Molly Bee's Attic

I got a book on Zentangling letters a week or so ago. I finally sat down with it while The Hatfields and McCoys was on last night and gave it a whirl. Not really happy with the 'aith' but am pretty pleased with the 'F'. Not bad for a first try. I see lots of Zen words in my future! Fun!

This week's Diva Challenge was to do a tile using only the Crescent Moon pattern and it's variations. I tried it using squares, triangles and hearts as the 'moon' with varying degrees of success. I'm not happy with the tile, but it's the only one I have time for this week so it will have to do! It was a sad weekend at The Farm. We lost two hens (Penny and Gigi) and a rooster (Mr. Pickles) to a raccoon attack. They were all sweethearts and Gigi was especially adorable with her little, fluffy pantaloons. They will be sorely missed. Also, Toby-the-calf got moooo-ved (get it?) to his temporary home in New Glarus. He needs to spend time in the company of other cows because, quite frankly, I don't think he knows he is one. He's part dog, part people. We'll get him back in the future when he's done attending 'how to be a cow' school and we have a new facility built but there will be a big, empty hole in the barn and in our hearts until h...

This week's challenge from the Diva's blog was to use the new pattern 'Pea-nuckle' in a tangle. I was excited to start but soon realized that it's a difficult pattern for me. The spacing has to be pretty correct so that you can connect everything and really make it shine.  It's the pattern there on the left hand side. As you can see, I failed miserably.  I'll keep trying. It looks great if it's done correctly. It was still a fun challenge and neat to do it in the small size that official 'Zetangles' are supposed to be-3.5' square. I usually use a lot more real estate. Thanks again Diva for a great challenge and a relaxing evening!

I went to see Who's Line Is It Anyway-Live at The Overture Center this weekend. Walking in from the parking garage I looked to my left and saw a gentleman, sharply dressed in black, talking on his cell phone.  Two steps later I  realized it was Greg Proops , one of the improvisational comedians from the show. I did the stereotypical double take and waved. He gave a kind of  'Oh-My-God-If-I-Give-Even-The-Subtlest-Encouragement-This-Lady-Is-Going-To-Come-Over-Here-And-No-One-Wants-To-See-That-Happen' lift of the chin in acknowledgement. You know...the kind you don't get it you're 19...and blonde...and stacked. Anyway, I was glad just to have a wee brush with one of  The Shiny People to add to my list. The show was phenomenal. I am amazed at the quick wit and talent of that kind of comedian. I've been a Ryan Styles fan since I first saw him on The Drew Cary Show and he certainly didn't let me down Saturday. Chip and Jeff were outstanding as usual.  Bril...

I have another sighting to add to my bird list.  Earlier this week I was surprised to see what turned out to be a Virginia Rail in a tree by the pond across the street from my house. And last night I saw this. This is a rare and elusive  El Pato . She was not very scared of people. I walked pretty close to her to get this shot with my phone.  They are noted for their plaintive cry, ' Graznar! Gaznar !' I know this is an El Pato and not a regular old duck because she was standing outside the front door of  Cuco's Mexican Restaurant. Had a nice dinner with friends. Here you see 'Senor Scottada' after his really big Margarita...ole! I tried to have my picture taken but  I am 'fun-sized' and apparently this is just a photo op for tall people.  My face only came to the mariachi guys chest! My  face only came to the mariachi guys chest! You could see a little bit of my hair though. Looked like he had a beard, but no face. It was horr...

This week's Diva Challenge was so much fun! Ben and I sat out on the patio last night. We're getting to be real accomplished patio-sitters, me 'n' Ben! I ate my supper and worked on the challenge in the gorgeous spring weather. I met new neighbor Phil and his dog, Hershey. And I was glad to chat with my upstairs neighbor, Annie and her dog Finnegan.  Annie is doing well after her date with the hunky EMTs and fireman who swept her off her feet and took her away on Saturday. Just another beautiful evening in the 'hood.  The Challenge is called "Colour Me Sepia"...and yes, 'colour' is spelled like that because she's from Canada so she's allowed.  I am merely guilty by association and will return to the more uncultured spelling of things after this post.  But for now I like the flavour.  But I digress....  The challenge was to use brown in the typically black and white tangle. I decided to take the challenge literally and use the brown ...

Although the weekend got off to a rough start , it turned out to be pretty eventful. I went to breakfast and to see Dark Shadows (campy) with a friend on Saturday morning. The day was so beautiful that after our breakfast at Hubbard Avenue Diner , we got a walk in before the movie started. Saturday afternoon I found myself uber exhausted and decided that the chores I had planned could be shelved in deference to gorgeous weather and Mr. Ben and I parked ourselves outside in the fresh air. It wasn't too long before an ambulance and fire truck pulled up and carted my new upstairs neighbor off to the Emergency Room. Not sure what happened. It was encouraging to see her walk down the steps of her own volition (although heavily assisted) after the hunky firemen busted her door down to get her out. I told her not to worry about her dog Finnegan.  Ben and I would go get him and take care of him. Turns out Finn is a carbon copy of Ben. He's a boxer lab mix of the...

The first Monday of the month, the Diva calls for a UMT (Use My Tangle) Challenge. She chooses a tangle pattern invented by one of her loyal followers and challenges everyone to use it in a design. This week's UMT called for the use of   Eden's tangle 'Groovy' .  Yesterday was one of those days...so I looked forward to actually sitting down for the evening and working on this one, no cookin', no laundry', no nuthin', just me and the pen. All of the issues I'd been ruminating on all day fell away and it was just lines and curves. By the end of the evening I was much calmer, relaxed and ready to go to sleep. I cannot begin to tell you the immeasurable ways that tangling has helped me with all kinds of angsty, depression, anxiety-type issues. I SO encourage everyone to give it a try.  Yes you CAN do it; one pen stroke at a time, line by line. No one has to see it but you. You'll be amazed at how you feel. It's almost like hypnosis and it gives your...

♫ Ben has a  girlfriend! ♫ Ben has a girlfriend!♫ Miss Molly is spending a couple of days with us while her folks go away for the weekend. She's a looker, Molly is.  About 8 " tall and maybe 6 lbs (if you strap another mini dachshund to her back)! She's an older girl and doesn't let Ben push her around just because of his size. She thought he  took a little getting used to at first, but they were buddies within a couple of hours.  This morning though, he strolled by  while she was eating her breakfast and she bared her teeth and let him have it with her best 'I-Will-Eat-Your-Face-Off-If-You-Come-One-Step-Closer' growl and Ben was all like, 'Uh...Gosh...My mistake, Ma'am!' and couldn't back up fast enough. Girl Power! I walked them separately last night, but together this morning. It was like a circus sideshow; Ben oblivious to the fact that there was anyone outside with him at all and Molly creatively macrame-ing his paws together b...

This week's challenge over at The Diva's blog  is to create a tangle using just two patterns: Hybrid and Strircles. Here is my attempt: I really enjoyed this one since I use these patterns a lot. Thanks again for a wonderful challenge Diva!

Friends, Aaron and Terri Browne, formerly of my building and now of Minneapolis, visited last week with my honorary niece and nephew, Noelle (8 months) and William (3 in a couple of weeks!).  No bias on my part when I say they are the most adorable, beautiful, brilliant children EVER!  I regret to say that I was so living in the moment that I forgot to take pictures. I got a couple  of  hasty ones of William at breakfast on Saturday Someone explain to me why, with my limited photography skills, I insist on taking photos of children and animals, the two subjects who are always in motion.  Isn't William a sweetie? He's growing big and strong on the dog bones we feed him.  Just kidding, the bones in the picture were ones he was taking to his dog, Brinkley who was waiting patiently in the car....See? Then it was off to the Alpaca show. I communed with the animals: I so wanted to hug this guy. He was the most teddy-bear like guy in the ...

I'm babysitting my friends' dog, Brinkley this week. Bentley LUVS his old buddy Brinks and the two of them have been having a blast since Brinkley arrived yesterday. They are play-pals and snuggle-buddies and do everything together. It wasn't until this morning that I realized that they are also cahoot-ers and I am woefully outnumbered! Ben found SpongeBob Squarepants rubber ball in the garage a week or so ago. He has loved it so hard that it can no longer rightfully be called a ball.  It's more like some scraps of rubber loosely associated into a orb-like structure.  Pitiful as he is, SpongeBob has been the belle of the ball (get it?) as far as the dogs are concerned. They spent most of last evening playing 'Hey! Look over there!' and then stealing it from each other. At bedtime I put it away because, and Ben and I have had this discussion for a week now, Bob is, quite frankly, disgusting. I know sponges are supposed to be wet and gooshie, but waking up with ...

This week's challenge over at the Diva's blog  was to do a design that represents Earth Day.  (Her adorable son calls it 'Amanda Day' so that's it's title).  Dig around for a picture over at her blog...both of her sons are absolutely precious! Happy Earth Amanda Day!

I worked at the farm both Saturday and Sunday mornings so I got to spend lots of time with the newest resident, Lola: She is the dearest little thing. She and Teddy followed us all around inspecting each chore we did and sampling the various animal foods. We would often leave pans of feed on the floor for the chickens, turkeys and ducks but that is a thing of the past with old Lola around!  She is a pig in every sense of the word! We have to really watch her or she will no longer be 'miniature'! On Saturday afternoon I took Thor and Mick's (the llamas), Frances and Bert's (the big sheep) and Teddy's fleeces, which had been removed the following week,  down to Rainbow Fleece Farm  for processing. They will wash and card the fleece so I can spin it into yarn for the silent auction fundraiser Heartland is having in August.  They were having their 'Shearing Days' open house and it was cool to see all of their animals. Their peacocks are so beauti...

Our department is having a Peep Diorama contest as a team building activity.  I worked this weekend on my entry: Hare-y Houdini: Magician of the Peeps.   The only thing I hadn't done yet is put Hare-y and his water tank in... And hang the marquis... I planned on doing those tasks last night in hopes of meeting today's entry deadline.  I left the theater on the kitchen counter...unattended... when I went to work yesterday and that was when...DISASTER STRUCK! The Mighty Benzilla apparently crossed the Pacific from Tokyo and stormed the theater, creating general mayhem and devastation. After he had thoroughly tossed and terrified the occupants, he ate the Lovely Assistant Chick and two of the audience members before lumbering on to wreak havoc at some other venue. I discovered the wreckage when I got home. I rebuilt the theater and hired a new Lovely Assistant Chick but had a hard time to convince passers-by to come see the show in light of 'recent ...

This week's Diva Challenge is to use auras. Aura's are outlines around the original design that can make new patterns themselves as they grow. I use them quite a bit in my tangles. This time around, I wanted to experiment with looser tangles with more white space. I tend to super cramp patterns into every square inch! So here are my entries. Fun!

I've been working non-stop on my doodling. I wish I had found this stress outlet way earlier in my life! I was working on my art journal and stumbled upon this combination shapes and shading. It really appealed to me; the way the 'sunrises' when placed end to end, made a kind of faceted gem design. I call it' Katahdin' because Maine's highest mountain is the first to receive the sunrise in the morning and though I took it for granted when I grew up in its shadow, I know now what a gem it really is. Use and enjoy! I'd love to see what you guys do with it!

Mum has always wanted to go to Epcot at Disney World so after Gram's birthday, we packed our bags and flew to Florida to check it out. We stayed at the Boardwalk Hotel in the park and ate our first day's breakfast outside! In March!  Then we took the boat over to Epcot and took off for the 'big ball' in the park. HGTV was sponsoring a flower festival at Epcot so everything was blooming and beautiful; including lagoons full of floating tires filled with flowers.... And a butterfly garden Our first ride was 'The Land 'where you get on a boat and they float you through the greenhouses where the newest methods in cutting edge aqua and agriculture are being developed. And then it was off to 'Soaring', a ride that makes you feel like you are flying over California.  When you fly over the orange groves, you can smell the oranges! Next we tackled the dome to ride the Future World ride inside.  The line for the ride was over an hour long so I had lots of time...