Mosaic Mom

The wall is mosaiced and all the supplies have been put away into storage.

My thought is to date the boxes of tile and if I haven't found a use for them in 5 years, I should just toss them into the dumpster. The silverfish will probably have eaten away all the cardboard by then anyway.

I am pretty proud of this wall. Proud of having a kid who can design and draw so well. I am proud of my stick-to-it-ness to get it done (I am not one of those people who would mosaic every surface in sight...I had to force myself into painful yogaesque postures to reach the edges and I do not like the dust associated with the cements and grouts.)

I am proud to have my Plant Daddy who enjoys having received such an unusual, or unique, Father's Day gift.

First thing yesterday, I scraped off all the funky green tile on that lower leaf and re-mosaiced in Kelly green. I was down to my last handful of tiles in that dark green color. During this process, I ran out of orange tiles and I ran out of pearl grey tiles.

Then I grouted from 10 AM till 7PM yesterday.

My hands and fingers are screaming today. I have cuts and a blister and the cement dried my nails out. My arms are sore and my fanny…forgetaboutit! OW! But I will never have to sit on that concrete floor ever again! Yay!

Now, as you look at the center of the eggplant you see an ungrouted circle. We are going to install a Kilroy style face there. We haven’t decided if it will be made of stained glass, or pottery, or perhaps even Plant Daddy will cut one out of steel and place it there.

Also at a later time, I will add more shards of beer bottle and thicken up the carrot foliage. I just wanted to get all the tiled and grouted areas through before the cold weather returns…and by cold I mean below 80.

Eventually, the posts will get painted white, but as is, this will make a dandy, new BBQ platform. I can taste the roast pork now. Yeah, baby!


Started on Father’s Day; finished Oct.26.

Just when you get the LAST tile on and you think “Wow! I am done! I can start the final grout now.”


You see that the leaf. And the color is not dark green enough. And you are going to have to scrape it off and start again.


Which means another session of sitting on that concrete floor.
Ow!

Our first garden flatlined. It was so discouraging, but Plant Daddy, ever the hero, re-seeded and this weekend, we got the new cauliflowers planted out.

If you look closely, you can also see tomatoes and onions.
This afternoon I will install 2 cucumbers in the greenhouse too for winter harvest.

Looking to the Spring!!!
Plant Daddy removed 3 figs and rototilled this area this morning.

Can't you just see the spring broccoli and corn and zucchini's?
Makes our souls feel better just thinking about it.

I never really cared for Vodka. It was just that clear, burny liquid that made screwdrivers alcoholic. However...
I got a sample bottle of Grey Goose Vodka.

Yesterday, being nervous about lots of issues including speaking to a group of 60 people...I opened the bottle.
Which is to say, I opened the sample bottle and swigged it straight.

I expected my throat to light up like a Girl Scout campfire...but, wait...

Yum.

I mean, really, yum.
This stuff is smooth.
It is delicious.

I never thought I would use the word "delicious" to describe Vodka.


So you ought to try it. You have to ask for it from behind the counter tho...it is pricey. But soooo worth it.

The only thing bad I can say...and is this really bad?...You will sit in the chair and yell "Honk! Honk!" like a goose after you drink enough of it.

And I did and I'm going to do it again today, so don't call me on the phone early on Saturday.
Honk Honk.

I am just working along on background now.

All the figures are in and only carrot foliage is the last remaining design element...and since carrot foliage is made of broken bits of beer bottles, which are very sharp, I am saving that for the very last.

I was asked how many pieces are on the wall. I'd calculate around 15,000 now. Something like that. Anyway all I can say is my thumbs are sore.

And I will also say that while working on this project I bought stock in Henkel...the company that makes Loctite adhesive!I am single handedly improving the company bottom line.

I will be reading for this event!
Come hear my short story…”The Cell Phone”

Writers One Flight Up
presents
Flights of Fantasy
at
Mount Dora Brewing

Event
Flights of Fantasy... An evening of original prose and/or poetry presented by local writers and poets.
October 20, Thursday, 7-9 p.m.
Held at Mount Dora Brewing and the Rocking Rabbit Brewery –
405 South Highland Street, Mount Dora, FL 32757

Details and tickets

So, how do you spend your Sundays?

Probably not doing this...


My hands are so sore now, I can hardly move my thumbs.
Most of the strain is from wringing the water out of the wipe cloth.

Also, to grout the bunny, I had to lie down sideways on the concrete slab. My right hip is really sore.

I am going to have to lay off this mosaic stuff for a while.

Here's what I got grouted this morning.

Now my old, tired behind is cramped up from sitting cross legged on that concrete floor...and I have run out of grout...so I am done for the day.

I am going to run to Publix for some chicken to grill...might stop at the Home Depot for some more grout supplies, too.

Hurray! I got the mosaic bunny finished today.

It's not the best photo since the sun is casting a shadow. I'll get a better one tomorrow morning.

When I was at Target Grocery the other day, they gave me a free sample of this stuff.


I used the sample tonight to make chicken and dumplings.
To open the package, first I tried to pull what looked like a convenient side tab. It didn't open.
Then I tried poking a hole with a knife; the gel chicken stuff wouldn't come out.

To open the sample, I had to use needle nose pliers!!!
I tugged and yanked and pulled. Finally got it open.

The gel plopped into the pan.
It tasted good, but that opening problem guaranteed I'll never buy it.

Yes, I know that it won't pop open in the grocery store, food safety issues and all that, but a pair of pliers for a sauce mix? Really?

Wow! Winn Dixie must be feeling some heat from Target's introduction of grocery sales. A coupon arrived today from Winn Dixie offering me a nice incentive to come shop with them.

The coupon says "$5 off any 1 pkg WD Brand Beef USDA Choice Roast or Steak".

I think I will go buy that!

Wait.

The coupon expired yesterday.

Way to go Winn Dixie.

Progress is being made around here…

The mosaic bunny is within a square foot of being finished


And another one bites the dust.


Progress on reducing the squirrel population around here.
Good kitty.

About those apples I got yesterday at Target with the dollar off coupon...

Sigh.
I salvaged enough to make scalloped apples for supper.

I just hope the "free" eggs turn out better.

Three days of rain and I’ve got cabin fever!

It’s odd not to have seen the sun since Friday afternoon. Hurricanes move faster than this, followed by hot, azure skies. So far it’s just dull and gray. No breaks in the sky. Not really even squally. Cold (that means 70’s) Blah! Three inches of rain though; I’ll take it.

The opening for Target Grocery Store was today. They had mailed me $12 worth of coupons. And Friday they sent a coupon for FREE eggs! That was enough to motivate me.

I braved the weather and arrived early hoping to get in and out before the church crowd.

I was early enough to get a door prize! The greeter handed me a small, reusable bag holding shampoo, conditioner, peanut butter, Shout laundry product, peach flavored applesauce, and candy.

(Yeah, okay, I’ll donate the peach flavored applesauce to the food bank when they have the food drive.)

There were also even more coupons in the bag. I scored an additional $1 off a bag of apples.

Even though I was early, the place was crowded and the shelves were already bare. I grabbed the last bag of apples, the last bag of onions, the last bag of frozen mixed vegetables, the next to last carton of eggs.

I applied coupons and got Lays potato chips, bananas, a ham steak, 2 bricks of Kraft cheese, Oscar Meyer Bacon, and a box of Rice Krispies. I made a bee line to the cashier.

I used my Target gift card to pay, so all this was absolutely free! Yay!

Lots of people were flowing in as I left. Glad I was early.
I don’t think they were going to be happy camper customers once they encountered the lack of stock on the shelves.

Plant Daddy and I have had a nice restful afternoon following our week of repairs. We finally got outside after supper and planted red and yellow onions, green beans, and one little eggplant. We felt better for having started over for fall planting. Gardening is about hope for the future. We love it.

And it stretches those grocery store dollars.

Pineapple, Figs and Persimmons are the fall fruits around here.
Here's what we picked yesterday...

We are getting really eager for citrus season! Especially with a little cool weather. That yields sweet, sweet oranges. Yum.

While the plumbing company worked today digging a new water line from the well to the house...by way of tunneling under the driveway…


I worked on the mosaic rabbit.

Helped keep me calm.

Today is the 8th year for this blog.

Blah blah blah

Anyway, starting into year nine!
Mighty Fine.

Running errands today before the driveway gets dug up tomorrow as the plumbers replace the main water line in to the house. Sigh!

You know it's going to be a bad day when...

At 3:30 AM your hot water heater boils over and the roaring noise wakes you up and Plant Daddy yells, "Turn the breaker off before it catches fire!"

And there's water from a leak under the sink and the pump is running and running

But you're not sure if it's the hot water heater itself

And Plant Daddy crawls under the house and doesn't see anything water leakish

And you wait for the plumber who promises to come at 3PM and doesn't show up till 6:30

But he finds where the leak is

and he hooks the house up to a hose so your water heater won't blow up again and you can finally have water in the house and a hot shower and he leaves at 8:00PM...

But he will be back on Wednesday to dig up the driveway because the leak is in the main line that runs from your well to the house

and the water under the sink was just a coincidence.

Today I cut and fit the very last tiles needed to finish the orange. Tomorrow I will grout and...Hip Hip Hurray...I can take the scaffold down tomorrow.

Garden Disaster

On Wednesday, we sprayed everything in the garden for pickle worm caterpillars.
We sprayed BT on the zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers and while we had a sprayer full, we sprayed the beans for leaf rollers and we saw some chewing on the broccoli and the sweet potatoes, so we sprayed those too.

Everything we sprayed with BT is now dead.

We are stunned.

We do not know if …

1. There was product contamination at the factory. We are old enough to remember when O.M. Scott’s sold some fertilizer that had been contaminated with an herbicide.

2. We keep a separate sprayer for Round-up applications, but ??? was there a mix up???

3. Was there contamination from what was in the tank before? Which was a powerful miticide we used in the nursery. Still, this damage looks like herbicide damage not phytotoxicity from another pesticide. Today Plant Daddy scrubbed the tank and triple rinsed.

4. Was there a chemical reaction between the chemicals in BT and the new plastic hose? Don’t laugh, that’s a possibility. Some hoses tell you not to run certain Ag chemicals through them. But this hose did not come with such a warning.

5. What's in our well water? Hmmmm.Don't want to know. But none of the houseplants are dead, only what was sprayed that night.

So even us, the “experts” can have a disaster. But it’s not a disaster. It just set us back a month. Jiminy Cricket!