The best gifts

I'm officially sixty years old now and loving it.  I have been showered with birthday wishes via phone calls, cards, emails, Facebook greetings and boxes delivered by the UPS man.


The best thing in life is to be embraced in the love of family and friends in non-material ways.  


I take care of all my own material needs quite well myself, thank you....not that I'm turning away the UPS man anytime soon.  Oh settle down, Left Brain...I didn't mean it that way!

In the mail I received a large envelope from my grandkids, addressed to The Bubster.  They created a large (zero points no less!) ice cream cone with 60 flavors, each one being the things they love about their Bubbe.  Some of the comments made me laugh...some made me cry.... some require a bit of explanation.  


Such as #19 "she likes to play with body parts".  That's not what you might be thinking...

Remember... I am a doll maker and have boxes of arms and legs and heads in my studio - these are the body parts they are referring to.  There's no "chop shop" or harvesting going on here!


I'd show them all in this blog (not the body parts....the comments) but the little darlings mixed them all up, making it hard to list in order and...well, these are my treasures and I'm not willing to share them all.  I guess I'm getting selfish in my old age.

All my life I longed to hear one thing from my mother that she was proud of or pleased about me and never achieving that goal...so you can understand why this gift is priceless.  They found not only ONE thing but 60!  They always greet me with hugs and kisses and shower me with love....ALL the time....EVERY time I see them.  This is the best gift of all.  Thank you my beautiful little girls.  You're the best!


Then last night they all sang happy birthday over the phone to me (they harmonize amazingly, but that should be no surprise...they are very musical) and I've saved it on my phone so I can replay it over and over.  I look forward to their visit next weekend so I can really enjoy them and celebrate my birthday one more time.  I may just keep celebrating for the rest of my life...I like that plan.


Long Live the Old Queen


PS Now...go tell someone what they mean to them and make their day.

A great birthday

It was a hot and sticky day today while working at the art fair.  My mother told me the day I was born was the hottest day of the year and I believe her.


All day long I had people visiting my booth and wishing me a happy birthday, one handsome man picked some mushrooms for me to dry and see if I can use them in a new creation.


Another friend brought me a beautiful red and black sari to use in whatever manner I chose.  It appears she has several other sari's in her closet and didn't need this one any more.  Yeah, I'm thinking....I have so many friends with that same problem.  All those saris clogging up the closet space.  It's just gorgeous and trying to decide how to use it will be most of the fun.


The day ended with a neighbor and friend stopping by and assisting with the take down.  The three of us went to Ciatti's afterwards for supper and I enjoyed some steak and shrimp and a portion of the chocolate cake.


Then I picked up some tuna for She Devil and I promised to assemble her new fountain tomorrow.  There's nothing better than  being home with loved ones


Long Live the 60 year old Queen!

Art Fair on the Green

Day one down and one more to go tomorrow.  It was close to 90 today with a heat index (someone told me) of 110.  I really didn't need to know that.  I was okay with the heat until she said that, then I felt, well...hot.


I chose my clothing options with "what am I least likely to pass out in" and wore a sleeveless dress.  Not the most flattering, even with the improving body, but survival instincts prevailed.
  
Thankfully my booth has good shade and there was a breeze throughout the day, so it wasn't too bad.  The show was very slow, possibly due to the heat or economy or both.  It was a long day's labor to make $68.00.  Maybe tomorrow will be the big day.  I know better, but I keep on believing.


But, it was enough to purchase the new water fountain for She Devil for her birthday tomorrow.  She'll be so pleased with it.  Well, as pleased as she ever is.  I'll add a can of tuna to the gift and she'll be fine with it.  It's all about the tuna.


Long Live the Hot and Sticky Queen

Greasing the aluminum pipe to the bird feeder may have worked, but then again I haven't see her try to climb it.  However, I did see her the other night with her four babies.  Now I feel guilty about stopping the food source, so added some peanuts below the feeder for the little ones.  I'm hoping they show up for some photos soon.


The tent is set up for the art show this weekend and I'll be heading out bright and early to arrange the dolls for sale.  The weather continues to be hot and humid, so I plan to bring some ice in a cooler with a rag to keep my neck wet.


Even though there is a lot to do, I managed to sneak in a movie before the set up.  Saw "Stupid, Crazy Love" with Steve Carrell.  Very funny and heart warming.


Lesson learned last night - don't eat watermelon over the laptop - it juices up the screen and the backspace button is a bit sluggish. 


Long Live the Queen

My first attempt at working with clay

I had previously taken Joyce Diveley's clay camp for grown ups and learned the basics of working with clay.  We made a bowel, a vase and I opted to make a fairy house and a doll face.

After they had dried, we went back to add the glazing and then she fired them in the kiln.  We just got the call that they were ready to pick up.  I could hardly wait to see how they turned out.  This is the view from the back.

My favorite project was the fairy house.  It turned out better than I had hoped.


This is a closeup of the sides and detail throughout.

Our other project was to make a bowl.  


I wanted to keep this as simple as possible and had no thought of liking it. So I was surprised to see how much I enjoyed it.


Who would have thought?

Our third project was to make a vase.  


I had purchased one of these from her previously as I liked the abstract design, so it felt threatening to try to replicate the design.


It turned out well enough but I wish I had used bolder colors instead of staying with the neutral tones of brown.  Oh well.

My last project was to create a small doll face.  I just wanted to play with making facial features before I let go of the clay.  


After completing this last attempt, I'm excited about trying to make faces with paper clay.  Using that medium won't require a kiln.


Now I'll need to create a body for her.  Maybe I'll try that using the paper clay soon.


Long Live the Queen of Clay