The make-over

Remember my clay gold finch---aka the earthquake bird? 

He was a little too fat in all the wrong places.  So I put him on a diet, and now he's looking a little more svelte.

I was very happy to see him still standing when we returned from Maui.  There was a 3.7 earthquake while we were gone.  Those are the best kinds of earthquakes--the ones that happen while we're gone.

Yesterday I went to Joann's for some instant mache--the cheater's paper mache.  You just add water and it turns into a pulpy glob.  It will work well for filling out the cat--cheeks, paws, ears, etc.  While I was there, I took a look at the fabric and ended up buying some of this:

We have relatives who are real winos, I mean fans of fine wine, and they like to picnic.  In fact, they have all the picnic fixins'--stylish basket, plastic wine glasses, knives, forks and spoons.  What they don't have is a set of hand-crafted napkins.  I think these will be a nice addition.  Maybe I'll throw in a few ants too.

Bye-bye Maui, hello Cali

Mr. Gadget and I are back from Maui and we are tired.  All that lounging around on lounge chairs--overlooking Molokai--can be exhausting.  But I'm battling through the jet lag long enough to post a few pictures.

There's Molokai under the clouds.

Pool owl on boogie board--for scaring away the nasty pooping egrets.

Some of the whimsical clay pieces by Maui artist,
Steve Smeltzer.

A view from inside the house looking out--through large sliding doors that open out to the gardens and the pool.  Occasionally, or so I heard, a bird flies in and sometimes he'll leave a little souvenir on the floor or the furniture.  See the sofa over on the left?  That's where I was sitting a few nights ago when I had a close encounter with a centipede.  He suddenly appeared on the pillow right next to my left shoulder.  You should have seen me spring to life.  The exterminator--who had made his rounds just before we arrived--was called the next day to return for a re-do.  And now the ants don't seem so bothersome.

So, the recent issue of Art Doll Quarterly came in the mail the other day, and they've issued a challenge to dollmakers to create a bride doll.  I'm going to give it some thought. Maybe I'll confer with Steve. In the meantime, I gotta finish my cat...a cat of the non-pooping variety.  They make the best kind of pets, don't they?

The climbers

Yesterday Mr. Gadget and I climbed a volcano--Haleakala, the highest peak on Maui at 10,000 ft.  We didn't do it on foot.  We used the car, which seemed the smarter option.  But that didn't prevent me from being breathless when we reached the summit.  As I sat on the lava stone wall to try to figure out where my breath went, a bicycle rider rolled by, hardly panting, and immediately made a call on his cell phone--no doubt to brag to his friends about his momentous feat.  You'll never see me attempting such a ride.  I'm sure they don't make those tight little bicycle shorts in my size.

After we had mostly coasted down the hill, we visited a couple of small funky artsy-craftsy towns that we had been to before.  One was Paia where we had fish sandwiches at non-McDonald's prices.  Then we stopped in a shop called Maui Hands so I could see the work of one of my favorite clay artists. I didn't buy anything.  I just oogled.  

The second stop was in the town of Makawao.  We had some ice cream--at Baskin-Robbin's prices but in mini portions.  I bought a t-shirt at the same shop where I had bought one 6 years ago.  When I find a style of clothing in just the right color and size, I'm likely to travel as far as I need to for a replacement.

I mentioned before about those pesky egrets.  There's another kind of pest here on Maui that is downright dangerous.  Centipedes.  They are interesting to look at, but you don't want to step on one.  Or meet one during the night on trips to the bathroom.  If one of these nasty critters finds a toe, a person could have an entire Hawaiian vacation ruined.  Our hosts had the house sprayed before we arrived, but still...

And now I'm going to get myself a cold drink and find a lounge chair....and check to see if Molokai is still there.

The changing times

On my first trip to Hawaii in 1961, with my parents and my sister, I wore a home-sewn dress with jacket to match and white patent leather shoes with a matching purse. My family dressed up too, and the newspaper from our hometown sent a photographer and took our picture, posed at the bottom of the airplane stairway, for publication.

Times have changed. Now many of the passengers wear shorts and flip flops and well-worn t-shirts.  Flight attendants looked different back then too.  I'm pretty sure none of them had one-and-a-half inch nails painted bright bubble-gum pink.

So today, as I sat in my lounge chair watching the clouds come and go over Molokai, I worked on a crocheted flower for future felting.  When I was at the yarn store earlier in the week--the one that sponsored the yarn cruise (did I mention that?) I bought some varigated yarn (Lamb's Pride from Brown Sheep Co.) to see how it would work up for the flowers.  I'll let you know after I return to the Concondo and felt them in the good washer that I try to use just for that purpose, but sometimes Mr. Gadget expects me to wash his underwear.

I'm going to finish up this post now...since I'm having to hunt and peck on this small keyboard and it's making me feel like I need a glass of wine.  Besides, I don't want to be late to the luau.

Just checkin' in

It's one of those weeks with lots to blog about, but no time to blog.  I hate when that happens.

Mr. Gadget and I are in Maui for a week, staying with his brother and wife in their beautiful home with an incredible view of Molokai.  I do expect to post while we're here, but will have to save the pictures till we're back at the Calcondo at the end of next week.

Here's what I'm looking at now.  A fake owl floating around on a boogie board in the pool.  So far it's the only solution for keeping the egrets from loitering and pooping poolside.  Hanging old CD's from string stretched across the pool didn't work.  Apparently this is the Maui version of the California ant problem.

It's good to know that pests of all kinds are hard at work.

Recycling

This is a lot more fun, and so much easier, than bagging up the newspapers and schlepping them out to the driveway.  As you can see, I'm moving right along on the paper-mache cat.  No, I haven't forgotten the ears.  Those will be attached soon.

I decided to try an alternative to the wallpaper paste for applying the paper strips.  I mixed up a batch of flour and water and added some white school glue. It's holding well, and was less expensive than the paste because I already had the ingredients.  Each layer dries overnight, so I'm able to make fairly quick progress.

I'm not sure what I'll do with the finished kitty, but he won't be traveling back to Connecticut. I'd have to buy him a seat....and someone else has very likely reserved 17C.  Maybe he will sit inside the sliding glass door here in the Calcondo and greet the passing parade--the gardeners, the meter reader, the cable guy, and the occasional curmudgeon.  

In local condo news, last week we were notified that a tree in our backyard was dying from an infestation of bark beetles and would have to come down. 

This past Tuesday was the date decided upon for the felling.  Mr. Gadget was not at all happy.  How could they possibly do a day of sawing and wood chipping while we were in town, he wondered.  Certainly, he said, they could have checked with us first.  But apparently bark beetles are nasty little critters that wait for no one.

We planned our day with several errands that would take us away from the noise.  First, we took a walk to the farmers' market and bought fruit and some tasty little cakes.  It's kind of like the Walmart of farmers' markets--a place where you can buy things like cakes and tamales and balloon animals.  When we returned to the condo two hours later, this is what we saw:

The tree was gone, the mess swept up, and the dust had settled.  Mr. Gadget was thrilled to have most of the day to sit in his sunny, quiet lounge chair.  And I was very happy to have Mr. G sit in his lounge chair with his nose out of my crafty business.  I'm pretty sure the only ones who weren't happy about how the day was going were the bark beetles.

Good eats!

Hard to believe but it turns out the solution to our ant problem was as simple as opening a gourmet restaurant.

This grub is so darned delicious the little buggers have no interest in what we're eating.  Thanks to a $6.50 purchase at Target--for 6 tiny ant restaurants--the quality of life in the Calcondo has increased dramatically.

So over the weekend, while the ants were feasting, Mr. Gadget and I took a little jaunt down to the Port of Los Angeles.  Sadly, this was not to embark on a cruise.  It was to visit a new craft venue.  Seems a couple of smarty-pants guys decided to open a permanent craft fair in an old abandoned World War II warehouse. 

And when it's filled, which they expect to happen quickly, they'll open another warehouse next door.  These guys have a track record, so it sounds promising.

The offerings inside were interesting--especially this bejeweled sewing machine that caught my eye.  But the best part was out front.

I just love the work of whimsical, unconventional gardeners. Which makes me wonder if I've finally hit on an idea for my grandma's old roasting pan--you know, the one I can't seem to part with. 

Maybe I'll plant it full of nasturtiums and put it in the front yard.  I'll just bet the code-enforcement curmudgeons will be on it in ant-speed.

Breaking news

The earthquake bird was still standing when we arrived at the Calcondo on Monday.  Good news indeed.  But it dawned on me, after being away for a while and coming more to my senses, that the poor thing could use chin-reduction surgery.  I'll put that on my to-do list.

Our trip west was one of the best we've ever had.  No traffic, no lines at the airport, an on-time departure, and no turbulence.  It doesn't get much better than that.  And soon after we took our assigned seats (17A & B), the captain announced that we would be in good hands because there were actually 3 captains on board.  This was mentioned, I'm sure, to put passenger minds at ease after that previous most unfortunate incident. And, luckily, we didn't need the spares.

So, Happy Fourth to everyone!  We had considered going up to the clubhouse for the annual picnic, but then smartly decided to stay home and stay safe.  There's lots of contentiousness amongst the curmudgeons at the moment, so who knows what might have happened whilst quite innocently eating a hot dog.  I've been reading the pile of weekly newsletters and trying to get a sense of what the issues are among the board of directors and the various committee persons, and I ended up throwing up my hands and pushing the whole stack over to Mr. Gadget.  Mr. G. has a better mind for condo bs, I mean business, so I appealed to him to translate the whole mess. So far he hasn't touched them.

When we were here last, I started a paper mache cat project.  Then all the sadness happened and I had to leave him in the back corner, all alone, looking like he'd been in a bad fight. 

My plan is to finish him while we're here this time.  First, I'll need to gather a few supplies, so Mr. Gadget and I will have to read a few newspapers. Then I'll purchase some wallpaper paste--my glue of choice.  When he's done, I suppose he'll need a cat toy. Maybe he'd be happy with a cute little bird who's recooping from chin surgery.

The library is open!

Thelma the librarian is finally finished except for a few little touch-ups.  She ended up being a more involved project than I normally like. But I'm fairly pleased with how she came out.

My plan was to give her a stern demeanor without making her look scary.  I think I have the eyebrows to thank for that.  As I've said before, I never know quite what I'm going to end up with when it comes to the face.  Clay often has a mind of its own.

I made Thelma's clothes, including the handknitted sweater.  I may add some buttons later.  The sweater was tricky because I had to sew one side seam and set in one sleeve while Thel was wearing it.

I originally planned to have her right hand on her hip.....to punctuate the stern look....but then I found the little book in my stash of stuff.  It's Nonsense ABC's by Edward Lear.  It's just the right size.

I have no plans for Thelma at the moment, other than to let her sit in our bookcase and enforce some quiet reading time.

Mr. Gadget and I will soon be underway to the Calcondo. It will be nice to trade the 90-degree heat and humidity for more pleasant 70-degree temps with afternoon ocean breezes.  Unfortunately I've been told the ants are still in residence. I think it's time to start charging them rent. 

No refunds or exchanges

This weekend Big City Girl came for a visit, and while she was in town we both attended an engagement party for one of her best friends who is getting married next spring.  It was held in the yard at her parents' house, where there were tables and chairs set up, and a special rented table for the sandwiches and salads and wine with a recessed area for ice.  I had no idea such things existed, but it's good to know just in case Mr. Gadget and I are ever called upon to do a garden party.  Then again, I'm sure his woodworking table with a few of my craft crates filled with ice and covered with a tasteful tablecloth would do the trick, and for lots less moolah.

I had no idea what sort of a gift to take to such an occasion, and knowing that a wedding gift would also be required at a later date, I decided to go with something whimsical and cheap.  I've known this friend for a long time--partly because of the countless sleep-overs that took place in our basement over the years.  It didn't take me long to come up with a good idea.

As soon as we arrived I handed the gift to her, and suggested she open it quickly.  Like, right then.

Very soon she was overcome with glee. 

That's because I gave her two ziplocked-bags full of homemade burritos.
So much nicer, and much more delicious, than towels or butter dishes or cookie jars.  She could hardly contain herself.

Big City Girl stood on one side and I stood on the other, just to steady her and keep her from fainting away from excitement.

So while BCG was here, I took the opportunity to teach her a couple of important life lessons.  One was how to sew on a button.  "This is a good skill to know," I told her,"because you never want to lose your pants."

Next, I taught her how to get rid of the greasy water in a pan after you've boiled chicken.  "Put it in the fridge overnight," I instructed, "and in the morning the fat will be on top and you can easily scoop it out and put it in the garbage."  Then it occurred to me there was another, much easier option.

"Or, if you're not particularly fond of your neighbors," I added, "you could sneak out after dark and dump it on their rose bushes."

Somebody help me, please?

I need to stay out of rock gardens.

I'm only working on rocks because I need something to keep my hands busy while I watch slow baseball games with Mr. Gadget.  Although, ever-so-ingenious Mr. G. has found a way to make the baseball-watching process more efficient and less time-consuming.  He tapes the games and then fast-forwards through the commercials AND the half of the inning when the visitors are up to bat.  Mr. Gadget thinks he's so clever, sitting there in his man-recliner manning the remote.  He doesn't realize just how easy it is for me to catch him in a nap.

I'm still working on Thelma, but I'm ready to be done with her so I'm ramping up the work-table activity. Here's where she'll sit when she's finished.  

I may have mentioned I was knitting a cardigan sweater for her to wear--all in one piece from the neck down.  Then, as I was putting the finishing touches on it, I realized putting it on her was going to be engineeringly impossible, since her arms are pretty much immovable. 

So I started another sweater--this one in pieces--just winging it as I knitted.  I'll sew one side together, then wait to sew the other side once it's on her.  Planning ahead....what a novel idea.....

So while I've been working on Thelma, Mr. Gadget's been working on a wood project.  He's building a shelf thingie that he will install over the desk in his basement office.  A little while ago he popped into the Treehouse looking very dejected.

"What's the problem?" I asked.

"It's not going well," he said.  "My nail gun ran out of nails and I didn't realize it.  The whole thing fell apart."

"I know just how you feel," I said, reassuringly.  "Sometimes I've sewn long seams and didn't know my machine was out of thread."  Learning that I'd shared his pain didn't appear to do much for his mood.  So I imparted some wisdom.

"You can do what I do when I'm frustrated," I told him.  "Go outside and take a walk, and if you still don't feel better, go browse in the fabric store." 

  

The librarian's salute

I'm making more progress on Thelma the librarian.  She looks a little sad at the moment, but a lip job, an ear job--make that an ear replacement--and a lot of sanding will spruce her up nicely.  Working on a clay project is a little like writing a blog post.  They both require some nipping and tucking before they're ready to invite the world to take a look.

So, yes, I've been on a bit of a rock-crocheting tear.  It's just that I have this big basket of rocks and they all need sweaters.  Not really.  After all, they've managed for eons without something warm to wear.  I just get a little addicted to my projects.  Maybe you've noticed.

But I've always loved going to the library. I've had well-used library cards wherever I've lived.  When I was in elementary school, my classmates and I (holding hands two-by-two) would follow our teacher on a walk to the town library every two weeks to check out books.  I was usually drawn to the biographies.  I've always been fascinated by what makes people tick.  In fact, living in a couple of condo neighborhoods provides me with plenty of subjects to study without ever having to step foot in a library.  But that's another story....

So last week Mr. Gadget asked me to look over the movie selections on the Netflix website so I could replenish my queue.  I usually have to struggle to find something I might find entertaining.  That's because I don't like blood, guts, scary things, or the over-use of the F-word, and that leaves precious little to choose from.  But then I found the documentary category.  There's lots of good stuff there I discovered.  And concerts. Last week I watched a very interesting documentary on Eleanor Roosevelt.  And before that--a Neil Diamond concert.  He's still just as wonderful as he was back in the 70's when I saw him in person at the Greek Theater.....in spite of his recent marriage to that young floozy. I hope she doesn't wear him out before he has a chance to write a few more songs.

There's one in every crowd

Back to the regularly scheduled programming next week.

Pick of the litter

Friended

Forging ahead

I thought I'd share my sculpting process.  Just be warned.....it isn't pretty.

I started Thelma's head by wadding up paper towels and applying masking tape to keep it all together in kind of an oval shape.  I often use aluminum foil in place of the paper towels and it holds itself together with no tape needed.  Since Thelma's head is larger than other ones I've made, I used paper mache pulp (Celluclay) on the back (under my thumb) since most of it will be covered with hair.  It's less expensive than clay. I'll also use pulp to cover parts of Thelma's body for the same reason.  Her clothes will hide it.

Next, I flattened out a piece of clay and applied it to the face area.  I smoothed it out, but not too carefully because I'll do a better job once I've added her features.

Usually I start with the nose.  It's pretty much in the center of the face and everything else spreads out from there.  Then the all-important eyebrows.  Sorry for the blurry pictures.  I haven't mastered the art of snapping photos with a sticky hand. Then I do a rough placement of the eyes, and move down to the mouth. 

This involves applying a small clay oval and pushing and prodding with my clay tools till it looks like a mouth that could possibly go "shhhhh!"

After all of that, I applied a bigger oval to the chin area and worked it in.  And since she's an older lady, she needed jowls.  I didn't have to look very far for a model..... just a short stroll into the bathroom and a quick glance in the mirror. 

Now she'll rest a while until I have a chance to get back to her.  One of the great things about paperclay is that more can be added to a piece that's already dry by just brushing on some water.  Also, clay that's dried thoroughly can be removed by chipping away and sanding.  So even though at the moment she looks like a third-grade art project, when all is said and done she should look very similar to the librarians I remember from my youth.  Here's hoping anyway...And don't laugh!  Thelma doesn't like gigglers either.  

Tweeter

More birds.  I just love surrounding myself with feathered friends.  This was made with a free pattern from a wonderful doll designer in New Zealand.  I plan to make more, but I'll tweak the pattern just a bit.  I think it's legal to tweak your tweeters, isn't it?  At least it used to be....

Here's the new guy next to the clay robin.....who isn't exactly thrilled that this slightly disheveled character has moved into his neighborhood.  "Just deal with it," I told him.  "At least you won't be fighting over the worms."

And Thelma and I are at odds at the moment.  I picked out some shoes for her yesterday and she wasn't at all happy with them.  She kicked them off immediately and back they went into the bag of clay.  She had some harsh words.

"Can't you at least give me a head before you start making me wear shoes?"

Well, I guess she has a point.  It's amazing, though, that she was able to say that to me, don't ya think?  I did make a new, larger form for her head--with wadded up paper towels and plenty of masking tape.  I'll start applying the clay tomorrow.  When I'm finished she'll have a personality and I hope it's not too unpleasant.  She needs to be a librarian who is kind to children who return their books on time, but stern to those who insist on chatting in the library.  The way I see it, it's all in the eyebrows.

Cooking a five-course dinner on a camp stove

It just hit me like a 10-lb. sack of potatoes. I've got too many pots simmering and not enough burners.  Dinner's gonna be late. Or, to put it another way, I've got too many darn projects underway and not enough remaining lifetime to get them all done.

There's Thelma.....who's now wearing pink undies because you just never know when someone might have a notion to look under a librarian's skirt. 

She almost got a head yesterday, but it was much too small and will be re-assigned to a witch at a later date.

There's the puffins--who just don't look right standing on a field of French knots.  Those must come out and be replaced by something more.....oh.... I-don't-know-yet.

And remember my pile o' rocks that awaits crocheted sweaters? And the niece quilt? And I need to start thinking about the old hotel craft fair in October and what I might make for that. They're probably hoping I'll come up with something fresh and innovative.

Did I really agree to make a ring bearer's pillow for Big City Girl's friend who's getting married next Spring?  And will I be able to finish reading a book (The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh) in time for the library book discussion later this month? I should also finish the organizing job I started in the Treehouse after Mr. Gadget so graciously offered me his two-drawer legal file cabinet. 

And still simmering are those crochet-covered hangers--my answer for all of my leftover sock yarn.

There's no time to knit a cat even if I wanted to.  Maybe the time has come for one of these:

Progress report

Here's the latest on Thelma.

After wrapping the wire armature with the leftover quilt batting, and tacking it down with basting threads, I wrapped again with strips of muslin.  I used a brush and white glue diluted with water to give her a pretty good once-over.

Then I used the same glue solution to apply small strips of white paper towels--sort of like a paper mache process.

Once everything is dry, I'll be ready to start the clay head, hands and feet.  That's the tricky part.  Thankfully, wet clay is forgiving.

But don't you agree that Thelma--even without a head, hands, feet and clothes--is sending a message that you should zip your lip?  It's amazing what a little bottom-plumping will do.

Cooking up stuff

The fabric I ordered arrived yesterday and now I'm anxious to get started on the quilt for my niece.

I will proceed more smartly (smartlier?) with my second quilt--rather than just jumping right in and doing a big ol' belly flop like I did with my first.  First of all, I will pre-wash the fabric so that my niece can wash it when she so chooses.  This is presuming that she will be better about taking care of her handmade gifts than Big City Girl--who just adds them to her dustmop collection.  (Oh, I hope BCG isn't reading this.  Hopefully she's too busy.  But if she is.....of course Mom's just kidding... in the interest of adding a little humor to the blog).

Thelma the librarian is still on the tweaking table.  I could clearly see that she didn't have quite the right body language.  She was leaning back too far, and this gave her the appearance of a laid-back librarian--definitely not "the look" I'm aiming for.  So I gave her a little more bottom padding so she'll be leaning slightly forward and getting right in the face of those naughty reading-room talkers.

And while I was plumping up Thel, I had an idea for a couple of characters I could make out of two empty Jack Daniel's bottles Mr. Gadget so kindly passed on to me.  Then I thought of a third character who would nicely complement the the first two, so I asked Mr. G. if he would mind drinking another bottle and he said he'd see what he could do.

And while I wait patiently for those cat-book authors to work on their pattern for my personal chef, I cooked up a couple of things yesterday.  The first was roasted red peppers--one of Mr. Gadget's favorites.

The second was apples with cinnamon and raisins in the little crockette.  It's delish over vanilla ice cream--and a very easy dessert I might add.  This, too, is a Mr. G. favorite.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" he asked.

"I'm always nice to you, aren't I? I replied. "Besides, it's the least I can do to let you know how much I appreciate you drinking all that liquor to keep me  well stocked with dollmaking supplies."