Playing Catch-up

The hurrier I go, the behinder I get. I've got a new project that's taking most of my attention lately. It's not pottery. I'll tell you about it eventually, but in the meantime, I've been attempting a Picture a Day album on Facebook, and hey, I'm almost at 2 months, which is a record for me. So I thought I'd borrow some of those pics and get caught up here.

In May, we had our usual round of baby birds hatching everywhere. Jim fights the sparrows so the bluebirds, mockingbirds and thrushes will have a chance. We were happily watching these mockingbird babies, but one morning they had vanished. Darn cats!

I signed up for summer pottery classes, was ecstatic because I finally got to play on the throwing wheel, had connected with a former pottery teacher who was going to make me a heckuva deal on her kiln, wheel, etc., and then I got such awful tendonitis (tennis elbow) in my left arm, that I've gone back to handbuilding and don't think I want to buy the equipment. This phase has lasted longer than some.



I'm having way too much fun with my iPhone, yes, me Cat Bounds, who used to detest cell phones. But this is an elegant little computer I take everywhere, and I use the camera and photo apps (examples above) more than I do my serious cameras. Literally, whatever I can think of, there's an app for that.

My sister had multiple strokes; this is a photo of Ian in her hospital room. She lost all use of her right leg and arm, but she is making amazing progress since she went home and even drove to church last Sunday.



My herbs have done pretty well, despite the searing heat and drought that began in June. I've dried a few, but mostly I like having them growing fresh so I can pinch off some stems to toss in whatever I'm cooking.

And of course I've been cooking summer veggies. Tonight we're having another veggie meal, this time including fried green tomatoes. Can you believe I've lived in the South all my life and haven't had them before?



The best thing about Facebook is reconnecting with family and friends I wouldn't have contacted any other way. I got to chatting with Lynne, one of my former junior high English students (I only taught for 5 years), and she and I went to lunch, and then she brought Mickey (another one of my darlings) over for supper. Can't tell you how much I enjoyed seeing them again and catching up......and I have this thing for Perrier. That company will know when I die by the drop in sales. Anyway, Mickey brought me a gift of Perrier, which totally touched my heart. He said he remembered the bottle always sitting on my desk in front of the class.


Marley thought we'd brought him home a live chew toy and was a little dejected when we gave it away the same day.

Oh, and here's our kitty adventure. Jim and I were headed into Little Rock, and at the same moment we saw a kitten on the edge of the freeway raise its head. That little image was burned into my mind, and I said, "We need to see about it!" Which began a small argument about why we shouldn't. "It's probably dying," he said, hoping that would end the matter, but I thought that's the most awful place to die, alone and scared. At least it should die with people trying to save it. So, (long story short) he unhappily found an exit, and we backtracked along the service road till we spotted the cat again, now lying flat. I navigated the knee-high grasses and standing water, a towel in hand, and scooped it up, expecting to find it bloody and broken, but amazingly it seemed to be okay. We took him home and did the best we could to make him comfortable, but I've got cat allergies and was already stopping up. We knew this couldn't be our kitty, and he wouldn't eat or drink. I posted his photo on Facebook, and my nephew, Josh, texted me to say his brother-in-law might want the cat. Eureka! Things were looking up for this pitiful little guy. Josh and Trista came that evening, and Trista immediately had him eating and clinging to her. They took him home and found he was covered in fleas, so after a good bath he perked up a lot. Yesterday they took him to her brother, and I'm just thrilled that Kyo has a new name, a new home, and someone to love him. Anyone with a heart would have stopped just like I did; it's the heartless ones who discard animals the same way they litter the highways with their trash.

And that's mostly it for now. Marley is hibernating indoors. We can hardly get him to go out to pee. I don't know how he holds it sometimes. I credit him with opening my heart to animals....... maybe Kyo owes his life to Marley.
Thanks for stopping by.
Love,
Cat & Marley

The 12 Months of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me.....that 's one of my favorite Christmas songs, and even though our country's integrity has gone to hell-in-a-hand basket, for most of us, everyday is still Christmas. We pretty much get whatever we want throughout the year, so many freedoms, we're basically healthy and well fed, and each day is filled with gifts and blessings.

If you read my blog, you may think my life began the day I met Jim, but I had blessings before Jim. I gave birth to my son David, who is dearer to me than anything else on earth. I started college at age 30 and became a teacher/counselor, and some of my students tell me I touched their lives in a good way; I know they did mine. And there were other stories, other loves, some were my ports in the storm, some brought the storms with them, but all are a part of me now, of who I am.

I thought I'd look back and recount a few of the Gifts my True Love and my Family, my Friends and my God gave to me this year, not month by month (I'm not that orderly) but in my usual fashion of random musings.......

In February, for my birthday, I got a Shih Tzu; it was a life-changing event. I never considered myself hard-hearted before Marley, and I'm still not exactly sure how it happened, but this slightly psychotic, happy, shaggy little snip-of-a-dog has taught me to love more deeply, to be more patient, and to feel more connected ........hard to 'splain, but back in the day, when someone would say if the house caught on fire, they'd get their dog out first, I'd roll my eyes......it's only a dog. Ten months with Marley, and I get it, I totally get it.

Sometime during the year, on no particular day, my mother and I began to talk, I mean really talk again. There's a lot of water under the bridge, and we've had more than our share of issues, but there seemed to be a softening on both our parts, and I want to spend more time with her. At a Christmas party, a girl whom I've seen at other Christmas parties, came to me, saying she'd just figured out who I was, and revealed that she is the sister of my high school BFF, some 40 years departed....... I'm still speechless over it. I connected with quite a few old friends on Facebook and even had a visit from Bobby, Belinda and the girls. And I played a small part in reconnecting Jim with his son at Christmas.

I kept learning......If one day you read my blog, and I say there's nothing left for me to learn, someone please come throw me in a box and start shoveling dirt onto me, 'cause it'll all be over but the benediction. As of now, there are hardly enough hours in the day to explore all the new, fun stuff that finds its way into my life. During the summer, my friend Lu and I went to a Hypertufa workshop, and I plan to do a lot more with that in 2011; I took a few scrapbooking classes, played with some giant stencils, painted furniture, mosaics, painted fabrics, paper sculpture, collage, and mono-printing. Two friends whom I've known from the digital art forums, became closer friends, and we began painting together, though we live in 3 different states. I want to sign up for pottery classes in the spring. And I want to write more this year, maybe children's stories, and work more on my art journal. All art connects us with the Spirit, with one another, with ourselves.


Oh gosh! And here's a Blessing that was a long time coming.......In October, my cousin Linda and I finally got 'round to staging the first ever Goodman Cousin Reunion! Everyone who attended was slightly giddy with joy! So much love, so much history that deserves to be treasured. I get tears in my eyes as I type.

And Jim was by my side every step of the way; sometimes I push the limits as a temperamental artist; he has a short memory for the bad times, the patience of Job, and an uncomplicated outlook on life that keeps both of us on an even keel.He buys the sweetest Christmas gifts, and this year he did the thing where he wrapped notes with directions to the real gifts, but the notes are little poems. I've never thrown away one of his notes, and there have been hundreds over the years. Maybe I'll gather them up someday and make a little journal.

How would you sum up your 2010 in one word? Mine would be connections. Each Gift, each Blessing was about Connections. Happy New Year!

I Love My Computer Because My Friends Live in It!

Fifteen years ago, when I got my first computer, a bare bones clunker that Jim had a geeky friend build for me, I figured I might play an occasional game of Solitaire and send a few emails to family members, but oh, the things I've done and the places my 'puter and I have traveled! In time, I went from yelling "Jim!" whenever Windows flashed the blue screen of death to being his computer tech. Because of an email greeting card a new online friend created and sent to me, I became so obsessively immersed with learning digital art that for a few years there, my online life was more immediate and more interesting than my real life. It was a rush, a rush of challenges and kudos and finding how far I could push myself creatively. I eventually felt the need to choose, and I chose real life and took a step back from all that; these days, I'm pretty well balanced (well, as balanced as I'll ever be) I play, paint, surf, and research on my PC, but it's not everything......not even close.

One amazing and wonderful element of being online that remains constant, though, is that over the years, I've reconnected with some old friends and met some dear new friends, friends with whom I hope to share our lives for the rest of our lives, friends who share my interests and view of the world more than most of the folks I've met outside the sleek black box that sits purring softly on my over-sized computer desk. Some of these friends I will never meet in person, but they are very real to me, and I watch them virtually, going about their daily lives, ache when they ache and laugh when they're happy.

A recent example of the friendships I've developed online is Linda Ocon Santi, whom I met in a Facebook game (that became a mini-obsession for a few months) and who sent me a message last week saying she had looked at my art on PBase and loved it and would like for me to see her mother's website. http://aeoconart.com/ Eileen Ocon passed away last year, but her website remains as tribute to her beautiful artwork. I had a great time browsing her mixed media, watercolor, line & wash, calligraphy, and fractal art; when I told Linda that I had saved the link to my Inspirations folder, she asked for my mailing address........... today a brown envelope filled with Eileen's beautiful note cards arrived in my mail box! Isn't that a lovely, generous thing, to share your mom's art with someone else who loves art? I'm speechless (almost), and the cards are here beside me saying, "Hey Cat, could this be the next step in your handmade cards?"


I LOVE my online friends because they are real friends who are there for me in emails and on Facebook and because they keep me inspired. Thank you, Linda, and thank you to all my friends for being there for me, inside my computer.

Dog Days of Summer

Hey, guess what! Oh, you'll never get it. Sawyer came to visit me! And he brought Ian and Josh and Nan. And guess what else.......Do I have to tell you everything? He wouldn't play with me. What's with dogs? This summer I've had Haven, Buffy, Bella, and Sawyer over for some romping fun in the backyard, and they're all amazing, beautiful dogs...............that do not play with me! There I am, doing all the friendly, tail wagging doggie stuff, like sniffing their butts and sharing my water and toys and food, and nuttin!



It's okay, not like I'm complainin' or anything. I just loved their smells and getting to know what dogs are like, and when each of them left, I ran from one door to the other, thinking maybe, just maybe, they'd come back. Mom says it's because I'm still a kid, and they're grown, except for Buffy, and she was real shy and hid behind her daddy.

Other than that, I'm spending most of these summer days inside with Moose, Turtle and Mickey. They're always ready to play. After the sun goes down, mom takes me outside for a while, and I run around like crazy and talk to other dogs barking in the distance. Oh yeah, and I got a Rabies vaccination! Mom didn't want me to have it; she said where am I gonna get rabies, and her friend Lu, who is a retired nurse, said the shots are hard on little dogs like me because they give us the same dose as they do to big dogs. But you know dad, everything by the book, so there we were, waiting in Dr. Mann's office with dogs whose heads are bigger than I am. It hurt pretty bad, and my right leg swelled up, and I'm still limping a little (nearly 2 weeks later), but I'll be okay, and mom said that was absolutely the last one!

That's about it, 'cept that my hair is shorter; Mom had visions of floor-length, silky hair and a topknot but decided it's not practical for a Shih Tzu in Arkansas summer heat, so when she brushes me everyday, she also trims me with scissors. (I just go to the groomer for a sanitary trim, ear check, anal glands, and nail trim.) Did you know that Shih Tzu hair is like human hair and never stops growing? She can experiment with longer hair when the weather cools off, but hey, I'm cute no matter what. Well, I'll see ya later, and if you happen to have a small dog that might play with me, c'mon over! High-5!!

Decorating with Friends

Rita asked Sybil and me over to help decorate her house for Christmas. (That's them in the pics.) Amid all the goofing off, silly talk and laughter, we actually did get a lot accomplished, and then she took us out for lunch and a quick trip to a local florist (note the lovely turquoise wreath) where I stole, or uh borrowed, a few ideas and bits of inspiration. That's why God created pocket cameras, for goodness sake.

Not much to report in the way of technique, but I promised I would share photos. Behind the house is an old red barn, trimmed in white, built by Rita's grandfather, and we made a huge green wreath with a red bow for it, but then we wimped out on climbing the long wooden ladder to hang it. That's why God created husbands.