Can't work in my studio... Why?

My 11'x11' studio area is stuffed and disorganized. In spite of attempts to tame it, it still bulges at the seams and snickers at me. Oh, deary me! and probably Lawks! I shall have to take stern measures and a large trashcan to it, that should teach it to behave better.

B*B,

Ysabeau who is Losing It a Bit

First Acrylic paintings

For our eighth anniversary on June 26th, I painted a picture for my dh on the theme of the "Navajo Prayer", walking in beauty (...beauty is before me, behind me, etc.) and for a first real attempt, with a very limited palette of paints to work with, just a basic set of reds, yellows, one blue, brown, black, white, I'm surprised it turned out as well as it did. Before this, all I had done so far was this little 4x4" seascape:

Roof! Roof!

OOOOOooooold roof!!!

NEW roof!!!!!

So Tired of Contractors

This is a rant. They don't call when they aren't coming, come when you aren't expecting them, do whatever they want to, and if you give directions to the "leader", he probably won't tell the others so you have to do it all over again when you find them doing it wrong. They don't have common sense, when cutting materials, they drop sharp metal pieces in the grass that will become projectile weaponry when you mow it, and if you ask, they tell you it was too much trouble to drop it in the trash. They don't close the doors after them, over and over, so you get to air condition the outdoors in 100 degree heat, plus you get to chase the family pets around the neighborhood.

They wash out their paint buckets and dump the water on your fast dying lawn, so you have odd pale purple patches, tromp around with paint and concrete on their shoes, and they vent their compressors rusty steam either on your cement patio floor, or use it to kill your hollyhocks. They promise deadlines they have no intention of keeping, then say you heard wrong, or blame the city inspector, the plumber who didn't return their calls, and/or their suppliers.

They leave large sharp machinery in your side yard for weeks after that part of the job is finished, and show no interest in retreiving it, since somebody went on vacation. In Las Vegas. They leave paint buckets on new light colored tile so the condensation causes rusty circles on new tiles, then when you move the buckets and point out the problem, when you come back, they have carefully repositioned the buckets to hide the rings.

They thump and bang, and smell, and borrow things without asking, like using your small shop vac to pick up wet concrete bits, coating the insides of your machine with concrete, and wiping up on your good towels... doesn't come out. You give them huge amounts of money, then have to remind them, follow up on them, and make them do what they said they would... and after they are paid, they get very slow about finishing the work.

it's like LIVING WITH TEENAGERS!!!!!!

Then they have the NERVE to ask when you want some more work done!!!!! aaarrgh!

Ysabeau

F is for...

Friends, some come and go, others come and stay, but all give something wonderful and share a unique part of my life

Findlater, my last name, from Scotland, castle "fin de la terre", corrupted over time. Dh's grandparents immigrated to Montana and had a sheep ranch

Finesse, a way of approaching challenges in my life, right along with Panache, I hope

Fortunate, I feel like I've been fortunate in many ways, meeting wonderful people, at key moments in my life, really

Feelings, no, not an old song, but something about myself that I sometimes have real difficulty keeping in proper perspective, without blocking them or hiding from them

Freedom, so amazing to finally have so much freedom of thought, free time, and free choices that I never had before

Foolishness, I try not to lose my sense of humor, and play often to stay healthy and happy, and highly recommend some silliness as regularly as a daily vitamin

Food, I had three stomach surgeries, and now food and what I do/don't, can/can't, should/shouldn't eat is a daily challenge

Fulfilled, I sometimes have a feeling that I am doing what I need to do, when I need to do it, and that seems fulfilling at a very deep level

Foreshortening, very challenging to draw especially if it's a Figure drawing, I know "how" but the actual doing of it really isn't easy for me

France, a place I always wanted to visit, but probably never will. I took five years of French in HS & college, very out of practice, but really had hoped to go and be a silly tourist there (but I have been to San Francisco, which was almost as good, and had Fun there!)

Flowers, so much more important to me than I ever expected. There's just something so rich and decadent about taking little scissors and just going outside to look at them, and maybe cut something to bring indoors

Fresh, the herbs I grow, the flowers blooming outside, and the breeze this afternoon from the direction of the ocean a few miles away

Frankincense, an old incense resin that smells wonderful slowly burned

Fantasia, built out of the fabric of imagination

Fish, I need to eat more fish with Omega 3 Fatty Acids, but not Fried, unfortunately

Future, challenges and all, it's so bright sometimes "I've gotta wear shades"

Finished, I probably have enough "F's" here, although I seem to always think of things I should have said much later... but I don't want to go on Forever! B*B, Ysabeau

Sutter's Gold roses and flowers inspiration

I love my little garden. I planted two Sutter's Gold rosebushes several years ago because I fell in love with the range of colors and their lovely scent, and they never dissapoint. The single fuschia hollyhocks are from "heritage" seeds, a friend brought them back from her great-aunt's yard in Boston, and they seem to be really adaptable. You wouldn't think they would do so well in Southern California, but they grow higher than the house walls and bloom all Summer. Whenever I'm feeling down, it always cheers me up to go outside and look at them, maybe paint a bit, cut a few to put in a vase, or just trim off old blooms. I love the way the rose blooms vary on the same bush, and the hollyhocks have mixed with the other seeds I got, so there are double fuschias, creamy white streaked with pink or fuschia, even dark burgundy streaked with fuschia in my yard, now. So pretty and "country garden" feeling. I grow herbs around the roses, and most of them bloom too, lavender, marjoram with tiny white blooms, rosemary with blue blossoms, and you can cook with them, too! B*B, Ysabeau

I really love colors

I have had some watercolors that I started in class, and after I started most of them, some paints I ordered from Daniel Smith in Washington state arrived. I've been finishing them a bit at a time using the new color, and having so much fun with them, since the vivid colors really bring out more of what I wanted to express. It is so nice to have really wonderful fresh colors to draw on for glazing and layering. I experimented with doing some life drawing with them, and I think I can really grow by using what I have bought, in new ways, for me.

There will be contractors here again working on the house on Tuesday, and roofers starting to strip the shingles off the roof Wednesday, so it will be pretty much impossible to work here on anything. I'll be looking for safe and relatively comfortable places to spend the rest of the week, complicated with needing to take my somewhat traumatized service dog with me, and stay close enough to be available as the contractors call me with questions and requests. I am so grateful for the long weekend, because I've been so tired and stressed because this has been going on for almost three weeks, or forever.

I just want to be someplace with a bathroom available, safe from excess sunburn or windiness, ok to bring the dog and have her relatively comfortable, and me relatively comfortable, within fifteen minutes of the house, preferably selling coffee for me! This has been harder to arrange than one might think. I've been wishing I could just curl up somewhere safe, and hide out. B*B, Ysabeau