Mosaic Mom

Bird Soup! Mmmmm. Yum. 

At 1:30AM, we were awakened by the sounds of kids bashing our mailbox in. This is odd only because it usually doesn't happen until Prom or Graduation in May. Grrr!

So it's off to Lowe's today to get a new one. I might upgrade to the kind of mailbox that opens from both sides. Then I wouldn't have to stand beside the road to fetch in the junk mail.

While at Lowe's I'll get some Amdro. The ants are going wild and I don't want my guests bitten while they sniff orange blossoms in the grove.

We enjoyed seeing Little Mind Escape for Easter. We had pork chops and fried rice. Not too traditional for an Easter feast, but tasty.

Enjoy the Celebration!

Bunny and Squirrel check out the mosaic Easter Egg in the mosaic garden. 

On the wall of the gym, each student installed a mosaic of his/her hand. 

That Plant Daddy is awesome. He has decided he wants chicken wings to eat at the party. So he has been practicing recipes for wing spice rubs the last few days. I am happy because I don't have to cook; but I am sad because my pants are getting snug. Sigh!

The table in the mosaic studio has now been slated to bear chicken wings, celery, blue cheeze dip and beer. Isn't mosaics a great hobby?

Did I mention I was going to the mall to buy a diet book today?

Temps reached a record high 87 degrees yesterday....then, of course, it rained.

The patio needs pressure washing again, the pool needs leaf removal again, the porch furniture needs to be re-washed. Grrrr.

Baked another lasagne yesterday, mucked out the bathrooms and the bug man came and sprayed. He said he rarely sees all 4 species of roaches in one location. Sigh!

Plant Daddy was up early this morning and made the beer run. We now have a good supply of Heinekens. Maybe we will lock the gate and drink all the beer ourselves and forget the rest! (Just kidding).

the Doctors office phoned this morning. My blood work is normal. So Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, etc.....

Temps reached a record high 87 degrees yesterday....then, of course, it rained.

The patio needs pressure washing again, the pool needs leaf removal again, the porch furniture needs to be re-washed. Grrrr.

Baked another lasagne yesterday, mucked out the bathrooms and the bug man came and sprayed. He said he rarely sees all 4 species of roaches in one location. Sigh!

Plant Daddy was up early this morning and made the beer run. We now have a good supply of Heinekens. Maybe we will lock the gate and drink all the beer ourselves and forget the rest! (Just kidding).

the Doctors office phoned this morning. My blood work is normal. So Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, etc.....

So I sez to God, “I have a nice afternoon planned today.”

And God just smiles and sez, “Bibbity, Bobbity, Boo!” or something damn near like it and immediately my world starts to spin out of control.

First Plant Daddy comes home for lunch. He’s hepped up and zippy causa he’s been drinking coffee all morning. That’s not so bad. But he wants lunch. He wants left over chili for lunch. This is real bad causa he’ll come home again later in the afternoon with “day old chili” gas. Man o man. Very Bad.

After lunch, I head out for Wal-Mart to get a new Ping-Pong set for the party. Everybody has had the same idea. Holy Moly! There are zero parking places. I have to walk a half a mile just to the front door and I can’t get a cart and I can’t find the Ping-Pong section and once I do,…no net. Paddles,yes; balls, yes; no net. Grrrr.

Now I go to K-Mart. I find parking. I find the Ping-Pong section. I find the net. Yay! My day is turning around. I add more things to my cart…giant size ping-pong balls, a Frisbee, a bag of range golf balls for Rickey. I snag a new pair of lounge wear pajamas for Plant Daddy. I am on it!

“Bibbity, Bobbity, Boo!” sez God.

Some Little Tyke over in toddler apparel is not happy. He shrieks. He sounds like he is receiving dental work without anesthesia. It is ear piercing and try as anyone might, Little Tyke cannot be denied. K-Mart management is rushing to see what is going on; all the rest of us shoppers are heading for the exit.

Therefore, there is a logjam at checkout. I am third in line…of course this is the only line open on a Monday afternoon. How long can the wait be?

“Bibbity, Bobbity, Boo!”

“Price check on Aisle 4.”

The price check takes a long, long time. Tyke is still screaming at full throttle and now I have to pee. There is a Chinese lady with a cart load of exercise wear behind me and 3 more people after her. She is shooting dirty looks at me. I am in K-Mart Hell.

Ms. Price Check loses her patience and no longer wants the item. The cashier flips a switch to cause the Aisle 4 light to blink and hissing into the microphone, summons management for a key to effect the return. Nargh!!!

Next it is time for Mr. Millennia Survivalist ahead of me to start his check-out scan. He is buying loads and loads and loads of canned food and toilet paper. Tyke is quiet, but I still have to pee. His check out is going smoothly. We are down to 2- 12 packs of TP left to go. He has his wallet at the ready. And…

“Bibbity, Bobbity, Boo!”

The power blinks. The cash register electronic brain has gone blank. They are asking the man ahead of me to take everything back out of his cart and start over….Nooooo!


I beg the China lady to let me out of line. I ditch my cart at the service desk and flee out the front door. I think I can make it to the potty back at Wal-Mart across the street if I don’t sneeze. (I am afraid to go to the potty in K-Mart lest Tyke and his Mom are there.) I was in line 24 minutes. There’s a reason they’re going bankrupt.

God is merciful. The crowd at Wal-Mart has cleared. I parked. I hit the potty. I re-checked the Ping-Pong sets and …yes, there was One with a net! Yay! I am in, out and on my way in 6 minutes.

My doctor’s appointment is in ten minutes. I have lots of time to read magazines in comfort in his waiting room…Guess what comes next?

“Hello, Mrs. Mosaic Mom,” says the receptionist. “Doctor’s had 3 surgeries today and he is running 2 hours late.”

I gave up and laughed.

I guess this was the right answer. God gave up and laughed, too.

The nurse got me almost immediately, drew my blood and before you could say, “reschedule”, the doctor walked in. He wrote out a refill for Synthroid, and we all left happy.

To end you on a happy note, enjoy these words from mosaic artist Judy Sell….

Clean Studio
A rare sight! My mosaic studio is clean…and party ready!

Imagine the mosaic table covered with a table cloth and laden with Italian Sausages and an assortment of peppers and grilled onions. Cold Heineken, shoot a little pool or play a little ping-pong, maybe darts…It don’t get no better than this!

Went to Publix again today to lay in more party goods. There were 5 wheel chaired people in the store today. 4 old ladies, one old man. Anyway, I was happy because I had $4.40 in discount coupons plus Black Olives were on sale!

This evening I planted a new crop of green beans and was happy because the carrots have germinated. Harvested more bell peppers so salsa’s on the menu again soon.

I am livid that the squirrels are eating all the bird seed. GRRRRR!

Anyway, here’s the nice clean mosaic workshop.

The Society of American Florists sends me a free magazine every month. I don’t know why I get it. I’m not in the flower shop business, but I look through it when it comes.

It’s called Floral Management or something like that. It’s all about how to maximize your retail flower shop business. And they have articles every month on customer service.

Today I will tell you how a flower shop lost 2 weddings for 99 cents.

I wanted a single stem flower for a little cheer gift. I didn’t care what kind of flower, just something happy.

I was the only customer in the shop. There were 4 employees. I couldn’t get waited on, ..oh hell, ..I couldn’t a got CPR if I’d a dropped over on the floor.

But finally I lingered at the cash register and a 20 something Goth chick came to see if I had a pulse.

That poor clerk had no clothes to fit her. There was an 8 inch gap between the top of her black jeans and the bottom of her red shirt. She sported a belly button ring. I had never seen a uniform like this in Floral Management magazine.

Her hair was dyed jet black and greasy (it matched the jeans). She had asthma because she huffed every time she spoke to me. Her speech pattern caused her to raise the end of each sentence into a higher pitch…(eg. “…and this one time, at band camp…” . Younger readers will know how to correctly intone that phrase and will understand this clerk’s affectation.)

“What do you have available in single stems?” I asked.
“Gerber-a-s, Carna-tions, Tu-lips…”
“You’re not telling me the prices.”

She pulled the list off the wall and began to chant; then interrupted herself and asked me how much I wanted to spend.

When I said “about a dollar” she said, “All you can get for that is a carnation.”
I okayed that, until she brought me a rat chewed beige colored blossom about the size of a quarter. “Never mind, “ I said, leaving.

But here’s the thing…

I’ll be the flower consultant for my friend’s wedding in the fall. And eventually my daughter will be getting married. And I will never ever use that florist.



P.S. I bought an artificial flower with a cute Easter Bunny pick for a buck at the Dollar General and my friend thought it was cute and it cheered her up.Mission accomplished

Yum! 

Made a quickie repair to a door holder then cleared off my mosaic bench this morning.
I can just imagine it filled with happy people eating Italian sausages and shooting pool and playing ping pong. And of course they won't change my radio station settings, n'est pas?

Totally mucked out the guest bedroom. Hadn't dusted in there in forever and it was really gross. But it's clean as a whistle now. At least the scotch tape is scraped off the desk surfaces and the sheets are laundered.

Got an invitation to Jeanine and Antony's wedding in October. On the 15th. Seems like a long way off, but it's just around the corner. Pray for a calm hurricaine season.

Made 2 lasagnes for the party. They are fresh out of the oven right now and small sooooo good. I'll slip them into the freezer before midnight. Two down, 8 to go.

There have been a flurry of e-mails in my inbox this week announcing dates for my ::cough,cough::35th high school reunion.

Looks like there’s going to be a nice BBQ out on the lake in October. Maybe I’ll make a sentimental journey this year and attend.

I went looking for a photo of the old ivied halls this morning and found a page on the school web site for “Alumni”. But, alas, our class is not listed. Maybe we’ll get our photos uploaded after October.

Of course, this also means being bombarded with spam from classmates..con. too.

One of the stops on my route this morning was Walgreen’s. I needed to pick up the Synthroid refill.

“Good Morning. I’m here to pick up a telephone order refill.”

“Yes, M’am,” says the clerk, “but, we can only give you a partial refill. We can only give you 10 pills. You’ll have to come back for the rest another time. Is that OK?”

“No, that will not be acceptable. I want a full refill.”

This seemed to throw the clerk into shock. I guess everyone else sheepishly accepts this ?

She asked if I would travel to a nearby Walgreen’s store for the order. I said, “Yes, I would go to the Leesburg store if they could fill the entire order.”

But she didn’t like that answer.

“Maybe more pills were on the truck that came in this morning.” She said as she scurried to the other end of the counter to consult the pharmacist on duty. They huddled, whispered and pointed in my direction.

This set alarms off in my head. Eckerd’s Drug Stores had been fined by the state for profiteering off the “partial refill” scam. Eckerd’s counted on people paying full price then never coming back for the rest of their pills. Was Walgreen’s going down the same path?

The clerk came back and reported that she would phone another Walgreen’s store to send more inventory. They could have it ready later in the day if I would return. I told her I would be transferring my prescription to Publix.

And so I did.

Publix was the next scheduled stop in my route anyway. I was going to stock up on party supplies. It took less than 10 minutes to snatch the prescription away from Walgreen’s and fill it in its entirety.

There was something deeply satisfying about picking up my pep pills and my Pepsi, pickles and pimento cheese at the same location.

I needed a day to catch up on gardening. Today was just perfect!

I transplanted the (Ichiban) eggplant into the ground and potted the basil to a 15 gal pot and set it at the south west corner of the garden.
That sweet Plant Daddy scrounged me a hose long enough to deliver water to this new planting area. We are experiencing a hose shortage at the moment, so I think I know what to get at Father’s Day!

Divided up the Rhoeo bicolor, aka Moses in the cradle because of its unique flower structure. I planted it along the driveway, but it took me 45 minutes to locate and drag a hose to this location. Two didn’t have connectors and one got there only to prove too short to reach. Grrrr!

Harvested all the Roma tomatoes out of the middle greenhouse and turned them into salsa which we ate on our baked potatoes for supper tonight. Plant Daddy tossed the bushes since they were full of whiteflies. I tossed a bromeliad that just never grew and tossed the Thai basil that had limped through the winter but wasn’t making a comeback. I admired my little crop of pineapples coming on. I can taste August already!

Transplanted the parsley to a clay bowl and moved it and the mint out of the greenhouse to their summer location under the Osmanthus. The Osmanthus is blooming, so are Orange blossoms, cherry blossoms and the Jasmine is in full bud and will pop open any minute. It smells great around here at the moment.

Harvested another handful of green beans. We’ll have enough for a meal tomorrow. Decided not to harvest the first 3 cukes of the season till they get a little bigger. Tied peas to the trellis. No carrot seed germination yet.

Harvested more loquats for breakfast. The crows descended yesterday and stripped most of the fruit out of the top of the tree. We found enough on the lower branches in towards the trunk.

It was hot and bright today. I wore a jog bra to get some sun and needed sunglasses against the glare. Now time to rest !

Mosaic news... A lady pulled in to the garage sale yesterday and asked if I would give her mosaic lessons. We will start up in April!

Also yesterday the committee in Sorrento phoned to ask if I want to reserve a booth this spring. I couldn’t give a commitment, but am thinking about it.

Love them Green Beans! 

Once upon a time, Little Mind Escape went off to Art College. In her freshman ceramics class, she was assigned to sculpt a male torso. She set about with gusto, but , being a young, innocent Freshman, she did not know what size to make the man’s “unit”.

She had some photos of the David statue to guide her, nevertheless, she got the proportion a little large. So large, in fact, that the “unit” ran several inches down the thigh and out across the table.

Thinking her measurements might be amiss, she consulted several young men art students at the college, who assured her that her size was quite correct! It certainly matched what they had!!!!

She fired her work, glazed it and all went smoothly until Parent Visitation Weekend when Mummy and Daddy saw said “unit” and wondered if Art College was such a good choice for their tuition dollars. Nevertheless….

They did not pull funding and daughter went on to sculpt all sorts and kinds of nekkid people statues. We did not approve of this until one of them sold for pretty big bucks, then we encouraged her. Of course then she grew bored with nekkid people and started sculpting balloons…but anyway…

Little Mind Escape will graduate in a few weeks and therefore Mosaic Mummy was summoned to bring the pick up truck to the Art College and help tote home the statuary.

That’s how the torso came to live in the garden.

Then a funny thing happened….

Every morning, Mosaic Mom would look out the window at the torso and the huge “unit” and I would become happy viewing it. In fact, I have come to refer to the statue as “Mr. Happy”. Plant Daddy does not enjoy the statue as much as I do, but we won’t go there…anyway….

Today, I was having a garage sale. I reasoned that young children ought not to see “Mr. Happy” in all his glory, so I covered him up with an apron. The day went splendidly, then Plant Daddy saw a funny thing.

Leaving the garage sale, goods in tow, a woman in a red van stopped her vehicle, got out, lifted Mr. Happy’s apron and peeked underneath!!!

I guess she went away a satisfied customer!!! She was smiling!

Just busy being a road warrior/slave to the taxman. There seem to be so many loose ends to tie up for filing taxes, trips to the bookkeeper, mailings, errands, trips to Publix, etc. No time for the mosaic studio, blogging or the Y. Hope to get back to normal schedule soon.

Itinerary

Thursday March 31

Karin, Rod and Marie arrive at Barb and Jake’s in afternoon
Terri and Jo arrive Deland Holiday Inn in afternoon


Laura arrives Orlando Airport 7PM
Carol arrives Orlando airport by 7PM ?

Jake brings arriving airport passengers to Tavares
Barb takes Marie to Deland
Marie, Carol, Jo and Terri at Holiday Inn Deland


Friday, April 1st.

Marie, Carol, Jo and Terri travel to Tavares at their convenience
Art event begins at 6PM

Carol, Jo, Marie and Terri at Holiday Inn in Deland.
Karin and Rod in Barb and Jake’s Back yard
Laura with Barb and Jake

Saturday April 2nd.

Marie, Jo, Carol and Terri travel to Tavares at their convenience
BBQ event begins at 4PM

Marie, Jo, Terri and Carol return to Holiday Inn Deland

Sunday April 3rd.
Terri and Jo depart for West Palm
Barb brings Carol and Marie to Tavares
Marie, Karin and Rod depart for Georgia
Barb takes Carol to airport

Little Mind Escape designed and installed much of this area. 

One of our freshmen students working on the mosaic wall 

Bikes…
So I’m driving to Deland today and there’s this guy on a bicycle. His spandex bike shorts were so threadbare that his butt was completely visible as he pedaled along. He might as well have been wrapped in saran wrap for all the coverage he had.

I thought he was cheap but M.E. suggested that it might have been deliberate! EEEEWWWW!

Bikes…
It’s Bike Week. There were hundreds of motorcycles out and about today, even more so the closer we got to Daytona. They just aren’t wearing helmets anymore. Pity the EMT’s who have to scrape the grey matter up.

And more bikes…
News report said some 22 year old man bought a brand new motorcycle in Winter Park yesterday. He got 4 blocks on it before he splattered himself. Dead. He wore no helmet and “speed was a factor” .

So M.E., I brought you a new computer, reward me with an update!
Get well soon to R.C. and I like the drawings you did for the apartment.

Today was absolutely perfect. Sunny and 70 degrees. Just perfect for anything you would want to do.

I mosaiced on the little church/birdhouse and made good progress on my secret project. My desk was too clean, so I just had to start a flower pot project cause that corner was so empty and sad.

I planted carrots. Yay, 14 days to germination. I transplanted 3 shillings hollies. I want to get a better hedge out along the front fence.

Love them beer drinkers...picked up 5 empty aluminum cans today. Went to the Y and managed 1.82 miles in a half hour.

Checked the pool; no leaks after yesterday's scrub. Did 2 loads of wash. Had spaghetti and garlic bread for supper. And now...I'm going to SIT. And dream of things to come...

Showing the south end of our mosaic wall to a reporter...2 years ago this month. 

Take the long way home

Some days it feels like I just live in my car. Today was another huge dose of errands to run.

First, off to the post office 15 miles up the road to check the envelope measurements on the party invitations. Yup, too big…extra postage affixed. Invitations mailed.

Second, a 25 mile drive to the accountant to drop off Mind Escape’s W2 and to pick up our completed 1040’s. Refund…Yay!

Third, a quick drop at the ABC for some more Maker’s Mark. I’ve had insomnia again. No, that’s not correct. I took a vitamin with a cup of caffeinated tea early last evening and I didn’t sleep worth a toot. I was cheerfully doing laundry at 1:30AM. Duh! That was stupid. Tonight I’ll take a swig of antidote and sleep well.

Fourth, a 25 mile hike up to the Pack and Ship. I decided to send Isaiah Zagar one of my mosaic flower pots. Sorta a garden theme to help save the Magic Gardens. They can sell it in their gift shop or at a fund raiser. Or have a good laugh and pot a geranium in it, I guess.

Next, a dash to the Publix for some Cheerios and a pit stop. Looked for those new Butterfinger Crisp candy bars for Plant Daddy but they are hard to find in stock.

A 15 mile run up the road to the Party Store came next. I bought some checkered tablecloths and some green table cloths to try and sorta do an Italian look for the party. Need to score some grape vine clusters at JoAnne’s this weekend. Need to drink a bunch of Chianti and turn the bottles into candle holders.

On the run home, I decided to hit the library for music to run on the treadmill. Nothing, so I will have to break down and buy something peppy.

Home at last and met by the 2 hungry mosaic cats and the hungry Plant Daddy. Thank goodness for leftover beans and rice from yesterday.

The name of the piece I gave Isaiah Zagar is “Lost My Marbles”. Today was that kind of hectic, busy day.

It has been very windy here. It's very uncomfortable getting slapped about by these gusts.

The wind has caused a Prunus serrulata across the street to get tangled into the phone lines. Every sway looks as if that tree is going to topple and take the phone lines down with it.

So if there are no posts to the blog in the next little while, understand that it was that tree falling and taking the phone wires down.

I suppose I should call Sprint and report it, but I am still miffed about that inept repair they did here 3 or 4 years ago.

Their "subcontractor" just laid the line in the driveway, on top of the pavement and never came back to ditch it...en-ditch it?...bury the darn thing so that the customers and household traffic wouldn't actually run it over with their cars. We tacked it up with cable ties and there it sits.

When people comment about how third world it looks, I just tell them it's a quality Sprint job.

So let it fall. Then they will send a repair truck and we'll be darned lucky if they don't just lay the wire across the road promising to come back tomorrow to bury it!

But if I'm out of service don't worry, I'll be back!

Yay! I got about half of my mosaic studio workbench cleaned up yesterday.
Tiles and glass had been piling up since Christmas.

Now I must resist the urge to start any new and messy projects until after the party in 3 weeks. I'm counting on using that workbench as a banquet table...seating for 6 to 8 people.

Just don't kick the stacks of tile under the bench.

Thanks to my cousin for the mosaic shopping link. Nice stuff over there at overstock.com.

Thanks to S.W. for the lacquer hardener for the latest project. I'll be trying it out this afternoon.