GrassRoots 2011: Day One

Happiness Parade 2010, Q. CassettiHOTTEST this week. It was 81 getting my feet on the floor this morning and was shooting to 85 before getting to my desk. The predictions are right.  101 in the  last hour (for my drop off of the team).But, it is a beautiful, clear sky so despite the heat, at least its pretty. I am one wilted leaf.

Erich and Nigel are out for the next few days, so I am manning the fort in front of a rather impressively named fan, the Cyclone (not).

Today is Christmas in Trumansburg. It is Grassroots Day One! Jacob was up early to help his brother take tickets and give folks their wristbands. Kitty and Rob took some time off. Alex was  getting prepped—cups, bandanas, money, the right shoes. Thankfully it isnt going to rain with the heat. Another thing not to have to drag to the fairgrounds is good. The Sheriffs were in place with their lights flashing first thing in the morning along with closing Rabbit Run entirely.

The wall of beer is no longer…but chunked into little stacks that one can easily scale. Shur Save always made this mountain of beer by the meat cases to do a little suggestive selling to the Grassroots audience, but now that they have become so fabulous with new meat cases, there wasn’t any thinking around the annual spectacle of the Wall of Beer. Sadness. However, there is hope the Kinney Pharmacy or the Byrne Dairy will pick up the Wall of Beer gauntlet and continue this tradition.

However, it all looks good with more parking than ever thanks to our school doing parking as a fundraiser along with the local stores.

GrassRoots Virginia Key-Miami is going to happen this February. I helped the team create a poster and handbill last week, which thanks to Bargain Basement Printing we should have tomorrow. No rush fees…and all within 7 business days. Rob is thinking out some strategies around raising some money and building awareness. I posed the need for a Kickstarter project to get a little eary capital before going for advertising etc. etc.

I need to go find my dreamcatcher.

Dance Tent, Q. Cassetti, 2010Hot day again. Doors closed. Fan going. Lots of loudness re the recording session in our living room. Alex took some beautiful pix and observed with interest all that went on during the recording session. It is a bit stunning the sound, the active minds and music streaming from that hot room…but everyone seemed to like what they got, and its done. For now.

We went to the lake to float in the bath tubby water of the lake…which was choppy but delightful and a respite from the heat.

I am moping and mourning a big change in my business life. Crazy stuff happens that rarely makes sense and this current one, for me, tops them all. I am saddened by the change in dynamic, energy and attitude that will result in the future. Sad. Sad. sad. A moment stands still. Memento Mori.

Music Making.

Sketch, Q. Cassetti, 2011, pen and inkDoll Eyes, a band with Jacob Kotler, is recording in the first floor secondary office space. I am loaning roadies to the deal with Tucker and Alex doing running for power cords or passwords. I need to check in. See what is doing. Manage a bit.

Blistering yesterday. Blistering today. Yesterday, in the lake. Today, in front of the fan. Rob spent some time at GrassRoots; Kitty at the office; Alex and Jacob and me, chilling at the Lake. Cooling our heels. I read a trashy book and took a nap after doing some kitchen stuff (marinating some venison that was given to us, making pesto, wilting cucumbers, and making breakfast for Alex, Jacob and two others who spent the night). We had 10 for dinner Saturday night (unplanned)…which was nice but wiped me out.

Rob has the week off after a day meeting in Albany today. Alex is singing. Kitty at Petrune, revelling in the deck of styles she is encouraged to read and absorb so she can date the clothes coming into the store. I have some brochures to layout  and some thinking to do around organization prior to a crash and burn on the horizon with my main client.

Kitty, Rob and Alex will be at the fairgrounds swinging a hammer and or moving a paintbrush for more GrassRoots stuff. My pictures need to wander over there tomorrow. I just hope to heaven that this heat and humidity clears by the end of the week.

gottago

Nosmo

Nosmo King, Q. Cassetti, 2010 (a No Smoking sign from Grassroots)Hot summer day. We were up and going to get Kitty to her job and Alex to practice with his friends. Jacob and I did a little shopping. Rob hungout and then went to the Fairgrounds in anticipation of the big week ahead in prep for GrassRoots, our little holiday here in Trumansburg. The bright yellow dance tent was erected yesterday with many of the ancillary tents and structures arriving today. The volunteers are gathering. Gimme Coffee is looking more like a clubhouse than just a coffeehouse and the buzz begins. I have threatened to do a photoshoot of all the walls of beer that will be erected by Tuesday. The Walls of Beer are an architectural feature that happen here…and are to be admired as they dwindle over the course of the weekend along with every ice cube in the county.

My stuff came for the Art Barn. I ordered two big pix (a skull and a big mouth of hell illo from my moment with the rapture) along with a portrait of Jeb Puryear that hopefully they will let me show. I sent to the ever fabulous and very impressive, Picture Salon, who never, ever disappoint!  Big is Better re my work. Big is bold and on our red walls here at the Headquarters, the black and white JUMPS. I am having ideas about physically painting these big black and whites? What do you think? Could be cool if I use a sheer acrylic so I do not need to worry about perfection with the painting….and let the big bold black lines do the work. Just a thought. Need to get a new topic to work with. Thinking of surfacing the wild Pennsylvania German book of folk medicine. Just thinking.

Got a lot done and out yesterday from the big client work to a teeshirt finalized for Wide Awake to getting our Luckystone holiday card out to the printer. I am feeling a bit proud as I think I have licked the file issues with my cheap cheap printer (BargainBasementPrinting.com) and am no  longer spending hours resaving files to have them spit back out at me. Great! Brilliant red envelopes winging their way here. Holiday will be stuffed and labelled by Labor Day so we can roll into the Fall without that extra detail hanging over us. You know what happens…come November when one should feel like doing this stuff, the big crush happens with our clients and so, the pressure is on in the world of work and other…making things not cool. Doing this stuff early creates a very smug me, but someone that is a bit more pleasant to be around in November/December.

Big trip to the store today. I have bags of chicken marinating and a mess of things for our two boys to eat (jeez louise, they can eat!). Next Tuesday and Wednesday, in addition to the tribe that is working here (Erich, Nigel, me, Mandy, Tucker, Kitty , Alex and Jacob) we will have Jacobs band and roadies here as they are recording an album. So plan on lunch for 20. No kidding. I can hear the culinary vacuum cleaner running. Whirrrrrrrr. All things that can be eaten will be sucked down—everything else, we will  need to tie down! ….But I delight in it…and the interesting brains that are attached to the masticating jaws.

I am listening to the jump up and praise tune, “The Great I AM” by Donnie McClurkin. Love it. AMEN.

A summer moment

Monarda, Q. Cassetti, 2011Cool this morning. The full moon illuminated the night such that morning segued without much fanfare. We had a peaceful evening at the lake talking about fashion and how one transitions their look. Kitty is all over this with interest both from Jacob and Alex. The weekend stretches in front of us— with a pickup from Sweet Land, maybe some raspberry picking and grocery shopping. Some may start on GrassRoots projects, I may party with my pens. Summer full bore.

I am musing over my friends at the Hartford Art School and where they are this week. For those new students, they are dying. The dream project is pushing them all out of their corners, their safe zones, to a place of challenging discomfort. This clever punishment is devised by some pretty amazing educators to get folks off their illustration tookies and into the fray. It is hard work but accomplishes the creation of a class group, shoves everyone to accept change and personal growth, and gives everyone a common day one. But ooh. Ouch right now.

Then there are the confident second year students. They have time with the program. They have friends. They have work. They think they are on track for their thesis. The world is theirs. School is one fat slice of wonderful.

Then there are the third years. They have been dragged through a keyhole backwards. The thesis, the papers, the illustration, the travel, the ancillary papers have all added up. These students want to savor the last crumbs from the slice of wonderful but are distracted with all the to dos to finish. It is a complex time of trying to grab it all,  and yet not being able to really embrace it the way you could during the summer of the second years. It is a bittersweet time during the first week. The second week for me was ” get me out of here…!” It is a tremendous thing, these MFA students are doing for themselves. They are opening themselves up to change, to evolve, to self discovery, to learning. Nothing wrong with that!

Tonight, Amelia and Leah, my friends are singing with Mary Lorson to open for EmmyLou Harris at Greek Peak. This was a spur of the moment thing and I am  so excited for them to get this exposure and chance to sing to a new and different audience. Very cool.

The GrassRoots machine is beginning to whirrrr. Projects are beginning. Tents are arriving. The buzz is in the air.  More later.

Making a Joyful Noise

Rockin’ Steady #3 2011, Q. Cassetti

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rockin Steady: Tribe Stocking Reidy performed last night at the Rongo, part of the pre GrassRoots music scene. It/they were wonderful with daughters, sons, aunts and uncles, all singing and playing fullheartedly. And those of us who were not part of the tribe enjoyed their songs and renditions. Kitty had Hampshire friends that were a delight and fun to get to know. We mixed it up a bit…and then sat outside at the end and tried to take pictures in the dark (to some success).

Waiting on the porch, Q. Cassetti 2011Shady and I did a tour of the house and backyard and were greeted by dragonflies, bees in the thick monarda and the damned deer.  I took a picture of this nice stationery dragonfly on the steps, giving me a chance to push things a bit to see if I could capture him. I love the new point and shoots. What amazing tools.

Our new team member this summer is Tucker. Tucker is a football player and very funny. He chased a pair of baby deer yesterday trying to tackle them.  We had $50 bucks riding on it…and I bet, by the end of the summer, Tucker will win his bet…

I am beginning to move some ink around on my sketchbook pages. Need to get in a new groove. I am feeling a bit betwixt and between with lots of big idea work coming over the desk that the magic moment to ink and think has not arrived. I am eyeballing some czech illustration. Also, am thinking graphic…flat and shapy. Who knows. I will need to think about advertising in the 3x3 Annual Directory. What to run? One page or two? Does it make sense (I seem to think so)…and how to take advantage of this advertising. Plus, the fall is within reach, are there images I need to work on for the up and coming shows? or will the advent and rapture work be a shot? the bunny rabbits?

Clear skies. No humidity. Summer perfection today.

Cloudbowl

A View from Sweet Land, Q . Cassetti, 2011Humming along. I am continually surprised that the only way in, to a project is to actively start. That means do the research and collect it in one spot. It means starting the wheels going of looking at the type to see what is the, the relationships, the opportunities, the counters, ascenders, descenders, the letter family relationships and so on. The, there is the customizing, the drawing, the shape builds— the wallowing in my visual mis en place to see whether the visual spices and potions will be stirred together to make something wonderful or worthy for the waste bin. I have been pushing off this project for the rush job du jour, and decided yesterday to elbow a mess of time to start. I am so pleased I did as I am now on the path and am beginning to rocket my way into the heart of the visuals. Am searching out some nice handwriting inspired scripts along with marrying them with my favorites from Hoefler Frere-Jones, futura and bodoni. Have also been using a new illustrator feature (offset path) to create accurate outlines of shapes (mirroring the outside shape). A snap and I feel like I have wasted a ton of time…A changer.

I need to start making some pictures.

Kitty has put her energies to figuring out the seeing machine and serger. She has also been engaged by this ” the only way to begin is to begin” axiom and so the scissors are flying with little piles of scraps all over the place with contradance dresses made daily. We went to the fabric store and bought all sorts of yard goods for her to mess around with— from some peachy sari material to stretchy stripes. I see a dress form in her future as she is making people take their clothes off to use them as manikins.

Swimming in the cloudbowl last night was perfection. It is so stunning to swim when the light is changing to golden rays, glancing over the blue and purple lake while floating over the huge domed sky that frames us with clouds while the swallows dive and fly. It is the moment of the glittering summer that I like to press into my mind for the deep, velvet dark winter eves. We all slept the sleep of the tired.

Recap

Q. and KIitty 07.09.2011, Rob Cassetti.2011What a nice weekend. It was a bit of a rush on the front end with the trip to the CSA and then to the store for sundries. We had Cooperstown friends spend 2 nights with us— with kids, our kids (and our summer kid, Jacob). The boys played the guitars and sang and sang. Kitty and I were amused and charmed by Willa, a very engaging five year old who wobbles on the edge of fantasy and reality so one just goes along for the fast ride. This is a child that I would write wicked stories for and know that she would glitter with delight in the tales and pictures. There were fossils to find, dogs to pat and cats to grab so I think we provided some amusement and interesting things for them.

Rob and Kitty set up all of our new camp cots (Byers of Maine from Amazon…really, really nice) for some of the youngers— with a sleeping bower on the sleeping porch (I mean, this house does have a sleeping porch for a reason beyond handing up the laundry). Now we have enough space to sleep at least 10 comfortably which should be good with my anticipation of lots of kids’ friends this summer.

In between all of this, Rob and I went to get Alex and attend the final performance. It was truly remarkable to see the changes in the skills and confidence of our son and his peers from even the week before. Alex was standing taller, outwardly more in the moment and truly riding the crest of this change. He was no longer bothered by the work, but swept into being so engaged in the work, in the music, in the new and diverse friends that this program models his new vision of what he wants from college. All night parties have been shelved. We have a boy who is focused and ready to self motivate to engage completely. We have a boy who wants to be a better writer. We have a boy who wants to do SAT tutoring. We have a boy who wants to practice. We have a boy who is exploding and wanting to find his voice, his path, his way. This time with Ithaca College’s Summer Music Academy was a total transformative experience that I cannot say enough about.

We did some swimming and hanging out on Sunday afternoon with the home team. I made a Christmas wreath (sewn felt) and am planning on cranking out a few more as they are pretty fast. I am thinking that they will be fun for some of my more stylish new friends. The boys went to a bonfire while Kitty, Rob and I went to Felicias to hear Mary Lorson and the Soubrettes play. Wow! Wow! Amazing. Vocals were great, music is stellar and Leah’s banjo and voice being more in the foreground really worked and created this very Mary Lorson sound, though styled to be more eccentric, wooden music box than her other projects. I hope this gets some traction.

IF: Stay [home]

HIve Home, Q. Cassetti, 2011, pen and ink, colored in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop CS5

Summer dreams

StarGazing, Q. Cassetti, 2010, vectorHere we are in Sheldrake with the day lilies brilliant by the side of the road. It is the time of ebullient sweet peas in masses, curling and twisting themselves in the greenery and down by the shore. It is breezy and definitely summery— that sweet spot I remember on dark and snowy February days and whisper to myself that  the time would be coming for breezes and the tonic of lake water and blue skies. And, we have sunsets dwindling at 10 p.m. with the sketching of pink reminding us of the slow burn of the sun.

New things on the local front. First and foremost, celeriac. Yup. celeriac! Our Sweet Land Farm often has a tub of it to pick from, so last week to amuse Kitty who adores the mandrake quality of alll the rootiness of this root, I grabbed two, determined to make something, I have discovered that if my friends are at the market, then we have a chance that someone is a champ with daikon, celeriac or kale (not part odd my local mis en place). So after quizzing a few moms who are good cooks, I dove into making a cold soup of celeriac, cucumber, potato and onion. Remarkable and very complex and herb ally  delicious. I fed it to the corporate lunch table to good results. More this week. Bring on the kale and Swiss chard!

 Also, I have been honored to be asked to on the Tburg farmers market board. It should be interesting as it is in it’s infancy and is ready for the next steps of programming and public awareness. The Wednesday market is wonderful and embraced by many with our Tburg musicians, chefs and farmers there to make Wednesday evenings more jolly. I have been charmed to see groups of scouts congregating there for ceremonies. We could have community dish to passes or bring back the summer movie fun of a few years ago. Our new bandstand is perfect for a summer wedding…with tables under the roofs for the reception. Maybe a permanent puppet theatre / child  mini farmers market too? Something new to ideate about. I can see a posters or something illustrative!

Part of this momentary peace comes from drawing and reading. I had to stop drawing a few weeks for a project, however, I am in the warm up phase, looking for my topic again. I have jet downloaded some fiction along with listening to the newest from the author of The Devil and The White City. A miasma of sleep, books, and my imaginary world with my ink pens. Dreamy!

Midweek?

Double birds, Q. Cassetti, 2011, pen and ink.I am hobbling around today as I came close to falling down my studio steps as Shady was too close to me and her tail was under my foot (which was on a painted staircase). Thank goodness I was doing as told (by the Chief of Safety here, Robbie) and hanging onto the handrail, so I caught myself, but in the catch, sprained a muscle in my leg. But better a strain than a broken noggin. So, hobbling and ibuprophin is the therapy on hand…and Shady is making me mad…but there you have it.

We are knocking em down and setting em up. We have Tucker on hand with a rake and weed wacker. Nigel is doing image research and tagging for us. Erich is doing what he does. Kitty has done some office work, filing, mail, recycling. So, we are keeping busy, and lunch has a new tenor with the college students at the table. I am anxious to move the needle a bit and get the small stuff we delayed (like updating my website) refreshed and finished. Also, we are going to learn something about the InDesign/ ePub creation as I am thinking this may come on as a house of fire…and with that, we will need to be ready. Lynda.com has some seminars on it…and I am thinking I might create a little advent book for kicks of my images for fun as a trial balloon.

We have guests this weekend. Jacob Kotler (our new summer family member) will be back from Michigan this p.m. and Alex will be back too.  So, there is some scrambling to do to make this all mesh happily. Gotta go

Dog Day

Hot Dog, Q.Cassetti, 2011It was summer yesterday. Hot as can be, so much so that the lake beckoned and we obeyed. It was the first aquatic foray of the summer, a bit brisk but soo soo worth it. Poor ShadyDog was a panting black mess who after her first dunk, settled down to her standard, non anxious self.

We were delighted and energized to greet a new Alex after his first week at the Ithaca College Summer Music Academy. This is a normally pretty quiet guy chattering his head off about all things music, his likes and dislikes, new friends, new abilities, new accomplishments. So much of the things he loves is frankly, for us, greek, but when he rambles on about odd key signatures, about those things that “one doesnt do”, about chord structures and where he likes to sing…is a bit obtuse for us, but we are learning and happy to do so. He has surprisingly really cottoned to the singing and is LOVING it…from what he is finding he is capable of, to the physical things/ the training/ the mind/ body/ music combinations. He loves the warm ups with yoga and then matched with singing warm ups. He loves singing opera. He pretty much loves it all with the exception of the know it all, smarty pants students that drive him crazy. Thank goodness we know that time takes care of a lot of this….

If this is what the college experience will be for Alex (once we get him to a place to understand the programs)—he will flourish…and evolve in a far more dramatic way that I think either Rob or I have anticipated. The passion is there. All we need to do is point it.

Kitty had a great day at Petrune. She is LOVING it…the dynamics of fashion, business, girlfriends. To think, she is encouraged to try on the clothes! She is enjoying meeting her fellow employees and doesnt mind the work of messing around with garments, tagging, steaming, learning QuickBooks. This too, is hopefully, blowing down a few doors. All we need to do is get her in front of a sewing machine…and then the world is her oyster. Baby steps. The world awaits.

Rob and I talked about the schedule for the next three months…where we needed to be, and how we can make the most of it. I have been asked to speak at the Museumwise Museum Institute this September at Sagamore. :

“The Museum Institute at Sagamore is a four-day retreat for museum professionals. The Institute supports a hands-on/hands-dirty approach, inviting presenters & participants to fully engage a topic with the goal of creating an enlightening, engaging and inspiring discussion”.

More on that. Then there is Art Basel Miami and a trip to West Palm Beach to see an installation at the Norton with the Museum. Then there is college stuff for Alex and pick up and deliveries of Kitty. Busy.

Time to make lunch.

 

Bounty!

Ball Diamond Road Sour cherries (chintz), Q. Cassetti, 2011Couldn’t resist! Kitty and I took two friends for more cherries today at Ball Diamond Road. The day has been perfect with low humidity, high blue skies, a breeze and cool. Dreamy. The cherries all looked like chintz and wallpaper patterns. The Queen Anne cream and pink cherries were in huge clumps looking like staid collections of bakelite charms ready to pin to my sweater. So, there are new cherries for our lunches if Kitty and Mandy let us share. Kitty and Mandy keep devouring the sweet cherries trying to get the firm ones to give them the pleasure of the “pop” that the skin provides when you bite into them.

Tonight its pitting the sours and sprinkling them with a bit of sugar before freezing them for either jam (later) or baked goodies when there is time.

Working away on some illustrations and learning some new things with the existing tool set. I am trying hard to simplify— Simplification is hard work, but rewarding in its own way.

We visited the Tburg Farmers Market and chatted with Stefan at Wide Awake Bakery (and took his picture) about all things local—food, food initiatives, local doings, harvest dinners and all that is fun to both of us. I was asked to possibly join the local Farmer’s Market board as a non vendor representative. I need to chat it around and see what its about. But, I feel that this is a group I can engage in and be effective.

We then watched the juggler/ musician who had every child enchanted and engaged. Then, off to dinner to hear Toivo play.

Today is more work here. Nigel, Erich, Mandy and Kitty are here—so its a bigger/fuller house than the normal day to day. I should go.

 

Cherry Season

Kitty in a cherry tree, Q. Cassetti, 2011Cherries, cherries, cherries. Today was the opener of the season at Hazlitt, with others opening tomorrow for sour and sweet cherry picking. There were red ladders with serious pickers (those who know what to do with the picking baskets clipped to their belts) and many of us late risers (getting to the orchard by 7:20 a.m.) rushing to keep up. Martha, Kitty and I picked (with Kitty’s cache going to a friend) and then picking our own sours and sweets (for our use and Martha’s mom). We picked 32 pounds of fruit. There is something sublime and spiritual about cherry picking as it is quiet and overlooking the beautiful lake…along with the breezes and color of the fruit, translucent, glowing red. It was no biggie picking this much fruit, as if one made a “day” of it…one could really go to town. We loved being on the front end of the picking as it was not so selective—but lots of fruit that one can pull off by the handful. Great clusters of these ruby fruit that come off simply,sometimes leaving the stones on the trees.

As you can see, Kitty, as usual, happily climbed the tree to get the fruit off the top of the tree…laughing and guffawing with us.

So tonight, I plan on pitting my sour cherries to put up in freezer boxes for later use. Kitty and I are thinking strawberries later this weekend to freeze and put up. It is so fun to go with these gals…as we yak and laugh and laugh. I feel so lucky to have some lovely people in my life. Maybe the other orchards tomorrow ( Ball Diamond Road opens 06/30 as does the other stand down the road from Hazlitt).

We are working on some summer related projects for our clients…so having hot dogs for lunch makes sense. Mandy has joined us…and Nigel is back with us too. I am a bit dumbfounded that its the fourth of July already….and we are fully launched into Summer. Maybe the wool sweater today is confusing me…?

last Tuesday in June.

Andy from the 1 hour portrait project, Q. Cassetti, 2011, Vector illustration using Adobe Illustrator CS5Churning away on portraits. The vector image to the left is a likeness of Andrew Cuomo, champion and Knight errant for New York State. I voted for Mr. Cuomo and am impressed by his approach, his ability to build consensus and the hard work he has to do. Being a politician is thankless work. I think  there was a lot of hard work on the phone and in person to make this vote happen to allow everyone to be married if they want to. For me, there is a feeling of optimism about being a New York State resident, versus down in the dumps over schools, taxes and services.I have never been particularly pround of being a NY Stater—but with the work and style of Mr. Cuomo, I might have to revise my thinking.

Kitty and friend Martha just bounced up here filled with news from contradancing on the Commons, bra shopping and her new job at the second, really fabulous vintage clothing store on the Commons. Kitty is enchanted with the new place, Petrune and the level of making this a really solid business—so that she is learning that its more than just fashion (which she is charmed by). She loves the skus, the book work, their Petrune Etsy shop and hasnt stopped chatting about it. This foray into fashion from book keeping to steaming clothes is a lesson that one chips away to make the frothy moment to happen.

Alex called and was exhausted last night. Guess he is getting “It” thrown at him. So, so much better than vegging in t he living room waiting for BLD (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)…and making dishes dirty. I predict a change.

1 hr. portrait v.2

Liz, from the I hr. portrait series 2011,Q. Cassetti, 2011, Adobe Illustrator CS5I am becoming a disciple of the Vonster and his work methods in Vector Basic Training. He is such an organized illustrative designer, that his work is accurate, well planned and thought out, and drawn within an inch of its life. I toted the book with me on our chores yesterday and dipped into the chapters waiting for hair to be cut, rides to be coordinated.

As you can see from the left, I am working away at one hour portraits really taking 1 hour. Nix the shading, nix the complexity. Paths, blob brush and eraser are the Adobe Illustrator modes in play here. Liz truly took less than an hour. Yes, some of the curves could be a bit nicer, and more tone could have found their way into the image…but the clock was key here. More vixens and others to come. Chops building.

Alex is packing for two weeks of Ithaca College Summer Music Academy while playing the piano and the unamped bass. Kitty is off in the world of fashionable thifting. Rob is working on village things so I have a moment to say hi. After we drop Alex off, our hope is to hear Eilen Jewel play at the Sheldrake Point Winery. Eilen Jewel is a great talent that we all love—and to have her in our back yard is an extra YEAH!

The week ahead beckons. Lots to do so I will not be counting raindrops or measuring the grass as it grows. As an aside, one of my apple trees which I thought had died, is sprouting green stuff at the bottom, so my heart leaps as one is still good. The caged cherries flourish albeit the tops are eaten by those varmints (deer). There will be cherries to be picked for cherry pies (the Amish celebrate wedding breakfasts with sour cherry pies) for all of the new couples who will be married here in the most perfect spot in New York State. Time to start baking!

Homebase

Audrey, Q. Cassetti, 2011, Adobe Illustrator CS5The lightning and thunder shook the early morning. Now we have a green lit morning, damp and promising more rain. Summer is here.

Kitty is working with me on a mailing. Alex is done with his tests…and had an interview yesterday for a job. I think I will need to press them into action versus lounging and making dirty dishes all day. Teenagehood is trying…though I love them.

Don and Jason Hair, the treemen to the stars, were here yesterday to take down the really scary dead trees (scary qualifies as “can it kill someone walking down Camp Street?”) and took the enormous piles of brush away. There was lots of talk around the busted chipper shredder which made Jason and Don load up the trailer with all the detrius to take to the dump. More fun is hoped for today (unless the rain scares them away). The Brush Hog, a wonderful tractorlike piece of equipment which is a tool of great destruction and confusion may be pressed into action. Don was itching to go for broke beyond the back forty with all the privet and honeysuckle that are springing up all over.

The portrait of Audrey is the beginning of the summer portraits. I did a summer of portraits two years ago and it was so informative and fun, that I figured I needed to get back to the one hour portrait to work on my chops and get my eye in. I like the calligraphic qualities of this illo that still allows me to have nice eyes and fun hair. We will see what happens with this. I am only burdening this project with time limits only.

Cherry Picking is next week! Baskets of Sour Cherries at 6 a.m.! I cannot wait!

Onwards.