Alex just walked up stairs to bed and gave me the hairy eyeball for not shutting the computer off
immediately and going to sleep like I should. (I was just telling him how exhausted I am) Today was a whopper of a day though, and the truth is, even if I crawled into bed my mind would still be spinning. So that is my excuse.
We woke up early and started
preparations for my birthday brunch party (my actual b-day isn't for a couple of days) On our menu was: scrambled eggs with veggies, sausage (from my favorite farm) and soy-sausage for the
vegetarians, salad greens, roasted purple potatoes,
homemade applesauce (from the apples we picked the other day) apple strudel (this SO yummy apple cream cheese
pastry wrapped in buttery filo dough that Alex makes...)
raspberry breakfast bars (Ema made these) coffee, juice, mimosas and bloody
Marys.
Alex is such a natural in the kitchen, and we easily made enough food for 20 people. We set up blankets under a big tarp to protect from the shade, and picked flowers for the buffet table. Ema hung these beautiful white lanterns that blew in the breeze...It was just all very nice. And then we had good friends to share it with.
*Then* after we did some dishes, we hoped in our truck and went down to
Asheville to the
Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival (LAAFF) for the afternoon/evening.
LAAFF is one long blocked off street full of street
performers, art vendors, all sorts of people dressed up in wild costumes, and one man trying to set a world record by riding a 40 foot bike. We missed his attempt at it last year but got to see his attempt this year. It was pretty crazy. he had scaffolding and a big crane with a safety rope. He tried twice and neither time did he make the 300 feet needed to win the record. I am not one for heights so even watching it made my palms sweaty. But it was fun to see someone try for a world record. Click
here to see a U-Tube of his attempt last year.
All in all, it was a day jam packed with seeing old friends and unusual events.
Lili loved all the costumes and
balloons and people in her house today... At the festival she was
leaning forward in her stroller the whole time, hands gripping the
stroller bar
enthusiastically. I guess everyone tells every parent that their child is the cutest child possibly ever. There are moments when I don't want to give into this
exaggeration, but I can't stop myself from nodding... She is just so
stinkin' cute...
We can't find our camera today, sorry there are no shots to accompany! and now I am off to sleep, sweet sleep...
On a side note, everyone should check out my cousins blog: Loom In Ireland. She is student teaching in Dublin and having some cool adventures!
"What do you have for sale shopkeeper?"
"Hmmmm... I think Lili would love a new pair of shiny boots- How much do they cost?"
"You can't beat shopping at Gita Pi's shop! She specializes in toys and ice cream!"
As a present to myself I have been working diligently on opening an Etsy shop (there's your answer Kat!). I wanted today to be my opening, but I am running behind a little. I have set up a shop: SweetMess.etsy.com but have yet to post any paintings. I have 12 paintings almost ready, all they need is to be sewn to their backing. This requires dredging up my sewing machine from "the basement" (The space under the stairs that is filled with tons of storage) So, soon you will see a little Etsy mini thumbnail on my blog...
Ever since our apple picking excursion, Lili has been eating at least 2 apples a day. They are tiny apples, and are perfect for her hand size. I peel them she gnaws on them contently. It has been such a great treat for her. I also wanted to mention that we got all these apples from an elderly woman who lives on our road. She told us we could have all the apples we wanted- that she had no use for them. So we picked her trees, and will give her some homemade fried apples (her favorite) and some apple butter in exchange. There are so many old apple trees that go unpicked, and I wanted to mention this option to those who love apples but can't afford buckets of organic ones. It requires a little bit of forwardness to ask someone if they use their apples (In this case I let David ask), but well worth it in the end in my opinion. And you may just make a new friend in the process!
My perfect Saturday morning at home involves being snuggled up in an armchair drinking a warm cup of dark, creamy, and sweet coffee in a special mug. Alex would have his own armchair, and Lili would be playing happily at our feet. We would all listen to a downloaded podcast of "This American Life" together...
I wasn't sure how to do this, and for a moment- just a moment- I considered rigging it (mostly making it so Becca, who has a million of my paintings, wouldn't win. But, then I just decided that she would be equally appreciative), so this was an un-rigged drawing if you were wondering. Because you might be wondering, as the winner is my mother-in-law and she also had a very difficult week this past week and is sad. I guess in one way it was rigged considering that I had her granddaughter pick- Gita must be in tune with her I suppose!
Here are some interesting original silkscreen prints by artist Amy Walsh (aka Wonder Cabinet) from Philadelphia. These are part of a series of chimera or animal hybrids. They are beautifully printed onto old book pages. Even though they are silk screened, they remind me, in a very tactile sort of way, of my love of relief printmaking (they have different processes of getting the image on). When I look at these prints I am transported into a print studio listening to the sound of the brayer when you are getting the ink ready to print. You need to get just the right amount of the ink. Too little ink and it is patchy and dry. Too much and your roller is floundering and spitting ink everywhere. Just the right amount of ink and the brayer makes this wonderful intoxicating sticky noise. Anyone who loves printmaking will probably be nodding their heads, thinking of that beautiful sound. Everyone else, well, you probably think I am crazy. Either way, these prints are simple and yet intricate- and the series is very imaginative!
