an unexpected outcome

I think I'm finally recovering from my three weeks of visits. What I thought would only take a few days turned out to take nearly a whole week but today I'm feeling like doing something. Unfortunately, that something will probably not be something that I want to do but rather something that I need to do and that something is clean house.

I'm afraid I have slipped back into my more slovenly ways.

When we moved into this fresh new clean house I vowed not to let it get away from me. And I succeeded for a while but apparently, you can't really change your nature. Nature always wins out.

One of the reasons I am feeling more energetic, besides just days of being a slug, is because of what happened last night.

Months ago, our friend Gene encouraged us to submit a piece to Archway Gallery's annual juried exhibition for Texas artists. Archway Gallery is an artist owned gallery in Houston, a very nice space with some very talented artists in all types of media.

Last week we had to take our entries for jurying by the current director of the Houston Center For Contemporary Craft. We got the call on Thursday that our piece had been juried in and they encouraged us to attend the opening which was last night.

The first thing I did was to check that they had our names spelled right on the tag by our piece. Yes! You wouldn't think I would have to do that but for some reason, both our names are frequently mis-spelled at shows.

After saying hello to the artists we knew that were part of the gallery I noticed there were name tags so I went to get mine and Marc's. They had one for Marc (spelled correctly) and then they had one for Ellen Albert. Well, they got three of the letters right anyway. I just cut off everything past the A.

I hadn't really paid any attention to the particulars of the show, only deciding at the last minute what to submit so I was a little surprised to find, once there, that there were awards.

So the time came for the director to read the juror's comments and to announce the awards. I thought maybe we might get an Honorable Mention, (our usual place though we did get 3^rd once).

They called out all 7 of the Honorable Mentions, then 3^rd place, then 2^nd place and I quit listening, turning to head deeper in the gallery where Marc and some friends were standing and then...was that my name?

Did he just say my name?

Why, yes he did! First place came with a $500 check and an invitation to show in their next exhibit.

I'm still dumbfounded but it has certainly put the spark back in my creative endeavors.

Now if I just had a maid.

post holiday or holiday post

I've started several posts since my last, the 'S' post, but didn't get farther than a paragraph or two with either of them.

I see I've gained a dozen or so new 'followers' in the last several weeks and I want to welcome them. If they are still here, that is. After my last two posts they might have backpedaled. But that's what you get with me. Nothing is too sacred or embarrassing for me to prattle on about.

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It's the day after three long days of wax model making, one long day of mold filling and cooking, another day of cooking and sharing a feast on Thanksgiving and from then through the weekend the house is filled with grandkids and the refrigerator is filled with food enough that I shouldn't have to fix anything else all day. And that's saying something because they can eat a lot.

I'm taking the day off, not doing any kind of work. I'm hanging out with my g'kids, teens now except for the youngest who is nearly 11. This time though the three oldest came equipped with laptops and iPod Touchs. We've sprinkled poppy seeds liberally around the yard, they've covered the concrete apron with rainbow drawings, the g'boy has been getting target practice with the BB gun and cans, new murals are taped up over the windows in my workroom, the weather has been near perfect.

Continuing on with my first attempt, I was really very surprised (and delighted as well) to see that Hilary of The Smitten Image chose my 'S' post to include in her feature Posts Of The Week last Wednesday, Nov. 23. Thanks, Hilary. There was another one I haven't acknowledged yet last August 24, my post 'Lessons'. So double thanks. If you don't know Hilary, go visit her place, she takes the most amazing photos.

Continuing with my second attempt, well, I guess there isn't really a continuation. We woke up to rain on Saturday morning and it rained off and on til about 1 PM. We're still very behind on our rainfall but at least we are starting to get some now. After it cleared up we went to the little re-sale shop the kids love, visited my sister, and tried unsuccessfully to fly a kite since it was gusty and not windy.

Having the g'kids here is all consuming. They didn't monopolize my computer this time since they have all their own devices now but they did monopolize my time. It's still my favorite song...Granny, Granny, Granny. So. I am woefully behind not only in my reading of many wonderful posts but also in my own posting. This month will be the fewest times I have posted since I started but this month has been very busy.

You know, I'm a working woman now with my part time job at Miss Hattie's since the commission work has been very sparse the last year and a half and we taught the workshop and I'm trying to get some things made for the open house and studio sale next weekend and Thanksgiving and having the g'kids for three days and next Thursday is clean-up and set-up day at the studio and Friday I'm sitting in on a refresher day with the printing on glass instructor to finally get these pictures done and the Memory box finished and then the open house over the weekend and whew!

Anyway, here's a few pictures from the last several days:

Wax flower with pre-cast bee inclusion.

The three girls had a rainbow contest.

Later, the twins drew a giant birthday card for their dad whose 40^th was Friday. They wouldn't let Robin help. You can see their opinion of 40 on the far left.

Mikey shooting cans.

They ate several of the fruits off our miniature pomegranate.

Spied this little grasshopper on a rose.

still more misc blog poop

Consulting my little notebook I see I have several awards and mentions to acknowledge.

Hilary over at The Smitten Image has twice graced me lately with a Post Of The Week mention, May 18 for L is for... and June 15 for Play Date (the titles are links in case you missed them). Obviously, she must not have been reading any of my excellent posts for July and August. hee hee, just kidding Hilary. Hilary is an awesome photographer so you should all go over and see the world through her eyes, or eye as the case may be.

And Linda from Blue Skies Sunny Days has recently awarded me the Liebster Blog, for blogs with fewer than 200 followers (or members as blogger calls them now). And yes, I still qualify for that. She's a fairly new reader of mine and obviously doesn't know what the rest of you have already figured out, that this is the Hotel California for blog awards (they can check in but they can never check out). She has recently left San Francisco and moved back to the part of isolated Oklahoma near where she and generations of her family grew up searching, like the rest of us at this point in our lives, for peace and tranquility and wondering why the hell she thinks she will find it in this “godforsaken state” (her words in case you couldn't figure out what the quote marks were for).

I'm supposed to recommend 5 other blogs with less than 200 'members' but when blogger introduced the new dashboard they did away with the 'manage your blogs' function that let you see at a glance which blogs you follow and how many members they have so I would have to visit every friggin' blog I read to find the appropriate ones and, well, I'm just not gonna do that. The real reason, though, is that I'm not very good at following rules. But do go visit Linda at least.

The last thing on my little agenda here is I noticed yesterday that my last post before this one marked 500 for me. And still I ramble on. That's gotta be some kind of milestone, right?

even more misc blog poop

long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away...

Well, OK, it hasn't been that long.

Anyway.

Linda over at Ye Olde Crone's Gazette (or it could have been Olde Baggs 'n Stuft Shirts, I forget), some indeterminate time ago, bestowed upon me the Sunshine Award. I know this because I came across a piece of paper with this scribbled on it:

Sunshine Award

Linda Old Bagg

If there were conditions or instructions, I don't remember what they were besides saying thank you, which I am sure I did, and acknowledging it, which I am doing now. And then there's the whole sending it on thing. This I cast to the wind for sunshine to fall on any and all.

Thank you Linda for thinking of me.

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I don't usually enter giveaways and when I do, I don't win but for some reason I entered these two and ended up the lucky recipient.

SueAnn of SueAnn's Journey gave me a $40 gift certificate to the CSN on-line store.

From Linda Sue of ALL I EVER WANTED I received a lovely little triangular box filled with some dreamy chocolates.

Unfortunately, I had to share the chocolates before I got my new knife.

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I was pleasantly surprised to learn I am Blog Of The Month on R.A.D. Stainforth's blog, Black Dogs. Apparently I impressed him with how culturally astute I am with my post on Hahn Bin.

Anyway, thanks RAD. I am stupidly pleased.

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And then, my darling poetess extraordinaire Shay over at Word Garden, who even though she knows I am the black hole of awards, gave it to me anyway, bless her little heart, selected me for the Stylish Blogger Award. This was recent enough for me to still remember and I am supposed to tell you 7 things that you may not know about me. (finally! I made this list ages ago. I thought I was going to have to make up my own award and send it to myself to be able to use it.)

So here be it:

1. The middle toe on my right foot is still 6 years old.
2. I have been concussed 3 times. (I know a lot of you are going...ooohhh, so that explains it...right about now)
3. I have a talent for untangling knots.
4. I love roller coasters.
5. The wind literally blew me over backwards once (or maybe twice).
6. I could sit and do jigsaw puzzles all day.
7. I've never worked as a waitress.

As usual the task of selecting one over another is not something I wish to undertake as I feel everyone is worthy.

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And finally, I see I have gained a new follower here and there, so welcome. I'm not very good at replying to comments but when I do it's usually via email so if you are one of those that have the 'no-reply' blogger address, you won't get them. Heck, I won't even write them. Sometimes, though, I will respond in the comments. You know, just to keep you guessing.

Just so you know.

resting on my laurels

I have a couple of honors to recognize...

First, last Wednesday Hilary of The Smitten Image, who does a feature every week called Post Of The Week in which she recommends half a dozen or so posts, selected my post 'D is for...' for the top spot. If you don't know Hilary's blog you really must go visit. She has an incredible eye and her nature photos, and most especially her bird photos, are just amazing. Thanks Hilary, for selecting my post last week and for your beautiful photographs.

Another blog that is new to me, Everyday Goddess, also does a similar feature called Toasting The Posts Of The Week. I was browsing around and popped into her place yesterday and was stunned to see that my post 'ice, ice baby' was among her list. Thank you Everyday Goddess.

As long as I'm sending people on to other blogs, here's a few more you should go visit if you don't already know them.

Fireblossom at Shay's Word Garden has been my little secret since I first stumbled on her. She writes poems that are really stories and constantly blows me away. She's getting discovered now and my measly comments sometimes get lost in the hurrahs. Not that I'm jealous or anything.

I've recommended John Kurman's blog Random Walks before when he was first getting started. It's still one of my favorites. That said, I'm not really sure how to categorize his blog. He's an intellectual type who teaches sculpture at an Illinois university. And he's not shy.

Cynthia (her name and her blog's name) is a glass artist and computer techie nerd and gear head who shares everything she knows. And she comes up with the greatest human stories. I swear she makes some of them up. Like this one.

I know, I know. I'm supposed to be getting people to come to my blog, not send them away but it's still frozen out there and I've promised myself that I would work in the studio on my waxes all weekend so you're getting nothing new from me.

recognized at last

We're in the city this week finishing up this job, our last job or perhaps not. On the way in Monday we received two phone calls. We get more calls while we are in the truck than we do at either house. I think perhaps we should just throw a mattress in the back and call it home.

Anyway. The second call was from a previous client. We did some some work for them years ago in their previous house which they have sold and they now want some work in their new house and can they come by on Thursday. Which was really convenient for us. Gave us time to get most of the work done we had to do (although it is taking longer as it turns out and why do I continue to be surprised by that?). Thursday was going to be an extra day, then it turned out to be not and it might even be Friday before I am done.

This job has a lot of laminated glass and it is so time consuming. All the glass has to be cut to size, shaped and edged with a grinder and flat lap, made to fit and then, while that is being done, the stencil is cut and the glass is etched and carved and textured by sandblasting or chemical cream.  Then more adjusting of the laminated glass pieces because the glass is never the same as the drawing. Then, all the sandblasted areas need to be protected, all the glass needs to be cleaned and blah blah blah. Better explained with pictures. I'm digressing because this isn't supposed to be about this job I've another post planned for that.

It's supposed to be about the meeting. Or rather, my horror at the way the old shop looks. It's been hit and run for the last year and a half and the place looks like it. Not to mention that it has started to flood easily whereas it would only flood once in a while before or if the rain came from the wrong direction. Or the right direction. Nevermind

Anyway, the shop looked dirty and abandoned. Not a place I would want to talk business with to someone. So I spent the afternoon cleaning and throwing away trash and dusting shelves and straightening up tools and machines. There's some definite flood damage along the back wall that I can't really do anything about. My job is still spread out over the big table and I'll be working on it when they arrive. Hopefully, It doesn't look quite the hole now. I'm fairly confident of this meeting because they contacted me with intent and it's just a matter of coming to the meeting of the minds. The least I could do was clean it up a bit.

And we learned today that although our Imac (as reported in the woe post) did not have the blue screen of death, it did indeed have the gray screen of death. Hard disc? Pfft! What, you didn't have it backed up? hysterical laughter and pointing fingers ensue I had moved some stuff. But so so much is lost. 99% of all my pictures. my kick ass sunset pictures I worked on last weekend Some stuff I can get off my web site, some stuff we can recreate. I am surprisingly unperturbed by this. It's a pain in the ass, yes, but I'm not freaking out.

Yet.

When I had come in from my labors, I checked my email and found that finally I am getting the recognition I deserve! Apparently, some one recommended my blog to the International Blogging Recognition Council, they reviewed a particular post, and have recommended that my blog receive their designation of “Recognized Blog” quote “IBRC reserves this honor to those blogs that effectively connects with the audience and promotes the sharing of ideas and experiences.” I don't know about the connecting and ideas part but they got the sharing my experiences part right interesting or not. They invited me to visit their website to learn more. So...

I went to their website. If I will just register and pay the $45 registration fee, they will send me my personalized IBRC 'Recognized Blog' badge.

Isn't that how I ended up in 'Who's Who'?

misc blog poop

Thanks to Hilary of The Smitten Image. She has, once again, included me in her Posts Of The Week for NDE possum style. I'm honored to be included in this group of excellent blog posts.  Go visit Hilary's blog.  She takes some awesome photos.

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I go back and forth about replying to comments on my blog. Not about replying at all but rather, which way to reply. Sometimes I will reply on my blog if I think I am adding something to the original post but lately I have been replying via email. This is because I don't always go back myself to a blog I have commented on to see if there was a reply. But I wonder if people are getting my replies via email, especially if they have a spam filter like I do which is set on high. I do get a notice, though, once a day of 'suspect' emails so that I can catch the ones that aren't spam.

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Like most of us here in blog land, I get the occasional spam comment from 'anonymous'. It doesn't happen so often that I feel the need to moderate comments or use the word verification function. I get notice via email of new comments and when one of these pops up I just go right back and delete it. Although on one particular post, the spammer posted it three times! Delete, delete, delete. Anyway... Occasionally I will get a real comment by anonymous and at least three times now I have gotten weird comments. Not exactly spam but seems irrelevant to my post like these two (copied verbatim):

Approvingly your article helped me truly much in my college assignment. Hats off to you send, wish look forward for the duration of more interrelated articles promptly as its anecdote of my pet subject-matter to read.

Good brief and this fill someone in on helped me alot in my college assignement. Thanks you for your information.

What?!

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I've noticed a lot of blog make-overs lately. Some blogs change their header regularly, but lately there seems to be a lot of total renovations. Many have gone over to the 3 column format. And personal blog buttons are multiplying like, well, like rabbits. I've kept mine clean and simple but now with all the re-dos I'm thinking about spiffing it up a little. I still like this clean look so no background wallpaper for me but I might add a lot more pictures of my work on the sidebar. I like having the wide format too because it allows for larger pictures.

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I'm having a love/hate relationship with the 'updated' post editor. It has some features that I really like, the 'strike through' which is fun to use now and then and the picture poster which makes it so easy to size, place and move pictures. But for some reason it is also so aggravating. It won't always hold my formatting, frequently changing it when I publish. It will through no direction of mine suddenly change the font on certain paragraphs. And don't get me started on the spacing. Even when I am posting and placing my pictures, it will act differently to the exact same commands. Arrrrrgh! And the font size I tell it to publish in that seems to show on other computers does not show itself on mine and when I want to center my text I have to give it the command twice. I have gone back to the old post editor out of frustration but that didn't last very long.

another minute of fame

I’ve just learned that my blog is being featured on Magaly’s blog Pagan Culture today.  I’m thrilled and honored.  I just wish I had a stunning post ready.  I was planning on coasting on yesterday’s.  If I was really ambitious I’d have a list of links to some of my better efforts but you’re just going to have to stumble around instead.

I’ve just found Magaly’s blog recently and she is such a sweetie to do these features on other bloggers.  If any of my regular readers have not visited her before then you should scoot on over there.

it's all about me(me)

Several weeks ago Madame DeFarge of Bateau de Banane dumped...er, bestowed upon me the Premier Meme Award wherein I am to list 7 quirky things about me as evidenced in my blog.  I am always thrilled and delighted whenever one of our fellow bloggers out there finds me...um, I mean, finds me entertaining.  I’m supposed to pass this on to 7 other unsuspecting...er, I mean deserving blogs but the sad truth is, I’m not very good at doing that.  I like to play but I have a hard time singling out just a few of the wonderful blogs I read.  I wouldn’t want to obligate...er, I mean hurt anyone’s feelings who was not selected. My standard fall back is I’m awarding this to any and all who want to play.

so here’s my seven quirks:

1.  I think chickens are entertaining.  Well, maybe not chickens per se, rather, I think my sister’s experiences with chickens are entertaining. (click on the ‘chickens’ label)

2.  I collect dead insects...pretty, interesting dead insects.  I’ve been planning to post pics so this is a future blog quirk.

3.  I’m tenacious (as evidenced by the fact that I will still post even when I don’t have anything funny or even remotely interesting to say) although there are some people out there who would prefer to call me ‘stubborn as a mule’.

4.  I am a self-employed artist...by choice!  If that’s not quirky, I don’t know what is.  (You can experience the self inflicted hair pulling and ass kicking by clicking on the ‘art’ label.)

5.  I have no problem whatsoever expressing my opinion as those of you on the receiving end of my comments are well aware.

6.  I’m not nearly as quick on my feet as I am on a keyboard so if you ever meet me in person you will probably be wondering who this dull-witted woman is.

7.  I live in two worlds, the city and the country, hence the continual ping pong of the nature of my posts.

That last one was hard to come up with although I’m sure there are many of my readers who could list several more of my (less attractive) quirks without even thinking.  If you are new to me, and want to know even more about my infinitely fascinating personality you can read about the jobs I have had or the ten things you don’t know about me.

things you probably didn't want to know...

OK. I guess I’m going to do this now.  A couple of weeks ago, Andrea of Not Rocket Science tagged me with the ‘Honest Scrap’ award (no, I am not posting the picture).  I‘m supposed to tell 10 things about me that you don’t know.  Then I’m supposed to send it on to some other unsuspecting folk.  Here’s a confession.  I don’t send stuff on.  I don’t forward forwards, I don’t do chain letters and I don't pass on awards.  Please, believe me when I say that I am very grateful and appreciative when other bloggers think of me and send this stuff my way.  I’m happy that they, my loyal readers, swim around in my universe, but the hard truth is that stuff like that ends here.  Besides, everyone I read is deserving, otherwise I wouldn’t read you right?  So this is an open invitation for anyone who wants to play to just jump right in.

When I first read that I had to come up with a list of 10 things you don’t know about me, I thought I had already blown that with my ‘jobs’ list.  It’s taken a few weeks but here is way more than you probably ever wanted to know, as if you hadn’t got to that point already.

My Top 10 list:

10.  I was the only one in my family that did not wear glasses.  However now, like everyone else my age, I need reading glasses.  

9.  In 1970 I hitchhiked with two friends to Washington DC from Chicago for one of the anti-war marches on the Capital.  Had my parents known they would have had apoplexy and I would have gotten the ‘What Will Our Friends and Colleagues Think’ speech.

8.  The only TV show I have ever seen every single episode of is ‘Lost’.  Don’t ask me what’s going on though, I quit trying to make sense of it long ago.  

7.  I am right handed and right eye dominant but I use the phone with my left ear.

6.  I prefer being barefoot and only put on shoes when I am leaving the house or my feet are cold.  I will not wear heels.

5.  I have a voice that carries.  When the kids were in Little League, the other parents would get me to call their kids who were across the field.  People frequently shush me, but I’m not yelling...really.

4.  I am a 12th generation American.  So far.

3.  I cannot leave jigsaw puzzles alone.  I love jigsaw puzzles.  They satisfy me on so many levels.

2.  When I eat watermelon, I always save the heart for last.  I take a lot of ribbing for this but when we visited our friends in NY recently, Charles did the same thing.

1.  I pee in the shower.  (C’mon, you do it too.)

two with one blow!

Verily at Verily I Go has honored me with (not one but) two blog awards...the Lemonade and the Golden Heart.  I’m already in debt for the Lovely Blog awards I got (two in one week) from California Girl at Women of a Certain Age and Sydney from Adventures in Nature.

My thanks and appreciation to these fellow bloggers for passing these on...er...awarding them to me. These things are sort of like chain letters and I am notorious for being the broken link. So I apologize if I fall true to form. I will try to find a few unsuspecting...er...deserving bloggers to dump...er...bless with these lovely awards.

Really though, everyone on my blog list is deserving so consider yourselves served...er...awarded.

All humor aside, I am truly appreciative of these gifts.

being honored

I have been honored with the Lovely Blog Award by California Girl.  To her I am most grateful and to all the people who have added me to their read list and to those who just visit now and then.  I am new to blogging, never even read them until one day last January I decided to start one, still not clear in my own head why I felt compelled to do so.  I have always focused my energy on visual images but awhile back a couple of friends on a bulletin board I frequent have complimented me on my writing when I have posted some of the stories about moving to the country.  I have even been asked to write a few ‘how to’ articles for a glass art magazine.  So, I guess, all it took was to give me a few compliments.  And now another.  From my heart, thank you.  I am deeply aware that I receive more than I give.

I want to ‘pay it forward’ as California Girl said to me.  Is it rude of me to not do it right away?  Will I be considered ungrateful if I wait a few days or a few weeks to do so?  Am I out of place to display my award before I pass it on?  My read list is short and mostly well traveled and known to my few followers and commenters.  As I understand it, the purpose of this award is to share new finds with our friends.  When time permits I cast my line out.  Some I throw back, some I keep.  Right now, I have not time.  I am behind on my job and the bank account is getting perilously low.

I could easily pick a few at random and move on but I would not have fulfilled my obligation.  So I ask, please be patient with me and one day, not too far from now, I will happily share my treasure.