Recent projects

This post is just to off-load some pictures of art and craft projects I have recently finished.  Now that field season is mostly over, I have a bit more time to do all sorts of things, and then make blog posts about them, heh heh.

First, I had found a folding "director's" chair by the side of the road (classy, right?).  When the student leases expire at the end of June, they all move out and frequently leave good stuff sitting outside their houses.  So, I got the chair.  However, it had a huge rip in the seat fabric.  I made new fabric pieces and now I have my own festive chair, which my housemate's cat sits in.

 Next, I had been itching to try sculpting something.  So, I made a little sculpture of a friend's dog.  I'm not posting any photos because I don't want the friend to know because it will be a gift!  But it did turn out fairly well.  I then tried making one of Tasha - which went well because she was always available to model for me, of course!  Here she is:

 

  

  

In other news, I took Mom's advice and camped out in the yard.  I discovered that my tent does in fact have "tent smell", but not too bad.  Tasha and I slept (or something like sleeping) in it one night, it was fine, but the city is loud.  Since then I have purchased some enzyme cleaner for it, hopefully that will take care of the lingering odor!

Finally, at work I have been occasionally and unnecessarily digging up burrowing crayfish to show my co-workers.  They seem reasonably fascinated by these mysterious creatures of the underground, and of course I am more than happy to reach in and pull the crusty devils out.  Usually they are, in fact, devils (Devil Crayfish).

Summer Doldrums

Ah, it is mid-summer and I've settled into a routine.  The routine consists mainly of fieldwork and job-searching, with a bit of officework and veterinary visits thrown in.

Each Monday it is off to the field with me and my crew, only to return again on Thursday evening.  We have, however, been working in a variety of locations this summer, and with a variety of collaborators (including The Grad Student, The Other Grad Student, and The Former Crew Leader).  Our adventures take us in to the Wilds of Missouri, often far from paved roads and cell phone reception.  It is fun and challenging while it lasts.  By night I job-search online in the hotels.

Then it is back to the office on Friday - usually I have plenty of hours by late morning, but I can never seem to leave until 5.  There is much to do.  Such as paperwork.

The weekend arrives, but they are typically rather uninteresting.  Back at the end of May, Tasha hurt her back.  After a series of Friday-morning vet appointments it was determined that she probably has a slipped disk in her lower back, probably from playing agility.  Now she is doing much better.  However, she is stuck on crate-rest with only 5 minute walks, so there is no opportunity to go hiking or practice agility or even play fetch.  So I spend more time job-searching, and also doing some drawing and painting and laundry.

The very hot temperatures and complete lack of rain also combine to make the summer seem to drag on a bit.  I keep looking at the forecast, hoping for some rain - when none is forecast I just think, "well, maybe next week."  But of course there isn't any in the next week, either.

I'm not sure how to end this...hmm, any suggestions to spice up my summer?

Catch-all

 My brother designed and constructed a most excellent drawing table for me.  Half of the surface can be raised at an angle, as shown in the picture, or lie flat.  The other half has a glass pane so it can be used as a light table; to do that I simple place my desk lamp underneath.  My parents drove out to visit me and bring the desk, since he had already left for his new job in Japan.  We stained the desk and set it up in my room.

As you can see, it was put to use immediately.

I've done several drawings at the table since, it is quite satisfactory.  It just amazes me that my bro could come up with such a unique design, and then make it so well.  Fantastic!

In other news, I finally solved the crustacean puzzle that a friend sent me for Christmas. Mmm, langoustines.

Also, I had a stray piece of PVC pipe lying around, so I commandeered it for  Fluffy.  I wasn't sure if he would like it or not.  He did.  He had just shed his skin the day before this picture was taken.  Perhaps he felt extra-safe inside the tube?

Finally, a few weeks ago there was a LARGE fire very near my house.  When I went outside in the morning there were ashes and cinders lying in the street and yard.  It turned out that a big apartment complex that was being constructed just about a block away from my house had burned!  Well, about half of it, as you can see from the picture.   Since it was night-time and the building was under construction, no one was on the site and there were no injuries.

The investigation is ongoing as far as I am aware.  No sign of arson, supposedly, but it burned very hot and thoroughly, so any evidence perhaps could have been destroyed.  The fire was so hot that the building across the street had damage to the glass.  The company is still cleaning up the damage, and working to rebuild the part that was destroyed.

I do wonder how I managed to sleep through all the firetruck and police sirens that night!

May travels

My recent, brief trip to England can be summed up with the following text message exchange:

Friend A: "...so how was the beach?"
Friend B: "Beach was chilly but good, thanks.  Emily borrowed a coat from Mandy and filled the pockets with rotting crab body parts so we had to partially hang her coat out of the car window all the way home to air it out.  It was fun :)"
Friend A: "Oh good, glad you got out for some fresh air."

Also, if you are reading this and you enjoy pickled walnuts, well, I have a little present for you!

And now for some photos:

This is the coat with the crab parts inside the pockets.

 

Observe this adorable colony of guinea pigs.  I miss having some piggies around, they are the cute alternative to a compost heap.

 And now two funny chicken pictures:

When I returned, my garden had survived and grown.  Unfortunately I do not have a "before" picture, but here you can see some bush beans (in the back), peppers (on the left), lettuces (in the clay tubes), and a sweet potato (on the mound).  

 

 Here are some more lettuces.  The lattice overhead is to protect them from the searing and merciless Missouri sunshine.

Did you think I could let a post go by without a picture of The Pie?  Actually, it is a picture of my little pot of English thyme and flowers.

I grew some marigolds from seed and put them in the front porch window boxes.  When I returned they were just starting to bloom a little.

March update

As usual, it has been awhile since I posted anything...

First some news, then some videos.

My office just moved to a new building. Now, instead of offices everyone has a cubicle. This has been met with much criticism. I do not really care one way or the other, for myself. Many of us hourlies seem to be better off in the new building, but only time will tell. They have put in many rain gardens/bioswales around the building, and they have definitely been working hard with the last four days of rain we have had.

During the move, a corn snake had to find a new home. I had often 'borrowed' the snake from his owner for cuddling purposes, so unsurprisingly he is now living at my house. I say 'he', but it may be that Fluffy is female. We don't know. Here he/she is after slithering into my sleeve, then deciding to come out again:


Here is his/her habitat:

Fluffy only eats about once a month, and doesn't seem to actually drink water. Could there be a pet that is even lower maintenance than crayfish? Yes. Corn snake.

And now for some videos. It will not surprise you to discover that they both feature Tasha...
Here she is at the nearby National Forest locating my glove.


And here are the two of us at an actual agility competition:

Recent weekend activities

Last weekend I had a chance to finish this little project:

Yes, it is a Chewbacca-head tissue box cover. And yes, it is ridiculous! When I first placed the facial features on it, it looked fine, and Chewbacca-like. But then, when I actually glued them in place I must have shifted them slightly, and I was left with THIS. I think maybe he just looks a little TOO interested. "Oh, you have a cold? HOW EXCITING"

This weekend, I finished making a bag - the pattern says it is a messenger bag. I neglected to take a photo, maybe I can add one at a later date. The outside is navy with sunburst patterns, and the inside features roosters. Surprise!

Also, I finally got a video of Tasha and I running an agility course to put on here. It is only a practice run, but it's the same as what occurs at an actual trial, basically. Except where she jumps over the ring fence at the beginning, ha ha ha. Enjoy!

There are 17 obstacles in this run: jump, dog walk, jump, jump, 12 weave poles, jump, jump, jump, tunnel, jump, jump, jump, tunnel, A-frame, jump, jump, tunnel.



There are no mistakes in this video, though it is Take 2. The first time I ran off-course (took a wrong turn) almost immediately and of course Tasha followed me, then stared at me when I stood, confused, in the middle of the arena...

Completed staircase makeover

Yesterday I completed my staircase project. Here are some photos of the process. First I primed the stairs, and let it dry for 24 hours. Then I put masking tape over the stained trim to save it from splatters of...

"Chocolate pudding" color paint.

Here is the finished paint-job, you can see the woodgrain showing through. It looks kind of nice that way, but there isn't much traction.

So I wanted to add some traction. At the hardware store I looked at adhesive sand-type strips, and rubber stair covers (treads? protectors?). I decided to go with the rubber covers, mainly because I could attach them with a couple of small carpet tacks instead of having them permanently attached, as adhesive strips would be.

I had briefly considered little individual carpet rectangles that are made specifically for stairs. Rather cute, they are like mini-rugs. However, it seemed that they would be very difficult to keep clean, and I wasn't sure how I could cut them to fit on the angled stairs (without them looking awful), so I decided against them.

Ta-da, all done!

Finally, an update from Tasha's agility trial which occurred the weekend before the stair-painting. Although she did not "qualify" in her first class, she qualified AND got first place in her other three. I suspect the reason for the trouble in the first class was the very unusual-looking jumps which somewhat confused both of us (and it was a Jumps class, of course). The end result is that she can now enter Standard classes at the "excellent" level - but she needs to complete one more Jumps class at the open level.

I don't know if you can tell, Mom, but the "new title" ribbon at the top is mainly MINT GREEN in color.

...

Okay, okay, it's aqua.