Abandonment and Empty Nesting

Today is the day that I become an empty-nester. My only is moving into his (sharing with friends) own abode.  He tried this once before, and about the time I came to terms with his abandoning his mother, the free room came to an end, only lasting 3 weeks.  This time he has signed a 12 month lease so I will have to adjust to a more permanent state, plus this time he is taking all of his furniture.  He is only moving a few miles away and I told him I was allowed to text him whenever I want...which is what my father told me when he learned to text.  At first, I felt that I really did not need to know that Wheel of Fortune was on or that my parents ran out of milk, but I came to really enjoy sharing the small things.  I only hope my son gets to that point quickly.

I have been the lucky recipient of bottle caps from friends, now that they have seen my work with them.  I receive little baggies containing a few or many depending on how busy their weekend was.  I thought these would be a nice little thank you gift for the ladies who have contributed.  Maybe a bottle cap bow tie for the gents?!  I have had many ideas flowing through my head the last couple of weeks and this weekend is one of little plans, unlike the last few, so I plan to spend some time in the workshop playing.  I want to figure out how to make a piece spin like the Swings ride at the fair.  The little people will be sitting on ...yep, you guesses it,  bottle cap seats, and whorl around so they are flying through the air.  I do not have a mechanical mind.  I am a tinker so I usually end up coming up with a solution from the back side, never the simple way others would do it. I will be pleased if they only swing around gently but whorling would be so much better.

Today our schedule started little later that usual but time is catching up with me so I had better get ready for the day.  Hopefully, we will get the boy moved in quickly and I won't be too traumatized.  I have one of my favorites, Creature From the Black Lagoon, 1954, ready to sooth me when all is done.

Good day to all,
Hilari

All Lit Up With Peach Cobbler

                         

My version of a carbide light

Here is my version of the carbide light I was asked to make.  When the original was presented for me (pictured 5/7 post), I had to think about how I would go about creating one that was stable and not top heavy.  Lucky for me, I had a piece of metal that I could cut for the reflector.  I am sure it was purchased for another project, but what it was I have no idea (that is why I have multiple notebooks handy so I can keep track of fleeting ideas...apparently not all of them though).  I took the flat disk and beat it with a hammer over a rounded rock to give it some dimension.  I used 2 screws to represent the roller and flint.  I was told that the hanger on the back was important, so I dug through my rusty bits and found the perfect piece.  While digging, I found a well worn bottle top for the fluid lid which I was able to hinge into place.  I am very pleased with the way it turned out...really, I am just pleased that it does not fall over all the time.

We have had wonderful weather this week topped off with some very yummy peach cobbler.  On our way home from our reunion, we were lured off the interstate with signs stating that a vendor had Georgia peaches.  In Knoxville we are only offered South Carolina peaches but I think Georgia peaches are the best!  Now, don't get me wrong...South Carolina peaches are good and there may be great peaches in other parts, but I don't think you can beat a juicy, tart Georgia peach.  So it was a real treat to enjoy them in a warm cobbler topped with sugar and cinnamon.  It makes my mouth water just thinking about it.  Yummy!

Easy Peach Cobbler

3 cups peaches, peeled and cut into chunks

1/2 cup butter

1 cup bisquick

1 cup milk

1 cup sugar, plus some to sprinkle on top before cooking

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1tablespoon cinnamon, plus some to sprinkle on top before cooking

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a 9x13 pan, place stick of butter and put in oven to melt.  While butter is melting, mix bisquick, milk, sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon.  Once butter has melted, pour liquid mixture over the butter and place the chunks of peaches on top of the batter.  Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top and bake for 45 minutes

Let cool a little before trying because, if you are like me, you will want to dig into it right away. With fork ready, I always seem to forget how hot 350 degrees is. 

I'm off to watch the comedy The Invisible Woman from 1941, staring John Barrymore.  It should be a good before bed movie.

Sleep tight,
Hilari

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Whale Sharks and a Family Reunion

We have been riding the roller coaster of life for the past few months: loss of a family member, loss of pet, 3 sick cars, another sick pet, job woes.  This is the reason that my posts have not been as frequent as I would like.  I do not want this to be a place where I vent my problems.  Everybody had problems.  I want this to be a place where I can look back and enjoy the pictures and thoughts shared.  With that being said....

 Husband Actual Size

We are lucky to be one of those families that get together once a year for a weekend with as many of us that can show up.  This year it was in Atlanta, Georgia, which is about 3 hours from our home, so we left very early on Friday and spent the day at the Georgia Aquarium.  My husband and I own and are the only employees of a business cleaning aquariums for both residential and commercial customers, so this place is right up our alley.  Because we are very land locked in Tennessee, it was awesome to see these beautiful creatures in their spacious and well maintained homes.  Our time spent with family was enjoyable as well with great food and visiting. We even had craft day on Saturday for the ladies with beads and chalk paint.

Husband is hosting card night in the shop so the dog and I have the house to ourselves.  I have my wire supplies and a Harry Potter movie ready to go. I have many new ideas speeding around my head and hopefully I will be able to catch a few and get something made.  It has been a while.

Good night all,
Hilari

A Swirly Octopus and Steampunkers

I found this great wavy, swirly paper and knew what needed to be swimming it it's waters.  I dug through my collection of spent light bulbs and, lucky for me, I had the perfect size for the head.  Next was the washer container and, again...yea, the right size.  He is about 7 inches tall and 4 inches wide from tip to tip.  He seemed to fall into place pretty easily which was the only way anything was going to get done in the last two weeks.  

My wire work was accepted to an art show (sort of) and I had high hopes to finally find a crowd that would "get" my work.  It was a Steampunk Carnivale and I knew the mind set would be more open to a different kind of art.  While I did have people enjoy looking, there were not any buyers, which is a little disheartening.  With that said, I got to spend the day with my BBF, Vicki, people watching and being amazed at the beautiful costumes and creations, as well as the age range of the participants.  The steampunkers ranged from stroller to grannies.  That part was awesome.

 

I wish this picture was better. The light was fading but I thought it was the coolest ensemble...the coolest thing... at the event. The man, who looked just like Jon Snow from Game of Thrones, was stilted on all fours with leather, chains, fur, spikes, metal bits, and moved about the crowd in character. It took him over 20 minutes to get into costume.  He was a show stopper.

The last two weeks have been a challenge so hopefully the next two will seem like a breeze.  Off to have some pipping hot feel good food for supper.

Peace, 

Hilari

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Persistence and Pestilence

 

There

is a fine line

between

persistence and pestilence

These words speak for themselves.  We have all been there at one point...either marking or crossing the line. When I found these small metal roses on a great site for mixed media supplies I knew what their use would be.  Unfortunately for her followers, the curator of the site was ready to slow her life down and, as they say, stop and smell the roses.  During her closing sale I was able to pick up some other goodies that I hope to put to good use soon.

 As you can see, I sure needed to unearth my living room work cart ( as well as the work table in my craft room).  I used our long holiday weekend to finish up some of my projects that have been pushed aside when shiny new ideas popped into my head.  I still have a list to address and am always glad to be in completion mode.  It is a little more quiet during these times.  My head can feel like it's spinning in all directions when inspirations come in fast. Although, that is part of the fun...catching the fleeting mental pictures or words that have the ability to stop you in your tracks.

Well, so far we have kept our zinnias watered and they are already about 2 inches tall.  We only have to keep this up until they are 2 1/2 feet tall and blooming.  Wish us luck!

Good night all,
Hilari

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The Scarlet Harlot

Our spring colors are making way for all the beautiful shades of green that cover our landscape of East Tennessee. I sometimes wonder what it would look like in shades of blue or yellow, or even red.  I think God got it right though with the greens, cool but energizing. Purple shades would be interesting, but I am partial to purple.

Speaking of color, we spent Sunday afternoon cleaning out our flowerbed and planting zinnia seeds. I have a black thumb and always forget to water so we will see how this goes. I have stopped buying the beautiful plants I see ay Lowe's because I know of their future demise.  Lucky my husband has a greener thumb than I so the zinnias have a fighting chance.

They whispered her a harlot

so she adorned herself

in scarlet

and boldly walked 

into the room

I have a close friend who is very recently divorced and her association with any male is the speculation of her small town and idle minds.  Her feelings of being scrutinized and possibly labeled poured out during a conversation and this piece was my result.  Her result was to know that this too shall pass and, soon, idle minds will be focused on their next unfortunate victim.  For this I used all red bottle caps and accented her torso with red wire to complete the scarlet effect.  This one worked up quickly, I think, because it helped to release the negative energy generated by negative people.  

I want to thank Cheryl for turning me onto a Crop-A-Dial!!  Boy, making the connecting holes in the smashed bottle caps was a breeze compared to the nail and hammer process, and much quicker as well. And I only had to use 1 band-aid during the whole process...YEA!

I must admit that while in the process of writing and posting this I did buy a small batch of petunias from Lowe's.  My grandfather always had a planter full and I can never resist them in the spring.  

I am off to watch my favorite movie genre, 1950's syfi.  In store today is a black and white movie called The Deadly Mantis.  The trailer showed a real life praying mantis crawling up a tiny Washington Monument...I can't wait!

Peace,

Hilari

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Serendipity

 Serendipity

This carbide lamp was, unbeknownst to me, was given to a kindred soul of my father years ago.  At a holiday gathering my father and Jim ( men of the same era ) met and enjoyed each others company discussing all manner of important topics...photography, books, caving, etc.  I have been asked by Jim's son to make a wire sculpture of this lamp.  I find this to be a lovely thought...I am creating a piece of artwork for a father from an item given to him by my father.  As my father would say, "It warms the cockles of my heart".

 It all started with a $30 table

I woke up Saturday feeling refreshed and ready to go so we decided to hit some of the yard sales in our neighborhood.  Our best and last find was an old restaurant table to use in the workshop.  Little did I know that this perfect work table would have us spending 5 hours rearranging, cleaning and setting up shop, as well as moving items from our mud room to the shop.  Of course that meant rearranging, cleaning and setting up shop in there as well.  On this side of it all, we love how much more functional both places are.

This has been a week of working late, so my extra curricular activities have been nil. I need to weed my flowerbed and get my zinnia seeds planted and hopefully will get that done before the weekend.  Rain is coming on Saturday and I am planning to hole up in the workshop and play.  I am almost finished with Pole Dancer...still working the mechanics of getting her pole to spin and she need her purple boots.

We all need purple boots!
Hilari

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