Sandy?

Sandy's coming, hide your stuff folks......ummmm.....maybe....

The cold night last week scared all the color out of the heavenly blue morning glories.  I stuck a few unfrozen buds in some water and this is what resulted.....strange but beautiful, almost like miniature moon flowers.

Winter is trying out her new coat.  It's a little big but she seems to be comfortable in it.  The next one should fit better now that I know what I'm doing!

I took it yesterday while we were cleaning up the yard.  We are pretty much done.  Things are put away.  The chain saws are gassed.  We have plenty of oil for the Aladdin lamps.  Water is in buckets.  All this is just in case for a storm that is probably not going to be much of a problem.  The people along the coast should be a bit more careful as there probably will a storm surge.  We are on top of a hill so unless there is an end-of-the-world surge we will not have a problem with flooding.

Winter and Aloysius are representing the animals attitude.  Sleep through any storms or anything for that matter.

Be careful but not hysterical.

As always, thanks for stopping by................*s*

AND THE MORAL OF THAT IS.......

Don't try to post when you are half asleep.  I decided I would get ahead of the game last night and write this post before going to bed.  Bad idea!  I managed to erase stuff, move things around; you name it.  I finally gave up and went to bed.

A year and a half ago I felt like I was never going to have a creative idea in my life.  This was something new for me, so I decided on a new approach.  I was looking at the fish below, which I made as a prototype for a class of developmentally delayed adults I used to teach.  I have been making whistles off and on over the last twenty years.  It's always been an enjoyable process for me.

SO! I decided to do a whistle a week for a year.  Size could be variable.  I could make one or a bunch, as I wished.  The idea was not necessarily to finish the year but to get me making stuff again.  

Ideas ended up occurring in series.  One week would provide the impetus for the following week. The series below was done over five weeks.  Making a whistle for me becomes a meditative process, freeing my mind to new ideas.

I made three of these bigger fish, five to nine inches long.  This was when I discovered that the bigger the whistle the more careful I had to be about making the actual whistle.

My version of a Seahorse.  I'm still not happy with these little guys.  They're about six inches tall.  I think they need to sit among some seaweed to get a better curve to his tail.

 I call these little critters  Thimble Fish.  I make them from a small wad of clay that starts out the size and shape of a thimble.

A not very good picture of a Puffer Fish.  They are so silly looking that I am quite fond of them.  I think I'll use a thick slip to make spines on the next ones.

Starfish.  I looked at so many pictures of so many varieties of starfish that I was almost overwhelmed.

And finally,  Morning Glories!  I planted these from purchased seedlings about two weeks ago.  Cut worms ate my original plants so I planted these in pots.  These particular plants are on a ladder leaning against the end of the shed.  I'm thrilled that they are doing so well.  Summer isn't summer to me if there are no heavenly blue morning glories.

The temp has dropped and it's raining;  it looks like it will continue for most of the day.  We aren't in drought conditions yet here in Southern New England, but rain is always welcome.  Rain is so much better for plants than watering, and it adds to the pool and pond.

BTW I did not finish the year of whistles, but it sure got me working again.  It also shares responsibility for my starting this blog.

This post can also be found at Mud Colony.  Go take a look; there are interesting people there!

Enjoy the week end.

Thanks for stopping by...........*s*