Late as usual...Memories and Thanks Blog

I have to add a disclaimer here, I'm afraid to edit this at all... When posting the original blog, I added pictures and found that when I went to the blog, half of my text and pictures had disappeared. I went back and tried to fix it and found that more text disappeared and some pictures... I persisted and finally ended up with a very choppy and disjointed blog, I have gone back again and edited, still not all the pictures are up, but I'll try again soon. Please bear with me :)

 OK,  here it is January the 12th nearly a month since the last posting... We had the flu, and me with bronchitis afterwards but we survived and I can’t wait until the vaccine is done that isn’t egg based… I thought I would update my blog, and realized that it was time for the blog hop so I decided to combine both my blog and the blog hop, so please keep this in mind when reading. 
My blog is in honor of Mom, Lometta,  born in January 1925, she is just a few days shy of 88 years old, and spry and chipper as ever.

The blog hop is for the Memories and Thanks blog hop, which is to honor someone that has made an impact on your life. I am excited that today is the blog hop,  This hop was started in the memory of a person that passed away too soon,  Marianna , by Lori Anderson at pretty things, use the link and go by and read about it if you haven't heard the story . I am excited to see a lot of new blogs, and some of the ones that I really enjoy visiting. So many new ideas, and things to spring your imagination into full swing. I so enjoy looking at the artwork that others do. There are so many talented people out there, so many people that have such a wonderful spirit. The blogs in this are really touching, there are so many people that are honored and remembered and loved, respected and cherished. 

 If you see my Facebook page, you’ll know that before Christmas, while I was sick for a few days, I was working on a necklace and had a handful of blue and green beads and thought they were so pretty, I dug through and found all my blue and green ornaments and voila... here's the tree I did this year. I thought the colors were good, I love these and it seemed that they cheered up the place a lot. I painted the kitchen in a very pale robin's egg blue so it kind of tied in with that since I have a very open floor plan in the house.

Mom with her antlers on Christmas morning 2012

This year I didn't get much  done for Christmas. I had not been able to go shopping myself and didn't get to take my mother shopping at all. Actually, I had gone to the store back somewhere just after Thanksgiving and never got to go again until Christmas eve… sigh… We made do with the little that we had.  Mom spent the night on Christmas eve and Christmas night and we enjoyed the visit so much. I made muffins for breakfast, the cranberry and pecan ones that I always make for Christmas...and we had tamales for dinner and it was really nice. Mom was excited with presents, even though we didn't do a lot.  I suppose she remembers many years of her being sick or one of us kids being sick (usually me) at the holidays.  My Christmas present from my daughter was a beautiful diffuser and the one from my son was sweet, he bought me some bath stuff and he even bought it with his own money!! Really, I was so happy just to have Mom with us that it didn't matter if I had any gifts or not, their presents were just icing to me :)   My son didn't do so badly with the gifts, I had bought his a while back so he was not unhappy. He had a lot of fun with his grandmother. They did some card tricks and read a bit, listened to Christmas music and sang some,  played some word games and when Mom was tired, she just napped, and so did my son. The two of them sacked out and the dogs laying all over the place... it was priceless. 

My son and Mom Christmas this year

Mom with my oldest brother maybe 1944?

 It is so great that Mom is feeling so much better, and her memory was so much clearer!!!!  That in and of itself was Christmas present for me. She has really had the hardest year. The surgery she had in June really took a toll on her body and mind. It has been slow, but she is getting better every day. There were a few times that I thought she wouldn't ever recover, but as usual, she surprised us all.  Usually she just jumps right back up and carries on, but this one was different. This time it made me take a look back and think of everything she has done for me and been for me. It isn't easy to think about some of the times…There is a lot of good times but there are the  hard times, but then this is how relationships are, right? They have their ebbs and flows, and when two headstrong women are together, well… I know that she and I have had issues over the years, but really... I love her so much and can't think of what life would have been like without her. You know the youngster with bruised knees and strong will, the bumpy teen years and the very hard early motherhood years. All the advice she has given me that sometimes I didn’t want to hear and all the times that she was really the only person that understood what I was going through. Those times have all shaped our relationship into this unique bonding of hearts. 

My sister and Mom at Thanksgiving this year

Mom has been through a lot over the years, both physically and mentally. That she was born in 1925 says a lot. The depression and living in the panhandle of Texas was tough on it's own.  She could tell you stories of the dustbowl and how hard her mother and father worked. She has endured at least ten surgeries, all major, and through five babies... losing one and raising four of us… my older brother passing away was hard for her and losing  close family and friends, I can’t imagine how hard it has been…  and the hardest of all, the death of my father. In that, she and I shared such a huge bond. I think that it was unique since I was young and still living at home.  His death was not easy for anyone in the family, but it had to be the hardest on Mom.  Through everything that went on at the time I think that she held up through such circumstances was admirable.

 Mom was pretty young when my father was killed, I didn't realize how young she was at the time, but she was. To me she was old and, well, my mom...I guess you don’t really realize how old your parents are until you get older… I realized just how young she was when she went through that but it was years later when she helped me through one of  the worst times in my life… again...  this time when my husband died. 
When Greg died I was just a year younger than Mom was when my father died... and my husband died leaving me with a six year old so we had so much there that made us bond even more.  I don't know how I could have made it through that time  without her. She knew how hard it was to go through this, and she knew to be there and not say anything sometimes, because sometimes you just need someone to be there. I don’t think anyone else knew that, but she did. I don't know how she made it through when my father was killed. I really don't. She has to be the strongest woman I have ever known.  I am not saying that it was all graceful for her.  There was the doctor that gave her way too many sedatives and there is a big part that she doesn’t even remember, but what she does remember…haunts her even to this day… The reality of it is that she did make it through and kept going and kept surviving and helping and living. Sometimes that is all we can ask, and sometimes it is that living that means the most.

Mom with my son and grandson  2004

The times that we are allowed to spend with someone that impacts our lives is sometimes short, sometimes it is long and we get to savor the changes in the relationship. Mine with my mother has been, thankfully, long. Now it is that I am the adult and she is the child, not always, but it is more frequent now. This has changed our relationship a lot, but it is a good thing not only for me but especially for my son. Her living and surviving has made an impact on my children, my son is able to see the cycle of life, from the beginning with my grandson to the ending with my mother. This is teaching him (I hope) to respect life, to cherish it and to love unquestionably. My son and grandson sat at the hospital with me when Mom had surgery this summer, they were so good, they were so sweet and patient, and they hugged Mom so gently and held her hand. I cried when I went to bed every night, thinking, some day that will be me, I pray that they will be that kind to me and teach their children to be as well. 
 My daughter is older and has a son of her own,  and really, that my mother is still alive has made my daughter stronger I think. She sees that my mother is a strong woman, that she has been there for all of us and I think we all need that. Just that she has kept going, something like the Energizer bunny... she just keeps going and going.... makes a difference to us all. It gives hope that we all can be like that, keeping active and until this summer, she really didn't slow down. Well... there have been setbacks when she was sick, and days that she didn't want to move out of her chair... but at 87 she has done pretty well. Until the middle of June, she was still driving and coming over to visit and going shopping... though some of her trips were short since she was having problems with her heart. She was still able to be up and around.  She has made me realize that there is so much you can do in your life, so much you can live and how quickly it can be taken away from you.

home made  blueberry muffins

  Mom spent New Year's Eve with us also. We had blueberry muffins for breakfast (my son has announced that he really doesn't like muffins, he wants a new tradition for the holidays... bacon and eggs...) and watched the Rose Bowl Parade, it was very nice. It took me back to my childhood when we would be so excited that the parade was coming on. We ooed and ahhhhd  and my son was actually kind of amazed at the floats and the bands and horses and all the hoopla...  This time spent with her is invaluable for my son... he is 10 now, my grandson is 8 and the time that they share with her will last them all their lives. Maybe they can tell their kids something like..."when I was a kid, your Great-Grandmother and I watched this parade together."... That would be nice. Really nice.

Then all of a sudden it was back to school and my son's awards, he got three (I had to add that, I am busting at the seams, I am so proud of him!) Only a four day week but we were soooo ready for the weekend! I haven't worked much on jewelry or anything for that matter. I am still trying to catch up and clean up around the house. There seems to be a clothes monster that came and dropped off all their laundry in my laundry room..... I don't know who wore all these clothes. I stayed in pajamas for a whole week (actually two altogether)... my son as well! Somehow the monster brought in four beds worth of bedding and a months worth of clothes!  So the whole of the house is a wreck and all I can think of is beading :)

.

Two hearts

I did start on jewelry for the blog...a necklace and bracelet and matching pair of earrings and ring (does anyone else do that? I started on the bracelet and had to work on a necklace because I had an idea, then the ring... back to the bracelet then to earrings and back to the necklace... then back to the bracelet!!). I only have the picture of the bracelet from earlier in the week, working on it. I wanted to set up and take pictures last night, but... my son had other plans. I love it that he is sociable and has friends. He is growing up to be such a sweet young man. Anyway, I am seriously going to try to get pictures done later on. Promise!!!

 The theme of the bracelet I made for this blog is "two hearts" . In our case it is many hearts involved... but to me it was my mom and me. Two hearts... I started it in Valentine's colors without really thinking about it, it isn't Valentine's, but it really is a Valentine's... you see, well, my birthday is the day before Valentine's day, and for a long, long time Mom celebrated both my birthday and Valentine's as one. I know that I didn't appreciate the hearts and the pink and white back then, I thought I was being gyped out of a day of my own... but now, I miss that... I miss that she thought that I was her Valentine. She used to tell me every year about my birth... what she was doing when her water broke (making Valentine’s cards with my sister) and that I was her Valentine's Day gift. Well.... It makes me want to cry right now.

Sooo, my mother was the one all these years that made an impact on me, she made such a difference in my life... and I want to honor her for all the years that she was there for me... yes, the rough and the smooth times in our relationship, because without the rain you can't have a rainbow, without dark you don't appreciate the light. I hope that she is here for another year or two, but I have been bracing myself for the past ten years or so, and after the death of my older brother, I really tried to get my head around the fact that she might not make another year... Cherish each and every day. Pretend that this is the last day, say I love you time and time again... when her memory goes and she asks the same question over and over... be patient and always remember the rainbows.

memories-and-thanks-blog-hop.html
sorry....the link is just above th picture... having so much trouble today...

Hostess, Lori Anderson       Pretty Things

 Adlinah Kamsir                   Dream Struck Designs

 Aimee Biondolillo               Aimee's Jewelry Treasures

 Alicia Marinache                 All the Pretty Things 
 Andra Marasteanu               Handmade by Indra Marasteanu 
 Andrea Trank                      Heaven Lane Creations
 April Grinaway                   Brooklyn Bead Goddess

Barb Solem                         Vivi Magoo Presents

Becky Pancake                    Becky Pancake Bead Designs

Beth Emery                         Stories by Indigo Heart

Bonnie Coursolle                Jasper's Gems

Cassi Paslick                       Beads: Rolling Downhill

Catherine King                    Catherine's Musings

Cece Cormier                      The Beading Yogini

Chandra Leitz                     Juniper Goods

Charlie Jacka                       Clay Space

Christina Hickman              Vintage Treasures Jewelry

Christine Stonefield            Sweet Girl Design

Chrizette Bayman               Bead Soup Mix

Cindy Wilson                      It's My Sea of Dreams

Crystal Thain                      Here Bead Dragons

Cyndi Lavin                        Beading Arts

Debbie Rasmussen             A little of this, a little of that

Denielle Hagerman             Some Beads... and other things I like
Diana Gonzalez                  Arte y Poemas

Diane Hawkey                    diane hawkey

Dita Basu                            ankarshilpa

Donetta Farrington             Simply Gorgeous

Dyanne Everett-Cantrell     Deeliteful Jewelry Creations

Emma Todd                        A Polymer Penchant

Erin Kenny                         beadiful therapy

Erin Prais-Hintz                  Treasures Found

Gina Hockett                      Freestyle Elements

Gloria Allen                        Innovative Dreams Jewelry

Heather Marston                 CSW Designs

Inge von Roos                    Inge's Blog

Jacqueline Marchant          Fiddledeedee Jewelry

Jami Shipp                         Celebrating Life!

Jean Yates                          Snap Out of it Jean, There's Beading to Do!

Jennifer Reno                     Musings of a Crafty Jenny
Jenny Robledo                   Peppa's Dream

Jennifer VanBenschoten    Jewelry, Art and Life
Jessica Klaaren                  Cellar Door Jewelry

Jessica Murray                   Whimsical Monkey

Joan Williams                     lilruby jewelry

Jo-Ann Woolverton            It's a Beadiful Creation

Joanne Browne                   josjewels1

Jodie Marshall                    Jodie Marshall Lampwork Beads Wearable Art

Johanna Rhodes                 Fire Phoenix Creations
John Rasmussen                 Rasumussen Gems and Jewelry LLC

JuLee Wolfe                       The Polymer Penguin

Julie Bean                           Blue Pig Blog

Karen Mitchell                   Over the Moon Designs

Karin King                         The Sparklie Things Blog
Karin Slaton                       Backstory Beads

Kat Douglas                       Washoe Kat's
Kay Bolton                        Toodles and Binks

Kelly Hosford Patterson     The Traveling SideShow

Kim Ballor                          Vitamin C ... A Daily Does of Creativity

Kim Dworak                       CianciBlue

Kim Houston                       The Pink Martini
Kym Hunter                         Kym Hunter Designs

Laren Dee Barton                Laren Dee Designs

Lea Avroch                          LA Jewelry Designs

Leanne Loftus                      First Impression Design

Lena Adams (Mari's daughter) --Lena's Beady Blog
Liddy McLaughlin               Liddy McLaughlin Art

Linda Florian                       Lily's of the Valley Jewelry & Creative Creations

Linda Inhelder                     Must-Haves Jewelry

Lisa Hamilton                      Simply Irresistable Jewelry
Lisa Suver                            Fancee That

Lori Bowring Michaud        Artfully Ornamental

Lori Poppe                           Adventures in Creativity with Lorillijean

LouAnn Elwell                    Southpass Beads

Mandi Effron                       Craft-o-licious

Marcia DeCoster                 MadDesigns

Marcia Dunne                     The Alternative Foundry

Marie Covert                      Creating Interest

Marjorie Savill Linthwaite     bennubirdrising

Marlene Cupo                        Amazing Designs by Marlene

Martha Aleo                           Ornamento

Marti Conrad                          Marti's Buttons -n- Beads

Mary Ellen Parker                  BeeTree by m.e.

Mary Govaars                        MLH Jewelry Designs

Mary Lindell                          Mary Lindell Artisan Jewelry

Maureen Connolly                 Mrs Beadsley's Workshop

Maybeline Tay                       The Jewelry Larder

Melissa Elgin                         The Addicted Beader

Melissa Mesara                      one-eared pig beads

Menka Gupta                         Menka's Jewelry

Michaela Pabeschitz              la mar de bonita

Mischelle Fanucchi               Micheladas Musings

Mona Rae Baroody               Who Does She Bead She Is?

Nan Emmett                          Spirit Rattles -- Spirited Earth

Nancy Pedersen                    Something Heartfelt by Nancy

Natalie Davidson                  NorthShore Days
Nikki Douglas                      Bead It and Weep

Pam Farren                           re-maker

Pam, the Crazier Sister        The Crazy Creative Corner

Priya Krish                           Hellopalz  
Rebecca Anderson               Song Beads

Rebecca Sirevaag                 Becca's Place

Robin Kae Reed                   Artistry HCBD

Rochelle Brisson                  a creative chelle

Sabine Dittrich                     perlendschungel

Sandi Volpe                          Sandi Volpe

Sandra McGriff                    Creative Chaos

Sarah Goode                         Pookledo
Sarah Singer                         String a Song of Sixpence

Serena Trent                         All Things Made Jewelry

Shai Williams                       Shaiha's Ramblings
Sharon Palac                        Sharon's Jewelry Garden

Sharyl McMillian-Nelson    Sharyl's Jewelry & Reflections

Sheila Davis                         Stone Designs

Shelley Graham Turner        Fabric of My Life

Sherri Stokey                       Knot Just Macrame

Sherry Baun                         Unicorns Jewels

Skylar Bre'z                         Brising Beads

Stephanie Haussler              Pixybug Designs

Tania Spivey                        Moobie Grace Designs

Terri G.                                Blooming Ideas

Terry Carter                         Tapping Flamingo

Terry Matuszyk                    Pink Chapeau Vintage Jewelry

Toltec Jewels                       Jewel School Friends
Tracy Kruse                         Goldkisses Art

Tracy Martin                        Nutkitten's Jewelry

Zia Parks                              Anzi~Panzi's Work Shoppe

Zoe Marcin                          Beads, Tea and Sweets

  

Ho Ho Ho

Here it is the 13th of December and I still don't have my Christmas decorations up. I have the tree up, which was a great feat in and of itself. I found the lights that I wanted to use and got those on, but ended up that they were way too dark... I used purple only and they are just way too depressing and Halloweenesque... so I started searching for the regular white lights that I used last year, the ugly led lights that I really hate but are so much more economical and easier to use. I can string on a bazillion and they don't burn down the tree or flip the breaker on the electrical box... so I am happy with those. However, I have spent forever looking for them. Never finding them in with the Christmas boxes in the little storage shed that has everything cram packed to the rafters. I did find the googly eyes that I was looking for at Halloween, and the platters and the bottles with the cute and eerily funny labels and the extra test tubes filled with colored sugars...  sigh... 

So I don't have ornaments up yet. I got sick with a cold, I am sure from all the dust in the shed and the stuff that blew in from the North with the last cold front that came through, it is just like me to get sick just before a holiday. My son as well, he's sick now and can't miss any more school. We all know the trouble we were in, allowing him to stay home with a fever last year... They (the school) called with one of the robo-calls and said if your child has flu-like symptoms or has a fever, keep them home and call the school. I did, and bless his heart... they threatened to hold him back a grade, He's a straight A student with perfect citizenship... 

So, I have been washing my hands incessantly and wearing a mask (no joke) and working on a few projects, I am rather pleased with the white bracelet that I made. The picture doesn't do it justice but  right now it isn't on my priorities to take good pictures :(  I am working on a necklace that I don't want to reveal yet, it is for someone and I don't want them to see it!  We are trying to take it easy right now and not stress too much, though it is hard with a ten year old and Christmas only two weeks away. There is always such a rush at the last minute to make sure everything is picture perfect, and this year... well... seems to be that elves are going to have to come in and help out some!

Does anyone else feel inadequate right now???

Mayan Calendar

Here it is December 6th and I don't have Christmas lights up or the tree up, I don't have a wreath, I don't have my cute Christmas sweaters out, I don't have any decorations whatsoever. It isn't because I am bah humbugging... really... I just haven't had the time. Really....  Then maybe in the back of my mind somewhere there is this thought that if the Mayan's were right... maybe decorations are kind of silly. Nah. I really don't think that the Mayans were that great that they knew the precise time that the world would end... and I don't know about the state of affairs that the Middle East is in if it will implode itself and take the rest of the world with it... but maybe there is that in the back of my mind as well?  So really it is that I decorate for other people and never get around to doing my own and kind of get sick of the decorations early. I am one of those people now that takes down the decorations pretty fast. For Halloween, I decorate the day of and then take down that night. I find it pretty tacky to have spooky stuff up during the day and really tacky after Halloween. Christmas is getting almost that bad for me. Bah....

So here is my homage to the Mayan's, this is a bracelet that I made... I kind of like it. Kind of silly really isn't it that we think so much of a people that died out so long ago?  I have always found the culture intriguing and really enjoyed when my son's GT class studied the Mayan and Aztec cultures. One of the trips we took was to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth to see the Mayan Exhibit The "Fiery Pool". (http://www.kimbellart.org/maya/  ). Totally worth traveling that distance. For us, that distance is 6 hours but really, I would have gone farther just to have my son see some of the things that they were studying. The Kimbell is always a great place to visit, the exhibits are usually great and Fort Worth is always gracious.

So I am going to try to get my Christmas decorations out today, don't know about the tree.... I think I will play that one by ear... but the weather is supposed to be wonderful today and tomorrow, so I guess I better strike while the iron is hot... or make hay while the sun shines... bah....

It is a beautiful day today!!! Couldn't ask for a nicer Indian Summer here. The sky is brilliant blue and the temperature is near 80 already, and I am so excited to get out and soak up some sunshine before winter hits. 
I love this rose bush! the flowers have such a beautiful velvety look!
The bush is a rather large rose bush (rooftop at it's tallest point) that has been growing for the past 10 years, I planted it when my son was born. The rose may or may not be what it started out as, I swear I bought the JFK which is a whitish beautiful tea rose, and I'm pretty sure that is how it bloomed the first year, I think it might have frozen back that winter and is now reverted to the old stock that it was grown on, but the flowers are beautiful... it just has tons and tons of thorns. I was told that it is probably the "Red Radiance", and is pretty hardy. Like I say, it has tons of thorns, and it hurts to cut the flowers off, so I usually leave them on the plant... and I didn't even prune it back the past two years...  there are so  many thorns that the plant has chewed up most of the roses that are on it.
 Saying that... it has been dormant for most of the past two years. Off and on again it has flower buds, mostly after a rain,  but usually they are dried up before they have a chance to open up.  It rained really slow and soaking a while back and now with the cooler temperatures, the bush has gone crazy, thinking it is now or never to bloom!!!  and the pink? it is an oleander that, like the rose, has been dormant for a long time. There are other oleanders but this one seems to think it is time to bloom as well. 

I have been doing the AEDM and haven't posted anything so far of the things that I have done, but thought I would catch you up on some of the things I've been doing since Summer... well, some things, mostly stuff that doesn't pertain to art, but then some does... and I have enjoyed doing artwork this month, but there has been so much since the last time that I actually  posted about anything. 
So here goes... 

My booth, you can't see the glitter everywhere!

Some of my items

In August I did the Highland Games in my hometown, and it was fun but not very profitable. There is always more work when it is local, there are so many things you can bring that it seems unending what you have in the booth.  This first picture doesn't do it justice... there is tons of glitter that just didn't show up when I looked at the picture. Glitter absolutely everywhere. I had probably the sparkliest booth in the whole arena. 
    I do like the booth, it is very comfy. People don't understand why I don't want to be out in the open, why I hide away in the closed part of the booth... even when I only did a 10'x10' I had the walls covered, but that is the way I like it. I don't like being very social when I am at a festival, and I have kids with me usually, and they need a "quiet" place to be, away from the hubbub and I think the walls help with that, as well as they serve as a place for me to hang quilts and head garlands, etc... 

This is another shot of the booth, That is my 98 pound baby laying in the floor. He has his own bed when we go to the shows, fairs, and festivals. My real baby has his own "room", it is just behind the screen with the wings hanging on it. He takes the dvd player and snacks, rugs, pillows and blankets and hangs out there when he gets tired. He really has grown into the helper though. He found that he can do work, get paid, and go spend the money right away!  What a character... 

Then school started and things got really busy, my son decided to play football again, though he had put off enrolling for it until the last minute. He said he didn't want to play again, but when he came home the first day of school, he said all the boys had asked him if he was going to play...
 so he guessed he would... sigh.  I wasn't un-happy for him to not play... and I was apprehensive when he wanted to play. but even with moves like this (without his helmet on).... he made it through without a broken bone :) ..... OK, don't ask, just don't ask what he was doing...

Then we had some days that we weren't so busy, with my mom sick and us sitting with her, school, my classes, and football.. we did get some stuff done, OK, not a lot, but I did repair this wig form that I bought to display hats on, but her/his nose got broken off when we were going home, so I had to build another one, though he/she was kind of cute without the nose... I got a bit carried away and made it into a faerie with the ears and a cute hairdo, I didn't take a picture of the finished head, and, well, now I can't, well.. I could but I used it on the front porch for Halloween as a severed head and it got knocked off and broken... so I am going to have to redo the nose and one ear and patch the parts that chipped off. 

My son working on a science experiment

Then we had science experiments, and math projects and GT with it's unique
projects, and the never ending homework, homework, homework...
This is my son, he did a science experiment on solubility/ conductivity and insulation... I was taking pictures for his powerpoint, he wasn't impressed when I told him to smile so most of the shots were like this one. 




Which brings me to this picture of my kitchen, well, a little bit of the kitchen. We started last Summer to work on it, but we went to Britain and France for the Summer and didn't get much done, then Fall and Winter, Spring, Summer again and I didn't get it finished still....But it ends up that what I have for the counter top is kind of nice, and even if it isn't permanent it looks ok. 
I haven't done the floor, and the ceiling is still half done, but it doesn't have any holes in it either, just needs to be finished up. I want a tin ceiling, but might settle for it to be just finished!

 Halloween came and went, it was nice but we thought about all the people that had passed away or were without homes or power on the Eastern seaboard and it kind of put a damper on the occasion.  But since there are kids, there is a Halloween...

We always decorate, just to what extent is not always known until the day of... I keep all the decorations from year to year, but there is no telling what we will use and what we won't. The case in this picture(to the right) usually holds my ceramic bunny and ceramic eggs. I used to use them just at Easter but found they were kind of cute all year long, but I put black birds and vulture eggs in the case for Halloween, it just seemed right for them. I have a jar of Vulture Eggs on top of it, Somehow I didn't find the box with the large bottles of "blood- O+" or the "Vulture Vomit" 'ghoul guts' or other assorted vile viles....  I don't know what happened to them, but we had moved so many of the items last year when we were moving boxes of kitchen stuff, that well, I don't honestly know where anything is! So we did the laboratory without them. It does have the small jar of monster dentures and severed fingers, eyeballs, and other ghoulish items... 

Which brings me back up to this point in time... and the AEDM... I have sketches from 4 days, and a couple of rings and a bracelet, and yesterday? the dining table was my project. I know it isn't really art... but I started stripping the table of the paint and the nasty surface that I had covered up in the first place and  it is going to be my labor of love. I didn't do anything else creative yesterday. The table is kind of big and bulky, and it is going to be another day to get it all sanded down and bleached (I am going for a well worn surface that is bare, kind of a rustic French Country look, so it doesn't need any sealer or anything on it. My son, ever the optimist said ..."well, we can always use a tablecloth if anyone comes over"....  yes, son, we can... I don't know if he is embarrassed by me at any point or not... My daughter is I am sure, but she has gotten used to me being eccentric I guess... my son, not as much used to it as he is learning to live with it!!
So, what have you been up to lately????