There--had to get it out of the system. I really try not to complain, with parts of the country having serious wildfire and other parts having serious flooding (wish they could get together and cancel each other out) and we're just mushy. And I could even deal with the mushy if it weren't for the clouds and swarms of mosquitoes that make it impossible to be outside for more than a few minutes--and that require me to wear long pants and a long-sleeved shirt even though the temps are in the 90's.
So--random and mostly inside stuff.
OK--this was outside--but on the beach with a good breeze blowing. We went to Mexico Beach for the 4th--Robert and Amanda are back from Italy (and trying to adjust). The young man getting a good view from Bob's shoulder's is our great-nephew Zeke.
From safely indoors looking out the kitchen window we spotted three deer--two were eating lichen from a stump, while the third was on the alert and obviously not happy about something.
But looking around we could see the predator she was eyeing. We've tried to explain to Wilhelm that a deer might be just a *little* too big for him, but he doesn't believe us.
My little foxes continue elusive. As soon as I go anywhere near their cage, they disappear. And that's good--I want them to be afraid of people. On the other hand, I do need to see them once in awhile to make sure that they're doing well. So we set our game camera up in their cage to see what they do at night.
From time to time I've posted about a shawl I've been knitting from yarn that's I've spun on my daily walk. At this point I'm about 6 1/2 panels into the 7 panel shawl--and I've stalled. See the opening comment about those blasted mosquitoes--I haven't been able to spin for this for three weeks!! I know I won't be able to wear this for another 5 or 6 months, but it's just so darned frustrating to stall this close to the finish. Grrrrrr.
A few years ago I made what I called my Harpy Puppet.
I wore him for the Halloween Howl, and in the next couple of years he was just a static prop. But time, humidity, and cockroaches sort of did a number on his face, and last year at the Howl he fell off of where he was mounted and got stepped on. So, alas poor Harpy--into the trash he went. But I realized that I missed him. In between Howls he hung from the ceiling of my cottage. So when the Halloween Forum had it's annual "Prop under $20" challenge I made a new harpy (her name is Esmeralda). I still need to make a harness and put on the control sticks for her arms (couldn't fit all that into the $20 budget) but she's going up on the ceiling soon.
My favorite thing about her is her eyes. It's an interesting technique of painting nail polish on the back of a glass cabochon. The trick is to paint on a color, then scratch most of it off, and repeat about 5 times. I really love the effect.
All in all, enough to keep me busy until it's safe to go outside again. Alas, the poor garden is suffering between getting drowned and then stewed in the heat--but at least it doesn't need much tending!
Reading: Made it through the first Dragons of Pern book. Sorry, fans, but I'm skipping the next 22. Uneven writing, clichéd characters and talking dragons just doesn't do it for me.
Current read is really nerdy: Now I Sit Me Down--A history of Chairs. Yep. But think about it. Thrones. Executive chairs. Archie Bunker's chair. Didn't everyone growing up have a "Dad's Chair" (usually the recliner). There's a lot of status and social history of chairs. And he's a good writer.
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