Lauren's Etsy Creations

I do not have the patience that Lauren does to keep doing one thing over and over, getting better and better with each repetition. I have been too carefully kept by Brent for the last 27 years to want to make myself find the self-restraint and attention to detail that is required for the kinds of creations that Lauren produces.

Sweater Monster Book--the cat was waundering by as I snapped the picture.
One kind of sweater monster is more conventionally shaped: 4 legs, face, ears, tail.
I loved this book. The black area is magnetized and there are, wrapped in red paper, more words to pick from in the half-round pocket/shelf. I picked these to be on the front when we wrapped the book.
I love the subtile embossing on this small book--a gold SOUL MATE and a green frog.
Somehow, Lauren actually sewed the wool thread onto the cover of this book.
This is my favorite sweater monster--I love the wings.
This was a complete surprise: grapes and a leaf, echoed by the cloth cover.
I think that the monster on the left is Brent Sweat.
Little Red Riding Hood in the forest. Very cool.

These are some of the creations that Lauren sent us when we asked her to make Christmas presents for the people that work with Brent. There were hand-bound books, sweater monsters and shadow boxes for us to give away. I had a hard time wrapping them up for others to have. One of the other managing attorneys was going to be on vacation this week, so Brent brought his presents on Friday. He has two children--11 and 14-ish--and the younger (son) really loved his monster. He decided to name it Brent Sweat (for Brent Sweater Monster). Brent said that he felt honoured--kind of. The Brent part was OK, but the Sweat part was kind of gross.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. A toast to hope that 2010 is as wonderful for you as 2009 was for me.

Some Art Photos from Minnesota and Peter Missing Me in Florida

Looking up at the sky from the base of the tree in Minnesota--August 2009.

I love this small toad. It was the only bit of wildlife besides insects I was able to photograph.


Here is Peter. While I was gone, the rabbits quit using their potty boxes. I felt sorry for Nathan, who was home taking care of them for me--but I was a little glad that they noticed I was gone and missed me.

The side of Susan's home--beautiful and peaceful. Stairs lead upstairs to her apartment and the front porch at the left of the photo runs the length of the main house.

Good art shot of Fever, the horse I road most of the time while I was there.

I love the texture of these yellow cone flowers. I've never seen anything like them.

Beautiful butterfly on the purple pom-pom wild flowers we found while riding one afternoon.

An incredible shot of a Monarch butterfly

on a purple cone flower.

These are a few of the photographs that I took (except the one of Peter) while in Minnesota. It was a wonderful week spent with Susan and Martha. I rode and read and walked and thought and rode again and shopped a little and visited with some of Susan's children. It was cooler than Florida (duh!) and there was a fine dust of brown soil that covered the area. Like the ubiquitous sand in Florida and the bunny and cat dust-buns in the corners of my house, it was everywhere. I didn't mind, though, it was just part of the magic of the place. I walked the property most of the evenings and afternoons when she went out to check each of the horses on the property. I know that every horse there is taken care of and loved very well. I can hardly wait to visit again.

Things I Miss While I Am in Minnesota With Susan and Martha

1. can't go barefoot
2. horseflies
3. being nipped by a horse who is trying to groom me
4. feeling like I am not getting enough done while I'm here
5. having Brent rub my neck
6. reading scriptures aloud to Brent at night
7. knowing that I could be riding with more skill
8. my rabbits frisking me for treats
9. peeling the lizards
10. the challenge of waking Nate up in the morning
11. having Nate do my laundry
12. swimming in the pool
13. lizards, birds, spiders, frogs, snakes etc to photograph
14. palm trees and ferns
15. my garden
16. hugging Brent when he gets home from work
17. riding with Brent in the car on the way to/from meetings in Stuart, FL
18. Nate bringing Chinese food home for dinner
19. the emergency clinic near our house
20. not being able to talk with Brent lots of times during the day

Things I Love About Being With Susan and Martha in Minnesota

1. cooler weather
2. horses
3. new things to photograph
4. Jack and Jill -- Susan's two dogs
5. forest trees
6. meadows
7. horses
8. the food
9. waking up early
10. sleeping in
11. shopping
12. looking at beads and shoes and books
13. listening to Susan and Martha talk
14. hearing Jill warble like a basset hound
15. Jack's eyes when he wants a piece of the banana I'm eating
16. being so far away from everything that I don't even get a cell phone signal
17. walking through the barns in the evening, shutting the doors and turning off the lights with Susan
18. the stars
19. watching the sun set
20. no rust or sulfur in the water
21. actually needing a sweater in July
22. hearing the horses nicker and run to see Susan when she calls
23. rubbing Fever's forehead and having him lower his head so I can reach better
24. when Fever listens to even tiny signals from my legs
25. showing off to Susan when I do something right on horseback
26. the smell of leather saddles in the office
27. the spiral staircase up to Susan's apartment
28. horses
29. sleeping in clean, crisp sheets at night
30. hearing Brent's voice over the phone

A Nice Reason to Putter

These are the two new photos for today. I was on the porch this morning--kind of looking for an excuse to be there--and I found a few good opportunities to photograph new stuff. I also got a few of the hard-back prickle spiders (very small) that seem to really like our porch. Don't mind them most of the time since they take care of the gnats and the mosquitos that find their way past the mesh that surrounds the pool area. I have a hard time getting the detail on white flowers that I photograph--this camilla is from one of the two potted trees that I started from cuttings a year or so ago. The lizard is nice since I usually find them against backgrounds that they blend into really well--kind of a problem when I am trying to get them to stand out in the pictures. Nice reason to putter around the pool, swim a few laps and tie a few hybiscus stems to the arch that I've set up outside one of the porch doors. It will be really beautiful when it fills in.

We've been back for a few days now. Actually, it feels like forever. I'm worried about Roo. She began favoring her left hind leg about a week ago. I kept an eye on her--rubbing the leg and checking again and again in case she'd picked up some sort of burr while on the porch with Peter and Oops. When I came in to straighten out their enclosure one evening, there were silver-dollar sized blood spots on the rug that Roo had been resting on all afternoon. Of course, I panicked and took her to an all-night animal emergency clinic (you would not believe the number of these places around here--I didn't when we first arrived--only open at night or on weekends--it's like the dog cookie stores all over--every other business is struggling to stay afloat, but dog cookies and midnight pet clinics are doing great)(!!!??) where they gave her a pretty thorough physical. They couldn't find anything--no ticks, no fleas, no hairballs, no worms--only an adorable, frightened dwarf rabbit. The vet sympathized over the x-rays that showed no damage to anything that was visible on the two poses--and sent me home with some pain killing drops so that Roo could rest comfortably while she healed. The vet recommended that I keep her apart from the other rabbits--but after one day of that, Roo was morose and annoyed at being kept apart from the others in a small enclosure that let her see, smell, and hear the other two--but not touch them. Eventually, I got tired of her nasty looks and just let her back in with Peter and Oops. She doesn't go out on the patio with them yet--and I can't tell if she is getting better or not. Still eats well, drinks, poops, ponies up for treats just like before--I am very bad at small creatures who can't tell me exactly what they need. My solution is to throw money at a problem and hope that it goes away--hasn't worked yet, but still I keep doing it whenever I can't figure out what else to do.