Dang, I knew enough to feel guilty for not posting some blog entries, but it's been a whole week? I've no excuse other than I've been
in deep deed.
It seems that every spring is like this: all of a sudden, I'm awash in chores with deadlines. After April 15th, I always want to chill out for a month or so, but nooooo. No one else waits around for that. winkwink
I can proudly boast that I've succeeded in biotch-slapping Hubs to hire out the humongo pool cleaning (after over a year of bog-like conditions).
Finally, YAY!
May I present the most gorgeous blue water I've seen in a while, lol:
I had to sneak the photo because I didn't want Pool Guy to know he was being snapped. Kinda awkward. lol I have to say he worked hard. It was a tough job, and I have no idea if $325 for 3 afternoons of work was worth it more to him or to us, but it's paid and the pool's clean.
Of course, in 7 short days, it'll need the regular maintenance of brushing and chemicals to keep it from slowly going downhill again, which we can count on Pool Guy to take care of for $40 a week. That's $160 a month. And let's not forget the 12 hours of pump electricity each day for aeration. I guess I now know why our electric bill seemed lower, lol.
Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, I suppose. Whoever first said that must have owned a pool, but I digress. I'm usually the first to goad Hubs into doing the DIY thing, but this time I'm voting for Pool Guy to do the weekly work. Hubs came right out and asked if we could hire him. LOL Yeah, like maybe he hates doing the pool? Ya think? My thinking on it is that Hubs wasn't that great at it, and it needs to be done correctly or that investment gets more costly.
So, anyway, that's now the plan for the summer (which is like 6 mos. down here, if not longer). It's amazing to me looking at it in retrospect how it could take so dang long to do just that much, but I've been working hard in my thorny-sided role.
First, starting last week, I had to spend almost 3 days in virtual verbal war as I told Hubs he needed to find someone, then I told him again, and again, because he went into his usual little weirdo rebellion fits, until he realized his way wasn't happening. It only took 2 screaming matches to get to that point.
By Sunday, Pool Guy had made two appearances and Hubs returned to work on days. I only took it easy just a little bit because I dived back into creating, and haven't really looked up until tonight, when I became duly red-faced for realizing how long I'd gone without blogging.
While all this was going on, I have been having a midlife art crisis, for lack of a better description. I've been getting more and more into stamping, paints, background techniques, gessos, glazes, and glitter. A bigger canvas than an ATC affords. And the awesome ways so many out there are combining ephemera with the liquids to create mixed media art.
It's like Scrap booking, but it's not. It's, to me, the closest you can get to feeling what a real artist might feel, short of drawing or painting everything on the piece. You are more free, less constrained by the photos, which in art collage are people you don't know but are attempting to create a personal relationship which. And it can be anything you want it to be, what fantasy! I mean, you can't control the lives of the real people in your scrapbook layouts, but you totally can in your collage.
I don't know. On one hand, it's so much work, learning the ropes and getting informed. But on the other hand, it's fascinating. I even got out the old
Artist's Way and read some, need to read some every day. I will admit to being reminded by the author Julia Cameron's ex being interviewed on TCM the other night. Who is her ex, you might ask?
Martin Scorsese, that's who, the film director and obsessed American Express photo development customer. She even refers to them in one chapter, so he's in the book's index. And he was describing in this interview about a tough mental time he went through, about the same time they broke up. Hmmm.... Oh, to be a fly on the wall concerning that one! I really enjoyed seeing him in that interview. I find him quite refreshing and a very positive and religious man. (Cameron's book is laced with religious metaphor and inspiration). Double hmmm.....
I seriously sometimes think I was really meant to be Mary Hart on Entertainment Tonight, except that somewhere something went horribly wrong for me, LOL.
Anyway, if I actually do go through any material changes, you heard it here first. Lately I have been so lazy that if God himself told me I'd win a million bucks if I'd just be a tad more industrious, I'd honestly have trouble finding motivation.
Relaxing and letting time roll along in a parallel universe is just so nice.
Well, speaking of rolling along, I was shocked in a great way to discover I won a RAK from
Shirley! Congrats to her for her 1,000th post and I guess that'd be me! LOL See, it pays to reply to practically every entry you're behind in reading, LOL.
Anyway, I know Shirley's RAK will have something neat in it, so even though it may take a while to get here, it'll be sweet!
And, I've been tagged! That, for next time....
The little inchie stamps are a very old Leave Memories set called Kiss-Off Cubes, and I'll tellya right now: they are addicting. The raven, nest and text are Collage Stuff stamps. And I forget where I got that brick background stamp.
