Innocent art

Matti Pikkujämsä has childlike wonder.

Screaming tweens

I have recorded Noah going off on a screaming tangent many times. She can hit top noise levels in a matter of seconds. It can be she and Mason fighting, or she doesn't like what has been made for her for dinner, or that we have run out of ice cream. But at its' peak I am sure the neighbors are going to call Child Services on us. Which is why I worry about the house being sold next door. I hope we get a family with screaming tweens about to start their periods, or toddlers who lost a their iPad privilege. I truly feel for anyone moving next door. 

I just sent my investment company another "worried old lady" email. I do this on occasion when my nerves can't take the "tanking economy" news anymore. And today was one of those days. We are getting the house painted in a couple of days and Matt is trying to replace a few of the wood siding that are completely rotting. I know these are expensive because I have called about replacing them before. The house is over 50 years old so it is the old growth cedar siding. Anyhoo, I always get nervous spending money since I am not making any money. Oh, the cost of painting my big box house, $9,000. It was $7,000 estimate a couple of years ago. Ouch.

The kids are in school right now, so besides Matt hammering on the side of the house, it is quiet. I hear a cat purring on top of my box of paperwork I need to go through and  destroy. I have no idea why this cat always loves sleeping on top of my paperwork, but that is where you can find him.

None of the cats are that close to me, which is weird. I was always a safe haven for sleeping cats. But they are not my pets. Murphy and Remy like me because I feed them but I am not their chosen human. 

Pixie was my last friend who liked to sleep with me. In the past I would have all the small dogs, wrapped around my legs, under the blankets with me. It feels weird to now sleep alone.

I was telling my friend yesterday, although I have my kids here, without Pixie with me I feel very alone. I think it is because she was my last touch stone to David, my mom and all the other dogs. I keep thinking I see her walking around the house, just catch a glimpse of her and then I realize ... 

 Joel Escalona clean, cool, wooden shapes makes me happy. I made a wooden sculpture in college with very similar feeling. It was walnut, big warped tear with a rock sitting inside of it. I can't remember where that even went. I wish now I had continued working in wood sculptures because even back then, it made me very happy. His Instagram.

 

Chaotic color pieced neatly together

I have been perusing thorough Pinterest again. I get the feeling more and more, "seen that", "done that",  "made that", "thought of that", "been there". These recycled sculptures caught my eye. Very fun!

Damien Hoar de Galvan Instagram. His work here and here.

The sweetest stroke

I love that Per Adolfsen's show is titled "Walk with me". All the titles of his works are sensitive and sweet. I feel like I need sensitive and sweet right now. 

 

Trees

Weird

I don't understand when all of a sudden, I have 30,000+ visitors in a day. It feels suspicious.

For the love of junk

Matt has been preparing the outside of the house for a new paint job. Today the painting crew is here to power wash. What a nasty job. 

I told them to pick the color they wanted for the exterior. I mean, they will be leaving with it longer than me? They picked a nice neutral dark green, very close to what we have now. It is not that I don't care but I think it is time for them to start making these decisions. 

It is not like I am getting ready to leave this earth, but more like I am slowly handing over the keys to this house as they transition into taking over. It feels comfortable and we are all not far off from what we want for improvements. Does it feel weird? Not to me. 

It has been a hard week. I finally made the decision to let Pixie go. She wasn't suffering physically but having a hard time eating sometimes, and just walking around in circles. Completely blind. Dementia seems to have taken over. My heart is broken but as I have in the past because I selfishly couldn't let go, I did not want to wait too long. Anyway, I have not spoken about it to anyone. I just can't talk about it. She was with us for 17 years. 

 

I am so angry with this country I could spit nails. As long as 30+% of Americans believe that trump is king, this country is not going to change. We are going to be stuck with this crap and suffer in the long run. Watched JFK Jr. take a wrecking ball to CDC the other day. After a week plus of calling around, I finally found a Covid booster at our local senior citizens. Have an appt. soon. This country is cooked! 

I feel isolated in my despair and anger, but I know you guys are out there in anguish. And I not alone. 

The JunkGirls was born out of Art Therapy for Jenny, and Melissa’s love for all things handmade. We focus on creating Art, Lighting, Furniture, Jewelry and Home Décor and we strive to create everything using recycled, repurposed, vintage, antique and found items from the USA. We have a passion for giving found, vintage & forgotten objects a new life & purpose. Their Instagram page.

How the 'others' live

 

  

 

Take your thoughts and prayers and shove it

Another school shooting and more f*cking "thoughts and prayers". Bri and I had just watched a documentary on that scumbag alex jones and his dealings and subsequent lawsuit by the parents he harassed. What a piece of shit he is! AND he is still has not payed up. 

So we had our cry over that documentary then a couple of days later Bri comes in with tears in her eyes to inform me about the 'next' school shooting. I get soooo sick of the the cult talking about how it's the trans, or the people, or the libs or or or ... but never the f*cking automatic weapons. Sick ... is not even the description. Enraged it closer to it. 

And it brought to mind a conversation I use to have with my step mother and father over the phone, many times. When talking about guns and I am sure I would start raging about guns and then they would go off about their right to own guns, and how if they give up 'that' right it is only time until the government would be knocking at your door to 'take over'. And then what would I do if someone broke into my house and how would I defend myself. I am telling you ... I had this conversation ALL the time with them.

My response was:

I don't own a gun.  I don't want a gun in my house. I hardly ever lock my door (back then, years ago) and I have never been afraid of someone coming to my neighborhood to 'take over'. That I did not see evil or threats at every corner of my life.

And my ending argument would be: I don't know what kind of scary world they lived in there in your little Texas community (I knew it was very safe) but I just felt sorry for them for living in such fear and hate.

And I still feel like that today. To live in that kind of fear of 'others' that you feel the need to walk around with a pistol strapped to your thigh, or tucked into your purse or an automatic weapon looped over your shoulder must be a real hell-scape in your head. 

But this is where we are in this f*cked up world. Earth One and Earth Two.

And honestly, the more these crazies talk about a civil war I think, maybe I should purchase a fire arm. But is that really a world I want to live in? Like some post apocalyptic movie where people are holed up in a house with their weapons trying to survive? 

I was reading somewhere about the US splitting up into different countries. I am just hoping the WA state becomes part of Canada. 

Please note: Trump was not included LOL 

 

Kentucky, on Appalachia’s remote border with West Virginia to look into its water problem. Instead, we ended up deep in a holler, miles from any store, hospital, or business. There, we asked locals about jobs, drugs, and life in the holler. 

This was a hard documentary to watch but these are real Americans, trump supporters,  THIS IS TRUMP COUNTRY. Unemployed, living on disability ... thinking that trump's policies are NOT going to affect them? Probably most are alcoholics. It is insane. 

One guy actually said took his three grandchildren to school one day and all came back gay. Yes, he said that. I don't think these people are stupid, I just think they are delusional, ill-informed, drug-addled. 

 

Well, I was going to add some art but I am thinking this post doesn't deserve anything pretty.  

Eploring another world

David and I would dream about moving to the Cotswold or Wales. Especially after watching Escape to the Country.  

The Cotswolds covers a huge area – almost 800 square miles – and runs through five counties (Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire). One of the delights of visiting the Cotswolds is exploring the different areas, each with its own identity, yet all with those defining Cotswold features: golden stone and rolling hills, the ‘wolds’. 

Well, one can dream, can't one? There are lots of videos on Exploring the Cotwolds.