high grass, toddler in the house, water issues, a frog and a flower

You might remember that my neighbor on the east side sold his house in January 2025. Montreal had an acre, the house on one half and a fenced backyard. When he owned it he kept it tidy and mowed and the low tree branches trimmed and kept the wild space on the south border in check and I had a clear view across the property to the crop field on the other side of the county road. It is a corner property bordered by my street and the county road it ends at. I thought the new owner, who lives in a different small town, was going to live there after they did some renovation and fixing up of the house but no, they rented it out. The people that live in the house only mow around the house and the fenced backyard. The rest of the property should be maintained by the owner and yet they don’t. It has only been mowed twice in the last 19 months. One of the native pecan trees now has branches grazing the ground, all kinds of small and large branches hidden by the various grasses which are waist to chest high on me, the wild space continues to creep across the property line unchecked, and my view from where I sit in the mornings of the corn or cotton field is blocked. I’ve taken pictures but they just don’t really convey how high the grasses are. It does have some goldenrod growing in it so at least something will be blooming this fall unless it gets mowed between now and then. I don’t really mind it being overgrown though since it’s providing habitat.

Friday night was my night to fix dinner and I had been planning on making butternut/sweet potato/cashew soup. I know, summer and hot outside, but I had a butternut squash from the garden and I had bought two sweet potatoes previously with this in mind since the one butternut I had wasn’t enough for the recipe. So, of course I started a little late and cut the butternut in half lengthwise, scooped out the seeds, and put it in the oven to roast while I peeled and cut up the sweet potatoes and put them on to boil when I was looking over the recipe and realized I didn’t have any coconut milk. Poot. I usually review any recipe I’m considering for my two nights before I go to the grocery store on Tuesdays to add whatever ingredients to the list. Apparently I failed to see the coconut milk. So turn off the stove, jump in the car and get the coconut milk. Back home I’m ready to add the spices and realize I don’t have any coriander. Well, double poot. Called my neighbor at the other end of the street who I thought would have some because I know she’s a good cook, turn the stove off again and rush down to her house. Anyway, I got the soup made and dinner was only an hour later than we usually eat. I had originally planned to make a small salad to go with it but by that time I was all, yeah, no; soup and naan will have to do. It was really good.

Sarah came Saturday with Paisleigh and 18 month old Harrison. Paisleigh, who will be 5 in October, starts preschool on the 11th, has already met her teacher and classmates. The teacher would not allow the parents in the room for the two hours or so they were there. Six year old Carlie from the other end of the street came down to play and then soon they ran down to her house because…toys, which Great Grandma doesn’t have much of. Harrison had the house to himself to explore. Pics...Harrison with his Granny, in the kitchen, sleepy boy.

The rain we hoped would come weekend did not so I’ve been moving the sprinkler around once again. Sunday late morning it was 88˚, real feel 108˚, predicted high 100˚ and who knows what the real feel was. Read a headline the other day, farmers are already sounding the alarm, crops are failing or doing poorly. The planet is poised to tip over into the uninhabitable region for humans. Rivers are drying up, too hot, too damn hot and they are building water guzzling data centers in regions that already barely have enough water. People’s wells will dry up but hey, the surveillance state needs a place to store all our movements and social media posts. Speaking of water, Txxxx and Hxxxxxx bombed water infrastructure sites in Iran and all signs point to Iran being behind the cyber attacks on US water supplies in Michigan, Minnesota, and five other states (why would they not retaliate in kind?) Guess who Txxxx blames, Iran? No, of course not, he blames democrat Governor Walz for the attacks in Minnesota. 

When I was watering in the front yesterday I spotted this tree frog hanging out in this birdhouse. Once the birds are through nesting tree frogs often take up residence.

This bearded iris surprised me yesterday. They are supposed to bloom in the spring and they do but now this and another one I saw earlier in the summer long after they would usually bloom.

Still not motivated to start a new drawing or shadow box, reading instead, halfway through Artemis by Andy Weir.

 

dealing with issues, in-between, object #11, and a surprise

I spent Tuesday morning dealing with two issues. One was reordering one of my meds through their website and they’ve changed the secure log-in to a different system and the website refused to recognize me so I finally called and got that taken care of and then I created the new account (we found you!) with the new system so hopefully I can just go online next time. The other issue was trying to find out why I had not received any royalty payments since last November. I inherited some mineral and oil/gas rights that had been played out long before they came to me but new technology had an oil company looking again and they brought in three wells so that was a nice surprise. These wells have changed hands several times and so in early May I emailed the current owner asking why I had not received any royalty payments for the past 5 months. They responded that my inquiry was assigned to a case manager who would get in touch with me. Three months later, nothing so I called and pleasantly, I didn’t have to wait more than about 15 or 20 minutes to talk to a human. While I was waiting I went on the owner portal only to discover we had received a payment that morning. The woman who answered my call told me that the case manager was still investigating my inquiry but she looked at whatever she looked at and while it wasn’t a complete answer she did say that it looked like the wells hadn’t been producing much. I know that when the price of oil gets too low per barrel, oil companies will shut down some wells until the price goes up and maybe that’s what happened. 

Other than that I’m back in the in-between state, finished one project but haven’t started another. There’s a drawing I’ve been wanting to do for a friend but I’m also jazzed by the shadow box. I’ve done a few little thumbnail sketches of some possibles. While I thought about that yesterday I spent a good deal of the day reading Artemis by Andy Weir, his third novel after The Martian and Project Hail Mary.

Until I decide this might be a good time to do a 100 objects post. I just did a brief count, 32, of the paintings/prints or sculptures I have either bought or traded for in our collection excluding the four paintings I inherited from my parents, the bowl forms which I think I will present as one object, and my own work. I’ve pondered if the entire collection should be considered one object or each piece a separate object. I guess we’ll see how desperate I get for an entry. So, object #11 is this lithograph bought in 1979 at an outdoor festival, Elephant March by Nancy Louice (or Louwie, hard to read the signature). 

Not the first piece I bought but a very early one. It is desperately in need of reframing, currently in the frame Marc made for it out of rough cedar. It’s a little the worse for wear having never been professionally framed.

One more thing. I was out walking around the yard yesterday and this caught my eye.

That green leaf sticking up from the stubs of the bridal bouquet plumeria that froze to the ground last winter because it was just too heavy and big to dig up the sunken pot and haul it to the garage when it would have to be cut back to even fit in the garage is new growth. You might remember I did eventually dig the pot out of the ground because I wanted to use it for something else and when I did I just plonked the root ball back in the hole because orange cosmos were growing in it and I had to fill the hole with something. There’s actually another little leaf growing just below and to the right that is hard to see. So, I’m amazed. We’ll see how big it gets before winter comes back around. 

the big reveal

Ta-da! 

All the pieces glued on the background/spacer.

Here’s what it looks like from underneath.

The shadow box.

The finished shadow box.

I think it came out pretty good for a first try. It looks great straight on but if viewed from the side you can see the thick foam core backing on the robin. 

I hadn’t anticipated that. Maybe it should have been a much smaller pedestal. Something to consider on the next one. I had a hard time getting a good well lit picture with no reflection. I finally had to hang it on the wall in my bedroom. I’ll have to use a white oil pen on the black back to sign it.

I got another plant repotted Saturday, sweat dripping off me by the time I finished. I moved the two angel trumpets back to their previous spots after sitting in complete shade for a week while they settled into their new pots. Later I went out to check on them looking a little droopy and spotted this cluster under one of the pink angel trumpet leaves…baby spiders! They’re about the size of the head of a pin.

And then I saw this little green tree frog perched on the stem of the same leaf. It’s about an inch long.

A few more, the swamp lily is blooming.

Saturday’s sunset.

dusty skies, arting, and more miscellania of my life

We’ve been getting Saharan dust like we do every summer but Tuesday morning when I opened the garage not just the sky looked hazy but the very air looked dusty. This was the sunset Wednesday night. My eye saw a uniform light orange/pink sky but the camera saw this.

I finished the painting of the robin. I procrastinated doing it until there was nothing else I could do until I did it because I thought it was going to be difficult and I would have to start over at least once but it turned out to be not that hard. Once I had the head done the rest was fairly indistinct, just added a few pencil lines in the wings to give them a little definition. Now I’m ready to cut it out and add the foam core backing and make my final determination about the spacing and then glue it all together. I’m almost done y’all!

And now days later I’ve got all that done. 

So today I’m working on gluing the leaves and the robin to the background/backing and hopefully it will all line up with the edge of the background (which is blue sky) and I can slide (more like gently push it in since it's a fairly snug fit) the whole mess into the shadow box. This is the nerve wracking part, getting everything lined up with the edges but not over. Still a little concerned about a shadow being cast across the top. I'm already considering the next one, a yellow angel trumpet and a shallower shadowbox.

A while back either I read or someone told me that if you cut off the butt end of celery and put it in water it will continue to grow. So I tried it, figured if it developed roots I’d plant it. Well, it did start growing and has started sending out roots! Can you see the little roots in the second picture? I may never have to buy celery again!

But then I talked to my neighbor who tried it and when his had a good healthy set of roots he planted it in dirt and it promptly died. So maybe I’ll try a hydroponic approach.

I’ve been seeing more butterflies; hairstreaks earlier in the summer (though I surprised one yesterday tucked down in a flower) and fritillaries now, a few sulfurs, and a satyr comma. Unfortunately I didn’t have my phone on me so no pictures.

SHARE was moderately busy yesterday, steady food orders but not overwhelming. It also rained for about an hour yesterday evening, starting just as I was leaving for yoga but Thursday’s class is here in Wharton so I drove through it. Had it been in El Campo, I would have stayed home. And of course it rained. I had just earlier watered all the pots and refreshed the two birdbaths and two small animal water stations in the yard.

A few more miscellaneous pics. I never showed the room Robin (mostly) and I painted (nothing is back on the walls yet). The cone ginger has sent up its cones and its little cream flowers. Seems a bit early. And the phlox is blooming.

flowers and critters and pots and art

A big surprise came in the mail on Saturday, a check from the gallery. After all these years she sold the four small botanicas she had, I assume to the same person. These pieces are 4.5" x 4.5" x 1.25"/1.5" deep.

These views give you an idea of how three dimensional they are (couldn't find side views of the other two).

I’ve been seeing a butterfly migrate through for days now, one I have never seen before; small, black with white tips on its wings. I finally did an image search and it isn’t a butterfly at all but a day flying moth, White-tipped Black (Melanchroia chephise). I haven’t seen them light on anything so here’s a picture from the internet. Image via: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/321697-Melanchroia-chephise

Walked out the backdoor the other morning to see a spider web glistening in the sun and at the center the spider was busy securing a small dragonfly it had caught.

The rangoon creeper has really liked this rain. It has been blooming profusely. The flowers are white when they open, pink midday, and red in the evening.

More work on the shadow box during the week. I think I’ve solved all the problems but I still need to do the painting of the robin. I meant to start that on Friday but Mikey called from across the street because Paisleigh wanted to come over so after lunch I walked across the street and fetched her. She stayed for about four hours. She helped me mix up some potting soil and manure and compost and repot one of the plants after I had to drill holes in the bottoms of all six of the pots I got a week and a half ago. Did you know plastic pots don’t come with predrilled holes in the bottom? Neither did I. They had one 1/2” hole with a plug you had to punch out with a hammer and screwdriver. I drilled two more 5/8” holes in the smaller pots and three more in the bigger pots. 

Saturday I mowed the little backyard and then mixed up more potting soil and repotted the big pink angel trumpet and the big yellow angel trumpet and that was it for working outside. I worked on the shadow box building up the thickness of the background to shorten the overall depth of the box. I think this is going to work. If I get it right, all the leaves and the robin will be attached to the back and the whole thing will just slide in.

Finally started on the robin today.

Finally, from the Department of How Stupid Can They Be? (the answer is stupider than you think), Trumplethinskin is going to call up Canada to bitch and threaten sanctions while several senators have dispatched a letter forthwith to the Canadian Government chastising them for poor forest management because the smoke from their wildfires is invading our air and what are you going to do about it! As if Canada controls the wind because yeah, they obviously sent that smoke down here on purpose. Maybe next time the PNW and California is on fire Canada won’t send their firefighters to help which they have routinely done in the past.

tidbits and shadow box progress

Because I don’t want the next picture to be at the top here's a leopard frog I saw out in the garden. Usually they leap away as soon as I get close but I guess this one thought it was invisible which it very nearly is.

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Just so you know the crazy isn’t limited to the US, Canada also has its share of crazy. Canadian Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre gave a press conference about military spending if elected…“We will reinstall a warrior culture, not a woke culture.” Because nothing says warrior culture more than a man dressed up in a white cowboy hat and a fancy white embroidered western style shirt.

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A link from 1440, an interactive virtual art museum exhibit of 9 paintings by Vincent Van Gogh, all new to me. Click and drag to go from one painting to the next (it opens in the middle so drag left and right).

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A supposedly current photo of Mitch McConnell looking considerably younger and wearing a pink shirt and bluejeans and holding a newspaper in a hospital setting with his wife Elaine Chao has been released by his office to show 'proof of life' claiming that a fall rendered him temporarily unconscious and that he has been recovering from pneumonia but all is well. The image, easily proven, is an old picture they are trying to pass off as current. The newspaper in the photo when it was first released and which dates the picture has since been edited out. This is all part of the continued effort to insist that McConnell is alive and cognizant, following the three republicans who all claimed, in almost exactly the same wording on the same morning, to have just talked to Mitch and he was completely engaged with the business of the Senate which followed the inquiries by the press and speculation that he had died or was comatose. It is in the interest of the republican party that he be alive until after the August deadline that will allow the governor to appoint a replacement instead of having to call a special election to replace McConnell in which a democrat or independent could win.

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The FCC has approved plans for a start-up to launch a satellite that will include a 60’ mirror to reflect the sun’s light onto the dark side of the earth because we don’t have enough light pollution as it is I guess. The company says the mirror will light up a 3 mile wide area with a full moon level of brightness for about 5 minutes. They expect their customer’s to be solar farms (? solar panels can technically generate energy from a full moon but the energy produced is negligible) and rescue workers in emergency situations and they expect to charge $5K per hour. The company hopes to eventually launch 50,000 of these satellites in an already crowded orbital sphere around the earth. 

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It’s been raining off and on with some storming the last four days and too hot to be outside before that so I’ve been working on the shadow box project and I’m almost fully engaged and by that I mean when I’m not actually working on it, I’m thinking about working on it; what I need to do next, how to solve a couple of problems that cropped up. I got the last leaf painted, got the leaves cut out, cut out the initial foam core backings and got them all glued together, painted the background piece. The leaves are just stacked not glued down in the pic. 

Now I’m working on spacing and trying to figure out how the fuck I’m going to put it all together. When I ordered the shadow box, the project was just an idea. I didn’t even have a drawing yet much less any of the elements. Most of the shadow boxes I was seeing were only a little over an inch deep which I didn’t think would be deep enough for what I had in mind and then I found one that was 1 5/8” deep. Perfect I thought and bought it. Now that I have most of the elements (I still need to do the painting of the robin) I’ve realized that the shadow box is deeper than I need, too deep. So that’s problem number one, the spacing not only between the elements but also from the glass in front and the background in back. The second problem is caused by the first; because it’s so deep it casts a shadow across the top of the interior. Another reason to bring the elements up closer to the glass which isn’t removable and which brings me to the third problem. How the fuck I’m going to secure everything in the shadow box working from the back, or securing everything to the back and sliding the whole thing in. I think I’ve solved the first problem, in my mind anyway, which I hope solves the second problem. The third problem is going to be the bitch. So if I haven’t been around it’s because I’m in the land of art as my husband puts it or sitting on the couch trying to read because the neurotic little dog paws at me constantly when I’m at the computer or work table and all over me when I'm on the couch.

Besides all that, we drove into the city last Sunday for a social gathering. Our friend Kathy of Dick and Kathy, our glassblowing friends who hosted the open house in December every year until covid closed it all down and then Dick’s health started to fail and you may remember he died last year, had a brunch for all us friends and artists who participated in the open house either as artists or helpers. Kathy is a wonderful hostess and it was so nice to see everyone again after 6 years, not counting Dick’s memorial where we sort of touched base but didn’t really socialize and to see Dick and Kathy’s incredible art collection again especially the new pieces they acquired in the interim.