31 May 2006

AHOY ! ! !



Tonight I was invited to a celebration of sorts for my pal Amy. Otherwise known as just My Pal...Named that way by her brother back in the day. Now, I can say back in the day because Amy and I have known each other for 20 years at least, and she is one of my dearest friends. It is actually amazing and humbling at the same time to have such a good friend that has known me so long. We know each other's history and all the stories that go along with that...Our shared adventures. (Just tonight on our celebratory walk we were talking about writing a book about the stupid reasons men have given us for "why they can't date us..." and believe me, we came up with some doosies!)

We take this walk, mostly the same route into an area behind her house that was at one time just miles and miles of boulders and western frontier...But with the advent of the influx of people moving here...It's more and more McMansions...You know, the 4,000 square foot homes in which 2 people live, that are going up all around? Anyway...We came upon this lovely anchor and little seagull (believe me, if you look...It is there). Besides being totally stopped in our tracks and hanging onto each other laughing...we wondered...Where is the ship? Or the ocean for that matter? Why oh why do people DO things like this? I mean...Do you see the rocks, scrub oak, and cactus by the anchor? AHEM

And Congratulations to Amy for completing her 2 classes...And all the homework and papers and assignments and hard work that accompanied this! Of course, now I will get to see her more until she's off to Mexico to learn Spanish for 6 weeks...And as a special gift, I gave her the little fairy bag I freezer paper stenciled!

30 May 2006

OH Knit!

Another Tuesday...And even more knitting was accomplished. My mom finished the back of the sweater for Rozz...And is starting on the front. And as some knitting projects go, she spent a lot of time casting on, and then re-casting on depending on how much or how little yarn she had on the needles...

As you can see...she is casting on at the speed of light! She is using this wonderful spool of cotton yarn she picked up at WalMart at a really good price. (And yes, that is her wooden knitting needle behind her ear...)

Ms. Rozzie kept us all entertained with her re-writing of the song Country Roads by John Denver...Performing her singing and working on her choreography. (It's hard to catch her still as she was dancing all about)
















She remarked that perhaps she would perform this song on stage one day. I asked her when she was going to take voice lessons...And she said quite seriously "but...umm...I already have a voice" (Well Said)

I don't have any pictures to post of the knitting I am currently working on, as it is somewhat a gift...And a project all rolled into one.
So, I will show you two more freezer paper stencil bags I made yesterday...



My mom really likes the design of the queen bee as it is larger than any designs I've done so far. I like the bubble girls because it's so dainty. But those more intricate designs have a lot involved...the cutting out of teeny tiny pieces of freezer paper, and remembering to iron them on in the right places, and then trying really hard to not lift them off as you sponge on the paint.












I lined the bubble girl bag with some 1940's vintage fabric I found at a thrift store here in town. It is, incidentaly, a dress I once owned...that I sold in my store, and then ended up at the thrift...a little worse for wear, but perfect for lining a bag with! I also added another layer of metallic copper paint over the bubbles so they really "pop" (hehehe)















I also put a little saying on the back of the bag...one that Rozzilyn wrote down on a scrap of paper and left for me to find in my store one fine morning. I LOVE this little saying (especially since she was like 6 when she wrote it...And don't children really have the best way of putting things?) and have been wanting to put it on a t-shirt forever! I'm thinking that I would like to figure out how to print this saying in a better way rather than freezer paper stenciling it...maybe on an iron on patch?...Or printed on some sort of ribbon?...And then sew it on to all my creations in the future! Although with the freezer paper stencil, I can get an exact copy of her handwriting and everything...it's just a little difficult with all the bity parts!

We are having so much fun with the stenciling...that my mom and I are having a little tutorial over at her house this Creative Sunday!



And...on another note...I got my new vacuum today! And yes, Victoria, there is a happy vacuum dance! My house will rejoice as well, when I am home long enough to assemble the thing and run it over my crumby, crunchy, hairy floors! This Hoover Empower is a wonderful color green...And has a hush mode (not that it is much more quiet...But it is a lovely thought isn't it?) It also has no bags, so I am looking forward to using that new feature. Thank goodness for Amazon.com and their amazing free shipping!

29 May 2006

Mr. Rogers goes to Washington...


(I know...2 posts in one day...but, I just found this and wanted to share it with you!)

We are Mr. Roger lovers in my family. My mother, my sister, Rozzilyn and I. I remember my mom sitting down with us and watching his calm and non-overstimulating show (unlike the new Disneyized version of Sesame Street you find on PBS now days...) It is not often that we can watch PBS or even talk about this show without being teary-eyed. It is the longest running show on PBS as a matter of fact...

Wasn't it wonderful to have been reminded each day that you are special just because you are you?


Have you ever wondered what it would be like to go before the senate and calmly and eloquently explain something? Here is something you may enjoy...I invite you to watch it to the very end...You'll love it!

Congratulations Angie!


Well, my friend Angie just graduated from Prescott High School last Friday evening (Go Badgers!)...The same high school I graduated from lets see...Oh yes, 18 years ago...Coincidently the same year Angie was born (yikes)...And I ask myself...Why does that make me feel so weird???














And, as you may notice...by the holding on of the special flat hat on the head, it was a bit windy that night! At least it wasn't raining...Because I've seen it just pour the entire night of graduation!







This is our one and only public high school in Prescott, so it is quite neat to see someone else graduate. I went into the building with her to pick up her diploma...And it was sooo weird. It smelled just like High School! (I know this surprises you) And it looked so much smaller...And kind of dingy too. I was a bit overwhelmed by all of the memories that were flooding through my mind by being there that evening. The last time I was there, it was for my exhusband's induction into the High School Hall of Fame...(we were kind of high school sweethearts)...And the memories of being that young and having so much ahead of me (like I was when I graduated, not for the Hall of Fame thing) all the possibilities...So many different ways my life could have turned out, it just hit home (I know...Another thing to hit home...It's been happening a lot lately...still) especially after my divorce this last year. (sometimes it's hard to have lived in the same town for so long, because it seems like there are constant reminders of what's been happening to me every day)

And speaking of High School, I just found out that yet another person I went to high school with, is getting a divorce. I have met 2 other guys I went to high school with, that are going through or have gone through a divorce and are single. I figure at this rate, I could actually systematically date everyone I went to high school with...You know, this could come in handy, because I can't count the times I've said, "man, I wish I could do that over again if I knew then what I knew now!" So, either something is in the water, or it's some sort of Prescott mass consciousness.


Whatever it may be...Congratulations Angela...And thank you for letting me be a part of your graduation!

I am so proud of you, and so excited to see what you are going to do with this one life of yours...



28 May 2006

Sunday May 28th...

Wahoo...Creative Sunday's is back!

Participants:
  • Rozzilyn
  • Susan
  • Sadira
Yes, we took, a little bit of a break from straight creative projects to do some fun home projects instead...(which believe me...I could use help doing every week!) And today, we tried our hand at freezer paper stencils! Oh my goodness, but this is soooo fun, and I'm afraid really addictive! I'm already scrambling around my closet and drawers trying to find things to print on...And opening up books for inspirations for stencils! Mom and I are planning out our new yard sale searches for fabric and shirts and more things we can print on, and are coming up with some fun ideas!

So, basically last night at 10 pm (I
know), I swung by Wal-Mart (I was going home from a wonderful evening with Amy and family...dinner and a movie...So it wasn't really that far out of my way!) and I was practically whooping with joy upon finding the freezer paper, as they have been out the last few trips there! So, I high tailed it to the craft section and picked up some fabric paint, matte finish...And discovered that they are also carrying blank canvas tote bags (which I did not pick up...I know...but my mom was headed that way this morning and picked up a 3 pack for both of us...Hooray!) (oh...and they're carrying all sorts of other things to make handbags with...hmmmm)

So,I spent most of the morning on my intricate fairy design I was making into a stencil using a picture I had in my bedroom (it took a while to draw it and then cut everything out...phew!)...then I transferred it to the dull side of the freezer paper, and cut it out with an Xacto knife...Ironed it on the bag, with another piece ironed onto the inside of the bag so the paint wouldn't leak through...And sponged it on (with some extra make-up sponges I happened to have laying around in bulk from a yard sale!) These sponges worked really well as the have both thick and thin depending on which end you use...And believe you me...I will be looking for better fabric paint in the future (as my mom already has big plans for me to mass produce tote bags and sell them in the
shop!)

My Project:




And Rozzie drew and absolute adorable picture of a Totoro, to use as a template for a stuffed animal she was making (and almost finished)...So when we walked down to get her lunch from the other house (because it's hard to remember everything!)...we picked up a small handful of tops (see...Now we're digging through other people's drawers too!)...And she drew me a stencil and I cut it out and we made this...











Rozzie is way into Anime...and wants to join studio Giblink (she talks about animating for them all the time, and is practicing writing Japanese!) and loves Hayao Miyazaki (thanks really, to Kiki's Delivery Service) And, I'm loving the idea that she can create art (because she does these wonderful pictures all the time) and we can put them on our clothes!

There is also a wonderful
flickr group if you want to see what everyone else is doing!


And for fun...I made these chocolate cupcakes (because cupcakes are the new "IT" thing right now apparently) And I have another really good friend coming over this evening for talkies...So what is better than a glass of wine, a chocolate cupcake and Opera, I ask you?

25 May 2006

In which I remember me...from another time...

I received a new CD in the mail today. Maybe new is not the right word. I received a CD in the mail today of a song I've never owned, but use to love a long time ago (one I never thought I'd be able to find...no, iTunes doesn't have every song). This song makes me feel...ummm, well, cool, and strong, and invincible. Isn't it amazing how music can effect you that way? Just like there are good road trip songs (there are apparently songs that make you feel invincible). It's a song from my past so maybe I'm just remembering how I felt then, who I was. This is before all the big life stuff happened, before I left college for the "real world". Before I had my first big break up with a boy that really meant something to me (before I knew that kind of hurt) before it all really started, and I had to rely on myself. I was recently looking at a photo album from that time, and a friend remarked (after we came to the end of the album...And the college/break-up thing happened...As if it were a defining moment caught on film, almost like a before and after) "what happened to you? You looked so happy in the previous pictures...And then, you just don't,something changed...your hair is different, and your face..." and the entire way I was carrying myself. I remember. It was never the same. I was never the same. And, I too wonder what happened to her? To that girl, the innocent happy one?

The song reminds me of a time when my life was more carefree. I worked without having to earn a living then...just to have money for fun. I went dancing, and was in love and young. I remember sitting in a parking lot at college poised on the edge of what would become this new life, in my Volkswagen bug filled up with all the stuff from my dorm that I had to move home and the thought..."Wow...This is going to be an amazing summer" flew into my head. And it was, one of the most amazing and memorable summers I've ever had. It was like a bridge from that young part to the part that would happen next. The first Lalaplooza happened that summer. Raves started happening...I listened to a lot of music and went to a lot of parties...I spent the night away from home...With a boy, one who really liked me, for the first time. I became this person, someone different from who I thought I was. I dressed differently, turned 21, went to "underground" clubs, and for the first time felt I was a little cool (I didn't actually believe I was cool until about 13 years later...well until now...after another lifetime of stuff that had happened to me...I just dressed like the cool people I saw around me...you know, the ones we sometime want to be? Ahhh...always looking outside aren't we?) And looking back, I can see that I still carried my insecurities with me, and they wouldn't be addressed until quite a long time later. But every once in a while there was a song (and there still are) that spoke to me, that made me feel different that who I was, or touched that part of me that really was that way.


The song I got today is called Dominator by Human Resource. It is a techno song. It goes like this:


I'm bigger
I'm better
I'm rougher
I'm tougher
I'm the one and only dominator...

Sometimes I feel strong and dominant like that...Defiant and invincible, and sometimes I feel soft and vulnerable (and sing along to folk music, or opera). Someone who changes from picture to picture, moment to moment...experience to experience. Someone who is looking and reviewing and studying their life...seeing what was, and wondering if that will lead to what will be?

And right now, I'm sitting bouncing around in my chair listening to this song with a grim and serious look on my face (because I'm a dominator) and an attitude...And funness and nostalgia...I almost believe the words were written for me. So, if you see me driving around town with a slightly defiant look on my face singing outloud to this song (generally thinking I'm cool), if you're not laughing too hard...Give me a wave.

24 May 2006

The Garden Party

There's been some sort of wild party happening now for quite some time in my mom's front garden...



It's participants are Snow White and the 5 garden gnomes...



They all play their instruments under her bedroom window...



And drink lot's of gnome hooch...
and become unsteady on their feet...
which leads to problems....



I wonder if this little drummer's feet could be rehabilitated with some duct tape?

23 May 2006

OH Knit!


Another week...Another knit! I am currently working on an outside pocket for a hand bag...And my mom is (surprise surprise) working on "the sweater". She exclaimed tonight "how does anyone finish a sweater anyway? And who's idea was it to even do that!!??!!" It is coming along, even though it sometimes doesn't seem like it is...Kind of like life. You think you are not making any progress, and then there you are...At the end of wherever you are and ready to start again! (I know, profound...I am rolling my eyes!)












How perfect is that yellow rose with the pink at the tips of the petals?










This week, the red roses are in bloom. I love red roses, well, actually...I love all roses (and daises!)...So, this is the view from the front fence...



















I have a movie recommendation as well...Last night we watched Nanny McPhee! What a wonderful movie...Full of fun and magic and general silliness. And the sets are incredible (I would love to be a set designer...then again, maybe my house would be more impressive...hmmmm) at any rate, I am ready to move in to the house they built for the movie!



The screenplay was written by Emma Thompson and was based on the book Nurse Matilda. They're toting it as the new Marry Poppins, although I didn't think it was as sad. I know that I totally crumbled and cried hysterically when I saw Marry Poppins in the movie theatre as a child, when I realized that she was leaving at the end of the movie...and maybe it's my age now, but I thought it Nanny McPhee had a loverly ending. We all enjoyed the movie so much...that my mom put the book on hold at the library, I can hardly wait to read it (I'm hoping maybe she'll read it outloud to me...it's amazing when you hear your mother's voice read a story, I instatnly relax!). And, you know about my affinity for children's books...at least you can see by the collection I have.

22 May 2006

Sunday May 21st...

Well...I want to start off by apologizing for a shortened Creative Sunday! The day started off my mom Rozzie and I running errands. This resulted in 2 new pairs of shoes for Rozzie, new cat food for the kitties...And some crafting supplies. Then home for some pampering for me...

Which brings me to the why of the short version of Creative Sunday...

Sadira escaping to Phoenix with Amy! Wahoo...We both needed a little escape (me from my life and killer dust bunnies, ahem...Amy from her grueling school schedule...Yes, homework is actually worse as you get older!) Amy is an Irish music genius...And was going down to Phoenix to a jam session with her fiddle teacher and a whole group of other musicians...And invited me to ride along...And since we've both been so busy...a chance to have her as a captive audience for 2 hours (each way...plus dinner) was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
The session was really wonderful, I believe that was the first time I got to actually hear Amy play, so it was a real treat for me! (everyone else was good too) I didn't stay for the whole thing as I met up with a really good friend from high school, who took me to play pool. Now, I am not good at pool (in my opinion) even though I grew up with a pool table in my house (so it's a bit embarrassing for me when someone asks me to play, because I should probably be better at this game) However...I won 3 out of 5 games which seems like a fluke, and I was wishing I had some camera footage for proof...But Rene remembers! Either he let me win all those games, or we are both just really bad pool players! Whatever the case may be, I had a really wonderful time...


It was a fun adventure, ending at a ridiculously late hour, and it gave me just the inspiration I needed to finish off the home improvement task starting early Monday morning! This is a project that I've wanted to do since I moved into the house 4 and a half years ago...I did all the work myself, and at any time during the week, you could have driven by and seen me in a skirt (I'm such a girl),and my thongs (which is an interesting way to use a shovel, I must say!) working on this...

















Before















This is my "side" patio on the house, where the bar-b-q lives! It is all dirt, and has kind of been a catch all for all my stuff. It's been bothering me and on my mind because I see it almost every time that I come home, as I park my car on the driveway on this side of the house.


During




So, I dug out a lower level, and leveled out a higher level, and put the bar-b-q in it's own space on some lava rocks...These lava rocks are much pinker than I thought! I am calling them my shabby chic lava rocks. I then spread sand on the "floor" of the patio and laid this wonderful stone I found at Wal-Mart. I wanted to lay flagstone to match some of the other details of the house...but it is pretty expensive and uneven and cracks quite a bit up here. So, I found a concrete composite of oddly shaped stones in the same color scheme as the flagstone.



After


I left good size spaces between the stones, mostly because the cost was starting to add up...and brought dirt, rocks and earth from the embankment that the grader leaves after he grades my dirt road that is across the street. Martha, my neighbor who's father built this house in 1924 for their family took pity on me (yes, I have no wheel barrow, and was carrying it over by the shovel full...Exhausting, but working on my bicepts for sure!) and offered to let me borrow her garden cart. That made my job much easier! After I filled in all those holes, I wet it all down a couple of times to let the dirt settle, and let everything "set" and then swept sand over all the stones...and dampened that a bit so it will set!















I like the way it turned out, although, it is different that what I had in my mind, and I am going to just have to adjust to it...but it is an improvement! I do think that the green chair looks a little lonely sitting out there by itself, and I am now wondering if I can find some really great vintage bistro set? And, there are 2 different levels of patio right in front of the bar-b-q...But I don't think this will be a problem. Since this side of the house gets so much sun I really need a cover for the bar-b-q, I have one, but it has holes in it...and I had the idea that maybe I should make one out of some of that waterproof outside table cloth material?

I feel really proud of myself, that I did accomplish this on my own, and I had a bit of a shakey moment at Home Depot when I was picking up 200 lbs. of sand...In four 50 lb. bags, and first putting them in the cart, then into the car from the cart, then from the car to the patio area! I was feeling really sad because I had to do it all by myself, but now seeing the finished product, I am really excited and totally amazed! (and no...the bar-b-q is not really crooked...it just looks that way in the picture!)




It kind of makes me wonder why it took me so long to do it?

19 May 2006

The Trip-Day 13...The END


Yes, day 13, otherwise known as the end...(thank God) It's actually taken me longer to post this trip than to take the trip. And what can I really say? I am exhausted (although, I'm thinking not from the trip, as I've been back for a while yet) but from regular Sadira life. I have so many projects creative and home improvement projects (involving no less than 200 lbs. of sand) going right now it's amazing. And no, I'm not running from anything (I don't think at any rate), I'm just trying to use some momentum to get something done around here (in between going to work and sitting and staring off into space). SO...this part of the trip will have no narraration, just pictures for you to enjoy...Only to say that I loved Prague so much, all the walking around and shopping and exploring and looking up and around. I hope to go back someday soon...Or someday far...Just someday! We did go to the Municipal house, the amazing art nouveau building they still use for music...And had a tour. One of the rooms was done By Mucha...And the stained glass is amazing!!! We were all beat, but by the end of the tour, I didn't want to leave, and since we only got to see one half of the building...I think I was within my rights to demand to see more (even if I used the inside my head voice)


















































OK...WAIT...I have to interject here...I love love love these doorway/window/statues...They are absolutely amazing!!




















And if I could have taken these ladies and their owl home with me I would have...However, I already had to buy one extra suitcase! Look how they hang off the building...Do you think they would match the decor here at the house?












































There were so many statues looking down at you from the tops of doorways or windows...It was awesome!



And so many of the buildings were even painted on in addition to the statues and details...









Yeah...I'll take the room with that wonderful roof!











Down this street...










I thank you for sharing this journey with me, and if you want to see more photos, let me know (because there's more folks!)
And now, I am going to relax for a bit before I have to get up early and yard sale...And maybe eat some of these organic Trader Joe's truffles ( I have to...they're melting in the little bit of heat we've had!)

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