I have been marveling at the old architecture in downtown Newark each time I am in the area. The old Sparta Restaurant is an old landmark on 3rd street...walking distance from my house. Back in the day, this was the place to get a 99 cent breakfast and on the way past the cashier it had the most magnificent candy counter. Disappointingly, they (in all their wisdom) turned it into a bar. When they made that grave decision was around the time that 12 bars in that area were closed down. I was happy to see the other day, that they are reopening the Sparta. There are old photos of the place in the 1800's with its grand woodwork and counter. Hopefully the new owners will realize that Newark could use a 99 cent breakfast spot more than another bar. They could even do both, and have breakfast till noon and open the bar in the afternoon! Downtown Newark is being revitalized, and I am happy to be finally witnessing it. I am almost hooked up to the internet...just a few minor glitches to work out, and I am a rabbit ears thriftstore find away from having a working TV. I feel almost high tech. When I get the bumps all worked out, I will be blogging regularly every day, and filling in the blog posts that I missed along the way, as well as catching up on my blog list. How I miss my Monday morning Kunstler Cast blog, Archdruid Report, Sue's News, and Gifts from Gail. An hour on the library computer passes so quickly, and I have been busy working on my metal projects rather than go to the library this month. There has been little time for anything else. I had a fantastic birthday month right up through this morning with a breakfast with Eve session. As long as I can have my little coffee breaks with Eve, I won't ever need therapy!
My bow tie metal quilt replica is well underway. I had 10 completed squares late Tuesday afternoon and this is what it looks like as of today. Yesterday, my friend from Ypsilanti and I, hit 4 thrift stores in Columbus and collected tins with the colors yellow, pink, blue, olive and a cake pan that has an interesting pattern that is a silver color. Today, we hit 2 more stores and collected a nice tin that is a forest green with tiny tulips that will make a lovely bow tie in the near future. In the next couple weeks I predict the quilt will double in size and be half completed. I still need a deep purple and a brown...and possibly a grey square to represent each of the eight rainbow colors plus black, white, grey, and brown. So far I have not had to duplicate any one color or pattern. This project is almost too much fun, and I have lots of helpers to spot more metal samples in my behalf. My actual birthday is Sunday and I suspect I may not get back to the quilt project till Tuesday, Stay tuned dear reader, no tellin what may happen next.
When I get a quilt square finished I hang it on the bulletin board above my workbench. You can see from this photo that I have red touching red which is not desireable. I am also going to try to stagger texture as well as color if I can. Being able to move the squares around as I create more is important to the final project. I am writing this blog ahead of time on Monday afternoon as I may not be able to make it back to this library till Wednesday morning. I should have a picture of 8 completed quilt squares to post by then. Thank you Gail and Aunt Sue for helping me out with this project and for getting me hooked up to the Internet again. For those of you who do not know Gail and Aunt Sue, see their blogs on my blog list.
I had to fight hard for this black square yesterday! The pretty black paint was pealing up and off of it as I sawed it out...so it was pretty precarious, and I ended up having to use the back of the piece where the paint hadn't pealed up. I also cut out a beige square and bow tie from a lid that my friend Gail brought me last week (Thanks Gail). Who would have thought beige would bring me such great joy! But beige is perfect for a quilt replica, and I am seeing that hues will be as important or more than the dynamic colors that I usually respond to. By this evening I will have completed 8 squares of 47, with 10 more to go on the bench that are not completed as I am waiting for the rest of the rainbow colors (somewhere in the universe) so that I can spread every color throughout the whole quilt without duplicating same colors on same squares. So even though this combination is my favorite so far, I can not be sure that somewhere down the line a black background will be needed and I will have already used it. Sometimes I just have to trust the process. I am still looking for purple, yellow, orange, and indigo, oh...and maybe brown or rust. Snap me a photo and send me an email with picture attached if you find something out there you think I can use. The bow tie in this unit was a metal serving tray and the black square was cut from a black recipe box lid. Both lid and tray were less than 90 cents making this quilt square cost around $2 for materials (not counting the rivets and saw blades. This project is starting to really get fun!
I actually have 6 completed quilt squares as of Friday, but do not have a picture of the 6th square. It may be my favorite of all! I posted this blog ahead of time as I do not know when I may get back to the library. I am adding more colors and more textures to the mix. It is my hope to have at least 10 completed squares by Monday evening so I really need to keep my momentum up and stay busy.
As I am finishing up some of my bow ties for the metal quilt remnant, I have metal material left over. I am using all recycled materials to construct a recycle sign to hang above my recycling spot. The board is recycled as well as all the letters and the letter templates. On the back I will use pop tabs to hang the sign. Not bad for a side project! I am hoping to have this finished by Monday in time to post, as well as 6 plus quilt squares. I have had a productive patch of time this week as I wait for my Internet and TV to be delivered. My actual birthday is next Sunday and I just may do something out of the ordinary...or not! I am staying flexible these days as I don't know what come what may these days. I live in interesting times as the Buddhist's say.
I have been watching a 2 ounce bag of porcupine quills on eBay to use in my beading projects. I used to have some but gave them to my sister and I have no hope she would ever give them back to me. There are so many projects that can be done with these, and when I had them I didn't have the knowledge I have now. There have been many things I let go over the years because I thought other people might use them quicker than I would, or that if I didn't re-gift them I would lose them to some property or other where my belongings were not secure...and even being retained somewhere long enough that stuff would be stolen. It is hard to know the future, and I confess to operate without knowing it. I don't believe the porcupine has to die in order to get this beautiful byproduct unlike ivory or bear claws...so I am looking forward to replenishing my supply and getting started on the designs I have in my head. I gave up scrimshaw because I love living whales, elephants, and rhinos. I was very good at scrimshaw but could not live with the knowledge of the death and exploitation. I am glad I am not the collector and peddler of porcupine quills as I believe they must be badgered in order for them to propel them LOL. For $11 I can purchase two ounces of them and no one gets hurt.
I got a wonderful new tool (gift) in the mail last week. I had been stringing beads without these tools for quite sometime. These items had been on my watch list for years and I have been trying to obtain them but never could quite justify the expense as there are always other things that need to take priority. This tool is a bead crimping tool and the package of crimp beads to go with it (Thanks Louise:)). I am tempted to take all my beaded necklaces apart and re-string them using this new tool and method which will be time consuming and redundant, but worth it in the long run. I have received so many gifts and consignments these last few months that it is hard to miss the time that I used to spend daily on the computer. A promised gift for the near future is a modem for my home computer that will allow me Internet at home, and with that will come catching up on blogs I used to religiously follow and filling in the holes of my own blog for the days I was not able to post. I realize this will be a sort of "revisionism" project so I am going to be very careful about what those back blogs will contain. For my shadow following that will be disappointing as they will have to go back and read what they thought they already knew and already used against me. For my loyal readership who know I have used my blog at times to misdirect my legal opponents; they too may find the inserted content to be entertaining as well as enlightening. The advantage that I have to go back in time and insert blogs could be compared to having this new beading tool...making the end product more durable and useful. Stay tuned dear reader and not so dear readers any day now this blog will intensify.
Last month I made the mistake of buying a brand of cat food that was 30 cents cheaper than Syds favorite cat food. He just will not eat the other food and I have had to use my food stamps to buy tuna since then as there was no money to correct my error. So today I used part of my birthday gift card to buy him his favorite cat chow Purina. Thank you Aunt Sue. I did put the rest of the gift card into my gas tank. Syd will be happy and I will be able to get around for a few more miles. And I hope you will visit me again soon and bring Uncle Gerald along! Syd says thanks even though it is not his birthday! Due to my mistake in his regular diet, I have found out he likes peanut butter and strawberry shortcake. He is such a strange cat, and I have promised him not to try to short change him ever again.
I got to visit with two of my friends from Washington Courthouse yesterday. They surprised me and took me out to lunch at the Olive Garden. I can't remember the last time I have ate out...maybe as long as two years ago! So today after I get home from the library I can have a nice little leftover snack from my meal yesterday. I didn't celebrate my birthday last year as my impending eviction was before me and having to take Lori to court for the telephone bill ahead of me. There was just not much to celebrate and the day passed like all the others. I got one birthday card in the mail from my friend Eve last year. If she had not sent me that I might have forgotten about it altogether. How different life is with nice people surrounding me. I feel like I have been in darkness for a very long time and the light is almost blinding. I guess I never really knew how oppressive the Paul Drive house was. I know I got robbed there my very first night (lawn gnome) and that I was always wary of thieves. I am still finding stuff missing that was taken off my truck last October. It feels just wonderful to not live with a hoarder, and not renting from a dark wicked pretend friend. My new landlord is full of life and song. I should have invited her over to meet my friends yesterday, but I was selfish with my time, and maybe next time they come I will invite her over to meet them. Life is starting to get better for me the further I get away from evil people. I am still hoping to have another shot at Nesley in court and expose her for the scumlord she is. But if it turns out that I don't get that shot, I have complete faith that the universe will take care of her without my help.
I have met a new friend at the library named Woody. I could not possibly publish his picture on this blog yet, as I don't know him that well. It has been a glorious spring and summer so far with reacquainting myself with old friends and making new ones. I see my new friend Woody almost every time I come to this library and he always has a smile and a joke. The old song about making new friends and keeping the old...one is silver and the other is gold comes to mind. I have room in my heart for both...after such trying times. This week some old friends are visiting me from out of town and I am preparing my house and something good to snack on for a long overdue visit.
Syd and I made it through the power outage just fine. I had plenty of candle power and my refrigerator was almost empty anyway. We survived on cheese in a spray can, flat bread, and summer sausage, peanut butter and jam. Friends stopped by with meat from their grills and there seemed to be plenty of semi cold beer. I had no cash when we lost power and no means of getting any until ATM machines came back up. I figure this was just another one of those test runs for times when the grid goes down for weeks at a time. I actually worked in my studio without power the first day. I hand drilled and made rivets. It was harder, but I mastered it within a few minutes and the natural light in there was perfect for working. I missed the stove, the refrigerator and the ceiling fans. I missed the DVD player and my library movie time. I really missed ice water! I finally got hold of some cash on the 3rd and bought a bag of ice. I dropped off some of it to a friend on the way home, and by the time I got back with the ice, the power was on.
