Ewe and me . . .

I just bought my first piece of original art that cost more than a pittance. I really like it. In fact, I like all of her stuff. It's shown at the left and was painted by Diane Selby, a Kentucky painter. Her web site is dselby.com and I suggest you look through her online gallery. Some of her work is hanging at Barnes and Noble in Lexington.

A couple more quotes from the Jim Harrison book I just finished. " . . . when you are born and raised in the country neuroses are only minimally tolerated", and . . ."I was diverted by NPR when a disembodied male voice said that a mere teaspoon of a neutron star would weigh a billion tons. As a literature person I at first missed the point and wondered at the preposterous strength of the teaspoon."

Three Things . . .

I'm sitting pretty high in the cat-bird seat. Feeling pretty good. Probably due to the fact that I went to one helluva concert last night with my friend Lydia . . . to see guitarist Tommy Emmanuel. The show was here in Frankfort. I told Lydia it was like walking out my Father's door to go across the street to the High School. At the time, the High School was my whole world.

I've got lots to do. One of my projects is a remake of a blue sweatshirt (pictured above). I think it's going to be pretty neat AND pretty pretty.

Speaking of Dad (above--first paragraph), I have another quote from the Jim Harrison book I'm reading (The English Major). "It seems like my parents die in my mind several times a week." Somehow that's not sad . . . it's just thoughtful.

The Great Pumpkin!

I have moved the gorgeous geraniums I had on the front porch bench to the kitchen for over-wintering. This is their 4th year. I hung them upside down to dry out the first winter . . . and put them on a bench in the kitchen window thereafter. A little old lady I met in the Adirondacks told me to just move them inside and pinch them back . . . which is VERY effective.

Time for pumpkins!

I'm reading a book by Jim Harrison (he wrote Legends of the Fall). One sentence struck me as funny and familiar. He says his new principal wore "a PhD like a lei". I know several folks like that. They can't get over their credentialing. Thank goodness none of MY friends are like that (truly). Only friends of friends, I guess, which I seem to avoid like the plague.

I've spent a great deal of the afternoon looking for pictures of bluebirds, cardinals, tufted titmice, etc., so I will have something to "go by" for the "big-footed" birds I'm creating. I "rough carved" the bird shapes from styrofoam last night. I have big plans. I'm going to do 5. Marlaine Verhelst is mentoring this process online. I've taken an online class with her before. She's scheduled to conduct a class at the Museum of Art and Craft in Louisville next year. It may not make, though.

Gwendolyn

I took a knitting class a couple of weeks ago and have finished a pillow top for Gary's mother Gwen. It was great fun and no sweat because it didn't have to FIT anything.

Here's a picture with the material I've chosen for the back and a ruffle all around. I think I'll embroider her name across the front. She's in a nursing home now and I thought a pillow for her bed might be something I could give her for Christmas. Especially as it might not get "lost" because her name will be on it.

She really has no short term memory any more, but she's maintained her personality, which is gracious, funny, sweet, and all the things you would hope. She thinks she likes "this big place."

Mare's Tails and Pumpkins . . .

Unlike fog's "little cat feet", fall has come with "mare's tails" in the sky. Yesterday the temperature was in the 60s (after dropping from the low 80s). Today's the same. I need to get the pumpkins (artificial) out from under the house. Tomorrow will probably be brilliant in the low seventies. I'm more than ready. The leaves haven't turned yet, but I'm guessing any day now . . .

If I had a hammer . . .

Mary Travers is dead. Such a sweet, soaring, nasal nightingale. One of the voices of my youth.

My late husband (before he was my husband) did lights and sound for most of the shows (traveling as well as local) at Eastern Kentucky University. Peter, Paul, and Mary were in Richmond to perform at the new (then) Alumni Coliseum. . . probably before an election . . . they were quite political. The Little Theatre at Eastern provided volunteers for stagework. One of David's friends, Johnny, came huffing and puffing up to David asking to borrow his car keys to run an errand. David tossed him the keys and Johnny took off. Only later did David find out that Johnny had taken Mary Travers to the Colonel's to get something to eat. David was ticked at Johnny, of course, but he did manage to tell folks, as often as possible, that Mary Travers' rear end had been right there, RIGHT THERE, in the passenger seat of his little VW convertible.

Rip-snorting Fall lineup . . .

Have any of you ever wondered where the adjective "rip-snorting" (as in Dan Brown's (photo at right) new "rip-snorting adventure") came from?

It looks as if there's going to be a great fall for new books (Pat Conroy, Diana Gabaldon, John Irving, Dan Brown, John LeCarre, Jane Smiley, Denise Giardina, and Arturo Perez Reverte); new movies (The Lovely Bones, Where the Wild Things Are, The Informant, The Men Who Stare at Goats, 9 (which I saw yeeeaaars ago on Broadway), and a new Michael Moore movie; local events (the new Grand series, Kentucky Bourbon Festival, book signings at Joseph Beth --Diana Gabaldon, and the local library--Silas House, etc.). . . but, alas, I read through the most recent Entertainment magazine with great frustration regarding this fall's TV lineup. I saw ab-so-lute-ly NOTHING of interest. Thank goodness (as always) for PBS, and, for that matter, HBO, Showtime, C-Span, etc., for continuing to make the major networks irrelevant.