Yes... I still miss you and think of you all the time Mom.
You taught me so much. These things are what you have left behind.
Your photos, stacks of fabric, sewing things, craft cabinets-all filled with so many things.
They all have such a new meaning to me.

Our old house which was so tiny. We lived so closely...
It still stands...just looks a little different now.

And me... I am older. Wiser in many ways and yet I know nothing.
But I do know love...
And I truly know that the pain of loss is something which never completely goes away...and for that I am strangely grateful.
xox

 
Duck turned one years yesterday-Cinco de Mayo! (We were today he was born about Later April Early May so I chose this day because it's memorable!)
Did you know:

Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for "fifth of May") is a holiday held on May 5 that commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín.^[2][3] It is celebrated primarily in the state of Puebla and in the United States.^[4][5][6][7] While Cinco de Mayo sees limited significance and celebration nationwide in Mexico, the date is observed nationwide in the United States and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.^[8] Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico's Independence Day,^[9] the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico.^[10]

Thank you Wiki!

Anyway Duck had a really good day and he got to go outside for a good while- ALL on his OWN!
Happy Birthday Duckling!
xox

*Going to buy a few flowers to fill the new hanging baskets. I really want the kind of begonias I had last year. I think it was a Tuberous begonia? Big pretty blooms!

*Friday morning, I am hitting the road early to drive up to New Jersey to go to Dennis Auction! I am meeting with my group of friends Jamie and Joe! Sounds funny to say their names along with mine-Ha! But they are really interesting guys who know a lot about auctions and finding JUNK! I will use this opportunity to do some interviewing while I am there. I want to capture this adventure, learn about the auction scene and perhaps bit on a few great box lots!

*Later that evening it is back out with the Eaton's and dinner at Zen West! Yum!

*I hope to be able to get up Saturday morning to be able to plant my flowers. I want to take advantage of that warm weather they are predicting. Later my brother is coming over to take measurements of the back deck project so we can get that started! I only have a month or so to really get this done so I need to act fast!

*Saturday evening I am going out to dinner with our friends John and Paula. They happen to be painting in the house this weekend so they have their son spending the weekend at his grandmother's so they are free for the evening. I have not seen them together in some time!

*Ha! THAT makes Sunday WIDE Open! I think I want to spend time working in the studio! I have some serious ART to work on!

School is coming to an end. This up coming week is officially the Last full week of classes. The following week will include finals and grading! Following this I need to get ready for teaching in Virginia at the end of May. So much coming so soon. Ahhh...

Well- that is it for now. Just thought I would check in and blog a little.
xox

EDIT: Bathroom Redo is on hold one more week *SIGH* Just how things go sometimes...
(*With the giant storms which came through last night-it might just be a good thing! Smelly Musty basement needs drying. I will move onto other projects in the meantime)

Well the time has finally come to redo my horribly ugly and utterly unhealthy bathroom!

When I bought my house in 2000 it came with one main bathroom which was sadly finished in 1970's aqua blue. Toilet, Sink, Tub, and a complete surround which not only surrounded the bathtub, but came out to encircle the toilet and sink! The whole bathroom was an Aqua Nightmare. (*BTW- the flooring was the worse I have ever seen-orange and yellow cobble stone and the rest of the wall had vinyl wallpaper of HUGE yellow and citrus green cabbage roses) Seriously this bathroom could have won prizes for being the ugliest bathroom easily! We took as much of it out, but had to stop at the tub and tub surround. It was just too big a job to take on.

Since then things have just gone downhill fast. Thanks in part to the old vinyl wall paper, mold got trapped and grew on the ceiling. I have been cleaning it with bleach, but it seems to come back. I think it has everything to do with the blue surround still producing moisture and mold that then growing up and around and onto the ceiling. It's got to go.

This is how it looked a few years ago when I went to redo the caulking. I pulled off the old and this is the horror I found.

I had to redo the caulking of course-but it no longer was a smooth bead...it was not at least a few inches of spackle -Ugh! Talk about awful.
Since then I have just lived with it this way. Embarrassed. Hiding it behind a closed shower curtain. Photoshoping out anything that looked bad. But lately the chipboard surround has finally started to disengage and the spackle is no longer working.

Tomorrow we are finally taking out the tub and replacing it, adding a new surround, getting a proper sink, an under cabinet (Which we never had before), new lights, and a new medicine cabinet. We are then going to redo the flooring and repaint everything. Hopefully I will be able to take a bath soon without getting the creepy-crawlies! I have NEVER been able to relax in my tub... so this is a huge and very necessary treat!

More photos of the progress coming shortly.
(Tonight will most likely be the last bath I take in that ugly thing!)

Besides Vespa not wanting to be lovely-(LEAVE ME ALONE!)

And Lunch at Stewarts!

We poured Concrete for the back steps

It was not an easy job...

And they gave us a little more than we could handle-(Had to put it somewhere since we had to return it clean and empty! UGH!)
So we had to pour it next to the studio.

Here was the trailer which was impossible to back into the driveway since the driveway across the street didn't line up-this meant we have to drive it in, remove the jeep by scooting it alongside of this trailer and then get this- we had to PUSH this into place! Then we had to scoop out the concrete by trashcan load and dump it into place... NOT EASY!

I had to get into the trailer and scoop out all the rest of the drying concrete. It was So heavy and I needed to get this done quickly. Thomas was working on leveling the mix into place by the back steps while I was doing this.

That was how much plaster I had to shovel!

This was Thomas as he planned out the area...

Cutting parts and placing them into position.

It all turned out well-but it was FAR from EASY!
Glad it is done.
I have not felt this tired in SO LONG.
Next up is the deck. All of this you see including the steps and the white stairs goes! A full deck will become out new back steps. Really looking forward to this!
xox

MORE of ME and my ART can be seen here
http://janewynn.typepad.com

GO PEEK!

xox

I started a new drawing today...
It will not be mine to keep. It will go to Mr. Louie.
I am thrilled he likes my work- Because I think his work is pretty amazing too.

More about this shortly...

The sun came out today after all the rain. Warmed up nicely.
I worked on a series of Nesting Birds... More will be finished this week and posted in my ETSY shop...

Went to the grocery store before Thomas got home. Managed to get the Greek Yogurt Lisa was telling me about. Will try some tomorrow for lunch with some mixed fruit.
Tomorrow I will be outside working again-this time I might open the studio shop door and let the warmth in...
xox

Hello- I never write as much as I should these days. I seem to find it hard to sit still and blog. But more so I think it has everything to do with these social networks and micro-blogging. Twitter, Facebook, etc. All so much.

So coming here to write and to read me is kind-of difficult.

But I will keep at it.

Today is Friday and I have been back from teaching now for 2 weeks. Seems like it was yesterday. The trip went well but the jet lag took the energy out of me. I also might have picked up a cold or something that made me a little tired. Somehow (positive thinking) I never got really sick at all. Just tired and a runny nose and slight sore throat. That is it! HAPPY about that! I have managed to not get sick for about a year! Ha! And to think that NOW I am around so many students...
 
Anyway, I am back now and I am working on painting since my supplies are not here. They were "misplaced" and now all of that is being sorted out and the supplies should be here today??? We shall see. I have some orders waiting to be made and I can't dig in until it gets here! Ugh! However- my patience self has taken the opportunity to paint! I worked on my BIG Duck Painting a bit and I also worked on another piece to be share here on line later tomorrow.

Tonight-Thomas has decided to try The Austin Grill in Baltimore: http://www.austingrill.com/ I am looking forward to trying Salmon or Fish Tacos! YUM!

Later this weekend- we will find someway to spend the day. Not sure yet as he keeps coming up with new interesting things to possibly do... We shall see.

And SO- that is about it. Nothing Earth Shattering... Ha!








 




OH! Here is something interesting to me:
I am teaching a Brilliant DRAWING Class called Sculpting a Sketch for Art&Soul Oregon: October 5-11th! (Also teaching 2 other classes too)
http://www.artandsoulretreat.com/portland2010-art-workshops/1631/index.htm
I am thrilled to see that there are only 5 spaces remaining after only 5 days after the opening of registration! HA! That is SO COOL! I am sure to not disappoint! I LOVE teaching Drawing and am sure this will be great!

Anyway- I have a date with the studio this morning-so I gotta get moving.
More photos from me shortly!
xox