Cloudy Days and Frankencacti

It's a beautiful cloudy/rainy day.  This is a good picture from our living room window.

And speaking of cacti...

we bought this little cactus when it was a small little thing about 3 inches tall.  Look, it has gone insane.  What couldn't it just be a normal cactus?  NOOOO.

And this one?  Brian got this one when it was a baby, too.  Maybe 4 inches tall? He named her Sally.  She's 25 years old and look at her since he brought her home from his office.  She stayed about 7 inches tall in his office.  We put her on the lanai and now she's over 3 feet!  Yikes!  And she has red hair.  :)  When the sun hits it, the spines glow all red and ethereal.  We have cacti issues.  ;D

Sunshine Allie

Allie just LOVES the sunshine.  Can you imagine laying in the Hawaiian sun in a fur coat?  Yikes.

Pets

Most people have normal pets, yanno?  I have Spawn of Satan and The Bruce.  I do NOT want to know what that says about me.  Sigh....................

So, I was in the kitchen sanding beads when I dropped one.  Naturally, it rolled in between the fridge and the pantry wall, a space of about 5 mms.  Swell.

Lucky I have Icabod Crane fingers.  Not so lucky..I put on my glasses and got out my baby Ott Lite.  Holy sh*t!!  There were cobwebs big enough to swing on in there.  I get palpitations from the horror of it all and run for the vacuum.  Wine.  I need wine.  And I find not one but TWO beads!  We will NOT discuss where the other bead belongs.  :D

So, after frantically scrubbing down the kitchen, I take my maniac cleaning to the living room. One look at The Bruce's perch tells me he and Bhaltair are in dire need of a bath.  I did not used to be a slob.  Really.

Now, most of you know The Bruce.  He's a Wee Highland Cow who hails from bonny Scotland.  He's also a MAJOR pill.  His cousin Bhaltair is a sweetie.

Anyway, I inform the wee cows it's bath time.  Bhaltair says ok and The Bruce raises holy hell.  Thankfully, I am LOTS bigger than both of them so I cart them off to the bath... aka the kitchen sink.

I figure I'll wash this pretty bowl while I'm bathing wee cows.  The Bruce puts up such a fuss that I must resort to Chinese water torture.

You will notice the water runs only upon The Bruce.  Bhaltair is laughing.  :D  Anyway, The Bruce is so awful that I promise him some wine later if he'll stop whining.  He doesn't believe me but submits to drying when I told them to just pretend they were laying on the beach.  Apparently one can fool a wee cow with an unlit candle.  :D

When his wine was not instantly forthcoming, The Bruce got all huffy, went to the cupboard where he keeps his accoutrements, and proceeded to tell me he's leaving home.  I said Byebye!  and went to hold open the front door.  Isn't he cute in his plaid and tam with his very own little suitcase?  It's the one he brought when he emigrated from Scotland.

The poor Bruce.  He is all verklempt that I so willingly held the door open for him to leave.  If ONLY he'd take SOS with him!!!  I'd PAY him!!!  So, he remembers that I promised him wine.  He waits.  I wish I could say... patiently.

So. I crack open some yummy pinot grigio and he lets me have some, too.  :)

Check out that big smile.  One happy Wee Cow.  And BTW, methinks his Scottish mom is making a Wee Cow Tutorial soon!  I'll keep you posted.  Nothing cuter than The Bruce, yanno.

So, all the trauma is over.  The Bruce is clean.  Bhaltair is clean.  My house is clean.  Wine is drunk.  All is right with the world.  And The Bruce is back in his regular spot. 

If only Spawn of Satan were so easy.  Sigh..................

What To Do When Your Muse Leaves

Ok, the ever-wonderful Carolyn Good has found the answer to this question!!  You know how you just wanna go play with your clay but you have no *oomph* and nothing in mind to make but you just wanna do SOMETHING?  Well, Carolyn's Color System toot [how the Hunnibunni spells it  :D] is the PERFECT answer!

I bought her toot a while ago and had some (ok, I admit it) problems grasping the idea.  I can almost remember when I was smart.  Can't think when I started getting dumber than rocks.  :(  But, I digress....

Anyway, one day I decided I would make color mixes.  Yep... I have bought many and tried many and the mere thought of yet another color mixing toot made my Last Remaining Brain Cell start quivering in fear.  But, I bravely got out all my clay.  See mess below:

Undaunted, I dove in.  Now, a collective "AWWWWW, POOR Carolyn" here, if you please.  The long-suffering woman had to put up with frantic emails because my LRBC just couldn't *get* it.  Then, it dawned and the light shone brightly.  My LRBC was happy.  I figured it out then wondered how it could have seemed like a hard thing.  Jeez.  There is no help for me, yanno?  And poor Carolyn.  Her halo is shiny!  Not once did she tell me to take the proverbial hike.  Not a single time did she tell me to take a long walk off a short pier.  What a girl!

So, for the first time I had a roaring good time making new colors.  It was just the perfect thing to do when I wanted to make something but didn't have anything in mind.  I got to play with my clay, make gorgeous color combinations and not have to produce a finished product to sell.  Therapy for clayers.  :D

So, here are some of the fun things I made with my new colors!

And check out those fun tube beads.  Carolyn strikes again!  :)  These are from her texture toot.  So, go visit her blog at www.2goodclaymates.blogspot.com  I also got her brand new bargello toot but haven't got to play with it yet.

I LOVE this color system.  You can make all these fabulous colors and it just really rejuvenates the old brain-dead muse.  Even my LRBC is feeling perkier!  :D