Crazy good week

I actually have had a very good week! Don't always get so many good things in a row, so thought I would share some of them.

Friday afternoon I went to the Corning Museum of Glass to see the premier of "A Not So Still Life", a biography about artist Ginny Ruffner. Ginny works not only in glass but metal, drawing, paper, painting, and combinations of all of the above. She is just the neatest person, and she actually came to the premier! Yes, I got to see her in person, and ask her a question. Here is a picture of her:



In an interview Tom Robbins, who wrote Skinny Legs and All, says : I have a fetish about her hair....you could film a Tarzan movie in there. There are drunken monkeys swinging on vines in that hair." Then he goes on to say that when she wakes up in the morning her hair has already been up for half an hour reading the paper. She does indeed have great hair.

Her work is very innovative and fascinating :

                                                     

Oh look, a Chicken!

This is When Lightning Blooms, which is at the museum:It is about 4 feet tall.

This is her garden....I just want to run away and live there.

Ginny was also in a near fatal car crash in '91. They told her parents to pull the plug, she was brain dead. She wasn't supposed to wake up. She wasn't supposed to talk or walk again either. Really makes you wonder about the politics of coma patient care. She was amazing before, and knowing about the accident just makes you appreciate her all the more. The movie is fantastic, if anyone nearby wants to see it I bought a copy and would be willing to let you come over and see it with me. I would even feed you and ply you with alcohol. If not you can buy it at the link above, but it won't be as much fun. 

I then spent the weekend with Kathy Riley. I was supposed to clean for her all weekend, but she practically sold the place in 3 hours so no go. So we sat around and yakked instead, stayed up late and drank, and made pizza and omelets. Forgot the camera, so here is a pic from the internet:

                                                          

Yeah, that is what I did all weekend.

Monday, Courtney (Nick's girlfriend and finally another female in the house!) and I went to the NY Wine and Culinary Center for a free lunch. Yes, there is such a thing as a free lunch, you just have to know where to look!  Courtney had agreed to photograph the event and could bring a guest....and she picked me :-)    The students each week make a tasting lunch, so we sat down to an 8 course African lunch. That is right....eight whole courses. It was so fantastic...here is the menu:

Misir Wot with Injera Bread, which is basically spicy lentils on a whole wheat pancakes

Moroccan Carrot, Orange and Radish Salad with a cinnamon glaze:

African Potato Stew, with russet and sweet potatoes, culiflower and golden raisins

African Tilapia:

Ethiopian Punch-Pineapple, grapefruit and cherry juice with club soda

Tsire- Beef on a stick coated in peanut butter, hot peppers and spices. The host came out and told us the next dish was Ethiopian Beef, then preceded to hand out empty plates. I ain't gonna lie, I found it hysterically funny. The waiter then brought out the food and filled our plates.

Grilled Chicken with Harissa and Couscous

Papaya, pear and brie

Milk tart-custard with a pie crust that tasted like snickerdoodle cookies

 Very, very yummy. The funny thing is that many of the dishes combined things I normally can't tolerate together, like sweet and salty, fruit and veggies, fruit and cheese, peanut butter and meat, and pineapple or grapefruit with anything. I admit it was all amazing. So next week Courtney and I are headed back for Italian...ooo I love Italian. I am digging this photo gig of hers! I just drive and provide the camera and enjoy.

This morning I went the Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG) to show Nancy Brennan my jewelry.

These are my boots. They are clean. I had them in the sink to wash them this morning as they were all muddy from the pasture. I finished washing one, set it back in the sink. Right under the faucet. Which was running. Right into the boot.  Doh.

So in my dress shoes, I get to the museum. She loved everything except the Dirty Martini beads, which is fine cause I didn't really like them either.  She ordered 40 earrings and 22 bracelets...I will be pretty busy for the next few weeks!   Here are a few pieces to look for:

I also donated a bracelet and earrings to Wink 106 as a door prize for Ally's sleepover

Nick made the copper squiggles. I may make something else and keep this. I really really really love this. Seriously. 

Finally, the cherry on my already overflowing sundae is that I ordered tickets to a concert in NYC at the end of March. The band is called Turisas, and they are a Finnish Folk Metal band. Yes, you heard that right, folk metal is a genre. They dress like bloody barbarians, play electric violin and accordian (yes, accordian!!), and play awesome metal. Did I mention they play accordian?  Which happens to be one of my favorite instruments?  Here is a video of the band and the fans. I am so excited and this is the best birthday gift to me!

As an end note.....Kitty Too is hiding...or pretending to be a chickadee. Think she is fooling anyone?

Jam Packed

I now have a date book...you know, one of those little calendar books to keep track of what you have going on. It is funny after so long of not needing one to have nearly every day filled with something. Not sure how I feel about it. In some ways it is a great way to stay motivated and get up with purpose every morning. I have trouble doing that sometimes...well, ok...lots of times. But now I have too many things to procrastinate on everything, so at least some things are getting done!

The cats are one thing now on my list. Kitty Amazing invited Sleepy Joe, who I introduced last time. Well now Kitty Too has shown up, which brings me to a grand total of 5 cats! What part of "I don't want any more pets" do these rotten felines not understand??

Unfortunately Kitty Too decided to check out the dog yard and she and Moo got into a disagreement. I found Moo shredded up like he had been a demo on a Ginsu knife commercial, so went looking around for the culprit/victim. Found Joe ok, then found Kitty Amazing ok, and four hours later found Kitty Too in the garage, very sore looking and muddy but in one piece. A trip to the vet and $85 bucks later we have on the schedule "Antibiotics, 1 ml 2x daily until gone".

Max, (who I secretly call Maxi Pad hehehe,) the 14ish Siamese/Poofy mix was diagnosed with hyper thyroid and is now on meds as well:

 Of course I have no thyroid and would have been more than willing to take some of the extra, but no, I am told it doesn't work that way. The absolutely crazy thing is that he begs for his pills every day. If he hasn't followed me into the bathroom I just shake the pill bottle and he comes running. I am sure it is because of my fabulous bedside manner and not the soft cat food he only gets after the pill. So onto the schedule "Max, thyroid, 1/4 pill 2x daily until he dies, which will probably be in another 112.3 years."

Two times a week I work at East Valley Alpacas, which is fiber processing mill. I spend the day playing with fiber, felt and yarn and can bring the boys with me. I have about a hundred pictures of Chewie and Moo in the mill, but they are all on my phone-some day I will learn how to download them. I LOVE working at the mill with Wendy Daily. She has taught me way more about how to deal with workplace stuff in a healthy way than anything else, which is saying something because there is a LOT to know about processing fiber. She was a psychiatric nurse most of her career and bought the mill as a retirement project. She is far happier covered in dust and fuzz than dolled up in the hospital, I can say that. Her husband Bill is a riot..and former railroad man who feels if first you don't succeed, hit it harder with a bigger hammer. I think he has the biggest heart of anyone I know, but do NOT tell him I said that. There is a mill 6 miles from me but I drive 40 because I enjoy the two of them so much. The other thing which is a big plus is the flexibility. I work 2 days, and I try to keep them the same, but so much goes on that it seems 2 out of 3 weeks I am switching things up. I am SO grateful they don't mind. So two days a week goes to "Play @ Mill"

Next Tuesday, the 28th to be exact, is an appointment with Nancy Brennan, who is a buyer for the Corning Museum of Glass Marketplace. She is going to look at my work to see if the museum would like to carry it in the gift shop. No biggie. Not a problem. Give me a moment...(goes in closet)...AAAAHHHH!!!   (Comes back out of closet...)   Ok, so maybe it is a little...um...nerve racking. I have been hard at work getting beads made and trying to decide how to present my work. I think I will show her several examples of finished earrings and bracelets and then a bunch of loose beads, so she can specify what she wants. I don't want to make all sterling earrings only to find out she wants cheaper stuff, or vice verse. So on the schedule goes "Holy Crap meeting at CMoG with Nancy, 10:00 9:30 (to make sure I am on time)....don't forget the glass!"

So here are some of the beads which are waiting to go in the kiln to be annealed. Hope you, and Nancy, like them!

Well, until next time....keep your nose out of trouble!