Cat Clock at the B.A.G.

This is the Cat Clock that I have created for the Brandon Artists' Guild summer fundraiser, "Brandon is Reigning Cats and Dogs!" It was created out of metal zippers. It will be on display and for sale at the B.A.G. all summer until the event is over in the fall. I have to get up bright and early this coming up morning to deliver it to the gallery to be hung. I guess I better get to bed right this instant. Maybe my next project should be a "Night Owl" clock! I think I am on to something now! Ha!

Where do I start?

Wow! It has been a really busy week. The first thing that I have to say is that I think I may have found Squeeky the cat's twin sister. Just kidding, but really though, it looks JUST LIKE HER! I found a flyer on the bulletin board at the library in town from the Addison County Humane Society asking to please adopt this cat. It looks like a mugshot of Squeeky. In this picture the real Squeeky is on the right. (Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?) She doesn't like having the camera in her face so please excuse her for not looking at the up.


The next thing is that I started to wear a new pair of shoes this week. I got these Keen shoes at TJ Maxx a couple months ago for $25. I debated about bringing them back for a while and finally decided that it isn't too muddy out and maybe I could wear them. I like the way they look, but damn, after a while they are just not comfortable at all. They are cushy but have a slight incline that I am just not used to. The top of the bottom part starts to cut into my foot and it sucks. Why can't they be more comfortable? I am also wearing new pajama pants that I got for $7
on clearance at TJ Maxx tonight.

Here is a picture of the blueberry field behind Fran's house in Maine. I have never been there this time of the year and was surprised to see that the fields are very red, although it looks more purple here. Whenever we go in July or August they are green from the leaves of the plants. We had a busy time in Maine working on some projects at the house. Because Fran passed away at the end of October last year, there was still a ton of food in the house. We threw out the perishables and brought the canned goods out of the basement and the cabinets. After selecting some stuff to leave there, I ended up filling my car up with it to bring back to distribute among our family members and friends. The remaining food (a whole trunk full) will be donated to a food shelf before it gets any older. This food pictured here is only a very small percentage of what was there. There were at least 20 large cans of Hannaford baked beans. On the way back Eric made a joke about driving the baked bean express back to Vermont. He wasn't kidding. Toot Toot (literally)! All aboard. I got a package of hot dogs tonight at the store to make beans and franks this weekend.

This has been a really interesting week. One of the coolest things that happened was that Trish called me to ask if I wanted to go to a reception for Bill Ramage, one of our art professors at Castleton State College. He is currently showing a retrospective of his work before retiring after 28 years of teaching. It was amazing, awesome, and awe inspiring. It will be up from now until May 15th. Read about Bill Ramage here and here. It was nice to see Bill, some other professors, and some former classmates. Wow!
Another good thing was that my friend Indira from Rutland got in touch with me because she was going to be speaking at a conference in Middlebury today. We ended up having a delicious lunch at the Storm Cafe. After we ate we ended up having espresso. That isn't something I usually do, but what a good idea it was! It was so good! I am still thinking about it now. I don't think I have seen Indira in person since around Christmas time and it was really nice to catch up with her. She gave me a CD too! Indira is just so nice and generous, and I think she is one of the smartest people I know. It was really lucky thing to have her as my neighbor as she has become a really good friend.
Things are really getting busy for me as next weekend is the Queen City Craft Bazaar! I have to get things finished and in order for that. Also, I have to finish my cat piece for the Brandon Artists' Guild which is due Monday morning at the latest. Oops, I really need to go get going to work on finishing that.
Have a good weekend!

Storm Update.

The power at Eric's came back on here at 11 am today! We were so happy. However, it is still out in many places around town, Rutland county, and through Brandon. It was really strange to see everything so dark on this side of town when we got back last night. It sounds like everything is still a mess. Now we can get on with our plans.

It's a Disaster!

This was what happened this morning in Rutland!
I took this picture from the Rutland Herald website because I am too lazy to go out and take my own pictures. But anyway, we took a ride around town at 12 pm and saw much more like this! There are huge trees completely up-rooted, power lines down all over the place, and store signs torn from their metal casings and flung all over the ground. What a mess! The power has been out since 8 this morning and it sounds like it will probably not be fixed until sometime tomorrow night, if not later in the week! I have not showered all day and I am feeling pretty nasty. Since most of the stores and gas stations were closed, we decided to get out of town and head to Glens Falls, NY for the rest of the afternoon to do laundry and to eat somewhere different. I had been trying to work on my zippers in the dark and I think we would have gone crazy stuck inside all day long. Oh well. This sucks!
Oh, by the way this is my 100th post! Congratulations to me for blogging for 2 years!

Working Hard...

Here is a preview of what I have been working on all winter. Pretty, pretty zippers! This is just a sampling. Besides these I have probably finished over 2oo pins and barrettes and have a whole box more in different stages of completion. I have been finishing some other projects as well and I am trying some new things to sell this spring. I have more ideas too!
I finally brought a bunch of new pins to a sort of new store called Belladonna on Main Street in Middlebury. They will be for sale there beginning in early May.
Also, a fellow member of the Brandon Artists' Guild has offered to sell them at her store in Mendon as long as I make a display for them to put on her counter. I better get busy with that soon.
My sales at the B.A.G. have been pretty good, even over the slow winter months. I have been logging lots of time there gallery sitting. It is a little slow some days but there are usually a good amount of people looking each day. There are always a hand full of artists who pop in to check on things and let me take a walk for some much needed coffee. A famous children's author and her husband came in the other day after giving a talk at a local school. They bought a beautiful hand-painted chest. It was pretty exciting! We are all working on our projects for this summers' fund-raiser: It's reigning cats and dogs!
I have gotten a lot done this week that I have been putting off such as applications and pictures. It ended up being a lot of work, but much easier and much less dreadful than I had anticipated.
Things are definitely going to start picking up soon. May 5th is the Queen City Bazaar in Burlington and we are getting psyched for this awesome event. I can't wait! Also, my three Farmers' Markets will be starting mid-may and will keep me busy until the end of October when the holiday sales begin. Ya-hoo!