cairn blonde adoption

"I went to the library. 

They gave you books for nothing. 

You had to bring them back, but when you did, they let you take others." 

(Barbara Cohen)

 Please note the hairy legs and wrists if you're not too mesmerized by the tail.  This is what I look like under the loose skin.  I just know it.

Okey Dokey-  not much happening in Florida today, people are either laying low or they have gone back to the Cape like there is no where else to be but those two choices.  June is not ideal yet up north, I don't miss anything but the lilacs and daffodils and that hardly seems worth the flight.  I guess I didn't mention that the condo sold in three days over the asking price so we only have a place to stay as long as we are cleaning it out.  We'll be sending a load down to FL when that happens, but since the house won't be ready for months now we aren't in a hurry to divide and conquer.  We still don't have a new small condo so that stuff will have to go into storage until we do.  TY can't cut the ties and he finally announced that he doesn't like to 'travel with luggage' -  doesn't seem like enough of a reason to buy another condo, does it?  Sigh.  My argument is that we could do extended stays in the Ritz more cheaply than owning a condo.  We'll see what the next move is.

I hadn't been to the new place Thurs or Fri last week and the elves have been busy-  they installed the water controls in the guest baths and the holes are way too big in the tile so at least one has to be replaced, maybe two.   There is also a giant meter with electrical outlets on a post in the middle of the soon-to-be-driveway.  Maybe to supply their saws?  I dunno, but I DO know that my driveway doesn't need a socket 8 feet in the air.  The beams have been put in the lanai and it looks great-  I was worried about some of the gaps in the wood, but they are all covered now-  it pays to wait it out and have confidence that these guys are really trying to do a great house so no need to question every single thing.  And I guess that's about it house-wise.

***

So, I'm taking you to CAKES first theme-wise, then to Food Assemblage (!).

In a meditation on beauty and impermanence, Buddhist monks spend days creating intricate sand mandalas that will be wiped away once completed. Chef Stephen McCarty does that with cakes. His artful creations, made under the name Sukhavati Raw Desserts, are made from vegan ingredients and decorated with exquisite hand-drawn mandalas that like their ancient counterparts will be gone within days. These, of course, will be joyously eaten.  For more delicious inspiration, give McCarty a follow on Instagram.

Who on earth would want to eat this?

German artist Martin Roller constructs assemblages of objects in hilarious and astonishing ways in his body of work. Taking found object from the streets of Berlin, he photographs interesting mash-ups of everyday objects and remnants of trash, transforming their original function. 

And finally, a little message to those teachers who keep their info close to the vest.  That isn't teaching, that's tricking.  A teacher should tell you everything she knows and if you ask a question she can't answer, it's up to her to do the research and at least be able to tell you where to look for the answer.  My first class back in the late '70's was taught by a teacher who didn't 'share' things except what she wanted us to know-  usually her own self-elevation. She turned me off to quilting for a few more years until I learned you COULD do whatever you wanted. 

 And of course I went to the Quilters Connection show and nearly had to be carted out on a stretcher I was so excited.  And away I went.  My next class, still in the 70's, was with a couple of teachers who poked and prodded me and made fun of my lack of confidence.  They practically stood over me with big needles threatening me to go for it.  They were Nancy Halpern and Rhoda Cohen tag teaming me, ganging up to force me away from the rules the first teacher drilled into me.  I thank them forever.  And the way I thank them is to use their generosity in my own classes.  Well, I don't teach any more, but I used to...  There are no secrets, there is an answer to everything, probably several answers.  No rules.  Now go!    

It seems to me that now that things are so technique driven and folks seem unwilling to experiment or MAKE A MISTAKE or seven, that they never really learn that there are none.  I call mine 'out-takes' and    they have their own large plastic bin I visit with every new piece because there is aways a chunk of some old thing that was hideous in it's former context, but it fits beautifully into what I need right now.  

Enough preachy stuff.  I have to go make bolognese-  here's the bottom line:         

Thanks Nancy and Rhoda, again!