and the week goes on...

Since I'm not feeling too great today... for whatever reason, this will be short. I woke up this morning with an aching back and feeling a little odd (slightly dizzy). Ate a scrambled egg for breakfast and about a 1/2 cup of coffee and thought I'd feel better, but didn't. Finally took a Tylenol (just in case a migraine was coming on).  Anyway, it's 2 pm now and I am feeling a little better now. Think I'll take a nap and see how that goes.

I did work on a few pieces of clay that needed help earlier. I tried to patch a handle on an oversized mug with a little vinegar and paper clay. We'll see how that works. The handle was a little too dry when I attached it and began pulling away from the mug. Hopefully my patch will work. And I finished underglazing a new stretching kitty critter. Both are still greenware and haven't had their first firing yet.

sculpted in paper clay

 

underglazed kitty and oversized mug

I also did another sleeping kitty and fox (and several more mugs), but already took them in to the studio to be fired Saturday.  

This is going to be it for today as that nap is definitely calling me. But I will close with a few close ups of our 3 kitties... who were all napping in their respective baskets when I shot these a little while ago.

Tux

Julie

Ghost

new visitors to our yard...

baby possum

This little guy came by the other day to partake of the feral's dry cat food. He must have liked it as he has decided to return on his own almost every evening.

young raccoons and baby possum

The raccoons pay not mind to him, but when they try to eat with him, he hisses and moves away.

close up picture

People tend to say that possums are ugly, but I find him rather cute.

 

young box turtle

 
We always have box turtles both in the front and back of our house... eating from the feral's dry cat food. They also like the figs that fall from the fig trees. Most of the ones we see are about 6 inches across, but occasionally we see smaller ones. This one was only about 4 inches - one of the youngest we've seen lately. Years ago we did see even smaller ones, but think the hawks get these  before they get much bigger.

Going back to a previous post about my 'monkey mind'... I've decided to try to keep my mind focused on things that aren't out of my control. We've given to the Red Cross to help the victims of the hurricanes, I've prayed for those involved in the earthquake, and when it comes to the state of the world's politics - voting when the time comes is the only answer that I can see. 

It seems to me that people need to get their priorities straight. No one wants war... (at least I hope not) whether it be over a nuclear issue or over a Confederate statue. Who or what keeps stirring things up?  It's almost as if dividing the country is the goal. Let's turn it around and use these tragedies to bring us all together. Easier said than done I know... but there's a song that says, "Let there be peace on earth... and let it begin with me".  I like that.

Now...  I'm going to close today with a picture that I just found that is the cutest thing I've seen in a long time. It's a picture of a Silver Lab. Now I didn't even know there was such a thing as a Silver Lab, so I googled it. Apparently they exist, but there is a lot of controversy over whether they are considered purebred. I don't know anything about this, but this is certainly an adorable pup!

Silver Lab

 

 

 

 

 

 

'monkey mind' at it again'

 

It's Sunday morning... 7 am. Just finished letting Ghost out of the bedroom (she sleeps with us) and making myself a cup of tea.

My 'monkey mind' is busy this morning thinking about too many things to allow me another hour of sleep. Hurricanes, politics, nuclear tests, racial unrest, not to mention standard aging concerns regarding family, finances, and health. 

There was a time where these things never entered my mind... or if they did, they fluttered by briefly. But now they tend to linger... and prevent that carefree sleep of childhood. I know it's useless to worry or dwell on things one has no control over... and I used to have better control over these thoughts. Now my aging mind seems to keep returning to them. 

But I realize that this is not a good thing.... as it only makes one anxious... which serves no purpose.  So I strive to focus on the good and the 'now'... not future possibilities. I've learned over the years that just because something has never happened before, doesn't mean it won't... but worrying about it won't change anything. Not saying certain preparations shouldn't be made just in case, but worrying in advance is useless and detrimental to health. 

So I will go on with my day deliberately focusing on the good... the little things that bring joy ( family, cats, friends, creating, giving, a good cup of coffee or tea, chocolate, etc.). 

There's a saying or a quote that runs through my mind occasionally- 

"the world is so full of wonderful things, you'd think that we'd all be as happy as kings"...

and there's another -

 "Beyond the gloom of this world lies joy, Take Joy!"

Sounds like good advice to me.

When all else fails...

Ghost napping during teatime

Ghost opens one eye when flash goes off

Ghost soon goes back to napping

When all else fails,  post cat pics. While I was reading and having tea yesterday, Ghost was with me. Usually all 3 cats meander into the bedroom around this time of day. So after taking Ghost's pic, I went looking for the other 2.  I found them both in the den - also napping, but in their respective baskets.

Tux in his

Julie in hers

Since Julie spends most of her time on the kitchen counter, she never really had a basket of her own until recently. DH picked her up one when we were shopping the other day. I was skeptical that she would use it. But she does! Actually since it's new, they all use it... and play 'musical baskets', but technically Julie knows it's hers.

Also came across these cat posters that made me laugh. You may have already seen these, but they are funny... 

and 

 


And since the gas crises that doesn't really exist is still upon us, we haven't done much running around this weekend. The gas stations close to us still have no gas, but we did see a few stations on a quick  run to Walmart (to pick up DH's meds) that had cars and it looked like people were pumping (but it could have been diesel). 

While at Walmart, I picked up a few things to add to our supper tonight (meatloaf) and then headed over to Customer Service to give a donation to the Red Cross. Guess I wasn't paying attention to the lady when she rang me up (only had 3 items) as when we arrived home... no asparagus in the bag! Checked the receipt to see if she charged us for it... (yes). We looked outside, then back in the car to see if it fell out, but no... must not have gotten into the bag in the first place. Oh well, we weren't going to go back, so.... 

I did try my hand at sculpting the human figure this weekend using a video as a guide. It was one where you make the parts separately and then put them together in whatever pose you like. I chose a yoga pose, but had trouble with the feet. Then I decided he looked more like he was reading then doing yoga, so I added a book. Thinking about making a bookend out of it...

thoughtful reader

That's about it... unless the news that my bell pepper plant has 3 new peppers is worth sharing. In the container garden, the basil has pretty much all gone to seed... and something is eating what parsley we have left. 

Hope everyone had a nice safe Labor Day weekend!

With Hurricane Irma threatening the coasts, it's going to be another week of watching the weather... 

playing around with clay again...

Today is Friday, Sept. 1 , 2017 (Yes, white rabbit!! or rabbit rabbit!).  North Dallas as well as surrounding areas are having a gasoline crises. Apparently the news on Wednesday announced that several oil refineries that were flooded due to Hurricane Harvey will be closed until things were back under control. They announced that this "may" cause a shortage of gasoline as well as price increases throughout the areas. 

Well, of course everyone panics and runs to the gas stations for gas to fill up everything they own. Lines were ridiculously long with stations running out of gas (probably more due to the ridiculous numbers of customers than any gas shortage). The gas shortage is most likely real... but was made worse by the panic. Anyway, supposedly whatever shortage there is should be taken care of in a few days.  For the moment, the weekend is here... so we can just stay home and conserve what gas we do have.

Now... what I'm doing while home today is playing with clay. It's the Labor Day weekend, so no class tomorrow. But I've hand-built a few more 'chickens' and created a new silly looking rooster - not entirely happy with him, but he'll do until another idea pops up. 

And I also tried my hand at a small figure sculpture... nothing too detailed. At first it was going to be in a yoga position, then as it developed, it looked more like one of those victims from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Anyway, it's a first attempt... so definitely not without fault. Please feel free to critique... 

 

new clay chickens and silly rooster

 

first attempt at figure sculpting

These (rooster and figure) are also first attempts at sculpting without a picture to give me an idea of what I want. Usually I do best when looking at something similar to what I'm trying to achieve and then making it my own.

I hope everyone has a good Labor Day weekend. Remember to keep those in harm's way in your thoughts and prayers. There's going to be so much to do in the next weeks and months. And now there's reports on Hurricane Irma somewhere in the Atlantic... can't even think about that now. 

Closing with a picture of Tux, Julie, and Ghost as they spend their days napping and not worrying about gas shortages, etc.

From top clockwise: Ghost, Tux, and Julie