iPad Painting

We finally broke down and boughty an iPad.  It's almost like we're as savvy as people our age are expected to be!  Naturally, we downloaded all the social media apps and games first.  But shortly after, we started the hunt for painting apps.  So, I present to you my first ever iPad painting!

I'm still figuring out how to do everything.  (I'm a PC person.  Shh, don't tell!) I'm super excited to have a reference image provider in my studio now.  I have a sneaking suspicion you may see a lot more posts about art from me now.  I feel really good about that! 

Happy Saturday! 

Speed Update

- Got the Promotion!  Was driving to the Iron Maiden concert and they called me on my cell to tell me the news. I now get 4 to 5 times the number of emails per day and spend my life in meetings.
- Garden is doing well, though I don't think I'll ever have any lettuce, because it seems to be the first thing to get eaten by.... whatever is out there.
- Sewing and other craftiness is on hold because I'm PAINTING!  I was without printer ink and thus reference photos for far too long, but the problem has been remedied, in no small part because I can now afford to buy ink.
- Rachel and I are both spending a lot of time getting back in touch with old friends.  It's killer.  It seriously feels good to have my week booked up with various shenanigans with different people.
- Working out is going very well.  So well that I think I'll have to buy some heavier weights very very soon.
- SD card for my camera died at the Iron Maiden concert, so no photos for a while.  For anyone.  :(

Healthy and Not-So-Healthy

Finally, the garden is planted!  I've got the few seedlings I kept here planted, along with the last of the seeds.  Now, we have only to see what comes of it.

First, I have to apologize for the quality of the photos.  I don't have the most awesome of cameras, and the light was really funky today.  It was super overcast all day, and I think the camera just couldn't figure out what to make of it.  In any case, you can see the box, the size of it, the way it is constructed and so forth.  My cucumbers are already flowering.  I imagine they're supposed to be a great deal larger before that happens, so we'll see what  becomes of them.  Either way, look how cheery the little yellow flowers are!  I love them.

Sadly, they don't really glow like this.  Also, I drilled a few drainage holes around the bottom of the box, to let out extra water.  On the other box, I drilled them on the bottom.  On this, I drilled them on the sides.  Time will tell which works better, or if there is a difference at all.  Next summer, I'll just plug up the ones that I don't like.

Then, there was this.  It's not looking so good, is it? 

Ok, so it's not really a nastily infected human bite.  It's just makeup, and I must say, I'm pretty proud of it.  I got started on it, because tonight is not only the monthly (at least I think it's monthly) showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but it is zombie night there.  Rachel said that she would only go if she could be a good zombie, and told me what she wanted.  I thought to myself "self, I think we have all the stuff we need for this.  Let's play!"  And this is the result.

I was thinking about the point of infection, and what it might look like to spread throughout the body.  I only chose my hand because it's easy to experiment on.  Plus, there are numerous visible veins in the backs of my hands.  Tracing them helps it to be convincing, and gives it natural dimension.  I drew from not only zombie/virus movies that I've seen, but an event in my history.  I forget exactly what happened to her, whether she was bitten by a dog or what, but my mom got some mean kind of blood infection.  She had nasty redness creeping up her veins, and was reaching her upper arm by early morning of the next day.  Since it was getting dangerously close to her heart, she was whisked away to the doctor's for a dose of heavy antibiotics.  To which she had a horrible allergic reaction.  Or maybe I'm mixing events.  In any case, I think the memories helped me make a believable makeup job.  Other opinions?  Criticisms?

Planter Box Plans

Constructed from a sheet of cheap quality sheathing, 3/4" thick, and a standard 4x8'.  This ran me about $20, which is really not bad.  I had them cut it into 2 foot strips, across the short side.  So I ended up with 4 pieces, each 4'x2'.  Then, cut them like this:

The handles were a little tricky.  We didn't have an oval, so we used a large socket to trace the sides, and left the top and bottom straight.  It's not quite as pretty as the drawing, but it works.

Each box has two handled sides which are across from each other, and two of the handle-less sides.  We used no fancy joining, just butted the sides together and hammered in a few nails.  Four, to be specific.  That is, one more than is probably necessary.  We nailed all the sides together first, traced the bottom and cut it to fit.  (It's not perfectly square.)  Then flipped the sides upside down, and nailed on the bottom.  All in all, though it may look a bit... rustic... it's sturdy, and should work quite well.  Still don't have it planted, as I went on a run and it's HOT!  But soon.  Tomorrow, hopefully. Until then!

The Boxes Live - And They're Better Than Expected!

The planter boxes are finally built!  I went to my dad's last night, and he helped me out a bunch.  He even gave me the oh-so-brilliant idea of adding handles to the boxes for easy transport.  This is why I ask him about this stuff.  It is largely thanks to him that I have this love of creating, though some would say it's in the stars.  There's nothing quite like quality time with pops.

However, last night had a scary moment, too.  We were working outside in the driveway, and the neighbor came over to tell us "you might finish before the storm."  I thought "storm?  What storm?"  Looking westward, I could see some dark rain clouds in the distance.  About five minutes later, the air cools, the wind picks up, and the sirens sound.  Now, I've been places where that doesn't mean anything.  But around here, you listen to the sirens.  So we packed up the operation and headed inside.  I tucked my car in as close to the house as possible to avoid any possible hail damage, and we grabbed Dad's GIGANTIC flashlight.  We were determined to finish the job, hell or high water.  And, when the storm blew over ~like it always has before~ the planters were finally complete!

I may do two additional things with them:  drill drainage holes in the bottom, and line them with weed-block fabric, which I already purchased.  The point of these would be to keep the dirt in, and let the extra water out.  I have no intention of painting them at this point.  If my apartment manager says I need to, then I'll think about it.  But since we're moving soon anyway, I'm not concerned.  I was not really concerned with the aesthetics of this project, just strength.  Dad said that 3/4 inch plywood was a very "German" choice to make.  He also insisted on using 4 nails per side, after noting that three would do.  I come by it honestly. 

I'll post pictures and plans of the boxes soon!

Gardening is like flying. There's always some kind of delay.

It's June 2, and I STILL haven't made my planter boxes. The many setbacks include:

Indecision about construction materials
Lack of funds to buy proper construction materials
Tools not assembled
Tools not working properly
Incorrect tools for the job
Time constraints
Bad weather

However, I was finally able to get out to Rachel's mom's and plant my garden there.  I fared pretty well for the first sun exposure all year!  Just a slightly burned back.  I'm still sore from the whole affair.  Our clay soil here isn't very easy to hack up with a hoe, even after it's been tilled in with better soil.  This year, we get what we get.  We're already hatching plans to make things go more smoothly next year.

Among reasons for time constraints was the celebration of my birthday!  Friday morning, from the moment I got up, to the moment my tired-from-drunk-bowling body gave up on me, was amazing.  All weekend was nothing but fun.  Thanks to everyone who made it that way!

Tonight, I go out to my dad's, to see if he can help me adjust my saw, and to borrow his table saw.  With any luck, I'll have my plants moved into the boxes by the end of the evening, and pictures posted soon.  *sigh*  I'm going to be glad when I finally get this done.

Chipmunks!

It's finally starting to be warm on a regular basis around here. About a week ago, I started leaving my seedlings outside all night. They're hardening off fine. In fact, they're doing much better since they've been outside. It could have something to do with the MASSIVE amounts of rain we've been having, or the fact that they're getting a lot more sun out there. Probably both. But there's a chipmunk.

I knew the little guy was around. He ran lightning-quick across the patio last summer and sent Hazel into a frenzy of shrill barks. It's not often she sees something smaller than she is! But I was not deterred from my dreams of a container veggie garden. However, he may indeed pose a problem.

So far, he has not touched my plants. But he did decide to eat the starter cells down to the soil. I'm not entirely sure what they're made of, and threw the container away long ago. But whatever it is, chipmunks apparently like to snack on it. I caught the little squirt in the act.

He was working on this when I saw him from the sliding glass door. Thankfully, I just knocked on the door and he took off.

Soon enough, the boxes will be built and he won't have this to chew on.  I bought some marigolds, which I heard are supposed to repel such critters.  Hopefully they do the trick.  Either way, this will certainly be a summer of learning!

Lament of the Lost Lettuce

I finally planted some lettuce.  It sprouted very quickly.  And then my puppy ate it.  Not the squirrels/chipmunks/rabbits outside.  My dog.  Go figure!

The Battle Bag

Rachel and I created a lovely, scaled down version of the messenger back for her sister, as a purse.  We dragged her with us to the fabric store, and forced her to choose the fabric which most appealed to her.  She made some fantastic choices!  But creating the bag was to be no easy task.

I ran out of thread.  Not such a big deal.  I just ran to the store to get some.  This should have been pretty simple, but for some reason, it took an hour to make a stop to a store just five minutes down the road.  It only got worse from there. I won't detail the entire evening, but it involved bad bad BAD thread tension problems, sewing pieces in the wrong place, and LOTS of seam ripping.  Thus, it is and shall forever be known as the Battle Bag.

And, in like fashion, this post has raised a number of problems.  Oy!  In any case, enjoy these photos!

The Battle Bag - Apx 9"x11"x2"

Interior of flap pocket

Inside of bag - small pockets

I'm having a small celebration here as this finally worked!

Pop Quiz!
Why do brown and blue look so nice together?


I'm also celebrating the fact that my bell peppers have finally sprouted!

Thank You, Miss Trail!

Once upon a time, a friend of mine planted a beautiful container garden, and grew delicious things in it. I thought to myself, "I can do that!" This was particularly exciting since I live in an apartment, and there are no signs of that changing any time soon.

A dream of growing my own fresh veggies grew in my mind, and I began to notice every little thing about gardening. I drove people crazy talking about my plans. Then January became February, and the gardening books began to appear in the bookstore. Special displays dedicated to these magnificent tomes full of earthy knowledge were set up, and caught my attention. Then, I finally stopped at one such display, and picked up Grow Great Grub, by Gayla Trail. This book is specifically geared towards those wishing to grow organic food in limited space. Perfect! It is written for the gardening novice (definitely me) and is very easy to understand. By the time you finish it, you will really believe that this is an attainable thing.

Later, upon visiting my container gardening friend, I realized that she had used Gayla's prior book, You Grow Girl. I do believe this came after her website, YouGrowGirl.com, which just celebrated its tenth anniversary. All of these publications share the same light-hearted, relaxed approach to gardening, and love of good food!

I probably could garden without these things, but it would be a lot less fun!
Thank you, Gayla!

The Little Ones, and other fine natural things.

Because I know you're as excited about this as I am, here are photos of the first bitty bits of my garden!  Yeah, I know, the little starters are on a Christmas cookie platter.  Didn't have anything else handy, and this works just fine.  I started them on my dresser in a south facing window.  It's about the only place in the apartment that gets any notable sun, and I think they're doing just fine.  Also beginning to sprout are my tomatoes!  Still waiting on the peppers and cilantro, but it will come in time.  The onions are cippolini yellow onions, which can be dried and stored for the winter.  Sweet, huh?!  Got them at Seeds Of Change.  I only picked a few different kinds of veggies.  I figure I'm being ambitious enough for a first try.  Why am I starting them inside, you ask?  Simple.  Because I live in Ohio, and we had yet another frost last night.  The last probably won't be until the end of May, though we're having all kinds of record temperatures this year.  Who knows? 

But that's enough about my little plate of earth.  As you know, I am trying to buy everything as natural as possible.  This so far includes skin care products and shampoo.  Since the skin is the biggest organ in the body and the first line of defense, it seems like a big step to change just a few things.