One of the things I like to do after the first of the year, and after a busy craft season, is to try out a few of my new ideas. One of my favorite mediums to work with is paper mache.
I wanted to make some Santa head ornaments, and I thought I'd try using traditional ornament caps--those little silver toppers you usually see on balls. I had saved a few from broken ones, and from ones that were old and discolored that I had tossed in the trash.
This is a very rough first attempt. He needs more work before he'll be ready to paint. Here's what I'll do differently next time. I'll save the ornament caps for a different project. I think the rustic-looking Santa would be better with just a simple wire loop on top. I also need to do a better job of mixing the instant mache. It was just too sticky and annoying to work with. There has to be a just-right consistency that would make the project more fun, and give me a better result. More patience during the preparation would help, I'm sure. I will finish him, though, and show you the before and after. He does have potential.
So Mr. Gadget returned home from his road trip and we've been scurrying around getting ready for the clean-up crew to arrive. They'll open our wet walls and suck out the bad stuff while we stay a couple of nights in a nearby hotel. We like that old adage: When life gives you lemons, make hotel reservations.
There's not much going on here this week, other than a little progress on the standing needle-felted figure I wrote about earlier.
I've attached the legs to the base and have started covering the wire with padding. I had an old sweater that I cut up and used to wrap around the wire, and then I applied some fiber to it. The only problem so far is that the figure sways a bit. Next time I'll use a sturdier wire for the armature. In fact, I've just learned there is a special kind of coated wire just for this purpose.
So this past Tuesday I delivered Mr. Gadget to the airport at zero-dark-thirty. Who knew there was really such a time as that? It was similar to our trip two weeks ago to JFK...but without the snow....and without me getting on the plane. I've been wallowing in my solitude ever since, and doing very little housework, hardly any cooking, and adding to my ever-expanding piles of interest all around the house. There'll be plenty of time to clean it up before Mr. G returns...or not.
Yesterday I went to the Friday afternoon knitting group....which last week was just a knitting duo. It was me and a very talkative German lady. When I ran into another member of the group during the week and mentioned the small crowd, she insinuated that this talkativeness had driven a few people away. I've had this happen in other groups and it's too bad. There's really no good way to let the talky person know they're spoiling it for others. But this week there were four of us, so it wasn't just me listening to a two-hour monologue. Although I have to admit I'm much more aggressive, I mean assertive, than I used to be. That's thanks to living on the east coast for so many years.
I've been perplexed by an intriguing mystery since arriving here at the Calcondo. I may have to call Sherlock. It concerns my painted rock turtle--who sits in the planting area next to our front gate.
Last time we were here, and this time too, I've found him with his legs in disarray and some of them missing. Someone suggested it could be the gardeners, although it doesn't look like this area has been gardened in a while. I guess I could set up a webcam for 24-hour surveillance and discover just who the perpetrator is. Maybe the time has come to just patch him up again and take him to the nature park and set him free. I'll be sad to see him go, but I think it's the right thing to do...
So I decided the best way to deal with this latest plumbing disaster is to start a new project. Something portable that can be taken along when we most likely will have to move out for a few days to allow the remediation people to come in and do their thing.
This will be something new for me...a standing needle-felted figure. It is destined to be a birthday present if it turns out to be worthy of gifting. I can't tell you much more than that at the moment because I never know just who reads my blog. But later today Mr. Gadget will drill some holes in the round wooden base and I'll affix the wire armature to it with some strong and dependable glue. I take back what I said before. I will show some of my progress...until it becomes recognizable....and I can only hope that it does.
There's a great needle felting website with many recognizable felted people. This is my inspiration.
So, we're still here in the condo awaiting the next step in the fix. The wet carpet has been pulled up and the floor dried, and the brown mess in the bathroom was removed. We have been living here fairly comfortably since then. The next step is for a crew to come in and tear down walls, remove a wee bit of asbestos, and dry everything out. For this, we will likely have to be elsewhere. We'll know more after a visit from representatives of the clean-up company who are scheduled to arrive at any moment. So I'll put this on hold for now and be back soon with the news...because I know you're all waiting anxiously...
Turns out the clean-up will take only a day or two. We'll postpone it for a week and a half because Mr. Gadget has a road trip planned with his brother next week. I'm thinking of spending some time at the spa, but I seriously doubt the insurance would cover it. So I guess I'll have to settle for a few good movies and some needle felting. And maybe some chocolate.
.....I usually start a crochet project.
Mr. Gadget graciously offered to be my model. The red color reflects my current mood. It's different than the mood I was in when I did the first rendition of this pattern...
...in a nice, soft plum. I was feeling serene. For those of you who crochet and might be interested, this is the triangle scarf by Bernat. The pattern calls for Bernat "Handicrafter" crochet thread, but I worked both scarves in Aunt Lydia's Fashion 3 thread....only because I couldn't find the Bernat thread in my local stores. One of the nice things about this scarf is it's a stylish, although temporary, solution to a turkey neck.
So Mr. Gadget and I arrived at the Calcondo last Friday morning....after having gotten up at 3 a.m. to drive to JFK in partially blizzard conditions, and then shelling out $20 for the "fast" security line so we'd barely make our flight.
When we walked in the front door we both noticed right away that things didn't smell right. Mr. G., bless his heart, did the investigating and found that our back bathroom sink was full-to-overflowing with brown water, and the carpeting in the bathroom and much of our master bedroom was squishy.
All this resulted, we later learned, from an incomplete snaking of our upstairs neighbor's sink drain. From the time of the snaking (just before Christmas) until our own plumber snaked it further on Friday, all of the water she put in her sink emptied into ours. It actually wasn't sewage, but it might as well have been.
So this was the reason for the visit from our long, lost relatives. I decided....only just before writing this blog post....to make light of it because sometimes humor helps me deal with the various assaults of life. Well, that and crocheting.
I've learned in the last few days more of the true meaning of the word "racket". One comes in the form of a remediation company that tells you...and rather vigorously....exactly what you need to do in a flood situation like this....and you'd better get right on it or you'll be sick. Another one comes in the form of an airline that most likely tells the TSA they don't need as many security check points open as they used to, and then charges their passengers an extra fee for the "fast" line so they won't miss their flights. I'm not sure about all this, but you know what they say about ducks....if it looks like a duck and quacks like one, it's probably a duck.
So now Mr. Gadget and I are going over to the farmers market. It's a beautiful day here and it's going to get up over 80 degrees--which is unseasonably warm. I guess things could be worse...
We arrived at the Calcondo on Friday, and on Saturday....bright and early.....who should show up but Uncle Guzz and Auntie Boozie. At least that's who they said they were. They said they were my relatives from way back. So far back, in fact, that I might not even remember meeting them.
I have to say, there's absolutely no resemblance. They're really short, and they don't have my olive complexion. They certainly don't have my hair. But they say they're related, so how could I be so cruel as to turn them away?
They had no trouble making themselves right at home. They don't eat much, but they sure like to drink. They've pretty much drunk us dry. In fact, I'm more than ready for them to leave because, well, it's getting a little difficult to explain their presence to friends who drop by. They should be gone in a day or two. I'm just guessing they'll be moving on to someone else's home and professing to be their relatives, and drinking them out of house and home too.
So I'll be back soon with more of the story. I'll check with our family-tree expert to see if I can find out just exactly who they are. In the meantime, I'm going to keep my lip zipped because I'd hate to offend them.
Here's another needle-felted project. He has the same problem that I often have. When he's sitting on his rear end his feet don't reach the floor. But unlike my issue, his is easily correctable. I'll just needle those bottom fibers in a little farther till he's at ground level. If only my problems were so easily fixed.
So Mr. Gadget and I are about to depart on our winter trek to the Calcondo. I don't think you can call us snowbirds because those folks go south to Florida. Maybe snowslugs fits us better. This has been one heck of a winter here in Connecticut so far, and we won't mind missing the rest.
I'm going to start a red crocheted triangle neck scarf thingie on the plane. I made a plum-colored one already. Did I show it to you? It probably got edged out by the felted stuff. I'll take a picture as soon as we get there. No need for heavy woolen scarves and gloves and hats in the Calcondo neighborhood. Just a nice lightweight cotton neck scarf and a pair of sunglasses should suffice. I'd better run. They're about to close the cabin door...
It hardly seems possible I've been writing this blog for 7 years. It seems like only yesterday I wrote my first post. If this was a marathon, I would have just passed the seven-mile mark. That's quite something for someone who's never been good at doing anything for the long haul. I've even managed to leave a bunch of other bloggers in the dust--those who started before me and were going strong until they ducked out of the race.
What helps me keep going is that I like to write. And as you know, I can write about almost anything. I've even been known to invent subjects. So as long as I don't run out of writing ideas I should be able to power on through to the finish line.
Sometimes life gets in the way and I don't blog as often as I'd like. And once in a while I just have to step off the course and throw up in the bushes because life just gets so annoying. But I'm really lucky to have such nice understanding readers who always grant me some slack and wait patiently on the sidelines till they see me rounding the bend.
I'm not one for new years resolutions. I gave those up long ago. But I often do think about the year ahead and what I'd like to do differently. Of course, better eating is right up there near the top. More frequent flossing would be a good idea too. And it couldn't hurt to do more good deeds. Doing something special--or even just ordinary--for someone else makes me feel good.
So, here's wishing you all a very Happy New Year! Do a few more good deeds in 2014. Give some thought to signing up for a blogathon yourself. And don't forget to floss.
