Molly Bee's Attic

This week's Diva Challenge was to do whatever kind of tangle you like but do it in honor of the flood victims in Calgary.  I was glad for the challenge because I have only begun to use tangles in this way.   I've tangled when I'm bored or want to relax and shut off the mind monkeys, but I've haven't  really used them as a meditative or prayer technique until recently.  I think of the process the way I do prayer shawls. When I make them, I knit with intent; sending up prayers and healing thoughts to the shawl recipient. That's what I did with this tangle. I turned off the TV, sat quietly in the kitchen and sent out positive energy to the victims of flooding in Calgary and in our own state of Wisconsin. People that have never experienced flooding before are many feet under water. Homes and belongings are ruined. Roads are buried under mud.  If you find yourself smack dab in the middle of this misery with soggy sneakers, know that many people are thinking of you ,...

It was a gorgeous, hot, humid morning on the farm this morning. A bit of a breeze riffling through the tall grass made it tolerable.  Baby the turkey, who normally HATES outside, was even enjoying it this morning Bob and his new best bud, Mister,talk things over before their next task.   The goats and sheep walked through the tall grass to get to the mown golf course part of the pasture and nibbled on the short grass.  Then deciding that it was too much work for too little reward, they headed back into the meadow where the pickin's were better.   Thor faced into the wind and let his eyebrows blow around. Amy the sheep and Lola Piggita stayed out of the hot sun. They lounged in the cool barn instead. A lady has to keep on top of her complexion you know! And this little guy paid us a visit, stopping by to munch some of Shimmer the barn cat's kibble and pose for a gratuitous photo op.   Unfortunatel...

So much for my great plan to update more regularly. You know how it goes. Just when you think your life is going to settle and slow down....surprise!  Today's post is just a bunch of randomness that has happened over the last couple of weeks. The first of which is the pantry cabinet that I proudly put together all by myself!  I've learned in the past not to put these things together with anyone else. It leads to disagreements and things being put on backwards etc. Honestly, sometimes there are tears.I'm the best direction-reader-put-ter togetherer at our houes so I took two nights and did it all. It got off to a  slow start as I couldn't figure out why our electric screwdriver wouldn't work. It only took 4 minutes and two complete dismantle-ings to figure out it wasn't plugged in. It was smooth sailing after that.  Hinges and shelving and doorknobs, oh my! Here is is finally finished. The biggest accomplishment was picking it upright after it was to...

This week's Diva Challenge was TOUGH! You had to create a 'Zentangle' without using any of the patterns associated with Zentangle.  Basically you had to create new ones sort of.  Anyway, it was rough like I said, as evidenced by this piece. Here are a couple of 'tv watching' pieces I did that I was much happier with!  It's so much more relaxing to use established patterns. And there are so many great ones! Just when I think things are going to slow down in my life, they just keep getting busier.  Work is busier due to short staffing. I've been having lunch and dinners with friends, working at the barn and still tinkering on the house in between.  That kind of busy is a good busy to have so no complaints!

This week's challenge was a fun one. It was to use grids, which I do a lot anyway so this week's entry was pretty angst free: I did this week's challenge in my new art journal that is made with tan-toned paper. I think I really like it. It gives things a softer look. I might try and snag a brown pen and see what that looks like next. No grids in this one! This is unshaded but it was the first piece I did in the new journal. For once I pulled off an 'airy' piece that isn't packed with tangles in every square inch!

I started getting the calls early Saturday evening. Waaaayyyy to early to be as drunk as the dialer seemed to be. The first three times I answered the phone, I got some variation of 'Hey Baby...How YOU doin?' from local number I didn't recognize. There was a bit of a lag in between each call so I had waaaaaayyyy to much time to think about things to say. I swear on Colin Firth that this is the actual conversation (leaving out all of the drunken mumbling and a lot of general confusion of course) I had the fourth time I picked up the phone: CALLER: Hey Baby...whatcha wearing? ME: Chanel # 5 CALLER: Ooo and nothing else? ME: Naw I just got out of the bath. It's hard to cover up the skunk and tomato juice smells even with expensive perfume. (silence) CALLER: What color is your hair, Baby. ME: Oooo! I'm a fiery redhead! When I have hair that is. I recently had to shave my head because of the lice. (silence) CALLER: You got brown eyes? ME: No, they're blue ...

This week's Diva Challenge was to use the pattern 'Birds on a Wire' in a tangle. That's the zigzag with the curl at the top that makes up 90 % of this tile. I love the  pattern but I'm not thrilled with my tile. I couldn't get everything as even as I would have liked to 'cause I was rushing just to get it done, but my rule is to post the first attempt so here it is.  This is just a tile I did the other night. Bird on a Wire is not in it. I worked on it before bed and when I was done, I looked at it and thought...OMGosh! There are grubs snuggling down the middle of the tile! I totally didn't see it when I was working on it! Just a short post today to get my challenge entry out. Time is precious this week as I missed life altogether last week, but Ben is having a problem with rabbits so you know there will have to be another post real soon. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

I was feeling enough better to go to the farm this morning for the first time in two weeks. We moved week before last so I wasn't there and then the food poisoning incident last weekend. Two weeks felt like two years.  Especially when you get to see little faces like this one when you go in. This is Michael the baby goat.  Remember the movie, Gremlins? With those ears doesn't he look for all the world like a Mogwai? We just have to be careful not to get him wet! And this is Miss Ellie.  Isn't she the cutest little peanut?  Here she is 'sitting' for a cookie. Over the summer I am going to go to the farm for short periods in the evening to train the minis. We have 5 now, Lilly, Lucy, Ellie, Harley and Lola. Only Lola, Ellie and Lucy will be trained right now. (Harley and Lilly are disabled.)  They are SO SMART. You use the same tricks and techniques that you do for dogs to get them to come to you, follow you, sit, and 'leave it' . They need...