Potluck

Queen Contained, Q. Cassetti, 2010, pen and inkLots of active people here. Bruce is here. Gloria is here from California. Two kids in "Snoopy!". The general doings around the campus...and more ideas and thoughts than one could imagine. Lots of real estate talk. Lots of "what am I doing with my life and how do I want to live" talk. The cats keep complaining about the lack of food and the deprivations they suffer. Shady Grove is right on point about her opinions of squirrels and pine cones...and how they are interrelated in many shades of oddity. So, I am trying to keep up with the melee.

I have the Hangar brochure on the boards as well as the Mothers Day poster for the Rongo. Rumor has it that I have been invited to talk with Jackie Merwin on May 16th on her Bohemian Potluck radio interview. We will talk about my design and illustration as it relates to the local music scene. You know, as I thought about it, I have touched at least 5 CDs without really realizing that there is a small body of work there. Imagine! So, we will see. And if it does happen, I will put it out there for all of you.

Another "out of the blue" came into my email box yesterday--a request to use my "Sweetheart" valentine (got into AI), toned with red for a Speck, iPhone case. Sweet? If there are wholesale orders--I could get 8% of gross. If it is over the zazzle.com page, I get the standard markups. Might be fun to get some to sell directly (ie. Wholesale). We will see. These things get so exciting and render zero to nothing in fiscal return. We have also just started posting work to Etsy....>> and will have more in the next few days. There are holiday cards, postcards, even my tattoos. I am going to get some bee postcards printed as the ones from the "Home Sweet Home" series came out so nicely with Printograph.

Other news includes a publication that was a surprise yesterday from the Cornell Veterinary School on the practice and training of vets in shelter medicine. Shelter Medicine is fascinating as it addresses dogs/cats as a herd so keeping the herd healthy and viable translates to adoptable pets which then make happy families (the last part is my putting a bow on top...but hey, its to raise money so a bit of schmatz is what is needed here). I am looking forward to this.  Queen Schmatz, thats, me.

Plans are afoot to make granola and sell it at the Tburg Farmers Market this season under the "Hodge Podge Lodge" brand. Its is so easy and the kids need to raise some money so I am working on a label and coffee bags to have a nice presentation...and we will go for it. I'm excited. Who knows if the kinder are.

Gotta go. I have been wild in bone management--making more chicken stock (almost obsessively) than we can consume. But, everytime I go to the store, I somehow hit the bone jackpot (at $.29 a pound) and feel the need to load up on backs and wingtips to roast and boil to make soup for lunch. And dang, the soup is really really good these days. Guess a winter locked in the house with a mountain of bird carcasses has really added up to something beyond a grim mortuary pile.

TED Happiness

"George Washington" So-called 'fraktur' drawing. Done by Pennsylvania German artists in a style reminiscent of medieval illuminated manuscript art. The name, "fraktur", actually means "fractured writing" and is a reference to the pointedness of Gothic German script. The painter who created this portrait of Washington is not known by name; art historians refer to him as the "Washington-Sussel Artist" because his work was first studied by a collector of that name. Ink,watercolor on paper, H 20, W 16 cm Independence National Historical Park, INDE 2678Spring morning with a cold start.

Some of my poor daffodils are lying on the ground frozen in place, though the grape hyacinths and frittilaria seem to flourish in the frosty bite. I socked the two hellebore I just bought right next to the one that was a legacy plant. The new hellebore are a blue green on one side, and  a ruby/ivory color on the other. I was surprised at the depth and heartiness of the roots on these plants and am excited already for next spring and these beauties' debut Chez Camp.

Our little birthday celebration was very nice. All the food was consumed and the menu turned out to be paced so easily, that we actually had time to relax a bit prior to showtime. It seemed everyone had a nice time and hung out after the dinner to continue the various conversations that were in place from geneology, local food, real estate, education, learning approaches.  Now, we can get on the business of work and living until Friday's after school play event and Saturday's cast party that I am on for.

Did I talk and point you all to one of my new favorite inspirations? Probably not. As we have been watching TV (we just got one and we watch it tout en famille these days) and can get a link to YouTube, we have been watching various presentations that are made at the TED conference. Are you familiar with TED? Here's what TED says about TED;

TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with the annual TED Conference in Long Beach, California, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK, TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Program, the new TEDx community program, this year's TEDIndia Conference and the annual TED Prize.

The annual conferences in Long Beach and Oxford bring together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

These are riveting, brief and thoughtful presentations that can really jar your thinking and perceptions. I have learned so much from these talks which we have right in our living room.  I encourage you to go and seek TED out. Anyway, the TED talks are on the TED site but also on YouTube.  My most recent, "Oh my Goodness" moment was with Temple Grandin's talk, "The world needs all kinds of minds"

What was startling and inspiring was Grandin talking about visual learners which I truly am. No wonder math never worked for me. Grandin is remarkable in her straight-forward, Mid-Western, matter of factness---talking about different learners, different people, the odd ones that are often in a group--explaining their oddity (and the wonderfulness of different people's approach to learning and information). Her speech is now something I deliver to all my friends and particularly to those that will hear in in my involvement with the Committee for Special Education (CPSE) at school. I wish I could tell you the story of one of my experiences but it's inappropriate to go there. However, it has helped me to get beyond the stigmas of autism, and all the other isms as everyone learns...and may learn differently from the methodology that is in place for the "norm" at school. And who is to say that the "norm" is right. I am thankful that my crash and burn in algebra was replaced with art history and mythology as this is a place that fueled my fire and was additive for my life. I thank goodness that Chemistry wasn't pushed down my throat, but extra English and Latin.

The day begins. My phone is ringing.

Busy busy

Gorgon, Q. Cassetti, 2009, digitalThere was cooking yesterday. Big cooking. I made granola, gingersquares (from King Arthur), bagels (from King Arthur) and a big jackpot pot of chicken stock (managed to score a few packages of backbones from the Shur Savior) and skittled home to get them into the bone processing I love to do. Today, there is more cooking....we are making a chocolate cake; turning the stock into soup; sesame crackers (from King Arthur) and a torta (a friend's recipe) along with prepping vegetables and a tenderloin for another celebratory dinner for our guests.

Bring on the fatted calf.

Sixteen for dinner....It is totally clear how people get on a roll entertaining. You just keep moving the plates from the dishwasher to the table to the dishwasher and never put them away. I cannot multitask on the level to do this and hold down a full time job...but at least the logistics make sense.

Snow Ball/ Spring Fling was fun for K and A. They got in late but from all reports this morning, there was lots of dancing with all sorts of people.

John C. from Elmira visited yesterday and told us all about the 200 apple trees he just put in on his property last week. Made me pause and think about how fun that would be and also, what would the tax consequences be if one were to do such a thing? I would like to understand more about this agricultural piece as apples and bees in some scale or another is in our future. The trees I bought are happy in the brisk weather we are having...perky leaves and rosy buds. What promise. I can see a tempietto farm stand on Camp Street. I really can. We need to start dreaming about architectural follies.

Need to go and put the crackers in the oven...But just wanted to say hi.

Dark morning.

Good thing I havent put all the sweaters away. Its dreadfully cold...even some minor whispers of SNOW on the horizon...Cold, grey spring morning. Need to make some lists and then get to the store to make two desserts, a side dish and Barbara's torta for the dinner for 14 tomorrow night. I am making some ginger squares using a whole cup of crystallized ginger and a very dense chocolate cake (using up lots of things from the larder). Who needs boxes upon boxes of crystallized ginger in the pantry? I don't anymore! Lets hope it  tastes like something. 

We have a full house with Gloria, my sister-in-law coming in today from Los Angeles for a week. We also have Mr. Blackburn visiting and working with the Museum. Alex is delighted as its far more social and there are people who have opinions and knowledge about things that thrill him...including cars and driving. Much gathering chez Camp.

Today is also the revisited Snow Ball as the original Snow Ball (a winter party at the High School) was snowed out. So Snow has become Spring and the party renamed, Spring Fling. We have all sorts of planning around what to where and who to hang out with. It's Kitty's last one, so I hope its extra fun for her this year. She will be wearing her "Princess Unicorn" shoes (gold with a ruffle with a unicorn's horn for the heel). Can you say "over the top"? And there is the gold dress from Trader K's. More on Trader K's>>

Barb was making foccacia using the clothes drier as a rising box...which really worked. I am going to try that this weekend. I love it that Barb uses any household tool in the house to move the cooking along. She will make pumpkin pie on the grill, or in this case, the drier for bread rising. Inspired.

I have been asked to create an image for the Mothers Day for Peace concert being held on Mothers' Day at the Rongo. This is a good idea shepherded by Heather Christ to celebrate the idea of the original victorian Mothers Day which was to raise consciousness about peace during the Civil War. So, Heather is doing the same--recruiting women musicians, musician mothers to play for this event. Heather has big plans...but I need to focus on the poster once she has more content/names to add to the piece. I think I am going fraktur ladies with this one. A central mother with two daughters...The Virgin Mary is the perfect Mother for this piece on Peace but it might not strike the right chords with everyone.

I am busy looking at the Milton Glaser book, Art is Work (which I agree wholehearted in the message and delight in every moment of it). His reach and flexibilty along with his visual problem-solving strikes a deep chord with me--goading me to try new styles and approaches and not to be shy, but bold. Have humor and yet have reverence. He is an amazing artist, designer and illustrator combined with skill and brains that rarely come together in such an inspired package. I am also bee-ing...thinking about their hardwired (Kitty's word) dna to communicate, congregate and work. The apiary life indeed should be held sacred for all of us....(and as a feminist side, its run and operated by GIRLS).

Ah well. There is ginger to grind and chocolate to measure....and treasure.

Flax Barn Sale this week. For more information>> (check the tab called Barn Sale at the top of the site).


IF: [dancing] detective

Bee Dance, Q. Cassetti, 2010, mixed mediaFrom Wikipedia on "Waggle Dance":
Waggle dance is a term used in beekeeping and ethology for a particular figure-eight dance of the honey bee. By performing this dance, successful foragers can share with their hive mates information about the direction and distance to patches of flowers yielding nectar and pollen, to water sources, or to new housing locations.[1][2] Thus the waggle dance is a mechanism whereby successful foragers can recruit other bees in their colony to good locations for collecting various resources. It was once thought that bees had two distinct recruitment dances — round dances and waggle dances — the former for indicating nearby targets and the latter for indicating distant targets, but it is now known that a round dance is simply a waggle dance with a very short waggle run (see below). Austrian ethologist and Nobel laureate Karl von Frisch was one of the first who translated the meaning of the waggle dance.[3]

American Illustration (A129) accepted work:

Just got these three images into American Illustration 29. The top is Krampus from my advent calendar project, and the other two were part of Hartford MFA thesis project on valentines.

From AI 29's Facebook page:
Congratulations to our AI29 Selected winners ! From an impressive 8.033 pictures, the jury selected only 388 images by a majority vote or better to appear in American Illustration 29, representing the best images from 2009. A slide presentation announcing the winning images will be sent to all entrants and our member list of over 30.000 creative professionals in May.

Gotta love it.

Hive Alive, Q.Cassetti, 2010, mixed mediaIt looked like it was going to be a dark, cloudy day...but an hour into the day and we have a perfect Spring moment. The yellow willow wands are coming in complementing the little patches of daffodils and the brilliant forsythia which has popped. The muscari have come up. Shady Grove was busy sniffing up all the promising scents while I gazed skyward to our dear turkey vultures, silent silhouettes pirouetting overhead.

I did this illustration in black and white pen and ink. The plan was to reverse it out like the  silhouette inspired illustrations I did earlier this year...and the effort I put into it made it look like poop. But, I brought it up and reworked it yesterday after the fun conversation I had with my mentor, Murray Tinkelman--who was pleased with these new pictures. So, with that push, I revisited this...and color seemed to emerge. The vector work was done in illustrator on a high res reversed out jpg. Then I brought it back into photoshop for more work. You can see the black and white and the color here>>

I just reordered a mess of buttons from Busy Beaver>> as I have depleted my supply with friends, family and clients. New ones are a bee goddess, a fraktur angel, a rooster. More gimmes.

Trumansburg is doing a community build for our new farmer's market shelters. Our farmer's market has been al fresco for the last few years, but Deirdre Cunningham, the clever and stylish manager of the market wrote a grant and got a chunk of money to start us on the way to having some structures. Alex and Rob were involved in cement work last weekend...and now every weekend from now  through May will have building projects both days. Here is a bit from Dierdre's report:

Community-build pavilion project update:
First week: 42 steel plates were welded at Durand's Forge and driven up to Elderlee's in Oak Corners to be galvinized; 10 - 12 volunteers installed 42 footers (backhoe donated by Carson Excavating) and made concrete stools and table pedestals (checkers, anyone?)  -
great job!  thank you all!  

To feed the troops during the upcoming work days, Suse Thomas has pulled together donated baked goods (home bakers, Ithaca Bakery) and lunch (Hazelnut Kitchen, T-burg Rotary Chicken BBQ, Maxie's Supper Club, The Pourhouse, Dragon Village, Subway, Stone Cat Cafe, Falls Restaurant) for each of the nine work days (stellar job, Suse!) Gimme! is donating coffee on the three Saturdays. She asks that everyone bring their own beverage containers.  

Gotta love this community!!

 

 

Green Day

Sweet Summers Day, Q. Casstti, 2010, mixed mediaGoodness, it's beautiful here. The grass defines green, and the early morning peachy gold light made me catch my breath. School is back in session but time is short between now and the end of the school year. There is the Spring Fling dance, the play, the prom, endless parties and trips for our girl graduate. There are track meets (around 5 in the next week or so), and cast parties, exams and reevaluation for next year. 

We have two added guests next week, so I am roasting bones for stock and a "big pot of sauce" will be brewed up tonight in anticipation of more eaters around here. I am hoping to get back into the garden this afternoon after work or early tomorrow to rake a bit more, and get those new hellebore into the ground. Maybe mulch this weekend. And of course, the trees are coming too!

I had the opportunity to download a big pdf file of the L.L. Langstroth book, Hive and the Honeybee from this remarkable resource at Cornell, The Hive and the Honeybee Collection, a selection from The Everett F. Phillips' Beekeeping Collection  at the Mann Library. "Look and ye shall find"....and in my case, abundantly. The Langstroth book is a classic which I was worrying about how to get a copy to peruse --and now I have it. The Mann has a beta test to provide the file for a Kindle (!)..but I couldn't make it go. The engravings are inspiring...and the copy the same. More on bees from reading this tome. The ladies, as you can see, got painted in (via photoshop) and are  getting ready to dive into their matching skeps (like the The Cholmondeley Ladies  circa 1600-10, Tate Britiain). I like the big bees that say Apiary-- and how they would never, ever fit in the skeps.

And now I dive into my world of words and pictures to see what I can do today.

Agricultural me

Got to Agway this afternoon and bought 2 cortland apple trees along with a gala apple espaliered tree. Also bought two lovely greyish/mauve hellebore to sock next to the one that was planted many many years ago by the former owner of this house. Now there will be a nice group of three. Agway will deliver the group which will make it more seamless....and then there will be the planting. I really hope that the place I have picked for these trees will work. I need to do a bit of reading before I leap. But it will be great...and add some gravitas to the putzing I am doing.

We tried to leave some clothes at Salvo, but silly me, I forgot it was Sunday, and Sunday is a day for rest for the Army. Later this week, def.

End or Beginning of the Week?

Sweet Summers Day, Q. Cassetti, 2010, pen and inkSince Wednesday, I have been on spring break with Kitty, Alex and Rob. There has been a lot of gathering with friends for Kitty, and driving and shopping with Alex. Alex and I have been raking and planting--cleaning up beds and chopping apart the iris and moving it to another place. And, there was a lot of that to do. I am planning on splitting many of my sedum plants and moving them around too. Oh, and before I forget about it, the great making and staking of the Irish Spring soap display must occur.

We were at Agway, our local farm store, for me to oogle the apple trees, and I just said it. I want apple trees. So, I am going to get them.. a few now, and a few once the old orchard space on the property is cleared this spring of ratty honeysuckle, the damned raspberries and general weedage. There may be a few sour cherry trees too... Why not grow them? They had a lovely epaliered apple as well that I am sorely tempted to get to train to the back of the house where we already have wooden verticals in place to train it to. The hellebore beckoned. We have a few here.. but they are such happy harbingers of spring... even before the daffodils, that I may have to throw a few in the ground as I am thinking of them.

This week is the beginning of the last push for the school play, "Snoopy". Kitty and Alex are both in the play and enjoying it, though the next two weeks is a bit trying with schoolwork, athletic practice and trying to live a little too. I guess the living a little goes to the wayside. I am a bit pleased that I "did mine" earlier and got the poster, small poster and tickets done, called the local restaurant for the gathering on the second night and created the flier for that, and have the planning in place for the cast party. So, all all that's left is  some baking as every night is play practice until 9, and lots of baked goods are required per the "food mom". We have two guests coming in for the week of the play--and there will be a small dinner Saturday, and a larger one (12) that I am hosting with everything from the larder. So, some planning around that. We will have bunches of daffodils for the table which should be nice.

Really must go as the day is slipping by.

Hidden weapon

From ibiblio.com:
"...honey bees have been used in warfare,dating as far back as Roman times.  There are for example, references to the Romans loading bee hives on catapults and firing them at their enemies. Other records can be found from the Middle Ages, where various armies threw bee hives at their attackers - especially off of castle walls, and on up through World War I and Vietnam.  A good reference for for this topic is "Insects in Warfare" by John Ambrose (published in Army 24(12):33-38.)

 
With regard to toxic honey, there is also a long history.  One of theearliest references comes from the writings of the Greek Xenophon (approx.  400 B.C.) who described the effects of soldiers eating a toxic honey.  The incident occurred in what is now Turkey.  The soldiers were returning to Greece from a campaign in the Persian Empire, encountered the hives and robbed them of their honey.  Xenophon indicated that the soldiers who consumed the honey lost thier senses, and were inflicted with "vomiting and purging".  A later reference indicates that the honey of that region was also used against soldiers of the Roman army under Pompey.  The Heptakometes left jars of the honey along the roadside as a "tribute" to some of the advancing army.  The soldiers who ate the honey lost their senses and were easily defeated by the Heptakometes.  The source of this toxic honey in the Middle East is probably Rhondodendron ponticum, although R. luteum could also be a source.  A good reference to the toxic honey of this region is Sutlupinar et al. 1993. Poisoning by toxic honey in Turkey, Arch. Toxicol. 67:148-150.There are several references to toxic honeys in the US.  The earliest record of which I am aware dates back to Philadelphia in 1790, when a child died from eating honey.

There are also references from the Civil War and from the 1940's and 1960's.  The most recent report is the one we found here in Virginia.  A beekeeper became violently ill after comsuming some honey from his hives and ended up spending 6 days in the local hospital.  We were contacted about the possibility of the honey causing the problems and subsequently analyzed the honey.  We found two grayanotoxins (primarily nerve toxins that lead to a prolongeddepolarization of the nerve)  in the honey in sufficient levels to cause very serious medical problems.  Based on the time of year, the area in which the honey was made, and the toxins, we believe the source was Kalmia latifolia (Mountain laurel).  This type of toxic honey is not common butseems to be reported once about every 20 or 30 years.There are a number of other plants that produce nectars with various toxins.  Some of these include Yellow jassamine, tansy ragwort, and Egyptian henbane. "

Rick Fell
Professor
Department of Entomology
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg,Virginia 24061

 

 Virgil’s The Georgics Book IV: On Bee-keeping.

In lines 10 through 15, Virgil gives advice to the beginning beekeeper:

First find your bees a settled sure abode, 
Where neither winds can enter (winds blow back 
The foragers with food returning home)
Nor sheep and butting kids tread down the flowers,
Nor heifer wandering wide upon the plain
Dash off the dew, and bruise the springing blades.

Gorgeous bee brooch from ebay>>

Beebrain

Queen ensconced, Q. Cassetti, 2010, pen and inkRobbing the Bees by Holley Bailey introduces the concept of Bees as munitions which is very exciting and thought provoking.  Apparently, in the times of Charlemagne and forward--the soldiers had small vessels (clay, straw etc) filled with colonies of bees. These babies were launched and you can imagine the results. Skeps were catapulted ...swarms of pissed off, stinging insects projected at one's enemy. Simple, and yet so perfect. She does go on to talk about bees (the nice and friendly Italian ones) as only stinging unless provoked (being catapulted might do just that) and that being stung to death or even dying of a bee sting (even with those who need an epipen) is an insignificant number even lower than being struck by lightening. However, with the progression of the Africanized bees, "the killer bee"  (an invasive and very surly breed), they will sting unprovoked as well as swarms will move in to kill.

Bailey also suggests that the bee is very circumspect about the people they live near. It is said that a man who is cheating on his wife, needs to sneak around the beehive as the bees do not cotton well to adultery, uncleanliness or otherwise unseemly behavior. Poor Tiger Woods on the golf course...imagine the bees. And what about Jesse James' antics. No wonder the bees are fleeing...swarming and sensitive.

The turkey vultures are sweeping our sky. They are back in force. The peepers are loud and reminding us that they are there. Shady confronted a rather odd and scary milk snake (dun colored on one side and then when they rise up, they shake their tails, and bend their head in a true serpentine line...with the color expressed as white with dark spot--totally different to the quiet camouflage that they hide in the leaves with). We are looking for spots to dig a pond...to take care of the deep wetness in our back forty...which is fun to anticipate. And of course, there is lots of talk of garden follies. If I were the Queen of the World, I would have some delightful Paul Manship sculptures sprinkled about. Most particularly, Paul Manship's Bears (Adore).

Making some good progress with work. Designing and amending like crazy. Seem to be hitting a bunch of base hits, but if I just keep hitting consistently, I will get there. Baked some more bagels and some granola last night on the brand new stove. How elegant to have such a miraculous power tool. What a lucky girl I am.

Radiant Day

It has been wild the last three days. I must admit, last night I was a total bore with fatigue and my brain just having "had it". It was instachango, half an hour turnarounds for ten hours a day. Nary a moment to breathe. But, today is a day of quiet, I hope, so I can prep a nice dinner for the fam tomorrow, take a stroll on the property to see if the damned deer have nipped off more lovely pink buds from my tree peonies, and have some time to draw. I do like to do that.

Robbing the Bees, by Holley Bishop has me captivated from her descriptions of the hierarchy of the bees, the understanding of the Queens and Virgin Queens through to the development  of the hive as we know it today has me in raptures.  The stories she so skillfully weaves of history and present tense, of science and biology, art and magic, alchemy and mythology is spellbinding...and I count the hours until I can dive back into her amber colored story and submerge myself in her thought. Lets just put it mildly, I am captivated, enchanted and inspired. More pictures perhaps with Queens, and beekeepers, Langenroth hives, Egyptians. I love it that the Romans believed that the bees created wax and went out to gather the honey which was deposited into the flowers by the gods. I am taken with the concept that the bee is a messenger who carries messages and honey from the heavens to people and vice versa. The divine bee.

I got postcards back from Printograph. I ordered these cards to try out their printing (online, but ink on paper...versus on demand printing which fades with age and is very unstable from the beginning). The color is perfect and dense (I must admit, I did change all the blacks to rich blacks) and the three cards, from the Home Sweet Home series is really nice. I am thrilled. Another thing in the world of illustration promotion is that I have just gotten the 3x3 Directory, which is wonderful and I am thrilled to be there. One page is Kitty's portrait, and the other is the "Sweetheart" valentine. I also took a page in the Directory of Illustration to see if this is a worthwhile thing. I have until May 1 to create the art--and have to think about what it is that I want to put out there. The most compelling is the Chicken Choker art, or Kitty, or the woman artist, or Juri H. from the Museum. Then there is the decorative work? Can I smoosh them together successfully? The Directory also gives you space to post your work, access to lists etc. We will see what we can do...and wheither its worth the money.

Must go and embrace the day.

IF: Floral [Dip]

Floral Dip. Q. Cassetti,2010, pen and ink

The lark is up to meet the sun,
The bee is on the wing;
The ant its la-bor has be-gun,
The woods with music ring.
Shall birds, and bees, and ants, be wise,
While I my mo-ments waste?
O let me with the morn-ing rise,
And to my du-ty haste.
WILLIAM HOLMES MCGUFFEY

 

 

Bee Colony Pattern, Q. Cassetti, 2010, pen and inkWe had hail and sleet yesterday afternoon. So, no reason to put the wool clothing away. However, after a little walkabout, the daffodils are still moving forward, and the holes (yes!) that the deer left from (yes!) ripping out the little new hosta still remain empty. These deer. Gimme a paint gun!

Work continues. Good Friday is a day off for Rob and my employee...however, I have meetings scheduled throughout the entire day. Pooh. Maybe I will have a chance to see the new and improved Hangar Theatre as I have been invited to go have a looksee. That should be cool.

I am reading Robbing the Bees: A Biography of Honey--The Sweet Liquid Gold that Seduced the World a luscious read, a story of discovery and of normal people seeing beauty in the abstract, in those unnoticeable things such as bees, the buds on the trees, the taste of nectar, the thrum of the bee community. I am only pages into this book, and its my early Easter present. This is a book that reminds me of possiblity, or a rich life and rich life cycle, and the simplicity of nature that is out there for us to touch and engage in. The pattern you see to the left is a form of making lemonade out of lemons. I did an illustration (or attempted) of a person whose chest is a honeycomb with bees. It is not fit for showtime, so I salvaged this effort through chopping out a chunk and turning it into a little step and repeat pattern. I may monkey with it a bit more for fun...and post it (?) to Spoonflower, the on-demand fabric printer? I just started looking at Spoonflower and find that it is a drug and I must turn away or I would just keep looking and my day would flee.

 

Chesty Randiva updates

Man oh Man. Am I getting hits around this popular gal, Chesty Randiva. Guess I was the only one speaking her name, but now, there is buzzz...and how exciting that is! Turns out, now there is a few of us, speaking her name. Here is a nice one from Fred at the Craig's list Stove Scam>>

Fred reminds us wisely to "It bears repeating: Never, ever send money via Western Union or Moneygram to someone you do not know personally. Do not buy anything off Craigslist without first touching it with your own hands." And he is absolutely right. Sherri mentioned that Chesty has more in store for us with SubZero refrigerators. "The Chief" loves challenges>>

I tried to make a note on the Ithaca Craigslist page (as Chesty is still posting this wonderful fantasy stove for sale) to no avail. This might be a good thing for Craig to get on. Credibility in this game is easily lost.

the start of now

Between the Hive and Nectar, Q. Cassetti, 2010, pen and inkDid a ton of cooking yesterday. Made a chicken pie, sourdough bread, a chicken soup, a pot of sauce and bagels (yes, the boiling and the baking). So, very productive on many sides of this. First, I cleaned the fridge and know whats there. Second, used up a bunch of leftovers in the soupy things on the stove. And third, have dinner for at least three days done. So, productivity will pay this week.

While I cooked, Rob got our new woodburning stove going (you have to do six trial burns to break in the stove prior to really using it as a source of heat and cooking). I am going to do some research on the type of pots/pans we will need to use on this stove, along with how we prevent boilovers as wetness will cause rusting on the stovetop. More googling. The stove fired up in no time and was seemingly much easier to get started than the little cricket we have on the hearth in the room that adjoins it.

I have Hangar work to do as well as volunteer graphics for the HS Musical, Snoopy. I have around 4 big layout projects on the desk, all of them in the "we need it NOW" mode, so my lollygagging to talk to you really must be curtailed for now as I need to make hay while the sun pretends to shine (through the clouds and rain).