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“The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won’t.” Henry Ward Beecher
Two things to remember about squirrels from the website A Squirrel Place:
- A squirrel’s brain is about the size of a walnut.
- When a squirrel senses danger, its first instinct is to stand motionless.
One of my colleagues arrived home from our week-long meeting to discover her home had been invaded by a squirrel. The critter had ample time to enjoy the luxurious digs. Convincing him to leave wasn’t easy and he took a dip in the pool for good measure before conceding defeat. I got a great laugh out of the story and was reminded of my own squirrel tale.
It was a lazy Sunday morning of movies with my daughter, Katrina. During silences in the dialogue, I kept hearing scratching noises coming from our fireplace. We had birds get in there in the past and I thought that might be the case again. The fireplace was equipped with glass doors, thank God, so I could see inside, but the “guest” couldn’t get out. We both inspected from every angle, but only the gas log was to be seen inside. “Mom, you are imagining things.” she huffs as she heads upstairs for a nap.
Later that afternoon, I’m hearing noises again, but this time I spy some movement in the back corner – a squirrel, a really big squirrel! How on earth am I going to get this thing out without getting bitten? Since my husband is gone, I make a quick call to my neighbor. He arrives with pillowcase and wire coat hanger in hand. The plan is for him to poke the squirrel with the hanger, open the doors and me to catch him in the pillowcase. I don’t much like this plan, but it doesn’t work anyway – reference fact number 2 above. After about an hour, the squirrel is now quite angry, chattering loudly and not budging from his corner. Animal control is not open on Sunday, but a call to the local police dispatches an officer at my house. The two men confer and decide to try more of the same, unsuccessfully. The cop sits down to think and lament that we can’t just shoot it. In the meantime, I manage to find someone with expertise willing to come out on Sunday for a hefty fee. I am just about to agree when Cop #2 arrives. He heard the news on his radio and couldn’t believe it was true. He assures me HE can get the thing out, don’t pay the expert. Said expert overhears this boast, laughs and tells me to call him back if I need him. Now my daughter has come out of her lair upstairs and begins to video the entire event with her cell phone. Cop #2 retrieves a “grabber” from his patrol car and the three men now confer around my fireplace to develop a plan. Having a brain bigger than a walnut, I open all the doors to the outside and close all the interior doors in the house just in case the squirrel has other ideas about that pillowcase. Just as I complete my round, there is huge commotion and much shouting in my living room. Mr. Squirrel made a break for it, exploding out of the fireplace and crossing the room in one leap. He made a complete circuit of the house at a top speed, finally zigzagged out the door, sooty footprints marking his path of escape.
Needless to say, the three men were full of pride having successfully evicted the squirrel. I don’t think they ever realized how ridiculous the whole thing really was, but I did and Katrina had it recorded! We very considerately wait for them to leave before taking a look at what she captured. What a disappointment! We see the three men gathered around the fireplace, then I hear my daughter’s voice “Oh ^&*$!!!!” and then nothing but the ceiling. “Well, he surprised me when he jumped out at me!” So we have no video documentation, but a heck of a good story. I’ll leave it to you to decide who won the battle of the brains.
Diva Challenge - Fengle
Spring is not the best of seasons.
Cold and flu are two good reasons;
wind and rain and other sorrow,
warm today and cold tomorrow.
~Author Unknown
Spring has certainly sprung. I have been fighting a nasty case of the flu made even worse by the high pollen counts for about 10 days now. We’ve also had an extended period of terrible thunderstorms, rain, tornadoes and flooding in south Louisiana for the past week. Not the best combination of circumstances for creativity, but I’ve done a lot of tangling between naps and coughing spells. Plus there was a conference call or two thrown in for good measure. My Tangle A Day calendar is great for those!
Over the weekend, I tackled a few “projects.” One of my favorites is a tote bag I have had for over a year. I used one of the coloring pages from Sandy Steen Bartholomew’s new book Tangled Fashionista and I am so pleased with the result. I wasn’t procrastinating, just looking for inspiration. Shrinky Dink plastic was next on my list. That stuff really shrinks a lot! After a many false starts and rejects, I finally ended up with a pair of ZIA earrings that I would actually wear. Plus my grandkids had a great time watching the stuff curl and shrink.
Rick and Maria recently published the instructions for a new tangle, Fengle in their newsletter. CZT’s have had the instructions for a while now, so I’ve been practicing this one. It is definitely a tangle that improves with practice, possibilities unfurling each time you draw it. Laura Harms’ Diva Challenge this week is to use this new tangle, Fengle. I took up the challenge on the first day of spring so color was calling. I did several versions of the challenge, all with a bit of color.
Finally it’s Friday, the sun is shining and I am on the mend. I have my shipment of Zendala tins and those lovely round tiles are calling to me… ahhh Spring!
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- Diva Challenge – Fengle on black tile
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- Diva Challenge – Fengle
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- Tangle a Day Calendar
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- Tangle A Day Calendar
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- Tangle a Day Calendar using Fengle
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- Tote Bag. Drawing of the girl is a coloring page from Tangled Fashionista
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- Close up of tote bag. Drawing of the girl is a coloring page from Tangled Fashionista
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- My Shrinky Dink Earrings
White on black tile completed after this weekend's technique class.
(Upon being denied a loan from his bank) “That’s it! I’m gonna take everything I owe to another bank! Then they’ll be sorry” David “Possum” Redmond
For some reason my late father-in-law has been on my mind for the past few weeks. To me, he was the epitome of the Cajun people of Louisiana. I never miss the show Swamp People because Troy Landry reminds me of my father-in-law. He loved Louisiana, beer, his wife, automobiles, cards, casinos, Disney World, his dog, good food and his family – not necessarily in that order and subject to change depending on the day. He had a sharp wit that managed to be funny without offending and loved to laugh.
Known to family as “Honey” and friends as “Possum”, David Redmond was from a very tiny town in deepest south Louisiana – Montegut. Most folks down there have nicknames traced to childhood and his was no exception. He was a preemie and so tiny, his dad would put him in his pocket – just like a ‘possum carries its young – thus the nickname “Possum”. “Honey” came from his wife, then all six of his kids and finally their wives and husband began using that nickname. Honey adored kids and often said they would have had twice as many if his wife could have managed it. He often told about trying to find a little “alone” time with his wife after being offshore for a week. With six kids clamoring for daddy’s attention, he would remove one coin from a roll of pennies and toss the remainder into the yard with the instruction to the kids “You can’t come inside till you find all 50 pennies.” As parents, he sometimes drove us all crazy. “Don’t punish them children. I can’t stand it.” To him, there was nothing his grandchildren could do wrong. In short, he was a perfect Peepaw. Though he wasn’t past pulling a fast one on them. For years he collected dimes, telling the kids if they brought him 15 dimes he would give them a dollar. They fell for it every time, even after they learned how to count money. He once taught my niece his version of the Our Father prayer – “Give us this day, our daily beer…” He got in a lot of trouble with my sister-in-law when her daughter said her prayers after a visit with Peepaw.
Not being Cajun or even from Louisiana, my early married years were interesting. My maiden name was Snodgrass, a very uncommon name in southern Louisiana. After the wedding, he told me “About damn time you changed that name.” My “Texas” cooking wasn’t always a hit with my in-laws, though they were amazed when I made mashed potatoes from real potatoes. Red-haired, white as a ghost, shy and a Texan to boot, being dropped into this rowdy gang of anything goes Cajuns was like landing on Mars. My unlikely champion turned out to be Honey. Our first Thanksgiving was apart as my husband was offshore for the holiday. He gave me a song and dance story about his pitiful Thanksgiving with only ham sandwiches to eat. I swallowed it hook, line and sinker. Honey saw how upset I was and immediately called my husband to rip him up about teasing me with the final words, “Don’t you ever make her cry again!” and promptly hung up the phone. One of my favorite memories of him. Along with the time he told me I was so skinny I looked like a thermometer.
Honey was a cancer-survivor from a time when that was very rare. He was diagnosed with malignant melanoma in the 1960’s – a virtual death sentence back then. He went to MD Anderson in Houston for treatment, losing most of his scalp and lymph nodes in his neck. He got clearance in 1977, the year I joined the family, to discontinue his annual check-ups with them. They considered him cured. He never did, making his annual Houston trip until he suffered a stroke just days before his appointment in 1999. Ever competitive, he “raced” my 7-months pregnant daughter to see who came home first – him or his new great-grandchild, Maggie.
Honey passed in 2003. I have no idea how many people came to pay their respects, but it must have been several hundred. We had to ask that flowers be stopped the day before the funeral, there were just too many for the church and we were hauling them to the house by the pick-up truck loads. It was a wonderful and affirming experience to see that others saw what a special man he was too. I told my husband years ago that I knew what he would be like when he got older, just like his Dad. He replied, “I think that’s pretty damn good.” I was right, and so was he. We miss you Honey.
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- My attempt to make something of a tile I had randomly demonstrated Fescu on. I wrapped this week’s Diva Challenge around it.
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- Diva Challenge 62 “Starlight”
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- White on black tile completed after this weekend’s technique class.
Diva Challenge 55 in my Tangle A Day calendar
“It is the little bits of things that fret and worry us; we can dodge a elephant, but we can’t dodge a fly.” ~Josh Billings
Today has been a bit trying. I’ve been uneasy all day, worrying over this and that. Maybe the terrible weather is part of the problem or maybe not. Maybe it’s just the contrast after a couple of intensely focused and productive workdays to find my thoughts bouncing around like rubber balls. Trying to get my thoughts to settle, I decided to tackle the latest Diva Challenge. Maybe I could tangle myself back on track.
Laura Harms challenged us to use the Moebius strip in our tangling for this week. I have always loved the Moebius strip and have a bracelet with the word for “mother” engraved in 32 different languages. It is also the symbol, along with the color purple, for Moebius Syndrome. Laura’s little boy has Moebius Syndrome, so it is a cause very close to her heart. I don’t use color all that often, but since the color purple represents the syndrome my Prismacolor pencils were calling. Not to mention as a LSU alumni – I love purple, live gold 🙂 I got a little carried away with those pencils, visible manifestation of my inability to focus today.
So, where did the quote for today’s post come from? My inability to focus yet again, but it made me smile. I couldn’t settle on anything to use, much less write about when I saw this quote. Immediately my thoughts turned to my husband’s basset hound, Bandit. He passed away the day before Father’s Day last June. He was a sweetheart of a hound dog but a bit of a character. He was terrified of two things – cameras and flies. He just ran from the camera – much like dodging an elephant. But flies, oh my. His wrinkles would deepen and that frown would come out. Bandit would park himself in a corner and track that fly’s every movement with life or death intensity – an expression on his face that was the very epitome of worry. He was smart enough to know you can’t dodge a fly. I think there’s a lesson to be learned from that old hound dog.
A very rare photo of Bandit taken in 2010
Diva Challenge 54 - Purple Haze
“The process of maturing is an art to be learned, an effort to be sustained. By the age of fifty you have made yourself what you are, and if it is good, it is better than your youth.” ~Marya Mannes, More in Anger, 1958
For some reason it seems someone, usually me, is always sick on my birthday. This year was no exception. I spent my birthday in a hospital waiting room. My gift the successful removal of a blockage and gallbladder for my daughter after two days of tests and waiting for the “emergency” surgery. I shared encouraging stories with a brother and sister waiting to see their mom, tangled a little and thought about life in general. I was especially grateful that my husband resisted bribery for the gluten-free pizza he brought to the waiting room while I was in pre-op with our daughter for waaay too long. Hospitals are not very friendly for people with food allergies and gluten intolerance. I hate cold food but that was the best cold pizza I have ever eaten!
I decided to use my Tangle-A-Day calendar by Carole Ohl to capture my “thoughts” for those days – particularly my birthday. When I went to scan the images for this post, imagine my surprise to find my birthday week blank! I know I was a little distracted, but I’m positive I tangled those days. Oops! It seems I tangled February 18 – not January 18. Oh well, I know what I meant. They say the mind is the first thing to go.
After getting through the year I was forty-nine, I was relieved to reach fifty. It has been a year of exploration, understanding, creative growth and spiritual maturity for me. I suppose that’s part of the reason this quote by Marya Mannes appeals to me. I have come into who I am meant to be and I like this woman, even if she is over fifty.
Tangle A Day Calendar - my birthday is really Jan 18.
Christmas Lights
“If God had really intended men to fly, he’d make it easier to get to the airport.” ~George Winters
I am starting to sense a theme in my life over the past few months and it has to do with my wallet. I have to travel to Dallas today for meetings starting at noon. I am every bit as careful with my company’s money as my own and opted to fly in very early this morning to save hotel costs. Even though it meant a 6 am flight. A supreme sacrifice for me as I am not a “morning” person. This necessitates getting up at 4 am to dress and allow travel time to the airport. Ugh! As I arrived at the airport this morning, I discovered my wallet missing from my purse. Not only can I not board the plane, I can’t reschedule another flight since I don’t have my credit card. Allllll the way back home and pounding my brain the whole time to figure out WHAT happened to my wallet. As I pulled into the garage, there it was. It had evidently fallen out of my purse when I loaded the car and I never noticed. I am really not awake at 0-dark-thirty. Sooo, at least it wasn’t lost or stolen. New flights are booked, but I will be several hours late for my meeting. Lessons learned: check for your wallet before you pull out of the garage, don’t be pennywise and pound foolish – go up early and deal with the hotel cost.
Since I am up at an ungodly hour, with a little gift of time, here I am. I’ve been playing around with color on my Zentangles and have actually completed a couple of Diva Challenges, though I didn’t get a chance to upload them to her slide show. Challenge 49 was to use a red string. I decided to do two of these. One that really celebrated the string and the other keeping it simple. I was surprised that the simple string – even though it was red – really disappeared into the tile once it was all tangled. I had to go back and add more red ink to really see it. Challenge 50 was to “Biggify.” This involved taking a few favorite tangles and making them much bigger than we would ordinarily draw them. I decided to do three – normal, big and BIGGIFY. They are shown with the same string and all together so it’s easier to see the changes in each tangle as the scale increases. This is a very good exercise for those just getting started with Zentangle. Because the tile is only 4.5″ square, the tendency is draw smaller scale. Pushing the envelope with scale give some freedom in shading but puts more importance on making each stroke carefully. Most people come to the realization that some tangles are much better when they are drawn larger. If you are struggling to find the right scale for your work, try this challenge and keep it to one tangle on a tile – or mark out a few tiles on your sketchbook page. Enjoy the process and remember there are no mistakes in Zentangle!
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- Green Ink and Watercolor
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- Diva Challenge 49 – simple red string
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- Black Ink and Watercolor
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- White Ink on Black ATC tile
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- Diva Challenge 49 – celebrate the red string
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- Christmas Lights
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- Biggify
“The flower that follows the sun does so even in cloudy days.” ~Robert Leighton
I love sunflowers. They remind me of happy, smiling faces surrounded by sunshine. After I got married and had my first child, I thought it would be fun for us to grow sunflowers. Having never seen sunflowers outside of photos or from the florist, I was not prepared for what sprouted. The things just grew and grew and grew with nary a bud to be seen anywhere. They grew like weeds and looked like them too. Soon it became apparent I would need stakes for these giants. This was about the time my 2-year-old daughter lost interest in the project. She was looking for flowers and my tall, gangly stems were not very promising, nor very pretty. In the end, I finally got a few puny blooms that bore little resemblance to those happy faces I love so much. Maybe it was the variety, but most likely it was my famously abysmal gardening skills. Now I stick to the ones you buy – instant gratification and a splash of sunshine to brighten even the darkest corner of the house.
The Diva Challenge for this week was to incorporate the logo from The Sunflower Fund. This organization was founded in 1999 to support the Bone Marrow Registry in South Africa for leukemia patients. Such an appropriate choice of name and logo for this cause. By the time a leukemia patient requires a bone marrow transplant, they truly need the sunshine and happiness the sunflower represents to brighten their days. I had fun with these tiles. More than once, I thought maybe my representation should be more abstract. But the lure of the sunflower was much too strong. So here they are, fully recognizable as those cheerful blooms – my sunflowers.
Hope Strength and Beauty
“During chemo, you’re more tired than you’ve ever been. It’s like a cloud passing over the sun, and suddenly you’re out. You don’t know how you’ll answer the door when your groceries are delivered. But you also find that you’re stronger than you’ve ever been. You’re clear. Your mortality is at optimal distance, not up so close that it obscures everything else, but close enough to give you depth perception. Previously, it has taken you weeks, months, or years to discover the meaning of an experience. Now it’s instantaneous.” ~Melissa Bank
Earlier this week, my daughter and I decided to have lunch before I chauffeured her home after her visit to the doctor. The hostess commented as she seated us, “You must be wearing pink for breast cancer.” Not purposely, we both just happened to wear pink blouses that day. I realized it was October and Breast Cancer Awareness Month – Laura Harms, the Diva, challenged us to tangle Hope as a tribute to those amazing women touched by breast cancer.
As I gave this more consideration, several specific friends came to mind. The quote I selected for this week captures what all three of them have told me at one time or another over the years. I am always humbled by the quiet dignity of their words and the hope they give others so generously. While my string is not so original, the tangles were selected with these wonderful women in mind. Zander represents the strands of hope that when gathered create a strength that inspires and endures. Purk and Onomato – so very feminine and beautiful. Breast cancer tries to steal those qualities from a woman, but their very strength and spirit hold tight and it shines from within and all around them. Finally, the pearls represent the patina they carry from challenges faced and incredible courage to move forward. It shines from every breast cancer warrior’s face. I count myself blessed that they are still in my life and I am able to call these ladies my friends. Cheers Sarah, Gerri, and Donna!
“A baby is born with a need to be loved — and never outgrows it.” Frank A. Clark
Diva Challenge 39 is titled “Love is All You Need” – a call to interpret love in our tangle for the week. So appropriate for my contribution and one I had been waiting to create for my daughter’s friend. She had a little baby boy several weeks ago – Easton. Despite today’s medical advancements, all were surprised when he was born with a critical birth defect. He was immediately flown to Boston for surgery. Little Easton came home this week and I was given the go ahead to finish his gift. This Zentangle will be framed with a mat signed by all his mom’s co-workers to capture how very much he means to so many people. The thoughts guiding my pen were centered on the intense love this first-time mother must surely feel for the little boy who has already fought so hard to stay with her. Much love to baby Easton and his new parents – enjoy!
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- Our Girl
”Perfect love sometimes does not come until the first grandchild.” Welsh Proverb
Twelve years ago I was blessed to become a grandmother for the first time. She was a true gift from God for me. I almost lost her last year, but God gave her back, just as perfect as she was before. She was in my thoughts as I worked on tiles for the Diva Challenge – mono tangle tiles using only Paradox. It is one of my favorite tangles because it takes a lot of focus and concentration. Since I am not much of a cook anymore, I thought a tangled cake would be in order and the tangle is fitting. Our girl is very much a paradox these days as the wild mood swings of the pre-teen years take hold. That’s okay, she’ll grow out of them and we are ever grateful she has that opportunity.
I am such a lucky Kacki to have my Maggie Moe. Love you my Mags! Happy Birthday!
Tangled Tranquility 