Maybe it was just two weeks.

I played with a photo of the GabCraft circle in my last post.

I removed the yellow daubing under the large flowers and basically just solidified colors everywhere except the butterflies and alligator. The point was to see how it would looked kaleidoscoped.

I didn’t get past 3 mirrors, but I rather like these three. especially the last. If I had thought about kaleidoscoping when I made the paper copy, I probably would not have used the alligator and words, or I’d have placed the words differently.

We had a heat wave over last weekend. In the 90℉s. I think I lost two of my potted trees. Time will tell. But even if I did, it’s not too terrible, as both were self seeded and I always have plenty of those. I’m more disappointed about the rose that seems to have withered before the heatwave.

The next garden chore will be to repot all the roses. It amazes me how much dirt they lose. Besides just needing more dirt, I need to remove several of those self planted, and some squirrel planted, trees. I think I’m going to have a good large bonsai forest. I already have a gazillion maple trees–big, yellow leaf and more delicate red leaf Japanese. I’m not sure if I have any of the weeping maple, but I have seen seeds on it. I also have a few evergreen needle trees (not sure what kind) and about four oaks. I don’t know how well oaks will take to bonsai, but there’s no room for them to grow where they’ve sprouted. I’d love to discover another cedar, since the garden guys cut the one I had before I could dig it up.

And holly. Since I don’t see any mature holly closer then two blocks, I’m pretty they (along with the oaks) are squirrel planted. Except for the bigger, potted one I’ve had a few years, those will all (about 6 or 7) go to my sister who wants to put a holly hedge along the side of her corner lot. She’ll probably need more than twice that.

Today we finally got to clearing out what will be my art & craft room. So far we have two bins of sheets and pillows for Goodwill. I’ll also have a bin of plush toys. Amazingly, it was mostly empty bins and boxes! There were two bins of blankets that are now properly stored where we’ll know where they are when we need them. There were also some Christmas things that are now in their proper storage. A box of pictures and photos are now (almost) where they belong. (Still need to be lifted to shelf.) I don’t know about the bin of candles. Most have been burned, so Goodwill won’t want them. Guess I’ll have to get back in the habit of burning them more often.

I think another day will see the room cleared. Then I’ll move the desks (1 for computer, 1 for art making) and long shelves into the room. I also have to switch the dishes in the hutch for the paints in the cupboard in the other room.

In the sewing room the counter will be turned so that the long side is against the window wall, giving me a nice view as I use the sewing machines. Right now, it inefficiently divides the room into art and sewing areas. The smaller art side is also the passage area to the back door. Somehow my art desk collects anything Iqbal doesn’t know what to do with. Removing two desks and un-dividing will also open the center of the room significantly, which will make getting around the cutting table easier and more comfortable.

I still won’t have a design wall. There are no walls without windows, doors or cupboards. I have paper clamps to hang cloth from the wall where the ceiling is lower. I think I’ll move them from in front of the storage room doors, to in front of the bookshelves. The books I use most are on a different bookshelf, and I’m in and out of the storage room all the time.

The third and final part of the rearranging will be figuring out how to keep my hand sewing supplies organized and portable. I do handwork as much (or more) in the living room as in the sewing room (and since, except for the kitchen, the art room is the sunniest room in the house, if my rocker fits, I may stitch in there, too).

And finally…

My laptop has been getting too full so I was moving graphics to the external drive and deleting formats I don’t use. Being my ADDy self, when I came across a graphic that intrigued me I started playing with it and one thing led to another and that’s how I ended up turning a flat cat:

into a fat cat:

(Actually a whole lot of them.) It kind of makes me want to make papier-mâché cats with fabric top layers.

(The eye is part of the layer that makes them fat not on the flat layers.)