is anything wrong with the piece.  I've joked around that I have always thought I would have made a great counterfeiter, because I can usually replicate the style of anything I repair, but since I don't really want to go to prison I'll stick with this.  I would really love to expand and do more work like this, maybe even outside of Alabama, but it's not every day that somebody busts a big sculpture, thank goodness.

The school recently did a large remodel/ addition and during the transition of moving these pieces were damaged.  As you may be able to see, they are rather delicate in construction, extremely heavy and awkward to move, so it's not surprising to me that this happened.  And when you throw in some construction workers that are not used to dealing with such it can end badly.  Having been both an artist and construction worker I can see both sides and understand the issues involved.  And I have sympathy for both sides involved. 

When I work on things like this I also have to laugh a little at all the times I was ridiculed for getting a degree in art and for working in construction.  "What can you do with an art degree?"  "You ain't got any business working in construction"  Blah, blah, blah.  Then all the people that laughed at me go on to complain about how they hate their jobs but can't quit because they owe so much money and don't have time for this or that.  And I just laugh as I enjoy my day and the satisfaction of doing a good job and then I go home to my paid-for home that I built.  Haha!  When I was graduating from high school I would have never, ever thought I would have ended up in the careers that I did but it's been almost magical how things have worked out for me once I decided to follow my heart and not what other people said I should do. 

I have found all the connections to this job interesting also.  Most of you all know that the construction firm I used to work for went completely out of business.  Well, a few people such as myself, just retired from the business but most of the others went to work for other companies or in related fields and one superintendent that I worked for several times is now this school's head of maintenance and construction.  I had done one large restoration project on one of his jobs for Brice and so he knew I could do the work.  He told the school officials, you need to get this lady to do the repairs and so they contacted me.  It's also another great example of how the men I worked with have always helped and promoted me.  If you always really try to do your best and produce a good product I believe people will notice and they will remember.

So, the first thing on a  project like this is to clean everything well.  I also requested that they go ahead and install the pieces in their new location so that I could do my repairs in place.  That way there would be no chance of things being broken again when they were moving them to install.  And as it turned out, there were a couple of new, small breaks in the moving. 

After cleaning the puzzle work begins.  Mr. Fleming requested a certain type glue to be used and turns out it was what I use anyway.  The trick to putting something like this back together is that you use very little glue.  If it squishes out when you put the two pieces back together then you used too much and not only is it messy but the volume of glue will keep the pieces from fitting as tightly as they should.  Sometimes the crack is going to be visible and sometimes it will virtually disappear.  There is also the inevitable chunks that end up missing on a project like this.  I use a two-part paste epoxy to fill in these areas and the cracks.  Works great and you can usually never see the finished repair.  Well, if you know how to work it that is!

After the broken pieces were reassembled I then started reattaching the pieces to the main structure.  That is painter's tape you see holding pieces on until the glue sets.  The glue is also a fairly quick setting type but I like for something to be holding it until it is completely cured.  Now, the epoxy paste never quite matches the color of the clay or material so I use a color matched paint to hide the repairs.  I hate to use paint on a piece but that is usually all you can do.

Oh, there was one other fun fact of this job:  If you have read my blog from almost the beginning, you may remember when I worked on The Big House.  I did a number of fun restoration projects on that job and it is just down the road a piece from the school I am working at now.  (That'll give you an idea of just how wealthy this area is) In fact, the man that owns that house now went to this school and as he used to walk by the Big House on his way to class he would tell himself that he would own that house one day.  Or so the story goes anyway.  When I was browsing through Mr. Fleming's website I looked at the "news" section and recognized The Big House from several photos showing some large, outdoor bronzes he has done on commission recently.  I have also done work at several other houses in this area over the years and it's kinda funny how I keep getting work to come back to this particular area.  I am as poor as a church mouse compared to these people and it's an interesting world to occasionally work in.  I'll try to get a few photos of the surrounding area next time I'm over there.

Dish It Out

I believe I had promised ya'll some photos of the new designs in clay I have been working on  so here ya go!  I am not entirely satisfied with these results but I think they are a good start.  I have really been trying to come up with a more sophisticated or professional look to my work and I have been pleased so far.  I've been working with a white clay, which is a huge departure for me, but I really love it and just trying to really focus on good craftsmanship but with a little more "flair".

I'm not sure that I like the really white glaze here and am looking for more of a off-white or cream and in a satin finish instead of this gloss.  The blue accents should be more of a bronzy- green also; I had the glaze a bit thin on this trial.  Of course, there are tons of color combinations this would look good with but I was trying to lighten up a bit!  I have always used a rather dark, earthy palate in my ceramics and I think a change would be good.
I have a Facebook page for just my artwork and these dishes were not particularly well received when I posted them there.  I had a few 'likes' but not what I often get.  Everyone who has seen them in person has been very complimentary though.  Haha!  Maybe they were just being polite!  At any rate, the only thing that matters is if I like them and like I said, I am still in the experimenting stage here.  I think though that this is a good lead and will eventually result in a series I really like.

Big Iron

     Aha!!  I bet by now, you all had even forgotten about the "word" posts that I was supposed to be doing!  Uh-huh.  Well, that's okay.  I'll let it slide this time.  I can't blame you because I have been a terrible slacker.  But, I keep the list on my desk so I will get to them all at some point.  Well, anyway....the next word on the list is podger!!  And I would imagine that most of you, like myself, are like, Huh??  What the hell is that?  Leave it up to some smarty pants construction people to come up with something like that...heehee.  The tool of course, I knew, just not by that name.  Down here, we call this a spud wrench.  Podgers, or spud wrenches, are generally carried by ironworkers and used to help erect "red iron".  This is the term we use for the structural steel framework of a building that is usually coated with a red primer, although many times they will use grey.  Red iron just sounds better.  Red iron is welded in places but initially they bolt it together as the crane lifts each piece into place.  As you might can imagine, a 30 foot I-beam swinging from a crane is not incredibly easy to control by a person standing only on an 8 inch wide beam 60 feet in the air.  Suspended in such a manner, the beam actually swings quite easily, but getting the bolt holes to line up just right is time consuming and a good way to mash your fingers off (literally), thus the pointed end on this tool.  It's easy to ram that end through the misaligned holes, as long as they are somewhat together, and as the pointed end is pushed through, it draws the holes in line.  The bolts can then be placed in the other, now aligned holes, the podger removed and that hole bolted.  It's also a great pry bar.  A coordinated ironworker can move pretty fast with one of these.  This particular spud wrench is fairly large (for me) at about 20 inches and it has, as you can see, a fixed open end.  Many spud wrenches are adjustable just like a large Cresent wrench.  I honestly have no idea where I got this one and have rarely used it.  Tools like this were usually supplied to us on the job and as I was not a full-fledged, regular ironworker I did not keep my own.  Allen has an adjustable one that we use more often, as you might imagine.  So, there is your lesson for the day.  Haha!


     I haven't told ya'll a funny work story in some time so I thought this one kinda went with the post.  I don't think I've told this one but if I have just pretend you've never heard it.  In my construction career, I actually worked more as a carpenter probably but did do a fair amount of steel work on our jobs and the last job I did was solely as a welder.  I did hang a little "red iron" but mostly I was there to weld up the structural steel that held pre-cast concrete and stone panels.  As you might also imagine, this is some pretty hefty steel to be able to hold that much
weight.  The steel is also not bolted up but welded directly to steel plates embedded in the underside and edges of the concrete floor slabs.  The vertical pieces were only about 3-4 feet long, and I could handle those myself but the horizontals were very heavy and they would set those for me with a machine.  Well, this was a crap job.  I was supposed to have another welder helping me but that boy never could get his act together and ending up leaving because of an off the job injury.  Even with another welder there was no way I could hang all that steel by myself (also the elevators, handrails and much other misc.) in the time frame they wanted.  I was somewhat flattered in their confidence, or whatever, but no way, no how.  So, they ended up hiring a steel subcontractor to come in and help.  I had the pre-cast on the back of the building and this group of 5 men had the steel on the front.  To be fair, they did have more to hang than me. ha!  Now, for near 20 years, through chance or design, I had worked a great deal by myself.  When I truly needed help I could get it; I never moved a piece a steel that was too much, but if I could handle it myself I preferred it that way.  And, when you work by yourself (whether you're a man or woman), you learn how to move things and hold stuff the smart way because it's not physically possible to manhandle it.  The high art of wedging, cantilevering, prying and clamping come in handy.  So.  I was chugging along the back, hanging my steel like all get out.  I would put a heavy board across the handrails of my lift bucket and then wedge the vertical piece of steel between that board and the embed it welded to.  I had my layout marked on the embeds already so I just tapped the steel with a hammer to get it on spot and to plumb it up.  Magnetic levels are very handy too!  I'd tack that off and then move back, clamp the diagonal brace off to my first piece and just hold the other end until I tacked it.  Easy Peasy.  Double check my plumb and then hard weld everything.  I only needed help after I got all my vertical/ diagonals hung and one of the guys would hold the 30 foot or so horizontal angle up to them with a Lull.  I'd tack weld it on grade, he leave and then I'd finish.  Piece of cake.  So, the new steel crew came out and started on the front.  And this was no rookie crew.  You could tell by looking at them they were seasoned ironworkers.  Well, their first day I came through the building for lunch and I noticed that 3 of those men were crammed into the basket of one man-lift.  Now, that is highly illegal in OSHA's book and our foreman over the steel had a fit when he saw them.  "What in the world are ya'll doing??  Why do you need 3 men in that one spot??"  They stomped and fussed.  "Well, what do you expect??  Got to have one to hold, one to plumb it and one to weld!!!"  Now, Nick, one of our younger foreman at the time, usually goes into a battle of wits unarmed, but the construction gods were kind to him on that day.  An evil, joyous smile quickly spread over his face.   "Well, I'll tell ya'll what..." Nick drawled, barely able to control his glee but trying to feign a serious air. "I got a woman welder around back that's hanging all her steel by herself....I'll go get her to show ya'll how to do it."  Nick said a look of sheer horror came over that steel foreman.  "Hell no! No, no, no!!  Naw, we can figure it out!!  Nick insisted it would be no trouble, that I was a very nice lady and don'tcha know she won't mind a bit but they would have none of it.  Haha!  Imagine that.  I was in the trailer eating lunch with the other guys when Nick came running in to relay the story.  He was laughing so hard we almost couldn't understand him but eventually we all got a huge kick out of that.  He told me later that day he saw two of the welders peeking around the corner of the building to see just how I was doing it on my own.  Of course, every time I passed them after that I made sure to smile big and wave.

Hopeless Wanderer

No, I'm not headed back out on the road or anything; I've just been thinking a lot lately about my wandering and traveling days.  See, I've been a bit surprised that this past year of working at home and doing as I please hasn't been a little more satisfying at times.  Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy it immensely.  I love to be here and work on my art and pottery and dig in the garden when I get the urge.  But sometimes I find myself walking down to the end of the driveway and aimlessly peering into the horizon.

I love my place...so why did I want to leave?  I pondered on this for a while and then it just kinda hit me one day, "you're just an ol' gypsy Annie".  One of those souls that just likes to Go.  I don't know why I didn't understand this earlier.  I mean, I knew I liked to travel and such but I guess not to the extent that is now evident.  After thinking more about it I should have seen that 20 years in a business that required almost constant travel should have told me something.  I guess I didn't stay in that industry just because I like to pour concrete!  We often worked on jobs for years that were basically "in town" but the job itself was always something new.  A different project every day or sometimes you would get loaned out to another job for a day, week or month.  Always a change of scenery.  If you didn't like the project you were on then just wait until tomorrow, you'd probably be doing something different or at least moving to another section of the building.  Without that constant change and stimulus I find myself getting bored and gazing down the drive. We did travel to other states too.  I worked almost a year in North Carolina.  Had I not been married to my first husband I would have really enjoyed that!  I've worked in Tennessee too and literally all over Alabama.  I could have gone even more, even to Jamaica, but they didn't often want to pay for a single carpenter to stay in a room by themselves.  (You normally had to have a roomie).  The guys were my family and missing them is part of my desire to go also.  We're so spread out now the only way to keep in touch is on Facebook.

 I limit myself to just day trips unless I get the rare opportunity like the time I worked a weekend for Daddy Rabbit in south Alabama.  Considering my family and upbringing, I often find my wanderlust a curiosity.  I think the majority of my kin are homebodies.  Perhaps I take after my departed Uncle Howard.  He was in the Army (Bronze Star from WWII), an oil field worker in Oklahoma, a wanderer and finally settled in Oregon but was always prone to road trips if it was some where he had never been before.  As a child I envied his lifestyle so much when he would come to visit us about once a year.  See, we never got to go anywhere when I was growing up.  Maybe that still spurs me on today.  My father was basically a farmer, in his heart if nothing else, and home was where he would be unless forced to go out.  Plus, we just didn't have much money so that dictates a lot.  My father had been in the Army also (Korea) and went to places I can only dream of now but his stories always ended with distaste for where he was and longing to come home.  Standing in front of the Louvre and wishing you were at home???  How can that be??  And no, my father never actually set foot in Korea or any other Asian country.  They kept his company in France or Holland the whole time eating cheese and chasing women. 
So, I grew up gazing down the road, waiting for that day when I'd be seeing that driveway in my rear view mirror and when it came I didn't look back.  Haven't ever since. 

But, now I must make a living at home.  I thought about opening a public studio back up that that really is confining.  You always have to be there to be open for the public.  I thought about going back to doing the art/ craft show circuit, and I may one day, but for now I must finish the house.  I'd never have time to do that if I went back to doing shows.  Just way too much prep time involved.
So, I'm adjusting some I guess.    I may start taking some classes at the local gym a few times a week and/ or enroll in the Master Gardeners course offered by our county extension office.
I suppose wanting to be a semi-homesteader with my personality is about the stupidest thing somebody could come up with but I never claimed to be smart or reasonable.  I'm just me and I work it out as I go!

Treat

  Although I truly enjoy being able to work at a home-based studio and supply the rest of our living through gardening and animals, I can get severe cabin fever at times.  You long time readers know of my occasional wanderlust, something my old job used to satisfy to some extent but no more and since being so hard pressed these past few weeks to get those orders out I had really, really started to gnaw at the straps, so to speak.  I became so desperate one evening that it was actually liberating to go down to our local McD's (a place I fairly despise) for a salad and then a short shopping trip to CVS and the new Tractor Supply.  I know, I know.....the excitement of it is vividly tangible, no?  Of course, I had to be home within a hour or so to check the kiln but at least I did get some "fun" time.
So, what's a homesteading/ earth hippie type to do when you start clawing at the walls??  I think it's something most of us in this category deal with.  I like to think of myself as a fairly gung-ho recluse but I do like to get out on occasion.  Usually, my once a week or so trip into Birmingham is enough.  Well, with the last of the major orders completed and ready to deliver, I decided a Fun Day was in order.

 Now, let me emphasis, this was a splurge.  I mean, it didn't cost majorly really; but it was a bit more than a normal lunch out.  But it was very nice and I had a great time.  First, I got the delivery out of the way!  Once that was done with I made my way to the Southside of Birmingham and to one of it's more well-known restaurants; Bottega's!!  Here, is a nice article on the place and it's founding chef.  Unknown to most of the country, Birmingham has quite a few culinary treasures.  It was a delightful meal and experience.

I had a Bibb lettuce/ Apple salad with Gorgonzola and walnuts.  YUM.  I believe I'll make these at home now.

 This was the Chicken and Tortellini with Pine Nuts.  There was a bunch of other stuff in there too.  Very yummy also.  The waiters were also very friendly and personable.  None of this looking down their nose at you while impersonating a French maitre' d.
My only complaint is that you could have hung meat in the ladies restroom but...at least it made you appreciate the warm sunlight in the dining area.

The Creme Brulee' was divine.  Exquisite.  I long for it now even.

The restaurant is located in a semi-historic, hip part of Birmingham just outside of downtown and in warm weather it's a great place to walk the short distance to a couple of parks and cool, local bars.  In my much younger days I used to live not far from here in an older, "quaint" apartment but, I was far too poor to be able to do more than peer over this fence at the world on the other side.

This Ole House

Well, I knew some of you were interested in these upcoming posts but I must admit I was a little surprised by some of your comments, or should I say, the enthusiasm expressed in your comments.  As I replied to a couple of you, I just hope I actually have as much valuable and pertinent information as you all seem to hope I do!  I will tell you what I don't have though.  I don't have any magic formula to all this.  I don't have some esoteric shortcut to creating the reality I want.  Well, actually I do in a way; but I'll tell you about that at the end!  At any rate, the majority of reason I am able to live this kinda life in this manner is 2 simple reasons:  I am willing to work my ever-loving ass off at times and for extended periods of times.  I do not follow fashion, trend, fad or common societal views.  So, let's get down to business.

I always knew I wanted to build a house, so I soon as I had a job where I made enough to literally have a little left over after I paid my bills, I started saving.  At first it was not very much and I cringe now at what I could have done if I had really been serious about frugality so many years ago but that's in the past and I can't do anything about it now.  What matters is that I did start saving.  It varied over the years but I always had around 10% of my weekly pay taken out of my check automatically and put away.  I want to emphasis I did not take it out on my own each week; I set it up so the bank would do this automatically.  It's too easy to talk yourself out of putting some aside if it's up to you so, in my opinion, the best way is that you never look at that money as being yours to spend.  It's put away before you can ever get your hands on it and you will learn to work around that.  I never missed not having that money in my checking and I actually often wish now I had had more taken out.  Now, this took a while.  I saved for probably 10 years before I had enough to even black the house in.  After getting the house dried in I still continued to save in the same manner in order to have a cash supply for finish work.  However, I had also, during those 10 years, been saving durable materials that I knew I could use later to build with.  Stone flooring, electrical supplies, insulation, rebar, miscellaneous steel and even little things like nails and screws.  Now, I realize in this respect I had a little bit of an advantage as I worked in construction and these materials were often readily available with just a little dumpster diving or such.  However, I believe if you are willing to ask around and do a little footwork, it is possible for anybody to come up with reclaimed, and often free, construction material.  By taking what was going to be thrown away from remodels and demos I got free toilets, sinks, hinges, hardware, lighting fixtures, switches and plugs, wire and probably some more stuff I'm forgetting.  And much of it was almost new!  I also took any lump sums of money I got, like tax refunds, large pottery orders or side job money, and put that in my savings instead of buying some stupid "reward" like jewelry or clothes.  In fact, I still do that now.  Or, I used it to pay cash for a large purchase such as my refrigerator or something like that.  At this point in the game I also had so few bills that I could often use a whole paycheck to buy stuff for the house too.  I only put one thing for the house on credit and that was my windows and I paid that off just as fast as I could.  It is just too easy to let a credit card balance slide and before you know it you've paid $200-300 in interest in a year or more!

Now, let me back up just a little.  Before I was really able to do any of this I had to get on the right track financially.  When I got out of college I was poor,.. no, I was destitute.  I had a vehicle and that was about it.  Then my oldest brother relieved me of that in order to use it to kill himself, so then I didn't even have that.  I don't say that for shock value or as a sympathy pull but simply to say, I started out with less than nothing and I pulled myself out of it; you can too.  I also don't mean to sound flippant about my brother's death, as that was certainly not the case.  It's just there were certain physical realities of his actions I had to face after he was gone.  On top of all that I had college loans to pay off.  So, I did what I thought anybody would do.  I worked whatever I could find to make money and I used the current system to ease some of my burden.  In other words, some public assistance.  I never got food stamps but I did use assistance for health care and college.  Hey, help is out there, you just have to look for it and every little bit does help. I worked 8-10 hours a day on a 6-story apartment building, forming and pouring concrete and welding and then, 3 nights a week, I would leave that job and go over to an ice cream plant where I worked as a welder and I would weld until 10:00 or 11:00 at night.  I couldn't afford health insurance, and we had to work 1 year before we could get it with the company, so I used Planned Parenthood for check-ups and such and I even used a public assistance hospital once when I needed minor surgery.  The care was great and I paid based on what I could afford; it wasn't much.  A few years ago I even worked on a remodel in that same hospital.  I was kinda proud of that.  My point is though, I had to swallow any pride I might have had and just do it.  I think a lot of people now days refuse to do that.  Everybody is so concerned with what other people might think and keeping up with the Joneses.  I was so far behind the Joneses I didn't even know who they were!  When other young women my age were going out bar hopping and shopping I was standing in a warehouse at -30 degrees F., knee-deep in artificial snow, welding steel racks back together.  But by doing this I was able to get my head above water.  I paid off my college loans.  I did not keep a balance on a bunch of credit cards.  I paid off my potter's wheel, which has been a great investment for me as a second source of income.  Then I was able to start saving my money instead of spending it on bills.
Now, some of you may be wondering what all that has to do with my life now; I'm on Easy Street now, right?  Well, all that taught me 2 things (see a pattern here); material items don't mean shit in this life (people do) and almost nothing comes easy.  Both of these lessons are the only way I would be able to live like I do now.  Even though the "green" or sustainable lifestyle is in vogue now, very few people actually do it or even know what it is.  Go down to the local Whole Foods (or other organic market) and talk about making fertilizer out of chicken crap and watch those people run in the opposite direction.  Living simply and frugally is HARD sometimes.  It is weeding the garden when it is 95 degrees at 10:00 a.m.  It is letting people stare pitifully at you because you are not wearing the latest in fashion or haven't had your hair dyed 3 shades of a color I have yet to see exist naturally in humans.  Yes, I have nice stainless steel appliances in my house but I don't have any diamonds or $150 shoes.  I hocked that shit and bought me a drill!

Suddenly Strange

Well, I'll warm ya right off the bat this is one of those rambling, slightly deranged, bored out of my mind kinda posts.  I don't have squat progress to post about on the house and I don't don't feel like downloading those pictures from the garden and writing a sensible article about what I've been doing there lately.  I've felt like crap the past couple of days. This leaves me to wallow on the couch, get disgusted with TV and finally end up here, vomiting my frustration on you, my dear readers, like Grendal vomits on my rug when she got too many cat treats.
In my frustrated boredom tonight I was just flipping through blogs, trying to find something new I had not seen before but my threshold for middle aged women writing about their kids and trips to McDonalds is pretty low, so this didn't go very well.  I did manage to come across a few well-known blogs that have led their authors on to illustrious careers in books and even TV.  And I'm not knocking those people at all.  Good for them, seriously.  But just looking at their pristine, superbly categorized sites I knew I will never attain such success.  Not that that was my goal here but hey!..I'm in a crappy mood so I had to be down on myself about something!  I think first off I don't have sense enough to hide the crap side of life like those people do, or make it somehow seem funny.  I just blurt out that the chickens shit all in the doorway and Chigger eats it or I cooked something new and it tasted like shit etc. etc.  Granted that doesn't happen very often but for just once I'd like for one of those fancy food bloggers to admit they made something that made the dog flee in terror.  Way back when I was first trying to learn to cook I made some biscuits.  They were not quite edible so I threw them to this ol' hound we had.  Now, a southern hound dawg will and can eat just about anything.  They kinda like goats.  Even ol' Slick spit that biscuit back up though.  I could see the fear in his eyes when it lodged in his throat.  I quickly theorized how to perform the Heimlich on a dawg but he barfed that thing back up before I could attempt it.  Good thing; I don't think it would have went well.

Being in this state of mind and body makes me want to wander too.  However, the pain killers make me too groggy to drive, so I'm confined to zooming around the globe via the web.  I have at least come up with a variety of ways to make recycled light fixtures out of egg cartons for the kitchen, if I ever get back to that.  And I have thought of a killer tile pattern to do on the fireplace divider wall, but you'll have to wait to see that too!  Ha! now you see my frustrations!!  I have the materials to finish my kitchen laying all around me and the stores where I sell my pottery keep calling me wanting spoon rests.  I am a freaking artist!!  hahahahhaha  I don't make spoon rests.  Spoon rests are crap!!  And if I would make blue spoon rests they would probably be beside themselves with joy.  Let them go to Wal-Mart.  I only make art.!!  Allen splurged the other day and got me a bottle of Knob Creek.  It does help the cramps.  And no, I'm not a drunk.  Two shots is about my limit.  Oh, I used to could do more but now heartburn gets me.  Gettin' old and decrepit.  Back when I was married, years ago, we would usually cook a big weekend meal in the summer and make cocktails, usually something with rum.  I think this one time I was making pina coladas and after about 2 he says, 'why don't you just drink that rum straight?'  Well, I guess that sounded like a good idea, so I did.  You ever been so drunk you had to hold onto the floor?  I did.  Woooweee; I felt bad.  I never did that again.  'Course, back them I had a lot more to drink about.  I had to wake up next to that sum bitch every morning!!  ha!  God I'm glad I'm not there anymore!!  But it was my own damn fault so no one to blame but me.
So, I still miss my fellers from work.  Another one called me the other day to tell me he was going to another company.  I was glad for him but it's sad.  Our old company, which really isn't anymore since it's been bought out, has just been trashing those guys benefits, pay and everything.  Everybody is trying to leave or has already left.  It's a sad thing when an honest, good craftsman can't make a decent living anymore.  I suppose the unions need to come back here but that's a whole 'nuther story.  We had some good times though!  I'll never forget Hippy and Dal gettin' stuck behind that Porto-let during that tornado!  Or Hippy's teeth flyin' out into that concrete pour.  Me and Anthony moving forms and that rat ran out right towards me!  Steve running over my brand new welding machine with the backhoe.  Watermelons.. Bama throwing rocks at me from the crane ladder where I couldn't see who was doing it.  Boy, we had some fun.
Come to think of it; things is kinda boring now that I'm not having to dodge heavy equipment, projectiles and vermin.  Ah, well, that's life I guess.  I need to have a big cook out and get them fellers up here.
Hey, I don't think I told ya'll about Daddy Rabbit and Pops??  Daddy Rabbit got let go from the company.  He was the super on the last job I was on and ya'll know I had worked for him for years.  I don't feel bad a t'all for quittin' them now.   Sons a bitches.  And poor Pops; the older black gentleman that ran the buckhoist on that job, died.  On the job.  His son, who worked there too, found him in the Porto-let dead.  Musta had a heart attack.  I sure did hate to hear that.  He was a sweetheart.
Well, now I've depressed myself again.  See what you've done!!  Got me to talkin' about all that stuff.  Well, I guess I'll go on to bed.  Nothing else to do around here.  Things will be better in a day or two though!  I hope ya'll are having a good weekend and remember the servicepeople who have sacrificed all this weekend.  God bless them and their families.

Seeing Red

I've been promising to put up a few pictures to show Ed what really red soil looks like around here, as compared to the soil of my land. My foot is somewhat better by the way, but I really have had to take drastic measures to get it to heal all the way.  The new shoes and inserts and supplements and all the other stuff you nice people have suggested is working I think but I've also gone as far as to use crutches now whenever possible to just stay completely off my foot.
 Anyway; back to my original story.  The photo above is from a job I was on south of Birmingham.  Now, some of you may know that Birmingham was once a significant steel manufacturing town.  The Pittsburgh of the South! so they say.  Well, this was due, in great part, to the large deposits of iron ore that lay across the middle section of the state.  Red Mountain in the heart of Birmingham really is red.

And this is a chunk of ground iron ore that came from about 50 feet below the surface of Red Mountain.  Many, many years ago I was on a job being built right on top of the mountain and the building had an elevator installed in it.  The guys drilled a large hole down into the mountain for the hydraulic shaft of the elevator to fit in and every time they would bring the drill bit up, which was huge, I would clean the slurry off of it to save.  It was almost pure iron ore and makes a great colorant for ceramic glazes and clay.  Of course, this isn't really soil but this mineral is what gives that famed red clay of the south it's color.

There is actually a local clothing company, Earth Creations, that sells organically grown cotton clothing that has been dyed with this iron ore.  And yes, it will stain your hands and clothes and everything you get it on!
I still use the ore in some of my glazes and such and it's a great selling point when you tell people about it.

I also promised to show the birthday present I bought for me at the art show I did a couple of weeks ago and since it is predominantly red, I thought it fit right in with this post!  It's a very nice watercolor done by an artist from Tennessee and will be very appropriate hanging in a southern kitchen, I think.

Workin' For A Living

Well, I finally bit the bullet and signed up to do an art/ craft show. I actually like doing the shows because I enjoy getting out and meeting my customers and seeing new places but I hate dealing the state and sales taxes. I mean, I have no problem paying my sales tax; that's fine. It's that the state of Alabama makes it into the biggest ordeal if you declare yourself a business that sells retail. See, if you only sell wholesale, somebody else has to pay the sales tax and deal with them. I like it that way but they, the retailer, also get to take a large chunk of your sales. But I am inevitably going to have to declare myself a business and do some shows to get more income coming in. The stores where I have my work are actually doing pretty good but like I say, they take between 40-50% of the sales. I know that sounds like a horrible amount but by the time I do a show and pay the entry fee, sales taxes, gas to get there, other travel expenses, signage, booth expenses etc. I'm spending probably 40% of my profits anyway.


So anyway, I've been pretty busy making stuff to fill up my stores and then have enough left over to do this show and in between running to Birmingham to deliver work and all.

I've been kinda down too of late. I guess I'm kinda depressed over leaving my construction job. I know that may sound funny and I've written about missing the guys, so ya'll know that part of it. I'm also down because see, I left before I was finished with my work. Some could say I drug up, although I gave Daddy Rabbit over a week's notice. We had talked on a couple of occasions about it beforehand. I know if you have not worked construction you may not see the significance of that but to leave before you finish your part is considered unethical or sorry. There were a number of factors that led to me leaving but one of the main ones is one that kinda makes me feel silly. It was my feet. I have developed a couple of issues with my feet and basically walking is often times extremely painful. Walking or standing all day in heavy boots on concrete is agony at times and if it rained...I would just about be in tears. I have been to the doctor and the inserts he made did help for a while but they have become less effective and his only other suggestion was to shoot me full of steroids. I will NOT go that route. So, I am now trying to find alternative help. I have tried about every kind of insert, padding, prosthetic, etc. they make and not much luck so far. I have plantar fasciitis in one foot and arthritis in both.
So, yes, I'm kinda down. Jack and I wanted to do a lot more hiking and such here and even go back to the Grand Canyon to hike to the bottom and back up. Hell, right now I have trouble walking to the mailbox and back.
But, I'll keep trying to find a solution or some therapy that helps. And I've also tried a number of shoes, boots and all that. So, that's what's going on with me.

Oh, and I want to thank DoubleHomestead for this award that he felt I deserved!! Thanks so much! I do appreciate it and meant to mention it earlier; I've just had a number of things going on and on my mind. My longtime readers know I'm kinda dingy sometimes but I do appreciate every one's readership, emails and comments.

Those Were The Days

I know I'm not supposed to show pictures from work but screw it.....I don't work for them anymore. And by them I mean, the company that bought us and imposed this asinine rule, not my old company.
At any rate, this is from my last safety meeting with the guys. I know I should be happy to be able to retire from this business and pursue a career that means more to me personally but I still can't help but feel a great sadness today. Sadness to see a once really great company that prided itself on true craftsmanship and quality, now faded to just a handful of guys that even remember those days. Sadness to see these men now struggle with overflow of bureaucratic bullshit that has all but washed away any joy or satisfaction of a job being built and completed. But that's a long story and not really what I'm writing about tonight.
Mostly it's a sadness for lost love. Bear with me on this and let me explain....At this point in my life most of my natural family has passed away or otherwise gone. I have one brother and one sister with their small families and my Mom. I rarely see any of them though, except my Mom. Through actual death or the death of common interests I've lost most of my birth family and now I'm losing my adopted family, my friends, my sweethearts. Now, some people may scoff at such an idea. How could these rough ol' men, who are not supposed to accept a female in their trade, be any kind of family to me? How is it that we can go a couple of years at times without even seeing each other and then to step onto a new job together and it be like you were never apart? And worse still I reckon is what does it say about me; a woman that can get along far better with a bunch of raggedy ass, hard livin' and generally misunderstood men, more than anybody else in this world? To tell you the truth, I never have really figured that one out. I never have known why they so completely accepted me. I've seen a few other women come and go with our company and I guess that may be part of it; they never stayed. Mostly because they weren't worth killin', as they guys would say. Now before anybody has a stroke, that just means they didn't think the women could work very well. They didn't try.
I do know that I always tried my best to do my job without asking for help every time I turned around but I never tried to be a man. I understood they had me on sheer strength. I also know that most of those guys are not the mules that most of society thinks they are and that even an old carpenter sometimes just needs somebody to talk to. I guess the two things brought us together. They respected my efforts and I respected them. Did we fuss and argue? Oh hell yes. We've cussed each other 'til we were red in the face. We've kicked and stomped and slung many a hardhat. We've finished more than one job swearing that was the last. But then, a few hours or maybe a day or two to cool off and we'd sidle back up next to each other. We couldn't stay mad for long.
I've been through a number of rough patches in my life. Some of my own doing, some not. Through it all the people that I could most depend on, whether for a shoulder to cry on or a helping hand up, was these guys. They know me pretty good and they helped me know myself. They have been my cheering section and have done their darnedest to establish my legend. Even on my last day they couldn't help but recount some of the stories again that they get such a kick out of. Like the time I shamed a boy into quitting because I took a sledgehammer away from him and showed him how to really use it; that's their favorite I think. I'll never live that one down. And for the record, I think they embellish it a little. The boy didn't quit until the next day.
I am Miss Annie, Sweet Pea, Anna (to my Hispanic boys), Fruitcake, Sweet Thang, Susie Q or just Ma'am. They are my Sweeties, Honey, Sir, my Men and I will miss them so.

Wishin' And Hopin'

Ol' Chigger is always wishin' I'd quit playing with this dirt and hopin' that I'd come out and play with her. I try to make an effort to toss her frisbee several times a day and go for at least 2 walks. Seems like it's never enough though.

I know how she feels. I'm sitting here 100 miles from home wishin' I was there and hopin' I will be soon, for good. I know ya'll get sick of me whining about work; I'm sorry. Things have gotten a bit easier the past couple of days though. Of course, it about had to. Any harder and I think I would be dead. So, not really any news to tell ya'll about. I've got lots of stuff waiting for me at home to plant, fire, make, grow, etc.

Sorry it took me so long to get rid of that word verification thing. Maybe it will make commenting easier. I had switched over to the new Blogger interface, which sucks btw, and nowhere on it could I find the option for word verification. I looked and looked and looked. Finally it occurred to me that I might have to switch back to the old because I knew I had seen it there. And that's what I did. I hope Blogger gets these issues they've been having straightened out soon. They are becoming a pain in the butt and I've already got several of those.

Sal, I'm glad you got your mugs and that you really like them! Sorry it took me so long to reply; I've been more scatterbrained than normal lately.

So, I'll try to have something of interest next time I post. I do have several things to show at home. I'm adding to the garden and landscaping quite a bit. Well, I should say Jack is. He's actually been doing most of the hard work while I'm away. He helps me so much in so many ways. It's kind of a funny thing for me to be the one to put on the hardhat and boots and go away for work but he has adapted to the 'househusband'** role just fine. He always has the house spruced up when I come home and clean sheets on the bed. Even if they are on sideways. lol! It still sleeps fine!

**Edit: In case anyone is wondering, Jack took early retirement after getting laid off about 1 1/2 years ago from his job when the jobs of many were going down the crapper. He had worked in television for many, many years and had tired of the extreme stress and continual travel required of that job. So, no, he is not sluffing off on me, I'm not supporting a deadbeat that won't work and we are not actually married at this point. Jack has put much hard labor and his own money into this land and relationship. As Lilith said once on Frasier, "he has been a dutiful suitor and I am convinced, within an acceptable margin or error, that he loves me."

5 Star Chicken

I am very, very, very tired tonight but I wanted to put up a little something of what's been going on around the house.  I loaded these pics last night but just didn't have the energy to finish.
I can honestly say my construction career is drawing to a close.  After a 10 hour day of welding I-beams, crammed up on scaffolding with only 3 feet of clearance to the slab above, I am beat.  I feel like I have been beat.  I should be beaten for coming back to this.

My attempt at starting some cabbage, brussel sprouts, etc.  I'm not sure why they got so leggy.  Ended up finding a bunch of starts at the local co-op and bough them.  If any of these turn out okay I'll plant them too.

Looky!!!  Goober has starting laying!!  She even made her own little nest in the garden under the fig tree.  I never thought about providing her a nesting box because I didn't know if she would ever lay due to her breed.  She lays a nice size egg and seems quite pleased with herself. Jack started giving her a little laying ration and I think that combined with walking around on dirt has strengthened her legs.  She still has some trouble and sits a lot but is walking better.

Well enough, in fact, to jump her big butt up in my cold frame and start chowing down!  Good thing I saw her when she did it or I wouldn't have a scrap of anything left in there.  We had to build her a little corral in a corner of the garden because she became too aware of all the good food around her and too mobile!  She has a good size space for roaming still though.

Quiet Times

Hey Everybody!  well, I'm still hanging in but for some reason, I just have had no idea or information to post about.  I've rolled things over in my head for some time and am just not really sure why I've been so quiet lately.  I have felt much better this past week and went back to work but that in itself is an act of pure frustration.  The job has become depressing and futile.  The only nice thing is that I get to see my fellers some, and that only at lunch.  I think I mentioned that my old company was bought out and then the company that bought us was bought by a company from California.  Well, I suppose as a sign o' the times, we now have to sign our life away to work for these people, so I can no longer blog about work, the people I work with, what we do at work or how I feel about work.  Even if done anonymously, as I always have done.  So, that takes out subject matter for a number of posts.  And general how-to info that a lot of people could probably use.  Going back to my old job has certainly made me think about a lot of things lately and most of it ain't good.  I feel so badly for a lot of the guys I work with that bought into that consumer lifestyle and are now indebted to these corporations with no end in sight.  They say peonism was outlawed years ago but I believe it is still alive and well, flourishing even.  The only difference now, is that instead of false arrest, they use shiny new vehicles and $300 cell phones to lure people into servitude.  I thank God every day that something showed me long ago not to enslave myself like that. 

I guess I've also been fairly frustrated at some of the trends I see in social media.  Namely, if you are a even slightly conservative or religious person you can expect to be insulted, criticized, stereotyped unfairly and have numerous hateful comments hurled your way.  I guess because I am an artist a lot of people just assume that I would be wholly liberal and without any religious convictions and so at times have been flooded with all types of hateful, bigoted crap on Facebook and other areas, designed solely to discredit Christians or any other conservative person, all the while spouting how open-minded and wonderfully non-judgmental they are.  I've even seen writers for a few public forum type homesteading blogs spew such crap.  You know, on your own blog, you can write whatever you want, but if you are a guest writer for a homesteading blog, the fact you were offended because some person had the gall to name a pet after a Christian term has no place in the public post you are writing.  But that's the thing, the sport du jour these days is to insult or criticize as many Christian people as you can.  And yes, I realize there are plenty of hypocrites in this world; I build churches fer cryin' out loud.  But I know a good many conservative, religious people that just don't deserve that kind of counter hypocrisy and hatred.  So, while I have a good rant brewing in my head, I've been trying not to explode all over the place.  Turn the other cheek and all that and ya'll long time readers know, that's a real hard one for me. 

I also feel that I just haven't given ya'll much decent information over the past few months.  And yes I know many of ya'll have commented that you don't read this blog for info, you just like to see how I'm getting along and such.  While I sincerely appreciate the sentiment, that's kinda depressing too, if you'll excuse me.  I want my readers to get something they can use out of this blog.  Something that might help your life be a little easier or a project go better or a way of doing things you hadn't thought of.  I don't want to post yet another picture of my daffodils blooming or the chickens running around the yard.
So, I guess I'm just a little discouraged by my own ineptness and things I see out in the 'real' world.  I don't know.  I'll snap out of it.  I'm getting my spring plantings in the garden and I'll show ya'll some of that.  It's definitely looking like spring around here now and I know that will brighten my mood.  So, how are ya'll getting along??

Not The Best Of Times

Hey Everybody.  I'm still here; things just haven't been going as well as I would like lately and therefore I haven't been much in a writing mood.  That's the way it goes though.  Things aren't always sunshine and roses.  Or tomatoes may be a better analogy.
My old company called a few weeks ago and want me to go back to the out of town job to complete that welding.  They finally have all the steel in.  I knew this was probably coming and I did get a month more off than what I thought I would.  I really hate to go out now that it's getting close to planting season but I did get seeds started already and some early lettuces etc. seeded directly in the garden.  I guess I've been a little agitated knowing that I must go back to that work.
I've been a little under the weather the past couple of days too.  A cold or something and been feeling poorly.  The frequent rain is killing me with the arthritis in my foot.
We've also had a longtime issue with a neighbor's son that finally resulted in the police being involved this week.  The neighbors themselves are very nice and well, neighborly, and I hate to have things pushed this far.  I sincerely hope things are settled now and we no longer have a problem.
There's been a few other things that haven't gone well but I think ya'll get the picture!  There has been some beautiful days also.  I'll try to post again before I leave to go back to work.  Hopefully I will be able to work 4-10's and have a 3 day weekend.