Mosaic Mom

Happy New Year from Mosaic Mom !!! 

No post yesterday since I was feeling poopy not peppy. Much better this morning.

Today's task will be to clean off my mosaics desk to make room for the new ring saw and get clear to start new projects on Monday.

I also have to make a run to Publix since Plant Daddy decided he wants a good luck dinner of black eyed peas tonight. Bonus with this menu item...automatic noise makers for ringing in the new year.

We are relieved to have received an e mail from our Canadian friends who were vacationing in Phuket...

Hi Jake, Barb,
Here is a bit of our adventure. Fred also had irreg. heart beat earlier and had to go to Hospital in Phuket in Ambulance. More later but we are in Singapore. Thanks to Singapore, Thai and Australian contacts they tracted us down afternoon of 28th. All Heliconia Soc. members. Love,
Helen
> Glad to know someone else was worried about us! Yes, we were on the beach near water's edge when it came in. Fred a bit back. Both of us were caught and washed in. I saw the wave lift our thatch umbrella and our bags start to float out to sea. Then got caught up in submerged lounge chairs and falling umbrellas (4X4 post with thatch wooden top) and decided I didn't want to be pulled out to sea so made for shore. Fred held on to guy wires of the consession stands and wasn't pulled out. Went to rooom (locked) and finally maid let us in and we watched from 6th floor! Waves got much worse and breached the 1 meter wall and up 2 m of grass into pools bringing sand, mud and lounge chairs and broken umbrellas. In 20 min or so the entire beach was barren and 1st floor of hotel destroyed incl. bar and dive shop, massage, restaurant etc. No electr. and stayed one night, very hot and unconfort. and then had to move to grungy hotel and cheaper but qual. not even 1/5 the Meridien! More later, just arr. in Singapore using free internet.
> Fred and Helen

Busy day yesterday….

The thyroid pills are working. It feels SOOOOO good to get back to the Y for some regular exercise.

I went to the Y first thing and managed 30 minutes on the treadmill, but for Pete’s sake, the thermostat was nearly 85 degrees. The place was sweltering. I ditched the treadmill and walked around the outside of the building to cool off.

Mind Escape and I then decided to see if we could locate the mosaic store in Sanford.

SHAME ON YOU, Chamber of Commerce in Sanford.
I phoned last week to find out the name and location of this business. You claimed never to have heard of a mosaic store and put me on hold to languish. I won’t forget that!

KUDOS to the lady owner at Blue Willow Restaurant. Mind Escape and I wandered in there and asked directions to the mosaic store and she pointed us in the right direction. After we had shopped mosaics, we came back to Blue Willow for food. And I will make it a point to eat there every time I go back to Sanford. I won’t forget that kindness.

Sanford needs better signage to direct traffic to the downtown area. And they need to get that street construction done ASAP.

We found the store!! Mosaic Station is a little island of paradise. The place was so cool. Click here to see their web site.

Lots of professional workspace, room for students, good display area for tiles, glass, books and tools. I really enjoyed meeting Robin the owner. She’s a friend of Rich Rudden. Her style is Joe Difiore-esque and she works a lot of ceramic, so instant bonding from my point of view.

While there, a tourist from Indiana came in and we all had a mosaic chat. After that, a family of 4 came in to buy vintage Dal Tile. Awesome.

Mind Escape and I wandered around a little and searched one antique store for temple jars. Had refreshments at Blue Willow and headed home. Pretty good safari.


Cattle call….About 7:30PM, Plant Daddy and I went on a Publix run. Someone has dumped a German Shephard dog out in the neighborhood and we will keep it if we can catch it. So we went for a bag of dog chow.

Arriving home we decided to drive through the field and see if we could spot Rover. As we turned the corner in the sough field, we came smack up on a cow!
From time to time “pies” had been turning up in the yard and this was mysterious. We don’t own any cows. So we finally got to see the depositor. A big brown and white girl with a cute pink udder. Never saw the dog.

At midnight I went outside to turn off the pool pump. Bossie was right up next to the house! She and I startled each other and she stampeded away. Too much excitement!

Little Mind Escape and I visited the Tavares Public Library today. Photo of Reference Librarian and her art sculpture friend. 

Went BOWLING today. First time in YEARS!

Score:
Mosaic Mom 129
Mind Escape 127

Awesome Loads of Fun.

Vowels are very important.

Helen wanted Boots for Christmas.

She was not too happy with her box of Beets.

2004 The Year of the Saws

Plant Daddy got me a Taurus II Ring Saw. My ability to cut shapes into tiles just moved to the next level!!!

Mosaic Mom got Plant Daddy a SkilSaw Circular Saw. It is a wood cutting saw for all his projects around the farm.

It may be noisy around here today. But ain’t we happy!

Merry Christmas to All!!!

Mosaic Pot full of Poinsettias! 

I haven't even started decorating.

I had great plans for this holiday...as seen below. But I mosaiced a car over the summer instead of a Christmas tree.

I guess tonight I'll get our electric Christmas tree out of the box and plug it in.

I didn't get my mosaic Christmas tree done for '04. Next year, fer shure. 

Maybe I didn’t think this through…

I gave Plant Daddy 50 lbs of beets for Christmas.

There are only 2 of us living here. That averages out to 25 lbs of beets per person.

I only know 3 beet recipes and I have used them all already.

HELP!!!!!

Plant Daddy and I are about to celebrate our 26th Christmas together.

Early in our marriage, Plant Daddy was the worst Christmas present buyer ever. He would wait till the last minute on Christmas Eve, then rush to Eckerd’s Drug Store to buy what ever was on sale.

Usually he’d forget to buy wrapping paper, too. So my Whitman’s Samplers and Charlie cologne would be wrapped with newspaper and duct tape. It was so sad.

After 6 or 7 Christmases like this I was getting depressed. Finally I gave him the word…”Shape up! I am tired of being treated like this. I want some thought put into this.”

The next time Christmas rolled around, I was hopeful. But when I unwrapped yet another Whitman’s Sampler my heart sank. He had made another run to Eckerd’s.

Then when I noticed that the cellophane wrapper on the candy box had been unwrapped, I got really mad. “He opened my Christmas present and ate it himself!”

I started to cry. Plant Daddy had to beg me to open the box. Why should I open a box of already eaten chocolates? I was sobbing.

Plant Daddy opened the box and held it up to my nose. All I could see was messed up nougats….until…

There was a car key in the candy!!!!!!

Oh my God!!! How ever did he manage to buy a Buick and slip it in here and I never saw it!!! It was amazing. It was so cool!

And we drove it to church that Christmas Eve with Little Mind Escape asleep in her carrier seat. Awwww.

This Christmas, PD already got his big surprise gift. He got to the gate before I did when the UPS truck came.

That was probably a good thing. Because I was worried about how I was going to get 50 pounds of Beets into the house by myself.

Aunt Jo has sent answers to the 5 questions...

1. My 1st grade teacher was Sister Joseph Marie. Wow! That was in 1931!!!
Ancient history.......

2. Reptile .... No

3. Just finished, last night, "Bread Upon the Waters", Irwin Shaw.

4 Ice Cream: Cherry Chocolate Chip !!! Yummy.

5. Rose, St. Therese's flower

Also, may I add, that my favorite game is SCRABBLE, too. I belong to a
Scrabble Club with 3 other ladies. We meet once a week, on Thursday afternoons, at
each other's houses. "I'm pretty good", she says, immodestly.



MM says, "That cherry chocolate chip sounds really good!". As if I ain't getting enough calories from all the fruit cake I'm packing away this season.

The turtle below is made by a company called aqua-art. They and companies like them make mosaics on mesh that you can buy and install into your pool or shower. I don't want to take their credit. Sorry for the confusion.

I like it when people put their copyright on their photo. Then the credit's easy. Should I do that for my work?

Mobile Babe has answered the 5 questions...

1. What was the name of your first grade teacher?

Mrs Crawford...three memories spring to mind immediately
1) I cried continuously for probably the first two weeks...maybe
less, it seemed like forever...I'm talking all day here.
2) She gave stuffed autograph dogs to Cindy and Mac Burdette who
cleaned their plated every day...my competitive spirit still have me
trying to get one of those for myself...yes, I know exactly why I must
eat EVERYTHING on the plate set in front of me...no excuses here.
3) The day Randy ?? was jerked from his seat to the top of his desk
and spanked...violently...and he deserved it. At the tender age of 6
I recognized this as appropriate for his conduct..no I don't remember
what he did...but I remember that he really needed a spanking.

2. Have you ever had a reptile as a pet?

Is a turtle a reptile? I can remember the one that got lost in the
attic...might be the same one MM remembers..but I thought we found
that one...at least the first time.

3. What is the title and author of the last book you read?

Blue Dahlia..Nora Roberts..almost not worth reading..but I have $6
invested in it. At least it's about a nursery..yes, plants.

4. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

I realize Orange Sherbet is not technically ice cream...but I
consider it the only appropriate answer.

5. Pick a flower, any flower. What would you pick?

Wildflowers in a field growing easy and free as they decorate the area
with vibrant colors.

Astute readers…(my sister in Alabama) …want to know why it took so long to get a blood test to identify the thyroid disorder.

The doctor ordered blood testing the minute I walked in the office.

He also ordered 6 or so tests that involved something called “Nuclear Medicine”. Nuclear testing sounded much more exotic and dramatic than blood testing so I scheduled them first.

Also remember that when mosaicing, I go to great lengths to avoid cutting myself and bleeding into my art.

It took me 2 weeks to go for a blood test the first time. I showed up at the doctor’s office and was told they had no phlebotomist. They directed me to a lab 5 miles away, but it was early in the morning, no coffee, and pouring rain. I ditched blood testing.

About 2 more weeks later, I went to the lab with the phlebotomist. It was 8:20 AM. The sign on the door said they didn’t open till 9:00 AM. It was early morning, no coffee, and no Cheerios. So I resigned myself to death and drove home to drink coffee. Is that great drama or what? OOOOOOoooooo!

Meanwhile Nuclear Medicine was turning up nothing. All that radioactivity for naught.

Finally I got tired of being so tired and I asked Plant Daddy to drive me to the phlebotomist. He did. I did. And bingo-bango we know the result. 3.5 is normal and I’m an 11. 5.

So now I swallow little white pills. I have to admit I’m feeling better already. I’m not up to peppy or zippy yet but at least I’m not mosaicing my own urn.

None of my relatives have e mailed me their answers to the 5 questions I posed this week. Must be busy with holiday parties.
Very well, I will just have to answer myself.

1. My first grade teacher was Mrs. Johns. She punished me for reading ahead in the Alice and Jerry book. I was a little pleased when in college I heard that she had gone nuts and been committed.

2. I had several turtles as pets until one died in my room and stunk and my mom wouldn't let me keep turtles anymore.

3. The last book I read was "Up All Night" but I don't know the author. It was about occupations who work the night shift such as street cleaners, go-go dancers, taxi drivers and sports arena staff.

4. My favorite ice cream is rainbow sherbert.

5. I think I like roses best although I have never created a mosaic of one. I need to put mosaic roses on the project list. For smell. Jasmine sambac just can't be beat although Double Delight roses come real close.

Those words adorn a tombstone somewhere. I’ve always gotten a tee hee out of them. Now the chickens have come to roost.

Mosaic Mom’s other hobby is hypochondria.
I am talented at spinning straw into gold, or in this case, sniffles into Ebola.

With the advent of the Internet, I can find syndromes and viruses and mutations to my heart’s content. I can go for hours with fictional but amusing illnesses that might result from a mosquito bite.

Plant Daddy just smiles and nods as I warn him that I’m on death’s door. He knows that, in truth, I avoid doctors and hospitals like the plague. Plague, oooooh, good one!

But in September, a real, for real illness hit MM. I actually went to a doctor and sought help. I used the family medical history and an internet search to speculate on some real nasty killer illnesses. Those were ruled out pretty quickly.

But a sense of real for real sickness persisted and even worsened. It has taken a while to find it out, but today we have a diagnosis.

Apparently, my thyroid quit working some time ago.

Doc didn’t say why, so I will hit a Google search tonight and see what I can make book on. That will give me hours of pleasure till those little white pills he gave me start to take hold.

I will be so happy to get my energy back.

I was so tired and dragging and sure of my doom that I had started to mosaic a little hut for Plant Daddy to inter my ashes in. I have never been so glad to set a project aside unfinished as I am that one.

See the Bunny? 

When I have leftover scraps from projects, I make "Hold de Door"'s. The one in the centerhas a holder for a note to the milkman. On the right, a reflector helps mark the driveway while holding a gate open. 

It's going to be cold tonight...Hooray! Hooray!

We'll eat cauliflower soup and snuggle in the den in front of the space heater.

Wait...maybe that's not such a good idea.

I am glad for a little taste of cold, even if I have to spend the afternoon hauling all the tropical plants indoors.

Was somebody looking for a mosaic wooden shoe? I found the shoe at Goodwill for $3.00 and did the mosaic application this June. 

Mosaic Bird Baths “Big Bird” and “Daisy” are painted, sealed and ready for a new home.

The studio is cleaned, shop vac’ed, and even has a poinsettia for seasonal décor.

“Peacock” birdbath has a confirmed design and I’ll start as soon as I determine what I am going to use to cut all that glass. I have 4 sq ft of stained glass that has to be turned into rectangles ½ inch by 2 inches. I am thinking of asking Rosemarie if she’ll let me come over to her glass studio and let me use her Morton glass cutting machine.

“Peacock” needs some glass globs that are sold at Wal-Mart. I must be insane to think of going to Wal-Mart between now and Christmas…but I am thinking about it.

Mosaic Mom switched to Tom’s Natural Toothpaste 4 days ago. I stopped having morning coughing spells 4 days ago!

Plant Daddy is making nice progress cleaning up the Z shop. However the car carcass hauler awayer failed to show on Saturday. You have to be wary of people when you found their business via a sign on a telephone pole that read: “We Buy Junk Car$”.

I went to the Target store for the first time since it was remodeled. YECH! It feels totally claustrophobic. What were they thinking? Bye, Bye Target…Helloooooo Dillards!
I bought a new dress for Brian’s wedding. Now I need new shoes.

The dress is a size smaller than what I usually take!!! Go me! However, there has been a serious feeding frenzy going on here the last two days.

Yesterday we had poached Pompano, baked potatoes, sweet peas, fresh citrus, and corn on the cob.
Tonight it was roast chicken with mashed potatoes, fennel, carrots, broccoli, fresh citrus and tapioca pudding.

I’d better cool it in the calorie department or I won’t be able to tie my SAMA apron around my waist!

Astute readers...my sharp cousin in Texas...have noticed that 5 questions were missing from the list of questions. Numbers 7-22-23-41- and 45 are not there.

I rechecked the blog where I borrowed them from and she doesn't have them either...anyway...

Here are 5 more questions to finish out the full 50 count...

If any of my relatives want to send me their answers, I will post them.


1. What was the name of your first grade teacher?

2. Have you ever had a reptile as a pet?

3. What is the title and author of the last book you read?

4. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

5. Pick a flower, any flower. What would you pick?

mosaic bird house 

Yesterday I painted the underside of the bowl green. Then I painted the stand yellow. I was thinking that this would pull the colors together throughout the piece.

But unfortunately, the yellow on the stand turned more mustard tone, so it doesn't blend with the glass tiles inside the bowl at all. Today I get to repaint.

Then all I have to do is set a few glass pieces in and grout. I'm getting to work early today before the rain comes and shuts me out.

My life is a mosaic. I got this quiz from a Blog who describes her life as a Tapestry. Cool.


1. Your name spelled backwards: arabraB
2. Where were your parents born?: Augusta, GA and Philadelphia, PA
3. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer?: Ad-Aware
4. What's your favorite restaurant?: I like Mom and Pop type restaurants, not the chains…I’ve been in the mood for Hindu lately.
5. Last time you swam in a pool?: September
6. Have you ever been in a school play?: Yes, at Harwell Avenue School. I had the star SINGING role in the 4th grade Christmas pagent
8. Type of music you dislike most?: Classical…Just let me hear some of that rock and roll music, any old way you use it…
9. Are you registered to vote?: Yes.
10. Do you have a car?: Yes
11. Have you ever ridden on a moped?: No. But I drove an ATV last week. My first time ever on one of those!
12. Ever prank call anybody?: No, I wouldn't.
13. Ever get a parking ticket?: No.
14. Would you go bungee jumping or skydiving?: Not a chance.
15. Furthest place you ever traveled?: Swam in the Adriatic Ocean once.
16. Do you have a garden?: Currently producing tomatoes, and bell peppers
17. What's the size of your bed?: Queen
18. Do you really know all the words to your national anthem?: Absolutely!
19. Bath or shower? I haven't been in a bathtub in years.
20. Best movie you've seen in the past four months?: I haven’t been to a movie theater in years. I just got a hoot out of watching Dr. Zhivago on TV a few days ago.
21. What's the next movie you want to see: Supersize it.
24. Premarital sex?: PD and I have been married 25 years.
25. Are you a good cook?: I almost always cook from scratch and manage to get a hot meal on the table most nights.
26. Orange or Apple juice?: Orange.
27. Who was the last person you went out to dinner with and where did you dine?: Plant Daddy and I took Lyndon to Gator’s Dockside in Eustis last night. It was so bad we were embarassed in front of out guest. Food was great but the service was rock bottom bad.
28. Favorite drink?: Iced tea
29. Best thing in the world?: Being married to Plant Daddy and being Mind Escape’s Mom.
30. Have you ever broken a bone?: Right arm once.Left Arm twice. This is why I don’t ride bicycles!
31. Have you ever won a trophy?: First place bowling team in the 1989..
32. What is your favorite board game?: Scrabble
33. What is your dream car?: Nissan 350 Z
34. Ever order an article from an infomercial?: No.
35. Coke or Pepsi?: Pepsi.
36. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to work?: Yes. Hardee’s Hamburgers.
37. Last thing you bought at a pharmacy?: Toothpaste, chewing gum and Christmas wreath picks.
38. Who are you going to marry?:If PD were gone, I’d never marry again.
39. Who would you like to meet?: Isaiah Zagar (famous mosaic artist)
40. Do you believe in love at first sight?: I heard a voice from heaven when I met PD.
42. Where would you go for a romantic evening?: Home
43. How many pairs of shoes do you own?: 5
44. Last song stuck in your head?: “Beauty queen of only 18, she had some trouble with herself…”
46. What's your all time favorite Saturday Night Live Character?: The Coneheads
47. What is one thing you would like to learn to do?: Sew
48. What do you do when you are bored?: Eat
49. What is one thing you would want someone to appreciate about you?: I blog every day.
50. What is one thing you are grateful for today?: Colleen gave me a great haircut today!

This evening we visited with our friend Lyndon, a poinsettia breeder with Oglevee Nursery in CA. Here's a sample of his work...

Last night on the TV make over show, the lady went to the dentist. Instead of taking a mold of the lady’s teeth, the dentist held up a mold of “perfect” teeth and said that these were going to be installed!!!!

Apparently the process involved applying a bondo like substance to her natural teeth, then forcing this mold of “perfect” teeth over the bondo till the new shapes set. Then the bondo set in her mouth was ground down to shape.

Am I the only one horrified by this?

(For those of you who don’t have a Plant Daddy doing car restoration in the back yard, Bondo is a plastic putty like substance that is smeared into dents on the metal or plastic bodies of the cars to fill them. When dry, it is ground and molded into the desired shape.)

Maybe if someone had lost their teeth in a car wreck, this might be a new alternative to dentures, but store bought bondo teeth? God, Almighty!

All these babes with plastic surgery are starting to look identical. Are all the plastic surgeons following the same face lift kit? Obviously, all the teeth are coming from a mold now.

How long till this turns up as a do it yourself kit over the counter at Eckerd’s?

The lady subject of this show wound up uglier and older looking that when she went in.

She, like Cher, kept running her tongue along her upper teeth and sneering in discomfort.

Her boobs were propped up on silicone wads then squeezed in to a very unnatural shape with a wonder bra. They took away her glasses and she couldn’t walk up right since she was staring at the ground to see her footing. The dermatologist scoured, peeled and fried her skin till she looked as red faced as a British tourist in Orlando in July.

The hair was dyed and lacquered and they smeared clay dirt (aka make-up) on her raw red face.They stuffed her into an evening dress and set her on a sidewalk in a park in the middle of the afternoon. Hey…I know what that occupation is called!

I remember when the Women’s Lib movement was getting started in the ‘60’s. Getting free from fashion rules was one of the issues we addressed. We sure as hell need to address this again.

You people with the plastic surgery look bad. But more importantly, you look sad.

You can’t fill the hole in your soul from the outside in. You fill up from the inside out.

Astute readers have pointed out that my “12 Pounds of Christmas” List contains only 10 items.

Indeed, this tells you some very important things about Mosaic Mom.

First, I am mathematically challenged.

Second, Item 5 is good for a weight gain of at least 5 lbs all on its own.

Third, I didn’t even mention all the deli trays with the meats and cheeses and spinach dip and artichoke dip and pretzels and potato chips and nachos.

Fourth, I forgot the whole realm of exotic foods like caviar, smoked oysters, pickled herring in sour cream sauce, lox, crème soda, black cherry soda, olives. Oy Vey!

Our social calendar has 11 parties ( = gorging opportunities) starting Thanksgiving and ending New Year’s Day. So many calories, so little time.



The yellow stained glass mosaic birdbath is going quickly. I think I will call it “Big Bird”.

I read in the newspaper today that the Center for the Arts is offering ($35.00) a workshop to mosaic a flower pot for Christmas. Wonder if that’s Rich or Joe teaching that?
I would love to teach, but there’s no way I can haul my wet saw 15 miles into town once a week for 6 weeks as they request.

Although, that would give me a way to exercise and work off all these holiday pounds.

1. Entenmann’s Fruitcake
2. Medjool Dates
3. Redi-Whip
4. Cream Cheese
5. Pumpkin Pie, RazzleBerry Pie, Apple Pie, Pecan Pie, Sweet Potatoe Pie, French Silk Pie, You get the idea...
6. Turkey and stuffing
7. Honey baked Ham
8. Mom’s Pound Cake
9. Godiva Chocolates
10. Christmas Eve Lasagne

"Face It!"  

I used Custom Brand "Snow White" grout on the bird bath pictured below. No problem with color staining. The Custom product is "fluffy" compared to the Mapei grout which is very creamy. Maybe I'll make a permanent switch.

I bought yellow stained glass to re-do the daisy into a sunflower. I'll have to work out a new technique for the borders between the petals.

I repaired Blue Bird House which was damaged at Mt Dora Center for the Arts. I got sealer on the Pink Bird house.

Plant Daddy built a stand for "Face It". As soon as the stand is painted, we'll post a photo.

Larry at 2 cats offered me a table at his shop for today, but I cancelled. The table was to have been in his parking lot. This morning it is 45 degrees and cloudy and rainy and windy. A great winter day, but I don't want to be out in it.

I also turned down a chance to show in a permanent MDCA gallery. They want an indefinite number of volunteer hours. Also their big art show where 500,000 people a day come to town will be coming up at the end of January. I don't want to wade into that sea of people.

Glad Mobile Babe liked the Yam Good Pies.

If blogger bot moves any slower, I will be 110 years old before this picture loads! Argh!! 

Daddy Came Home With the Diamond!!!!

Oh!!! Plant Daddy just made my day today!

He came home at lunch time and he brought me a little gift…A Diamond!!!

Oh, did you think it was a diamond ring?

No. No diamond ring. It was even better.

It was a 1” diamond grinder bit for the glass grinder.

It’ll be smooth sailing in the mosaic studio tonight. Yeah, Baby!