Sunday, September 8, 2019

the body says it's time to take a break


Yesterday evening: OK, I'm tired now. Today was the 7th day in a row that I have gotten up earlier than usual and have been working in the shop grinding mostly, some polishing, in one fashion or another, quitting for the day about 1:30. Truth to tell, I was tired Friday and was dragging butt this morning. My arms are tired, my thighs are killing me from doing squats yesterday working on the four little feet...grind a little squat down check for vertical symmetry stand up check for height with the calipers, grind a little squat check for vertical symmetry stand up check height grind a little etc etc. But! With the exception of the little bit of work still to do on the heron head I am through with the grinding and can move on to the polishing and then assembly.

Today I checked that all my flat surfaces were flat and ground the ends of the two gray slabs into a curve and then tended to the edges and smoothed the sides and got about half the polishing done. 


About noon Minnie, who goes where I go even if she doesn't like it, got up and stood next to me looking at me imploringly. No, Minnie, it's not time yet, go lay down and she hung her head and trudged over to her shop bed. Twenty minutes later she's back. Nope, not yet. About one o'clock I relented. I'd done enough and so we quit for the day. Done enough that I'm taking the day off tomorrow. It's a good thing too since I had a beer with lunch and I've been laid out on the couch the rest of the day dozing in between alarms to move the hose which was a real effort as the soreness in my thighs continued to get worse. Between my thighs and the fallen green pecans that I haven't picked up for the past week, I was fairly hobbling around out there.

Late afternoon last Thursday I could not look at the suffering pink angel trumpet and the zinnias any longer, and yes I water them every day, and I dug out the shade cloth and two stakes and erected it to give them a little relief from that intense late afternoon sun. 


I have one more fence section I could put up and grow vines on and maybe I will but the immediate plan is to dig up and move the pink angel trumpet as soon as weather allows. I'll probably put it in a pot and bring it in for the winter and then find another spot outside in the spring.

Today: I didn't roll out of bed til 8:30 this morning. So far I've done nothing but start one of the hoses though I need to get out there and do some watering where it's not practical to just let the hose run in one spot. Also today I plan to make a dent in the green pecans littering the big backyard since my legs are less sore today and it's easier to move around. Tomorrow though I'll be back at it over at the shop doing the final adjustments getting the heron head fitted and getting the final polishing done while I try to remember what kind of glue I used in the past to put these boxes together.

I was just scrolling through my pictures trying to see when I finished the last box, the Ode To The Peach. 2015! Four years ago. Wow. And I made the original models for the heron box the month before Harvey and the house getting flooded so that's been two years since I first started on it. When I got back to work I started on the drowned feather pieces which I still have one of the big ones to cast. That's just ridiculous, that it takes me years to finish a piece or a series, although I did get a lot of other work done in the interim. Once I get the heron box put together it will be time, past time, to start some new models for the upcoming open house in December.

But today, today I'm just relaxing.





15 comments:

  1. Yep. Best to rest. You've been pushing it hard, woman, and it's definitely time for you to take a break. Think of everything that's happened and that you've done since Harvey- an almost complete rebuild of your house, surgery, keeping your yard up despite the drought, and yes, working on your art.
    One day?
    I think you need a week. I wish you could get away to someplace where you are responsible for NOTHING except your own comfort and relaxation. Where work does not tempt you with its nearby presence.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It sounds like your relaxation is well-earned! I never thought of glass work as an aerobic activity, but then, I never considered all those squats. Your work output is really NOT ridiculous at all considering everything that's been going in on your life for the past few years. I'm impressed you've done as much as you have!

    One good thing about England -- even at its most intense, the sun is rarely bright or hot enough to harm a plant. At least in my experience.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Relax, this is hard work, squats! Seriously.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Relaxing, sounds like a plan to me. We don't have pecans, even the green ones on the ground. The squirrels get to them before we can rake them up. They like to bury th pecans in my potted plants. So I have no idea what is in the pot until spring. Little varmints.

    ReplyDelete
  5. A mini vacation would be beneficial, I reckon. before winter sets in, before politics gets even more intense...Winter will be a long one this year, I am afraid

    ReplyDelete
  6. Well that sounds well earned. And a beer at lunch, I'm sooo jealous. Sounds delightful although it makes me fall asleep too.
    What a good little dog Minnie is. I remember that look in their eyes when they are imploring to go outside. And speaking of outside. It seems to me that you are still quite active in the face of tiredness. You out do me.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm both imagining the joy of having a yard full of pecans, and the hard work of having a yard full of pecans.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I agree with Mary Moon --- you need to get away somewhere that doesn't have any work for you to do. Because unlike me (sitting in my recliner while the sheets go unwashed & the house goes undusted), you are not able to ignore the work around you :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. The descriptions of working glass are exhausting - for me. I can't imagine what it's like in the heat.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Working intensely, seven days a week is exhausting. It's also mind numbing, makes you prone to errors. A day off is also good planing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. When labors of love become more labor than love, it is time to rest and move the mind and body in other directions for a while. Such lovely art though!

    ReplyDelete
  12. You can only ignore your body for so long. Your work is incredibly intense - let alone having to deal with working in an oven environment. It may be a good idea to take yourself off for a long weekend, so you aren't tempted to go out and do just a little more...

    ReplyDelete
  13. Inspiration has its own schedule. Good for you, taking some down time.

    ReplyDelete

I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.