Brandon

This is the home of my oldest friend, from way back in Kindergarten at Charlotte Country Day School. We were bffs all through elementary school and drifted apart, as kids do around Jr. High age.
Through keeping in touch online I offered to come advise her about irradiating mold from some antiques in the house. I met her there yesterday.

It was great to see Brandon, and to see the very cool old house I remember loving so much, like a second home. On the back porch were kittens! Some things never change.

My Mom loves to tell about the time when we were probably 6 or so and Brandon's cat had a litter of kittens. She put a sign in front that said "Kittens for sale!" She did not yet know that kittens are not very lucrative...

Here's the familiar patio with the exact same furniture we had at my house.

I love this picture of Brandon kitten wrangling! She is a cat lover in a big way. She's also a horse lover and one of only two friends who shared my love of horse riding growing up. Brandon and Vanessa are my two horse friends, and also both happen to be my oldest friends. Those bonds you form as a child are unbreakable.


This was her playhouse. Naturally I thought it was the coolest thing EVER. We once tried to dig a little pond in the dark brown dirt in front of it, condeming her goldfish to a murky and sure death. We poured the fish in the mud hole and lost him right away. I thought it would be easier to keep up with such a bright orange thing in all that dark water...but I was wrong.

This is in her brother's room. There is a built in bed with this empty box at the head. We used to put things in this weird hole in the paneling. It was a hole that lead to an unknown universe in her house...
The times we had in there!
This was the fancy room in the front of the house. You know the kind, all beautiful furniture and gorgeous things that you're not supposed to touch. I LOVED it. Her Mom has exquisite taste. The house I grew up in was beautiful, but not filled with history like this one. I think my love of old houses and architecture was fostered at least in part by the time I spent in Brandon's house.

I have to say, I expected it to look smaller, I hadn't been there in over twenty years, but it didn't. It was pretty much just as I remember. The smell took me back as soon as I walked in! Back to the days of riding her horse around the circular gravel drive, through the cedar filled woods, all over land that has since become "The Arboretum", a yuppified shopping area that I have always resented. Back to the generations of white kittens with gray spots on their heads that ruled the property with furry fists, roasting marshmallows in the fireplace, pushing the upholstered love seats together to make a big bed for us to sleep in together, singing along to the Grease album on vinyl and dreaming of days when we would wear pink satin jackets and smoke cigarettes like the teenagers in the movie, "playing model horses", riding real horses, running around in our bathing suits, baking zucchini bread and chocolate pound cake, staying up late, pilfering through her older brother & sister's stuff, having a blast.
You can't make new old friends.
I am so grateful to have so many friends who I spent formative years with. Vanessa & Karla, Molly, Tiffany, and Brandon. I'm rich!

Nighty Night.

It's dark outside, I see through the vines growing into my bedroom window.

Roxi curls up tight, holding the mattress down. She wants to snuggle with me again tonight.

I'm up late again, sad to see the day end. Cajoling to kiss this day goodbye.
Goodnight.

Time to turn down the candle light and sleep in sheets so white...

And dream in rhymes, with images in mind
of the world that
I live in at night.

Rambling on...

One of the things I enjoy the most is texture and color. Look at all the visual delights this tree root had to offer! Richly textured in nature's palette with soft moss growing next to brittle lichen...joy!
I like to bring plants into my dark house to struggle to survive in the filtered light. I don't know what this one is called but it seems to find my bathroom inhabitable. I love bringing these colors and textures inside to live with me. It makes the whole house feel different.
I found a delightfully tacky plastic cherub, spray painted in a 70s gold with matching glitter. I wanted to paint it bronze and give it a mossy patina.

I was telling my Mom about my little project; transforming a gaudy cherub into a little Devil by sculpting horns and changing his color. She cracked me up when she said (for those of you who know her, imagine this in her voice!) "I wish you would make sweet little God things" with a look of concern on her face!
She loved it when I was finished though. What's not to love? Look at this cute chubby little Pagan lute player and tell my it's not adorable...

Right now he lives hanging from the chandelier in my kitchen. I love making my house a beautiful place with visual delights everywhere you look. Of course I end up having too much stuff, but I do work consistently to cull the stock.
My bedroom is probably the barest place in the house. I like a more serene, Spartan environment to sleep in. I can't sleep with crap everywhere! Then again, I don't think the term "Spartan" can really be used to describe any room in my house.
Georgia O'Keefe painting compliments of my brilliant sister Brandi McKenna of She's Off Her Rocker:)

I'd really like to sleep right here, by the pond. This is the area I always thought of as "The Swamp". This time of year it's just bursting with all manner of greenery and texture. Pictures do not do it justice! Can't you just hear the tree frogs?

For no particular reason here is a shot of Roxi smelling some old kitty bones, just by the swamp. She takes a keen interest in whatever I am photographing, looking at, pretty much anything I am pointed towards.
When I become aggravated I remind myself that she won't be around forever. Enjoy her while she's here! Life is short.
Remember to stop and smell the bones...

Crawlin' Kingsnake

This weekend was chock full o' various delights. I love weekends because I get to see my family and get together for all manner of awesome conjuring, kid wrangling, dog calling, critter catching, pond tubing good times.
I was in the car with Mom yesterday and just before my house two neighbors were watching a gorgeous Kingsnake basking on the asphalt. I hopped out, slipped off my flip flops and promptly caught him. Score!

I was so thrilled by his absolute perfection in design, proportion, temperament and size. Right away I attempted to photograph him with me holding him in the mirror. It's hard, but I need to master this kind of skill.
To my eyes there are few things more alluring and compelling than a perfect snake, and this was was a fine specimen indeed. I didn't get the "fear of snakes" instinct, or I was simply habituated to them at a young age. The first family pet snake I remember was "Elvis", the beautiful Kingsnake Dad caught on the patio when I was five. He had striking white bands along his slender body. Their patterns or saddles vary greatly, and this one has faint white bands with a Georgia red clay tinted background. He molted the same day, or a day before because his scales were perfectly iridescent and flawless.

I took him to the Farm today to show the kids and turn him loose. He will make a fine livin' for himself out there, certainly better than in town.
Dad takes to snakes like a duck to water; he is in his natural element with a snake around his arm. He fostered in us a deep love and reverence for nature and all critters (with a specialty in snakes).
So now we pass along the family tradition to the youngest generation. These kids know what's good! Can you see him around Ellie's neck?
"These toddlers is gettin' raised up right!"
When I got there Dad was giving the girls an archery lesson! Let me just say, shooting a bow and arrow is divine; it is a physical means to marvel at the collective unconscious of man throughout history, or God. Call it whatever you want. It is pleasurable in a way that eclipses shooting guns entirely. Dad explained to Ellie & Cassie that humans have been using bow & arrow to hunt for tens of thousands of years, and when you are shooting, the spirits of your ancestors are with you, loving you and guiding you.
So that is my church.

They let me have a turn, and with a few reminders about which feather should be facing you when you knock the arrow and such I fell easily into form like no time had passed. It has been over twenty years since I've shot a recurve bow. I am telling you it is divine and I intend to get me some more of that soon!
Bran looks like a warrior and just as comfortable with a bow in hand as anybody could be. She has awesome archery skills too. The Pearson's carry an archery DNA trait.
I am so buzzed from all these activities today! I want more! I left the charger for my camera, which was dead so I couldn't take any pictures. I thought I was gonna jump out of my skin I wanted to photograph so bad, but Bran had her phone camera, and Dad had his so these were copied from Bran's facebook post.
Next time, I'll be prepared for picture taking!
Until then,
enjoy!

What I need

Sometimes I feel like this! (see picture of frolicking dog below) So I put on my New Balance shoes and sunscreen and head to the tracks with Miss Roxi, who has infinite energy. I like to walk the railroad tracks near my house because the swath of land cut through the city looks like the country. You can fool yourself. I even see BIG deer tracks out there.
The point is, being away from houses, asphalt, sidewalks, people and cars feels totally different. I have to have my outside time, preferably in the country, or somewhere I can fool myself into imagining I'm in the country. Something about urbanity drains me, just sucks my essence right out, like the Skeksis did to the Gelflings in The Dark Crystal. I've been that way since I can remember, but now that I have MS it is much more pronounced.
I have to have my weekly Farm therapy at my Dad's place, and this time of year is just great because I can go tubing in the pond, my most favorite activity. Riding horses would be first If we had some young ride-able steeds. But since Sugar is so old and Whiskey is old and yet still a huge pain in the ass to try to ride I will have to wait for that particular therapy.
So as I was saying, I get out on the tracks with my dog and feel like this:

I go and go, full steam ahead or pacing myself. I like to lengthen my stride sometimes so that I step on every other rail road tie, it works different muscles and stretches my legs out at the same time. I think about how far I will go today! I imagine walking all the way to downtown, all the way to where the spider web of tracks really begins to come together. But by the time I'm behind Home Depot I know I should turn back. If I run out of steam far away from home it will be depressing drudgery getting back, so I go ahead and turn around. And the truth is I always feel defeated doing this. But it's what I have to do and by the time I get home I am exhausted. And every time I'm surprised! Every time I wonder if I'm just being a wuss, if knowing I have MS gives me some sort of excuse in the back of my mind and sets me up for giving in,
being weak,
quitting.
I intend to live away from the city, out in the country, where a sight such as this is a stone's throw behind my house, or trailer, or shanty, whichever.
I imagine what it would be like, what it will be like to wake up in the morning, get on my horse and take off with nothing but a canteen...(and maybe an mp3 player). The awesome thing about riding horses is you can go really far and when you're worn out you just let the horse walk you home. If you're too tired to haul ass over the hills and through the woods anymore that's fine, you just meander home at a leisurely pace. But don't get me wrong, bareback riding is exercise. Hop on and ride around for 15 minutes and tell me you didn't discover muscles you didn't know you had. The next day you will be feeling it.
I ask myself how I'm gonna make this happen? How is it that I am 33 and living a horseless life in the city? Never mind, I have to focus on what I will have:
a residence in the country, chickens, my dog, some cats, some tomato plants, cedar trees, gravel driveway, pond lake or creek (or all 3) and two horses. And if I'm gonna dream I may as well throw in a pier on the pond to hold the cooler of beer and some snacks, and a jambox or whatever they're called these days, and a zip line or rope swing over the water. Paradise!
This is my deepest desire,
my most extravagant dream,
my most basic necessity.
And my future reality.
I have my priorities straight.

Sneak Peek

I had a great weekend, swimming at the farm, going to a b-day party, and hangin' out with Mr. Jason.
Before that though, here is a look at a bat necklace I finished today and some rings in the final stages of being done.
Here's the bat!
I cut the bat out of antiqued silver plated copper, it has a beautiful stamped floral pattern. The ridges are worn down to the copper which gives the pattern a lovely contrast.
I am playing around with fine coated stainless cord and crimp tubes instead of chain. I like adding new materials to the mix. Also the wire is wonderful to use with beads. I used bright pumpkin orange semi precious beads with black glass beads and a black Swarovski bicone bead on a chain at the bottom.
It's never too soon to get your Halloween ON!

The rings are vintage button jb welded to old button covers upside down, turning them into poison rings! The one on the left has a vintage rhinestone in the center and the one on the right has a black skull in the middle of a gold tone rope bezel. The black skull awaits two vintage rhinestones for eyes! When I finish them I'll have better pictures.

So back to Mr. Jason; he came over to use my tools so he could make these bears. They will be pendants on necklaces; man jewelry!

Here he is showing off his creations.
After that we went to our new favorite Mexican restaurant Coco Lime. It's a yuppy/cool kid place but it's yummy. And they have a $2.50 margarita night, I need to get in on that.

It's getting awfully close to my bed time but be cool my babies,
The Halloweenstress will be back soon!

Testing, testing, 1 2 3

Oh joyous day!

I figured out how to

get my old template back!!!

If you go under Settings>Formatting>Enabling Float Alignment>NO!
And viola!