Get on your boots, yeah

I'm back from Oregon, and seem to still be in the west coast time zone because it's 2:07 AM and I'm still wide awake. Mornings gonna be sleepy and slow. I'd like to let you all know that Harold the rooster is crowing his little male heart out right now. Can someone pleeeeeaase adopt him?

So I freely admit that I've had a crush on Bono since 1987, from the days when I first saw U2 in concert in Rochester, NY on the Joshua Tree tour. Just got two U2 albums I had not heard before, and can't get enough of the tune "Get on your boots." (I tried to put a copy of the video here but can't get the official one to embed, so you'll have to watch it on YouTube). I've been hesitant to listen to these newer albums for fear they wouldn't live up the standards set by their sublime and intelligent early music, but I'm finding that they're pretty darned listenable. This song in particular is making me smile, and appreciate the power that beauty has against darkness.

Rumors of Thailand

Some rumors might be trickling out that I'm planning some crazy adventure to Thailand, and I'm here to substantiate those tales. My dear friend Laura works there for a cool organization, the International Sustainable Development Studies Institute, and I'm heading there for about 5 weeks to do some illustration and design work for them! This is just what I need for a fine winter adventure, and I can't wait to see Laura, and eat lots and lots of Thai food.

I feel very fortunate to once again to use my art skills for the greater environmental good.

I fly in less than two weeks, so am starting to panic a little about all that needs to happen before then...

Edgefield

Ah yes, the vacation attitude, where my main computer interaction is to check email (but not write back). Certainly no blogging...but the holidays are over, and the new year has begun, and I'm starting to think about working again. A blog entry seems to be in order.

I'm still in Oregon for a few more days. It's been lovely here, with lots of down time and a friend visited for the holidays, and much hilarity with my brother and his family. We went to the coast for a few days, celebrated new years at the pub, and spent a weekend in Portland visiting with my sister and her family.

We stayed at a very cool place near Portland called Edgefield. It's a big brick building with a long and fascinating history as a poor farm and then an old folk's home, before the McMenamins bought it and converted it to a hotel. There's also a brewery, a pub, a winery, movie theatre, spa, etc etc there, sort of a self-contained northwest-style resort. But what I really like about Edgefield is the artwork. During the renovation, a team of artists converted the place into a crazy gallery of paintings. Every room has a theme (often about the elderly resident who used to live there), murals line the hallways, little faces peek out at you from pipe joints. Our room had a little unicorn owl hiding over the lightswitch. I love walking around absorbing the art. It makes me want to paint my house like this.

Here's a painting of one of the stairwells.

The eerie glow behind the keys

A lot has changed since my last entry. The busy season is behind me, I left town, and I'm now writing from my brother's pub in Oakridge, OR, on my shiny new Macbook (love the eerie glow behind the keys!). I'm even getting a little excited about Christmas, now that I'm past the retail portion of the holiday.

This photo of Pookles, one of the Oregon family cats, sums up my current attitude.

One whirled, one dream

This was my design for a past year's rutabaga shirt, inspired by the Olympic theme. This year the design has a chicken on it. You KNOW you want to come to this event tomorrow!

Rutabaga madness!

Alright alright, Gary gave me a few raised eyebrows yesterday evening about my lack of blog entries lately, to which I replied that basically I've just been really busy packing up card orders and such, and while that's great for business it makes for super boring blog entries. But I have something interesting to say today that should make you sit right up and listen!

Tomorrow is the last outdoor farmers' market of the season, hurrah, and that means the time for the annual International Rutabaga Curling Championship has "rolled" around again! It's the 12th Annual this year, and you can read all about it here. Basically it's like bocci ball with rutabagas, played on the bumpy floor of our market pavilion, and it's a fine example of Ithaca community street theatre. People turn out by the hundreds for this (not much else would bring them out on those cold days), wear costumes, form teams, and get pretty darned competitive vying for the title. In a fine example of nepotism, (I work for the Commisioner, Steve Sierigk of Acorn Designs), I've held onto the job of being the Rutabaga Goddess for the last several years. Registration is from 10:30-11:45, and the games begin with opening ceromonies and the arrival of the flame from Mount Cruciferae and a parade of athletes at high noon. This is tomorrow. Come on out. Wear warm clothes and don't forget toe wamers in your boots.

Word on the street is that there might be a Team Capoeira this year.

And it's the last chance to find me at market until next spring, since I'm taking off for Oregon on Monday for the holidays, and then only back briefly before my next adventure.

Minutiae

So I just stopped by my computer for a minute to see if I had any exciting email, and Nebraska (cat, not geographic location) got on my lap and so now I'm trapped here for a moment, and may as well make a short blog entry. Been meaning to do that anyway...

Just crawled out of a rough week. My cold is mostly gone and I feel like my usual energetic self, and I might even start answering the phone again soon. Only one more market to go for the season. Special orders are tapering off, seems like all stores are well stocked with my cards. My calendars are running low! Loads of houseguests! A looming birthday! And in a week, I fly to Oregon to spend the holidays with the west coast contingent of my family, including lots of time at my brother's pub.

The time has come to start thinking about making my crown for the Rutabaga Curl...which I will explain later since it deserves its own entry. Are you intrigued?

And since blogs are all about peering into the minutiae of people's lives, I'll let you know that I have some lovely-smelling butternut squash soup cooking on the stove right now. I make it with Thai red curry spices and coconut milk and leeks. Mmmmm-hmmm.

He's not a big, pretty hen

I mentioned a few posts ago that one of my new young chickens turned out to be rooster. All along I was kind of hoping that it was just a big, pretty hen. Newly renamed Harold, after my great-uncle, he's beautiful and turning very showy. Does anyone want to adopt him?

Plowshares was a great success, and now there are just two more farmers' markets and the store on the Commons to keep afloat. I see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. I will also be on my way to Oregon for the holidays in two weeks, hurrah! But meanwhile, I have a wicked little cold and am feeling cranky and reclusive.

Oooh, another booth photo!

Well, quick breaking news update...am in Syracuse, all set up for the Plowshares show, and took a photo of my booth in case it entices you to stop in...

Eye of the retail storm

It feels way later than it is.

It's that time of year again, sun goes down at about 4:30 and so I start burning the midnight oil mighty early.

I have been working full-out on my card business for several weeks now (and not blogging, in case you haven't noticed)...wholesale orders are up, and my website is once again paying for itself. Trips to the post office almost every day. This evening I finally finished the worst of the planning and packing for my biggest craft show of the year, the Plowshares Craftsfair in Syracuse, and now I am kicking back with a long hot bath and a well-deserved wee sip o' wine in front of the woodstove. Kind of an eye-of-the-storm moment. Read about Plowshares here, and come on up...loads of excellent artists and interesting treats for your Christmas stockings. This lion and lamb image seemed appropriate to talking about a fair put on by the Syracuse Peace Council. Oh hey, and it's available as a card, of course!

The Holiday Spirit Store is picking up...that's the one in downtown Ithaca. Working lots of shifts there and trying to encourage people to shop locally and support their favorite artists who needed pricey new brakes on their cars this week.

I had my first Etsy sale! A calendar to someone in Oregon. Excellent.

Farmers' Market continues on, we are at our outdoor location until December 19th (when we host the International Rutabaga Curling Championship). For me, that means two chilly markets on the 12th and 19th, and then I can hang it up for a while.

In other breaking news, the new chicken of indeterminate gender proclaimed his rooster-ness today with a series of unmistakable cock-a-doodle-dooooos. I've been wondering about that chicken, and now we know...

Amber

I have a few paintings up at the Museum of the Earth for the next few months. They have an amber exhibit, which is supposed to be spectacular.

A few years ago I went into the scary-yet-fascinating basement archives at the Paleontological Research Institute (associated with the Museum), and did some oil paintings based on sketches I made in their collections. These two paintings will be behind the welcome desk at the museum for the duration of the exhibit. A detail from one of them is shown here. The gift shop will also be selling notecards of this image!

Friends who read my blog

I just spent a great weekend in Pennsyltucky with some of my awesome college friends. We got together to see my friend Karen's play...she's the one on the left...she directed a bunch of high school students in a pretty amazing rendition of Cinderella.

So that's me on the right, the short one. It was a gorgeous and we tramped around Valley Forge, meeting dogs and enjoying the sunshine. I love my friends.

I also learned that some of you read my blog without me knowing it...thanks! You know who you are.