pookieville

'Hey there'

Around our house, or if you have ever met Harry, you have been thrown a "Hey there". It is a thing he says. It means 'hi' or 'I love you' or 'I have a cat on me' or ' I'm o.k. are you?'. I've grown to love the ' hey there's'. Yesterday while Harry was checking on his mom's house the next door neighbor kid- who is probably 4 years old, comes running out of his house, across his lawn to Emily's yard stopping just short of the porch- naked as the day he was born. Harry gives him the once over then throws out the ' hey there' , where upon naked boy runs back home. As he enters his house Harry can hear him
say, "hey there". He now has the "hey there" in his brain. It means something to us because the "hey there" is from a friend of ours who was killed a few years back just days before Christmas. He was only about 40, and his loss was great and is still felt today. Knowing that the "hey there" continues brought a smile to us both. Hey there Steve.

shhhh I'm actually at work

as I type this. It is a good thing that I work for my father, and I have access to the bank account. It has been such a nutty week here I just had to stop in and tell you so.  Yesterday something fell out of an older gentleman's pocket, my father asked Shirley to pick it up for him. It was his preparation H.  Today at lunch we had star sighting look alikes, we saw Danny Bonaduce, Anthony Bourdain, and Bret Michaels. See how random each of those stories was? That was our week. That random and bizarre. O.K. I am getting back to it to gather more stories for you.

Life here in Pookieville~

Life here in Pookieville has been good lately. As many of you know we ( I) had a little run in with a skunk a few weeks back, but all seems to be fine now. I will tell you that I learned that if your grocery bag gets sprayed by a skunk, wash all the contents of the bag, or maybe just throw them out. The smell doesn't come on fast, it is a slow lingering smell/ taste. Yes I said taste. Do you recall that the happy part of my skunk post was that I had ice cream? Well, did you know that if skunk hits your bag, and the bag touches the frozen foods... well lets just say skunk ice cream is an acquired taste, and the contents of ones freezer must be emptied. But, happily all the skunk smell is now gone and I only have to deal with the daily cat barf, that they strategically hide so that I step in it almost every morning- before coffee mind you. I like to pretend it is some kind of European exfoliating treatment. Now is a good time to let you know that I did buy one of those steam cleaners for hard surface floors. Very handy. I wouldn't want you to think that is normal around here though- and at the risk of implying that I am a bad housekeeper, I will tell you a short story.
The husband part will be played by my husband Harry...

Harry -" Tyn, do you smell a  ** funk** over in this area of the dining room?"( as an aside really does one have to ask that question?? Just go look for it.)
Tyn -"no" and I quickly exit.

next day-
Harry- " really, I smell something funky over in this end of the room."
Tyn- " I don't smell anything"
Harry-"maybe its in the basement"
Tyn- "why don't you go in the basement and check it out?"
Harry- "hell no."

So, now is the part where I give in and start to crawl around on the floor on my hands and knees looking for the 'funk'  because obviously he is not gonna let this go- and really I didn't smell anything. I see dust, I see cat hair, I see.... a lump...a dust-bunny?..a cat hair bunny?
a ...a..what?? A dead lizard with no tail and all for legs straight up in the air under our wine cabinet??? Damn. I quickly decide it must be HIS cat, you know the one that likes to roll around in skunk spray. HE of course has argument with this- mostly that HIS cat is too lame to catch anything. HE is right . The **funk** was found, it was proven that I am not a very good house keeper even with my new floor steamer, and the plumber didn't think it so funny when I tried to pin the dead lizard on one of his workmen. Go figure.

I know you will find it amazing that I actually get out once in a while... Well I do. And it isn't always to the vet - so there. I spent the afternoon today at Zinnia where Joe and I taught the continuous charm bracelet. It was the first time we had done this class, and  we were a bit nervous. We had no need to be!! It was super fun, and all the students made great stuff- I'm gonna borrow some of there ideas for my next project!!

Lou Ann was a hand model before becoming an artist~
 

One rebel ( yes that is you Barbara) made a necklace instead~

This jeweler is 12 years old... I'm speachless-

Being able to wear 3 pairs of glasses at once is not a prerequisite  this class~

There are a few pieces that I didn't get pictures of, so head over to the Zinnia blog and
lets see if Joe posted them. I'll keep you posted on the smell over here at Pookieville.

Oh again I have to apologize for being a bad blogger! I have been all over the place lately, selling art, teaching classes and meeting some amazing folks!
I am off the teach today at Zinnia, a new class that Joe and  I put together- That is all I'm gonna tell you about it right now.I will have some pictures later, oh and a new story of life around this house of ours!!! Hope you have a lovely Sunday.

well I have some good news and some bad news...

I am gonna start with the good news. On Sunday I will be teaching my new chunky charm class at Zinnia.  I am super excited about this class because it  will involve so many different mediums. We will be soldering,  and doing collage, painting, and maybe even some stamping. These come out so different every time, and I think students will be pleased with their results.

 

O.K. on to the bad news. First, a question, have you ever been sprayed by a skunk?  Well, now I can say I have. I was very lucky, if you can believe that. As I got home tonight from work and market, it was about 10:15pm, I didn't notice the baby skunk at my front door until I was right on him. I screamed which made matters worse, but luckily my grocery bags took the brunt. We did a shuffle on the porch, baby skunk made it down the stairs, I got into the house, and Harry's eyes got really big. I ran to the kitchen and dropped the bags and ran around the house literally trying to get away from the smell which I was afraid was ME!! I made Harry smell me,but his smeller is shot now too so I finally jumped in the shower with baking soda and peroxide and shampoo. It seemed to take the mist of  stink off of me, but as I got out now I could really smell my cloths- and yes they did get hit, as I was dealing with them, Harry yells from the kitchen he can see the spray on the grocery bags. So he off loads those and then triple trash bags the stinky bags, and tosses them out. Whew. o.k. no, not o.k. still really bad, Harry starts to gag, because the smell is still so strong in the kitchen. The cat ( the one known as wild kitty) starts to roll in the spot where the bags were, just to be sure she doesn't miss out on any of this fun, I grab the jumbo jug of vinegar I use on the floors and just start to poor. I hope that the acidity will help break up the skunky- ness of my kitchen. Now the mix of skunk and vinegar has propelled Harry to the living room which is easily 10 times stronger. Again I am lucky and the vinegar does the job, and I make Harry come back into the "safe room". We hatch a plan, the NEXT time ( God I hope there isn't a next time) someone gets hit by a skunk, they have to go to back door strip down and leave EVERYTHING outside. I can see the error of my first plan, you know the one where I ran around the living room, dining room and kitchen trying to get away from myself.
I head upstairs and hope against hope that our bedroom isn't horrid. It is. Seeing as our bedroom is right above ground zero, I am not shocked, just really dissapointed. As I write this at 11:18 pm, I am using a high powered patton fan to try and suck the stink outta our room. All I have to say is it's a good thing I got ice cream.

I have pictures!!

This is a small portion of the work I have ready for the Montrose Arts and Crafts Festival this
coming weekend. I have loved making these- it was play, and I can't wait until I get my next batch of wax to play some more.

birds and bugs make me happy....

So, this past weekend was really about tying up loose ends for The Montose Arts and Crafts Festival.
I am really pleased how it is all coming together. I am just packing and doing some finishing things- I don't want to spend all week being a freak about this..( o.k. who am I kidding, I totally will) I just want to be ready to go on Sat. morning. I am very excited to get back out and vend. I haven't done any vending since the holidays! The down part about getting ready for this event was that I couldn't take any of the Michael DeMeng classes at Zinnia this past weekend. OMG I did stop in to see what was happening on Sunday, and I was REALLY sad that I wasn't in the class. Everyone's stuff look so cool. I just wanted to dive in and get my hands dirty. I am sure that Joe and Paul of Zinnia fame will post some pictures of their work- as well as friend Mike C.( hint, hint). In other news, batteries have been purchased, and photos shall resume!!!! YAY.

it is all about the batteries...

I am taking a quick break from my artwork to ck. emails, and facebook etc, and see what it going on out there... It is a quiet cloudy day here in L.A. and I am still in my p.j.'s at 12:00. How did I miss breakfast?? Still working 0n projects for the Montrose sale next weekend. I just got the info. from my booth mate and found out that last year there were approx 45000 visitors to this 2 day event! I didn't realize it was so big. It takes up 3 blocks of Honolulu Blvd. in old town Montrose. Oh I hope I am ready for this... I would have pictures to show you, but alas, I am lame and have no batteries. Damn batteries. I hope to actually start packing tomorrow for the show, so that I am ready to go, and have no surprises next Sat. Just remember- booth 79.

Big Weekend!

Oh my! I have been remiss in bragging that Michael Demeng is going to be in my back yard.
O.k. well not really my back yard because that would mean I would have to remove all the weeds- or maybe he would want to help with that.... hummmm..
but really, he is going to be teaching at Zinnia this weekend. I was lucky enough to get into one of his classes at ArtFest, and OHMYGOSH he is a really great teacher. He is fun, and funny and encouraging,  and inspiring. I stepped outside of my box in his class, and I am happy I did. I made stuff that amazed me- I didn't know I had it in me, and it has changed my work since. I am not a dark artist, but this allowed me the chance to try it, and then little bits stuck to me and pop up now and again. I have done a few dolls since ArtFest that I have to say where hugely influenced by my time exploring with Mr. Demeng. Anyway, if you have the time, he is going to be teaching on Friday, Sat. and Sun. and I highly encourage you to get on the phone and book your spot!!

dread~

I have been dreading coming here and facing the music that I have been such a bad blogger. I am sorry. And really I miss blogging. So, here I am, with no pictures. Yup, just you  and me  and the page, and uh... awkward silence..
So here is all that has been going on, in a small nutshell. Life was busy and good, then there was a bump. One involving Harry's 90 year old mother, and a hospital. Then life was busy and stressful.
Now, there is still a bump but it is smoothing out, and life is still busy. So there you have it, and now you understand...well at least as much as I do.

I do have a story for you though... and it is true.

'A good day for a 40 + woman'
One morning a 40+ woman was getting ready for work, when she saw yet another thingie dark spot on her face. She was a little bit sad that she had a new spot. Boo- to spots!!! She touched the spot and it wiped off. YEAH! It was going to be a good day !!!!
The End