Heavy dew Wednesday morning and the screen was doted with water droplets.
Damn, a whole week has gone by. Tuesday was my 8 am dermatologist appointment and it was so foggy, visibility was very low and I was starting to worry that I would pass up the office if I couldn’t see the line of buildings but as I got closer to Rosenberg it started to lift and by the time I turned onto the road the office is on it was mostly clear. She froze a couple of actinic keratosis off my face and another thing on my shoulder. I’ve had a dark spot on my right cheek for years which I assumed was just sun damage, couldn’t feel it, just visible, but the past year it had started to grow and now I could feel it so she sliced that off and sent it in for a biopsy. Don’t remember what else I did. Oh, had a nice long FaceTime with my brother and sister in law. He had just renewed his passport which reminded me that I should check mine which I did Wednesday evening and it had expired the day before.
Wednesday was the follow-up with the electrophysiologist. My appointment was at 11:15 and it takes me an hour to get there, park, and get up to the office. I always come prepared, take a book with me, to these appointments because there is always a wait, some days longer than others and occasionally really long and Wednesday was one of those days. I finally got in a room at 12:30 where the tech took my blood pressure, did the EKG, probably another 45 minutes before the EP came in. Any problems?, any questions?, everything looks good, see you in 6 months (requirement of the med I’m on). Finally back to my car at 1:30. I don’t complain about the wait which is usually 30 - 40 minutes, but sometimes delays happen, maybe an early morning procedure took longer than expected, maybe they had to work people in who were having problems. I’ve been going to this office for 7 years, I know what to expect and the staff is really nice. But on days when the wait is very long, grumbling starts in the waiting room, complaining to each other about how long it’s taking. I wonder if these are new patients.
Baby Blue Eyes in full bloom.
After I got the all clear I headed home with several stops to make. Since I was out that way, I stopped at the bigger Michaels across from the Costco to look at their laminating materials, maybe to laminate the book marks. I don’t really want to do that, I like the feel of paper over plastic and they are sealed with a clear acrylic spray but I thought I would try one just to see. Anyway, they only had packages of like 50 sheets of clear adhesive film so, no, didn’t buy it. The saleswoman suggested I might find smaller packages at an office supply so that was my next stop further down the road and I did pick up a package of 12 sheets. After that I had to turn in my old phone at the Verizon store and then finally got home about 3:30. Gathered Paisleigh later to accompany me while walking the dog.
Thursday morning I went online and filled out the form to renew my passport and then my niece who lives in Albuquerque arrived to spend the day before she checked into her B&B in Houston for the wedding of one of her half sisters on Saturday. I haven’t seen her since summer of ’24 when everyone came to spread Pam’s ashes, so almost two years. Did I take any pictures? No. I did get my green bean seeds replanted though and all but one of the tomatoes are regrowing after the last freeze and I don’t think it’s going to make it.
Variegated poppies.
Friday I finished the current bookmark and no I haven’t laminated it. I want to do a quickie for that little test. Then it was such a nice day I puttered out in the yard, repotted a few things. Watered everything. It is just so dry here and we are now in a burn ban. Yesterday it was overcast and cool so I took advantage of that and finished clearing the shop yard of winter dead stuff, except for the hummingbird bush which I overlooked so I’ll take care of it today. But before that, Rocky came to see about fixing the shop sink that dripped constantly from the cold water handle if the water was turned on. Also the toilet was constantly running and even though I have a sign pinned on the wall to turn the water off after use, it didn’t always get done. Last month the water bill over there was outrageous. So anyway, the toilet is fixed and the sink is temporarily fixed but needs a new faucet set.
So that’s been my week.
Codex: we might be talking about different materials. It's not laminated unless you use a laminator. Mine is a self adhesive roll but I get wrinkles or bubbles.
ReplyDeleteI'd recommend it because unless it's protected, bookmarks are high use so paper will get worn out in no time.
I bought Scotch self seal laminating sheets. I did a quickie, covered both sides, no trouble with bubbles as I have plenty of experience applying adhesive material onto a surface. But it still looks and feels like plastic which I don't like, diminishes the hand painted part in my opinion. So I'm opting for three light coast of acrylic spray on both sides which I think will give them some protection from wear and tear. Or not. It's not like I'm going to charge a whole lot for them.
DeleteCodex: If you don't mind doing a step by step on how to prevent it from crinkling?
DeleteWhen did you use it in glass making?
Applying the vinyl stencil material to the glass. Start at one end or the other. Cut the sheet with a margin all around. Peel the backing off the laminating sheet just enough to attach it to the top of the bookmark (let it hang over the top, don't worry about aligning it edge to edge). I used my thumb to press the sheet down from side to side, continue pressing from side to side with one hand as you slowly peel back the backing with the other hand taking care not to let the adhesive sheet touch the paper until you are pressing it down. Take care to advance the pressing down slowly so that you don't jump ahead of the already pressed down material. Bookmarks are easy to control because they are small. Larger paintings might need a second person to hold the laminating sheet aloft as they slowly pull the backing off while you concentrate on pressing it down. Once I had the laminating sheet on I use a hobby knife #11 blade to trim the excess. The trick is to not let the film touch the paper until you are pressing it down, advancing it in slow incremental sweeps of your thumb or squeegee, something soft like your thumb or rubber. I'd practice a couple of times on blank watercolor paper until you get the hang of it.
DeleteCodex ah. Thank you. Tried on handmade journal cover pages (it was awkward because i was trying to adhere it to a book.) Some worked some bubbled a bit. Forget the bonefolder?
DeleteI imagine it's not possible to get it completely smooth on an uneven surface. It worked just fine on the textured watercolor bookmark paper though.
DeleteNo wonder your week went by quickly - you were pretty busy!
ReplyDeleteIn retrospect, yeah. One of those weeks where every day has some sort of obligation.
DeleteThat was a busy week! Love the poppies - so pretty!
ReplyDeleteMy poppies finally quit self seeding so the wife of one of the volunteers at SHARE shares her seeds.
DeleteI never go to a medical appointment without a book to read, not that I read, no way, often far too scatterbrained, but at least I feel prepared.
ReplyDeleteIt's lovely and strange to look at your spring flowers. Here we are approaching autumn, picking the last peaches and figs.
Oooo, peaches. My tree bloomed but it will still be awhile before I know how many will make it to a peach.
DeleteI'd been putting off a trip to Galveston until after spring break, but when I went down today, I discovered that an island-long bicycle race was taking place, and it was one lane traffic the entire length of the island, all the way down to San Luis pass. I was glad I wasn't in a hurry. I didn't take much time in any one place; it had been so long since I'd been there it was more of a scouting trip, just to see how things were. Indian paintbrush and some sort of little yellow flower were really coming on, and the firewheels are beginning to expand. It won't be long until the Broadway cemeteries are flowerful; I need to get back down there. Maybe next weekend. I'd love to find some baby blue eyes, too, but they don't seem to appear around here. I need to go elsewhere to find them in the wild.
ReplyDeleteIndian paintbrush is starting to show up here. I happened to look out over the field behind my property and it's pretty solid with bluebonnets.
DeleteWhen I returned from trips with odd bits of currency left over I used to laminate the bills and use them as bookmarks. The kind of stuff I read generally has two or three bookmarks stuck in the books on my shelves, so picking up a reference on just about anything can involve travelling the world!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea!
DeleteThat’s a lot going on. No wonder you didn’t notice the week had gone by.
ReplyDeleteSomehow things get bunched up on certain weeks.
DeleteYou did get a lot done. It's all those little things that take up all of our time although going to doctor appointments are not little things for me. My problem right now is that I have at least three projects I feel MUST be done which sort of paralyzes me to the point where I get nothing done. Or if I do, it's insignificant.
ReplyDeleteI try to remove 'must' from my vocabulary.
DeleteOh my goodness, those flowers are gorgeous! I am just about to plant mine. Thanks for convincing me I need some more purple! haha. I recently got a carpet cleaning so that's something that's brought me some happiness recently. Flowers are next! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Spring is pretty showy.
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