progress

The ice machine is fixed, the stitches are out of my finger, my house guests have left, and I have three quilts stitched that need the facings sewn down and sleeves on.  Too bad I am not a tv watcher.

It has been one exhausting week, with all the commotion and comings/goings of construction/destruction guys, plumbers, and the appliance man.  The demo guys will be back early in the morning to take away the fans, replace part of the floor, and put the ice maker back user the island -- with the water alarm attached!

While I was rummaging around in my sewing room tonight, I found a piece or cloth I had printed about 5 years ago. Ha-I wondered where it was and now I know.  I shall contemplate it for a few days before I decide what to do with it.

Enough activity for today -- or I should say yesterday.  It is already tomorrow.

mid-week update

The demolition derby arrived on Saturday to remove part of the ceiling and wall that were wet from the leaking ice machine.  (Tuesday)There is more, and they will be back tomorrow to measure the moisture levels, take out more sheet rock, and maybe remove the fans and dehumidifier that have been running for 

days.

  nice grid, huh?

Wednesday

I won't bore you with the unnecessary demolition of the closet ceiling because plumber A was wrong about his diagnosis of the problem.  Enter Plumber B, who found the source of the leak (long story).

I am hoping FedEx will deliver the parts for the icemaker tomorrow.  Meantime, the plumber advised me to get a leak alarm, which he says Home Depot carries.  That is tomorrow morning's trek.  

Meanwhle, at 11:00 last night, my beloved brother arrived from Pittsburgh with my SIL and nephew. Nephew Jonah had to sleep on the couch with the fans and dehumidifier going, but he managed to sleep through it all as only a teenager can.  They all took off for New York this morning.  I love my brother and only wish he lived close by instead of 7 hours away. Waaah. I never get to spend enough time with him. He fills my life with laughter when we are together.

In the midst of all this chaos I have been revising my website, which is a slow process because of a new host, new software, and minimal time to get it the way I want it.  And I'm frantically working on a couple of new pieces for my exhibit in Oct.  

With all this aggro, the only thing to do was to take a mid-afternoon margarita break on the deck to decompress and pretend I am on vacation.  I am tempted to stay out here and read for a while and get back to sewing tonight.

Ha, good idea,Rayna.

Happy Friday

This is the pinky on my left hand.  It has four stitches in it and you do not want to know the gory details.  Suffice it to say that I am glad my neighbor was home and could put multiple bandaids on my finger.  Unfortunately, it was not enough.

I was hoping not to have to go to the urgent care place a few blocks away because I was expecting the service person to fix my leaking ice machine to arrive between 1 and 4 this afternoon and it was already after 1:00.  Alas, I had to go.  The good news is that my neighbor was able to let in the service guy, who then called me on my cell while I was waiting for the stitches.  By the time all was well and I got home, the service guy was long gone but I could not get into my driveway because the roofing people had parked in front of my driveway, blocking it.  Don't even ask about that.

My neighbor told me that the GE guy ordered 2 parts and will be back next Friday, but that he heard gurgling in the drain and I needed to call a plumber to check that out.  oh, joy.  THEN she said that my carpet in the basement was soaked, so down I went.  Indeed!

A little spot of water damage to the ceiling but the whole carpet wet.  Called the insurance company. I need the mold prevention guys with fans here.  Am waiting for a call from the adjuster. The plumber can wait till Monday, when my brother from Pittsburgh and his brood arrive to stay.  Uh - the downstairs guest room is soaked. Sigh...

Can't wait to see what the rest of the almost-over day brings.  I had planned to spend today working at home. So much for THAT!

I am left dominant, although there are some things I cannot do with my left and can only do with my right hand.  Using knife and scissors are the top two.  I also drink/dial the phone (or whatever you call it these days) and iron.  Go figure.  I am a crackerjack typist, at least 80 wpm -- but today, I am typing using my left index finger instead of my pinky, so there might be typos.  

Maybe I should order takeout tonight.  I was going to cook, but not while my finger is in pain and I can't get it wet.    I don't have anything I can even microwave -- so I might as well call Athena's Greek Kitchen and relax.

RELAX?? What is that?  I was planning to spend the day in the dye studio tomorrow - uh - nope. never a dull moment. I think I will read tonight and let the chips fall where they may, which they will do, anyway.

Midweek post

Technically, this should be Wordless Wednesday, but I'm making up for lost time.

This is tonight's dinner: leftover pizza from Sunday night.  Last night was leftover fabulous Moroccan lamb burger made on the grill  http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/moroccan-lamb-burgers-with-mint-yogurt-sauce from Monday night, accompanied by a horiatiki salad I took out from my favorite local Greek restaurant.

Tomorrow I am taking my grandsons Josh and Ben out to lunch and will hope to have some leftovers from that event, because I am not in the mood to cook.  At least, not for myself.  This is unusual (as you probably find unsurprising) so I have to assume there is a good reason for it and I should just go with the flow.  Friday, lunch with a friend - ditto.  If I can make it till Saturday night and dinner out, I'm home free.

The weather here in NJ has been drop-dead gorgeous: fall in the air -- no humidity.  Today, somewhat muggy but it has cooled down enough for me to take advantage of dining on the deck. I always feel as though I am on vacation when I eat out here and look at the woods.  Of course, "look at" does not mean "live in" -- I am a city girl who never lived in a city.  Go figure.

MInt, basil, oregano, and  look at that wonderful rosemary plant!  I guess I will have to take them to Florida with me in December.  Can't let them die -- I have wintered over the mint and the basil for a couple of years now.  I am also thinking of buying a curry leaf plant and taking that to Fla with me, where it should flourish and get a good start till it comes home to my skylight in the greenhouse - aka master bath, where there is both light and humidity.

Now that I have polished off the pizza and it is starting to get to the time of day when the mosquitos waltz over to my deck, it is time to go in and get back to work putting facings on a quilt that persists in changing measurements every time I get out the tape measure.  I give up -- I never was about perfection and just want to get the damn thing DONE.

Today's schedule...

9:30 am - waiting for the guy to come see if the bubble in my living room ceiling 

a)  is a leak in the roof or

b) is something I have to pay to repair.

Care to hazard a guess?

2) 11:30 am - meeting my art exhibit partner at the gallery and crawling around trying to figure out how we will hang our work next month for our October exhibit.

3) 12:45 pm - dealing with a leaking ice machine/ruined ceiling in the basement guest room and a call to the thank god-five year extended warantee people.  Don't ask.

 

3a) 1:30 pm - steaming the two silk scarves I printed yesterday.

4) 2:15 pm - a lovely visit from my my daughter Hilary, who had an hour between appointments and had to be in my neighborhood.

5)  5:00 pm - follow-up appointment with the eye doctor to check on the problem with my right eye. It's better but not perfect.

6) 6:30 pm - this is where I started, pizza in the oven.

Ah - I lead such a glamourous life:-).

a day in the studio -- at last!

For the first time in months and, I am afraid, the only time this week, the way things are shaping up. But it felt so good to spend six hours working.

I wrestled a quilt into shape, printed a few scarves which I was too tired to steam tonight.   A third is still not finished because I wasn't in the mood.

 then I went back to work on something I had taken apart/put aside and almost forgotten about.  It is, once again, sitting on my design wall.  But this time, in the studio instead of at home and I can see it better.  At this point I should just sew it together and be done with it.  I'm tired and sometimes you just have to move on.

The rest of my week is spoken for with mostly non-fiber related events.  The exception os tomorrow's meeting at the gallery with the other artist exhibiting with me.  We need to look at the space and figure out how many pieces will fit without crowding.  Not sure whether this piece will go into the October exhibit or not. IF I finish it.

A day on my feet and I am off to bed!  I think standing in the studio all day is the most exhausting thing in the world -- but worth it.

Internet access - slim to none

Which is why you haven't heard from me since I arrived in West Palm Beach two weeks ago. I brought my laptop, so in case I needed to do some work, I would have all my files - but it is iffy at best.  The apartment doesn't have WiFi or cable (uh, the tv from 1978 went out last October, as did the repulsive microwave oven and a bunch of other things.  Much is still on the porch,waiting for a big strong male that I don't have to pay to help me move them.  This will not happen till 2015.

But I digress.  The first few days, my daughter Hilary was with me and we had fun. 

 We went to South Beach, where people walk down the street in their bikinis after they have been on the beach, and where they serve drinks at happy hour that look like these:

a Margarita with beer added?  Oy!

Ridiculously big, insanely expensive, and we passed on these happy hour confections.  It was so hot and humid that it was the most uncomfortable we had ever been, that Sunday in Miami Beach.

One day I dropped Hilary at the beach and swanned around Delray Beach, stopping at the Cornell Museum, where I once had a quilt in a traveling exhibit.  And because of a detour, I discovered a mystery bookshop to die for, where I promptly purchased three I had been wanting to read. Joy!

But I must admit, I left one at the apartment, will start one on the plane, and save the third for my next plane trip in Sept. when I leave for Portland, OR (yay!! will get to spend time with Gerrie Congdon).

It was nonstop with Hilary and after she left, it was nonstop with my wonderful cousin Mimi, who lives in Boca.  This was a working trip for me -- lining up contractors, looking for countertops that would not cost my first born son (no success there because I am particular and don't want confetti in my countertops), searching for a REAL wood floor (found in Delray beach after every other place I went to told me that NOBODY in Florida uses wood. Ha!  That's all you have to say to me. They tried to sell me tile that supposedly looked like wood.

- but it was not my cuppa and it was still tile, which means that anything I dropped on it would shatter or crack the tile.   I am a free spirit and pretty flexible, but I want what I want.  I HATE tile anywhere but in the bathroom.  Couldn't wait to get rid of the tile floor in my NJ kitchen and replace it with wood.

Countertops - I am still holding out hope for remnants of soapstone I can use, but it is a fortune and this is 3-4 month kitchen.  But I'll find some granite that pleases me - although the one I fell in love with is not really granite, it is some sort of marble.  High maintenance. Nope. But it is drop-dead gorgeous.

While I was here, my disgusting harvest gold fridge died. Oh, joy.  I bought a new fridge in about 10 minutes but it came with the handles on the wrong side and Ill have to wait till January to have them properly reverse (as they had promised they would do before they delivered it.  Ah, nothing is perfect.

I am really feeling sad about leaving this place, although I am happy to be getting home to my kids and other objects of my affection.  Sigh...at least the weather in NJ is not humid at the moment. And I will be able to stitch the piece I brought down and couldn't really work on because the sewing machine here needs work.  When I come down in Dec. I will bring my Singer 99, which I  don't really use but which has a good straight stitch, if I remember correctly.

Plane boarding soon.

xoxo