Mosaic Mom

Mosaic Mom’s Goals for 2007

Writing Goals

1.Write 12 short stories…500 to 1500 words each

2.Write the Oscar Bluemner Essay


Mosaic Goals

1.Begin work on the Grocery Cart

2. Finish the front porch


Health Goals

1.Get the Synthroid dosage stabilized

2.Go to the dentist


Happy New Year Everybody.

Plant Daddy's student dropped by with some paper work yesterday, just as I was coming around the corner of the greenhouse with a cauliflower in my hand.

He thought I was holding a brain.

No. No brain. Just dinner.

Plant Daddy and I spent yesterday uninstalling the mosaic art exhibits.

First a stop at Mastertile to collect the Christmas tree. This time we wrapped it securely and didn't have to stop for a re-wrap on the trip home.

Then I went to Mt Dora Center of the Arts. There was ZERO parking downtown.
I parked illegally, dashed inside and scooped up the pieces.

We are enjoying a nice day at home today. Gardening and doing chores.

Prayers and Best Wishes to Cousin Dave!

I went to the library today…

Here is a Mosaic Mom Rule of Life:

When you return items to the library, especially Interlibrary Loan items, ALWAYS get a receipt showing the return!

A few years back, Mom here had to pay for a book I know for a fact was returned. But if the personnel can’t locate your book, you are screwed. You pay up or lose your card.
Once burned twice cautious…so…

Last week when I returned “On Vacation”, I was wise enough to obtain a receipt showing a clean account…
Sure enough, 2 days later the phone rings and the librarian asks me why the book is on her desk!?!?

Today it took THREE librarians to check in my interlibrary loan book about the history of New Jersey, but, hey, they got it done and I have a receipt.

Librarians do not like to give receipts. But insist on it! It may save you some dough!



A corollary rule: Avoid the library during school holidays.
Many parents “dump” their children there as if it were day care. Today the place was awash in urchins.




Mosaic class schedule…A lady had sent an email asking about mosaic classes. Jeanette at Lake County Adult Education had said the schedules would be at the library the week after Christmas.

They were not there today.
So I still can’t tell that lady what the class fees will be. Try phoning Jeanette at 352-253-6780. I will post the info as soon as I know.

Mt Dora Center for the Arts is offering Mosaics at their place. Their spring class flyer was included with the newspaper circular today. Their fee is $125 plus materials.

Community Ed is, of course, cheaper, but you may have difficulty finding the schedule and registration forms.



And yes, I have a book on the history of New Jersey because I am researching Oscar Bluemner.



Little Mind Escape gave me and Plant Daddy a jar of Tamarind Coconut Curry Sauce for Christmas. Today I plopped it on a vegetable stew of cauliflower, potatoes, carrots, green beans and peas. It was delicious. I thought I was in Bangalore! Oh yeah baby!


I spent the afternoon, after the library trip, blanching and freezing tomatoes and broccoli, broccoli, broccoli, broccoli, broccoli, broccoli, broccoli, broccoli, broccoli.

Finally, I would like to say that I am extremely happy to see Absolutely Write back at blogging again. Yay!

Little Art Daughter gave me a book for Christmas.

It is called Why A Painting is like a Pizza...A Guide to Understanding and Enjoying Modern Art by Nancy Heller.

I am reading it...and I finally understand Monochromatic Minimalism...(white paint on white canvas). I still don't like it, but at least I get the concept now. Thank you.

Helen got a camera.

Jake got binoculars.

I got ORANGE BISAZZA!

Merry Christmas and love to all !!!

It's time to make the traditional Christmas Eve Lasagne!

It's all done in chipped Bisazza. Took about 100 hours to get 'er done.But really spectacular and well worth it!

My philosophy of art is that people should ENJOY it!

Today is the shortest day of the year.
As of tomorrow, the days are getting longer...and I will start tomorrow bitching about the heat again.

I read somewhere that folks go out to the moors and light bonfires made out of bean bushes tonight to celebrate. I thought about this as I picked the last of my green beans tonight. But I didn't need a fire tonight. It is 85degrees. I am in shorts.It's hot...I'll save it for tomorrow.

We are wrapping presents and looking forward to being at home for the next week!

I wrote a story today. Will start editing it after the first of the year. I am glad to have learned to separate the writing process from the editing process.

Here's something you don't want to do...

When Stinkhorn mushrooms come up in your yard, do not go out and try to hoe them down.

Yes, they smell bad, and you think that knocking them down will alleviate the odor of dead skunk that wafts across the zoysia during the bright cheerful holiday season.

But you'd be wrong to go chop at these suckers.

Why?

Because the stink will get on your hoe and your tool shed will reek the rest of the day.

And if you're really stupid, you track it into the kitchen when you come in to eat your spaghetti for lunch! Duh!

I planted some festive poinsettias yesterday.

A nice, clean, freshly washed greenhouse.

Bench 2 was rotted and had to be taken out. But that gave us lots of room to maneuver the pressure washer.

Question: What do hurricanes and holidays have in common?

Answer: The lines at Publix will be enormous.

I had to go today to pick up my new Synthroid perscription...and the ingredients for the traditional Christmas Eve Lasagne! I got stuck in the check out oobleck for the second time this week,

Note to self...there is no such thing as a quick trip to the store for a couple of weeks...

Plant Daddy and I pressure washed the mist house this afternoon. Photos tomorrow!

Today was a garden day.

We harvested a pineapple, tomatoes, an eggplant, green beans, and broccoli, broccoli, broccoli, broccoli, broccoli, broccoli, broccoli, broccoli, broccoli, broccoli...if anybody wants some broccoli, please drop over. I think we have a little.

The lettuce was looking great since we had a few cool, cloudy days. But now the temps are in the mid-80’s and the lettuce might bolt.

Plant Daddy dusted Sevin on the mint and basil where the caterpillars are chomping the crop. I applied Amdro to the ant hills in the broccoli, broccoli, broccoli, broccoli, broccoli, broccoli,…if anybody wants some broccoli…Pleeeeeze drop over.

Plant Daddy spent the day remodeling the Propagation House. I spent the day blanching and freezing the you know what….and I put up a batch of stewed tomatoes.

We had a huge salad for supper. This is living in my book!

The new doctor's office phoned this morning and is going to upgrade my Synthroid. Apparently I still wasn't getting enough dosage.

I had always gained weight and never been able to lose no matter what I did. I had gained again recently and was very depressed about my shorts being snug.

Maybe if I ever get this Thyroid dosage right, I'll be able to lose. Grrr.

I guess too I am angry at all the people who rejected me because of a weight issue I couldn't control.

It's a great day to stay indoors and catch up on reading.

I treated myself to a Veranda magazine to read while sitting in the doctor's office yesterday. The decorative mosaics were all reflective. Like mirror tiles.

I also spent time reading the history of Kingston, Rocky Hill and Griggston New Jersey. Bluemner was sketching in that area at the turn of the century and by golly it's fascinating...the Historical Societies have photographic records of the area. I can put 2 and 2 together in terms of Bluemners art.

Harvested 2 huge broccolis for supper. Then dashed out to the Dollar Store to get candles to burn on this rainy evening.

1.Called a cabinet maker. Plan to update the office.

2. Picked up a book on interlibrary loan that came all the way from New Jersey! I still find the Interlibrary Loan System to be a small miracle!
It's a book about the history of the Raritan Canal. Wonder why I want that!

3. Stood in line for a year and a half at UPS Shipping.

4. Stood in like at Publix for the next 6 months!

5. Went to a new doctor.
I said "Hi my name is Mrs.Henny Penny."
He said "Hi my name is Dr. Rodger Dodger."

Folks, we have a match.

1. Jeanette just called from Community Education. She is mailing my contract for January teaching. Also she is giving my phone number to the press. They want more mosaics for an article to encourage class registration! Yay!

2. At the Post Office, my friend is back. She was out with family illness, but all is well again. She gave me a snack pack of Hot Firey Cheetos, because they were too hot for her taste. Where else can you get a roll of stamps and a bag of Cheetos?
Awesome. You gotta love small towns.

3. I realized why the Fed Ex Man is always happy this time of year even when UPS and the Post Office people are getting overtired and grouchy. Mr. Fed Ex is always happy because he's Hindu.

4. I have checked on my 2 mosaic pieces at Mt Dora Arts Center three times. Both pieces are still there. So far, so good.

5. Leu Gardens spring programming looks awesome. I wish Discovery Gardens would do classes like that. (I would teach there if they opened that kind of format)

6. Suzy and I had a great visit yesterday. Grrr...Gotta go. the line's been dropped. Darn Florida Cable...Grrrr.More tomorrow...

I'm keeping this photo current to decorate my blog for the holidays!

Yesterday we had Mosaic Daddy. Today Plant Mom.

Here is Zeus next to a navel orange that grew to just over 8 inches! A real whopper.


Last week the garden club ladies were not very generous with me and it really had me down. Talk about feeling devalued as an artist...I was very hurt.

Today, a lady at a garage sale sold me some dishes for mosaic work and she was so generous, it made me cry.
She loaded and loaded and loaded my car. When I protested that it was overflowing, she said, "Honey, I was an antique dealer. I know how to load a car. You still have lots of room." and then she added even more dishes and platters and cups and saucers.

She was Soooo sweet.

I spent a nice evening sipping eggnog and sorting the Noritake from the Spode.

Woo Hoo!

Here's Plant Daddy's mosaic flower...
He's good!

(the tile is not defective; the blotches are from the flash)

Mosaic Mom found this on someone's blog and decided to answer the questions. What are your answers?


What's the first poem you remember reading/hearing/reacting to?
I remember my Mom reading to me…

How do you like to go up in a swing
Up in the air so blue
Oh, I do think it the happiest thing
Ever a child can do.
Up in the air and over the wall
Till I can see so wide
Rivers and trees and mountains and all
Over the countryside.

Is that Stevenson?


I was forced to memorize (name of poem) in school and....
The first poem I memorized was The Congo by Vachel Lindsey in Mr. Hornsby’s 7th grade English class.

Unfortunately, most of my classmates chose to memorize and recite that “I shot an arrow into the air” crappy poem and I learned it by the sheer awful repetition of it. Go away crappy earworm poem! Torture.


I read / don't read poetry because....
I read a lot of poetry. It’s a mental snack. I like to nibble. Sometimes savory, sometimes sweet, sometimes salty. Sometimes light, sometimes substantial.

A poem I'm likely to think about when asked about a favourite poem is....
A.E.Houseman, or Stephen Crane,
Ok, Ok, these are poets not poetry, but my favorite poem on any given day or in any particular mood will be in their bodies of work.
Especially Crane’s “I Saw A Man Pursuing the Horizon”


I write / don't write poetry, but....
I don’t write poetry because I puddle too much. Poetry is precision.


My experience with reading poetry differs from my experience with reading other types of literature....Once I’ve read a book, I never read it again. I read poems over and over and over and they’re fresh every time.

I find poetry...fun.

The last time I heard poetry....

The last time I heard a piece I was amazed that a 14 year old writer had a very real grasp of ecclesiastical/liturgical structure in her work. I don’t think she had been liturgically churched, but I know she is very well read. I wondered where she found those elements of style? It was mature beyond her years. That girl is a whiz…if the damn public high schools don’t ruin her in the next 4 years, she’ll be one to watch.


I think poetry is like....Literature is a painting hanging on the wall; poetry is a window in a wall.


The person I stole this neme from a teacher who lives at the Arctic Circle and is about to take a mid-winter vacation in Cuba. Check her out…
http://vivacemusica.blogspot.com/

Get Well Soon to Mosaic Mom's Mom who had cataract surgery today.
To cheer You up, I put the Christmas package in the mail today!)

I was just getting to like the postmaster at my little post office, enjoying chats when I'd take the Amazon.com books over for shipping, when a gunman robbed the place. The lady quit, understandable so.

We got a new post master lady. She was great, very chatty and nice and I was enjoying our chats and now she has quit too. This is very disappointing.

The worker girl installed there now is efficient, but won't even smile.I think she doesn't like me since she tried to sell me Noni juice and I wouldn't buy any.

It's going to be a long holiday season. Well, at least I can look forward to the Fed Ex man.He's very cheerful.

I was pouring milk into my morning java and I noticed the cutest little caterpillar crawling across the countertop.

Then another...
and another...
and another...
there were 8 of them.

Not so cute anymore.

They had come in on the tomatoes I had picked last night. Blech!

I dispatched them to the trash can...and then checked the harvest lest any more be hiding out.

Yeppers.

I tosssed the whole basket of tomatoes.
I went to the greenhouse and dusted Sevin...liberally. Grrr.

I spent most of the morning grouting a 5 ft mosaic flower made by...Plant Daddy!

That is to say...he mosaiced it!

I have been replaced. (he's good! Photos soon)

Then I spent the rest of the day tossing out old junk. I have decided that if it hasn't been used in a decade....it is time to move it out.

Our friend Neil phoned yesterday. His Adeniums are struggling with some root rot issues....and on plants this size and this age, that's serious.

We calculate that these babies are at least 15 years old...possibly 18 years...and they weigh about 75 pounds each.

Two of them didn't respond well to their last root pruning session and will now go to the plant "hospital"...they will be deliberately dried down without soil in the garage for the winter. That kills the fungus and hopefully not the plant.