This year (after an embarrassing number of years of planning, collecting and creating stock), I am proudly displaying “1776 – Fireworks Stand and Americana Souvenirs”.
I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday:)
My "1776" Fireworks standAmericana Souvenirs
Americana Souvenirs
My annual “Miniatures Fix” – the 3-day SAM’s (Society of American Miniaturists) convention, starts tomorrow afternoon – I’ll point The Scarlet Lady NE around 9 am and hope I’ve mapped out the new location in Temple, TX well enough 
I finally made my way upstairs to my Tower (workroom) today to pack a full tool kit for the workshops I am enrolled in! Fairly light packing, actually, as I am (of course) enrolled in both of Sandra Manring’s flower classes – a half-inch scale magnolia blossom centerpiece tomorrow evening and a one-twelfth scale rose bouquet Saturday morning. (Why, Oh why does she always teach the smaller scales on the day I’ve driven for hours?!)
Then I did the hard part: my friends & roommates (Amanda & Alexandra Burt) are flying in from Maryland tomorrow to attend the Wonderful Workshop Weekend. They’re bringing paint brushes and any necessary paints in their check-in luggage, but the “sharp, pointy objects” could/would pose problems in either carry-on or checked baggage. I promised to put together kits containing anything else they might need. . . .but couldn’t remember which classes they had chosen! After I had metal rulers,automatic pencils,X-acto knives, replacement blades, small clamps, needles/needle threaders and straight pins, curved and straight blade scissors, files and sanding sticks in several grits, mini cutting boards, wire cutters, tweezers, forceps, several sizes of embossing tools, needle-nosed pliers, Super Glue , Tacky Glue and Gawd-knows what else packed into two labeled gallon zip-lock bags, I surveyed the result. My only question. . . .how on earth have I accumulated three or more of everything?! !! (Secondary question: with all this: why can’t I find what I need when I’m at my workbench?! LOL!)
My suitcase is downstairs, and my outfits for travel/workshops/banquet are chosen, but I’ve opted to pack tomorrow morning. . . . .I’ll probably be sorry for that decision. It’s hard to leave home without my laptop (yep – I’m a 62 year-old geek!), but there simply won’t be any time to use it! I’m taking my iPhone and iPad (whichwill allow me to keep track, a bit, of incoming messages and provides a Kindle reading link if I have a moment)- – -hope I remember to pack the chargers!!
G’night, all. Tom’s alarm goes off at 5:30am, and that is when I will start my day, too!
I’ve had an extended & frustrating period of requiring excessively long ‘rest periods’ for every chore accomplished; washing and hanging up the laundry would take all available energy, watering all of the outdoor plants left me exhausted, necessary attempts at taming household clutter meant someone else was cooking dinner. Not surprising, I suppose, as rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia both pack a big fatigue punch, and the air pressure(a big trigger for me) has been dancing a ballet for weeks!
Finally, though,I’ve had a weekend during which I really accomplished something . . . more precisely, more then one “something”! Trimmed my e-mail down from 100+ to 4 by actually reading, responding and/or copying and filing recipes, patterns for miniatures, etc. Accomplished the two-week food shopping with Tom’s help. Gave all the plants a cleanup and hearty drink (still need to feed them!), and even managed to spend a productive period up in my “Tower” workroom! I didn’t create any masterpieces, but it was extremely satisfying to convert three long-stored kits into finished miniatures and solve a visibility problem within my newly remodeled Cabbages & Kings antique shop! I hope this trend lasts a while – I’ve sooo many projects I want to complete!
My admittance to the GSOLFOT (Green Sock on Left Foot on Tuesday) group has stirred up my creative side again:) Other than organizing some of the perpetual chaos in my workshop area, I haven’t really spent much time in my “Tower” recently; but my new title and a (virtual) office of my very own (#17) has me back at the workbench!
There is only one miniatures shop in San Antonio, and I will not shop there, ever! Since I was fired-up to start creating my new office now/immediately/this very minute, I turned to an alternate possibility for the wallpaper I needed; my local scrapbooking shop! A long-retired room box from my storage closet was pressed into service – by dinner time, the old & discolored wallpaper was stripped, fresh new paper installed and a new carpet measured and installed. A dining table with two wobbly legs and a very dull finish was re-glued and wearing a warm new wood stain, ready to become my workbench. A seriously red-hued mahogany wall cabinet was wearing a fresh coat of pale spring green paint, and I had a large basket full of possible furniture, nick-knacks, throw rugs, fur-kids and craft supplies (all in one-twelfth scale) was waiting for glues and paints to dry. Oh, yes – dragons aplenty were waiting for a shelf, table or a corner to claim also!
Tomorrow, after everything is dry, I will begin creating a properly messy and disorderly office/studio. Let the fun begin!
Still feeling a bit shaky, but I did manage a few constructive actions today; laundry, more entries in my “flower recipe’ book (miniature flowers), a two week menu & shopping list to occupy us for awhile come tomorrow and a shiny new “official” title, awarded by The Great Oz of GSOLFOT!
As a newly-minted member of the “ancient & honorable” order of GSOLFOT, I’ve been mulling over what title and duties I wanted (should I be so fortunate as to be granted either a title or an office in the virtual -castle). Today, my title request was granted, with an acceptable alteration. I’d held a feeble hope that I could be a Princess (every ‘little’ girl’s dream – LOL!), but there’s no room for more royalty. Fair enough – I am now, officially, Contessa of Useful Bits, Bobs & Specks and Protector of Roof Runners! No, I am not kidding. Yes, I am off my rocker. Having a glorious time, thank you!
I have served as President of my local miniatures club for two terms (4 years), and my loyal and supportive board of officers has backed me up throughout. I have cheerfully mangled Robert’s Rules of Order at each and every meeting, for the sake of swift-moving meetings and maximum time for projects and general mini-fun. Besides, rules or no, controlling a large group of gregarious miniaturists is much akin to herding cats! Why fight an uphill battle when humor works better than “rules”?
Before I led a larger-than-usual group through a lesson in miniature flower making today, there was the usual “Christy version” of a business meeting. Along with minutes of the last meeting, a quick report from our treasurer, collection of yearly dues and some discussion of upcoming projects and some good-natured arm twisting to produce instructors for said projects, it was time for a new board of officers to be installed. Well, that is what the calendar said, anyway! While I realized that the current board hadn’t had a single serious internal disagreement or ‘spat’ over our four years, and everything has run remarkably smoothly, I assumed that the general membership was probably tired of my refusal to take myself (or much of anything else) seriously Um, wrong – LOL!
It rivaled the last election for brevity. I announced that the current board was willing to continue to serve, and then called for nominations from the floor……….silence (except for giggles.) I then asked for volunteers……….that produced Total Silence (typical of any meeting, anywhere.) I asked for an Aye or Nay vote, and the enthusiastically voiced & unanimous chorus of Aye’s was loud enough to startle our hosts at the wonderful Hobby Town store on Austin Highway! Oh…..well then – - – that seems to be settled – - – -let’s open our kits and go to work (for another two years!! )
Well the title got your attention, anyway:)
As I was leaving our house to run errands and buy a few things I’ll need when I teach my class on Saturday, I noticed the big “automated trash pick-up” containers being distributed in my neighborhood. I hoped we would receive our *very own set* of 96 gallon containers (brown for trash and blue for all recyclables), but held the pessimistic view that they would run out of containers before reaching our street. Delivery of *any* goods or services can be a bit slow in Texas ~ it’s something about that ‘Southern cadence’ . . . I was introduced to that phenomenon in Athens, Georgia in 1968, and it truly hasn’t changed very much in forty years:)
Happily, when I returned from my errands , we had our set of blue and brown trash receptacles! Having completed my ‘all over the city’ trek, we also had a new single-throw light switch (the fan and overhead light in my “Tower” refused to function this morning), seed blocks for ‘the Blackburn birds’ (a pair or two of blue jays, many cardinals, lots of sparrows, black-capped chickadees, tufted titmice white-winged and Inca doves), super glue & waxed paper for my class and 17 miniature pie plates (destined to become planters for my class, since my original plan/on-line order hasn’t arrived yet!)
96 gallon trash receptacles are BIG- – - – -going to have to do some juggling of garage space!
A couple of weeks ago, I noticed an article in our local paper about a yearly Antiques Show -or rather a huge group of shows in and around Round Top, TX. It was going to run Sept. 30th thru Oct. 4th, featured 350 dealers from all over the US (and some from Europe!), and I realized this was the show I’ve read about in several major magazines as “One of the Best”. Tom & I used to love poking through antique shops, (especially the dusty, quirky ones), but it’s something we haven’t done in a very long time. Sounded like fun, and I made an idle comment to Tom about it. Before long, Tom was talking about taking a couple of vacation days and asking whether I wanted to go antiquing. It’s something we used to love doing, something we haven’t done in ages, and YES, let’s do it!
We drove in from San Antonio today, apparently with a ‘traveler’s angel’ riding shotgun:) Absolutely everything went absolutely right! Traffic was tame, our navigation was spot-on (Garmin sort of “misplaced Schulenburg”, but our MapQuest print-out covered that glitch) and we secured a motel room with no difficulty. Re-read the last eight words of the previous sentence; they are the proof that luck was on our side. I was aware that setting off from San Antonio without reservations at a hotel or motel could result in a bit of difficulty this evening. I was not aware that popular wisdom advises seeking reservations at least two weeks before the Antique Week, preferably earlier! At 3:00 PM, Tom noticed a Best Western as we passed through Schulenburg and decided to check on room availability. On one hand, it was 30 minutes away from Round Top. . .on the other hand, it turned out to be the last motel on our drive to Round Top! We secured the last room they had available for tonight and Friday night, deposited our luggage and set off for the show with the comforting knowledge that we had a “home” for the night. When we returned to the motel at 7:30 PM, tired and frazzled fellow shoppers were trying to decide whether to drive to Seeley or Houston (!) to seek shelter!!!
The show is. . . . . . .Huge! The best ‘guesstimate’ (as it is actually many different shows run by many different people and sprawling over several small towns) is 2,500+ dealers from all over North America & Europe. In fact, I don’t think we ever reached Round Top – apparently, we dove happily into the myriad enticing booths and tents in Warrenton, TX and surfaced several hours later with only a quarter of the Warrenton show explored! We have some goodies already(thankfully, Tom found a wonderful cane to add to his collection, as I forgot to bring mine!! LOL!), and we’re going to wade back into the fray again tomorrow morning!
Oh, yes – Our first bit of serendipity occurred some 15 feet from where we parked our car. I now own a wonderfully aged and battered bakery tin, with its glass front intact. With a little foamcore board (floor) and wallpaper, it will soon be the new home of “Warrenton Bakery”!
G’night, all
I took one of my favorite T-shirts out of the closet a few days ago, looked at it, and then put it back on its hanger. The shirt is black, with white lettering proclaiming “I’m Blogging This”. I haven’t written a blog entry since late-March, and need to re-earn that T-shirt! (So much for “Blog 365″!)
A passing glance at what has been happening in my world since the last post:
- I have *started the ball rolling* on the hideously expensive dental surgery which will (I hope!) end my on-going war with my upper dentures! Oh, it fits fine – it’s just that the palate plate and my over-developed gag reflex (coupled with the ever-present Texas allergens) are making making me miserable:( This will be a long-term project, since it involves consultations, scans, impressions, more scans, evaluations and more consultations before the actual surgery.
- Successfully completed my first *start to finish* wiring project in miniature! Sure, I have older scenes done with the tape-wire & brad system; I’ve created the minuscule plugs with the impossibly fine wires and hammered the wall outlets and junction splices into place…..but this one involved an LED, resistor, battery pack, switch and soldering iron! (Prior to a recent “LED Wiring 101″ tutorial at The Guys from Texas studio, I hadn’t touched a soldering iron in about 45 years!!)
- Instead of celebrating Mother’s *Day*, my family stretched it over a week- – -COOL! It started May 7th, when DH gave me a Waterfield case for my Kindle - a well padded burgundy carry-case with a shoulder strap and space for my Kindle and power cable. Over the next few days, I was gifted with a matching Waterfield slipcase, an Amazon GC, a new T-shirt (WOOT!) and a carte blanche wander through Rainbow gardens Nursery! Purr!!!
- DS is finally through with the Sand City/San Antonio carousel! He now gets to spend his off-work hours surrounded by the comfort of his own possessions (and water his own plants, hehe!) and my alarm clock is no longer sounding off at hideously early hours; life is good;)
- Thunder storm & tornado season has arrived. Ugh!
- “Wakefield Arms Pub” is established in it’s new location; four marble-topped tables have arrived, and nine Chrysnbon chairs have been constructed, stained and upholstered. (The search for appropriate flooring continues.)
- New space awaits “The Petal Pusher Florist Shop”, too. The wiring, wallpaper and *tile* flooring are all in place, and a new light fixture has been installed. (Now it is just a matter of putting counters, shelving, display tables and many, many plants, flowers, vases, pots, bowls, etc. into place. Yikes!)
- DH completed construction of my brand new (life-sized) greenhouse today! Yes, I know; this is SC Texas, and anything I put into the greenhouse before November or December will fry, but it’s ready when the time comes. The kit came with a built-in, collapsible table and prepping shelf and the three shelving units from my old greenhouse fit perfectly!
- Best of all, watching our Grand-Daughter explore, learn and grow has been amazing:) She’s walking, running, climbing and learning new words everyday! Grandmeow (that’s me) taught her “gigabyte” yesterday evening, as she admired her Uncle’s new Macbook Pro – hehe! Yep, that’s our little “Geek in Training”:)
Guinea Pigs are a “good thing”! Abuelita’s Casita (in its present incarnation), takes two very long days to complete. The Guinea Pigs departed TGFT workshop around 7 PM with the wiring to be done as homework. We were a tired but happy group, our various adobe treatments look awesome. and The Guys now know they need to pre-finish some areas, send the Day One students home with a work assignment or otherwise pare the class back to its planned 1.5 day length. I’m confident I can complete the wiring at home and I have never seen “scale adobe” look this realistic – collectors are going to love this workshop!!
Nearing home, with thoughts of a soft chair and a glass of Merlot, I realized there was a possible problem. Unsure of my arrival time in San Antonio tonight, I had made DH responsible for picking up DS at the airport. From text messages, I knew that the flight was delayed – DS was probably going to want to go straight to his apartment. His key ring (apartment and car keys!) was in my purse!!! Yep. . .I logged about 20 minutes at home before I got the “meet us at T’s place” message came through! LOL!