Poppies

It's my annual poppy entry! I know I write about them every year, but every year I'm just thrilled that they've come up, and I'm always surprised by it. As I pulled out of the driveway yesterday I noticed that I had one bloom, but I was running late, as usual, and didn't have time to run back into the house to get the camera.

This morning when I pulled out, I saw that there were two, and I was early, so I went back in and got the camera and took a couple of pictures. Aren't they the most gorgeous color?

Oh, and when I went back in the house to get the camera, I apparently surprised Dinah and Pyewacket:

See, what I think is, they really like each other, but don't want us to know it. They act like they just barely tolerate each other when we're home, but when they're by themselves, well:

That's what I saw when I came home last night, and I grabbed the camera and took a shot before Pyewacket jumped off the cat tree. It's fairly obvious what happened -- Dinah was sitting there, and Pye decided she wanted to sit there, but for whatever reason, Dinah stood her ground and wouldn't get off, thus Pyewacket crouching on the edge.

Of course, I guess in the top two pictures they aren't necessarily playing with each other, and maybe Dinah's hiding because Pye was going to thump her, but it looked more like playing. No one's back was up, there wasn't any hissing or growling going on. I prefer to believe they were playing. Of course, they can't seem to do that very long before it escalates into hissing and growling, but it's nice to see them at least coexisting peacefully. ("Sure, everything's fine until somebody puts their eye out . . .")

Dinah has started trying to get out the front door again every time we open it, so we've had to become more vigilant any time we go out. She got out night before last when Bob went out to get something out of the van, and since it was already dark, I was afraid we wouldn't be able to find her, but she stopped to eat some grass and I snuck up on her and scooped her up.

Bob would probably be just as happy to let her run out, he's said more than once we ought to try it and see what she does, and he's sort of kidding.

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Feed the Birds

Here's the second shrine, which turned out to be more of a decorative object, possibly, and less of an interactive one, since I've decided to give it to my mother for Mother's Day next month.

Clicking on the pictures will show a close-up image.

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Happy Birthday, Cello!

Cello's 40th birthday is Sunday, and we had a little party for him today. It was really difficult, because he's away from the office so much. We wanted to surprise him, so we didn't want to tell him, but he kept calling and saying he had another stop to make, or someone else he had to see, and we kept waiting and waiting for him to get back. He finally showed up at about 3:00.

We had all dressed in black, and Dave and John had decorated his office with black balloons and crepe paper, and put black streamers in the doorways, including the elevator door. It was pretty impressive.

Later in the afternoon, there was a chocolate cheesecake. Oh, and leis! A sparkly tinsel one for Cello, and black ones for the rest of us. Dave really went all out. Cello said he's saving the stuff to use this summer when Dave turns 40 . . .

I had kind of an adventure this afternoon after I left work. I had ordered some tea from Stash Tea, and had it delivered to the office. I guess I had gotten complacent with Adagio, who uses FedEx to deliver. I expected Stash to use FedEx, or, more likely, UPS, but they used the post office.

The postman tried to deliver the package yesterday morning, apparently. Although I'm sure there was something there at the office when he tried, the elevator was probably turned off--it opens right into our office, so it usually doesn't get turned on until either I or Cello get in in the morning--and he assumed that the office was closed rather than climbing the stairs. Understandable, I guess.

I had had it shipped to the office because I thought it would be easier, of course, but it ended up meaning that I had to go to the downtown post office to pick it up, which was the adventure.

I hadn't realized it, but I actually drive very close to the post office on my way home every night, so while I'd never been there, I thought it would be a piece of cake. As it turned out, they had moved, for one thing. And for another, it was, of course, tax day. And then once I'd found the new location, parked, and stood in line, I was told that I couldn't pick up packages there, I had to get back in the car, drive a couple of blocks, drive underground into the parking garage, and pick up the package in a different building. Or, who knows, maybe it was the same building--by the time I got there I was so turned around that I couldn't tell.

But it all worked out in the end. I got my Stash.

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More

After I posted the pictures last night, I got busy doing something else, and then was too tired to write anything about them. It was kind of fun to let them stand for themselves, though, maybe. My camera isn't the greatest for taking close-up shots, but at least it gives an idea.

The outside (top and sides) is covered with wide printed ribbon, then lightly varnished. The hearts on the doors are glued-on wooden pieces, and there are various pieces of paper collage both inside and out. There's a little mirror on the top shelf, and silver metal beads spelling out "WISHES." On the inside of one door is a tiny spring clothespin holding a miniature tarot card of The Sun (the card isn't glued in, so the clothespin could hold anything--a fortune cookie fortune, maybe?); the word inside the other door is "BOUNTEOUS," which dictionary.com says means "Generously and copiously given."

There's an image of an old key glued to the floor symbolizing hidden secrets. The key and the mirror are both important, I think--the mirror, in addition to being a reflective surface to bring light in, also reminds anyone looking in that ultimately, we are responsible for fulfilling our own wishes and dreams, and that we have the ability to do that inside ourselves.

I worked on a second one tonight. This one is painted green, lightly distressed and antiqued, with sort of a "garden" theme--it has a tiny pile of terra cotta pots, and a birdhouse, and a little chair . . . I varnished it tonight, and can put in the ornaments tomorrow. I'm trying not to overdo it, to leave plenty of room for personal treasures. They're sort of like "interactive" art, maybe. Sort of whimsical, yet it has a use, it's not just decorative.

I haven't decided what's going to happen with them yet. It's a really interesting process to me. It's very difficult for me to allow myself to make art that isn't structured, to allow myself to just do something, anything, without being attached to the outcome. To allow myself to make mistakes. Although, in general, that's where the exciting stuff happens. You have to get to the point where you're not afraid that you're going to ruin it, and that's very hard. But if you only color inside the lines, you never figure out what else you might be able to do.

So anyway, I'm finding it very liberating and exciting. Photos of the new one tomorrow, hopefully.

Someone wrote tonight and asked me if I had been inspired by Joseph Cornell. I had never heard of him, but oh! What wonderful stuff! I Googled his name and found the WebMuseum link above. Really amazing stuff. Kind of like Nick Bantock's work, but three dimensional.

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Wishes, Secrets, Dreams

I finished the first of the little shrines tonight. I'm calling it "Wishes, Secrets, Dreams."

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