I Guess It Depends....

...on your definition of "failure". These hideously deformed things, although sad-looking, will still burn, therefore I did manage to make candles. So that part was a success. However, they don't bear much resemblance to the ones in Martha Stewart Living. They were, however, the cause of much mirth. Sparky said those were faces even a mother couldn't love. She also said, when she could stop laughing, "well, at least it's Thursday"...which went right over my head until she reminded me that Thursday is the day we put our trash out. When I showed them to Preston, though, he said he thought they weren't that bad. And I didn't chuck them right away, which was a bad thing because now, much like a mother with revoltingly ugly children, I can't bear to part with them. They have a certain....I don't know what you'd call it. And they smell pretty good. However, I don't know that I'll devote the time it would take to perfect my sand-candle-casting technique. Was the sand not wet enough? Not packed densely enough? Wax not hot enough? Poured too fast? These are questions poking at the side of my brain, begging to be answered. The mad scientist in me just may take another stab at it.

But not this week. This week, by which I mean today and tomorrow, I have three major projects to complete; a baby quilt, an anime costume, and the setting up of my back room at the store to magically transform it into a gift shop. Busy busy busy.

Building Candles In The Sand....

...today, because Martha Stewart assured me that it would be "a good thing" and because I sort of missed the 60's so had never made them before. As you can see, my aim's not great. But I managed to pour them without injuring myself which is always a good thing. And no, I wasn't drunk. Thanks for asking. Smartass.So I don't know how they turned out, haven't dug them up yet. I don't think Sparky had ever heard of sand candles, she did not share my vision. She wondered what makes them pretty, and I admit I was at a loss for an answer because I can picture in my head how I want them to look, and it involves a little more than just digging them up and calling them done. So yeah, I can see where one might question the wisdom of making dusty crusty old candles. We'll see. I really wanted to make green ones, but I had SO much red wax, and it was a trial run anyway. Next time they'll be green.

As it turns out, we won't be having the annual craft show this year. It just wasn't going to shape up, through nobody's fault but my own, so I called it off...much to the chagrin of my fellow crafters, who as it turns out were actually planning to make stuff to sell. So instead we are renting the spare room behind my store, and setting up there in November and December. I don't really know what to expect but I think this, too, will be a good thing. Again I say, we'll see.

Found buried treasure...

...in my CD cabinet. Now that I have my own workshop and nothing but dead airspace for 6 hours a day, I can listen to whatever happens to float my boat at the time. I went digging around in the CD cabinet at home, and found the self-titled Garbage CD. Never listened to it, I don't even remember where it came from. I know I didn't buy it, I think someone gave it to me. So I brought it in and have been listening to little else ever since. Shirley Manson has such a smooth voice, belying the intensity of some of those pissed-off-scorned-girlfriend lyrics! And the band really rocks. And then, when you're used to all that frantic music, the CD ends with the beautiful, haunting "Waiting for You". I have to get more Garbage LOL...I'll always wonder why they named themselves Garbage, because it's really anything but!

Inspired and excited, I went back to the CD cabinet and pulled out my Primus CD, which I've had so long I can only remember the one song I bought it for. Brought that to work and gave it a spin, but no luck there. Though I still think Les Claypool is a demented genius, I can only take Primus in small doses.

Hmmmm.....wonder what else is in that cabinet?

What a week...

...full of ups and downs. The up part had to be our show on Saturday; it went pretty well, considering it was our first time performing as a band. I don't know if that counts, because 3 of us have been performing together for what seems like forever, so just one of us was new. But it still felt new, and of course Joe had the butterflies...silly man. I don't know why he gets so nervous, he's been playing so long he should be able to do it in his sleep. I would think I would be the one with the butterflies, I was so painfully shy when I was young and if you'd told me that I would be not only standing in front of people, but playing and (gasp) singing and NOT having butterflies, I would have thought you'd lost your mind. What a strange universe it is. Preston and Kevin didn't seem to have any butterflies, but it's really hard to tell with them what's going on inside, even though I've been married to Preston for 24 years. All I can say about the day other than we got through it and it was fun, is thank goodness for Kevin, because I kept having technical difficulties and he kept fixing them.

Now for the downs. My car is down. It needed some pretty serious repairs to pass inspection at the end of this month, but the decision as to when to make them was taken out of my hands when I lost my brakes last Friday. At least I was in the yard when it happened. But now it's up on blocks being fixed, and who knows how long that will take.

Also up on blocks being fixed is my Mom, Sparky. She went into the hospital on Monday having trouble breathing, and was admitted and later found to have pneumonia and anemia, and congestive heart failure. Like my car, everything seems to have happened to her at once; also like my car, she needs some pretty serious repairs to pass inspection. Poor Sparky! She can't even get a decent night's sleep because they keep coming in and poking at her and sticking her. But at least they're keeping a close eye on her, and hopefully she'll be fixed soon and back at home where we all miss her, especially the cat who seems to have embarked on a hunger strike and isn't speaking to my Dad.

I just picked the beans yesterday....

....and I swear the little buggers grow 4" overnight because I can go out there today and pick a whole bunch more. Good thing we only planted one row, or we'd be in green beans up to our eyeballs. I gave some to Sparky and froze some, but mostly we've been eating them. The rest of the garden was kind of a disappointment this year, except of course for the cukes...we had more cukes than two people could possibly eat. And everyone around here seems to be in the same boat, because I couldn't give them away...offered some to my neighbor over the back fence, and his response was "Oh GOD no!!"

In other news, our band is playing our first show tomorrow! I'm so excited. We haven't played in over a year. Our fingers are crossed that it doesn't rain, because it's an outdoor show and although WE will be sheltered, there's really no point in playing if there's no audience. So anybody who lives in Southern RI, come on out to Crandall Field in Ashaway for the Hopkinton Colonial Crafts Festival. The band before us is the Parallel String Band, and they are really incredible so come early. I think maybe they start at 11:00, because they play until 1 and then we go on from 2-4. And just so you know, we are NOT a bluegrass band. Check out our song list here; we won't be doing the Led Zeppelin or Aerosmith material, but anything else is fair game.

I don't even have to close my eyes...

...to go to my happy place. This is a spot about 3/4 of a mile from my house, and it's almost like going to another planet. It's completely deserted (because it's completely posted "no trespassing") . The only thing you'll hear are doves, as there are always at least a pair somewhere around. It's just a huge, huge field bordered by woods. Right now the field is filled with Queen Anne's Lace. Usually when I go there it's almost sunset so I brought my camera with me trying to catch a glimpse of how stunning it is, with the sun going down behind the trees. But of course I've failed, because things are never as impressive in my pictures as they are in real life.

As I said, it's posted so I don't go in the field. But outside the field is just as interesting; it's populated by more queen anne's lace, beautiful goldenrod, tansy, juniper, bayberry, and a whole encyclopedia of wildflowers I can't name. And bushes with big fat red berries I also can't name. But I was delighted to discover the bayberries, and as they are next to the road I figure they're fair game. There may be enough there to make a candle, but it's hard to pick berries seriously with the branch in one hand, a bucket in one hand, and a dog leash in the other hand, while trying to avoid being completely wound up and knocked over by the impatient 90-lb dog at the other end of the leash. So I settled for about 1/2 cup of berries, and I took them to the store and put them in my tart warmer. The light bulb under the cup (because my brain can't remember to put out candles, I have to use an electric one) was not hot enough to melt the wax off the berries, but it IS hot enough to make them release their scent. So now my shop smells of spicy bayberry! Sure doesn't take much to make me happy.

It never ceases to amuse me...

...what a diverse parade of people I get to meet in my line of work. Among the customers in my little store I have policemen, firemen, miltary personnel of several branches; I have an art teacher from the 'burbs and a teacher who works with the mentally challenged in the city; I have bikers and soccer moms; I have the self-professed "gardener to the rich and shameless" LOL; Christians and pagans, gay and straight, black and white and everything in between. I have a man who guides hunting trips in Alaska and shoots bears as big as Volkswagens (I've seen the pictures!); A caterer, a stonemason, a well-known local musician, and a man who gave me a fascinating history lesson about where Cajuns come from. I even have the reigning County Fair Queen.

And then there was today.

Today as I was working and pondering (as I have been for several days now) an especially unpleasant situation in my little life, in walked Lady Amazon, resplendent in tie dye, tattoos, and cool jewelry. She said she had driven by the store several times and always meant to stop in, but chose today to do so even though she was dreadfully late for work already. Well within minutes of a conversation you might expect from two people who had never met before, the subject somehow turned to the exact thing that was troubling me. I'll never know why or how, because we were just talking about her tattoo (which is really, really impressive!). It gave me goosebumps (no, not the tattoo) and I couldn't help but think she showed up for a reason. So I proceeded to tell her my stupid little tale of woe, (which ordinarily I never would do to a total stranger) and just as I hoped, she helped me clarify it in my mind.

Anybody who doesn't believe things happen a certain way for a reason, should have been a fly on my wall today. It was the weirdest thing to happen to me in quite some time but I'm so glad she decided to stop in!