cockroach battle

Living in the near north side of Houston under oak, bamboo and tall loblolly trees, we are not strangers to the giant tree roach. As in cockroach. Yes, echhcick.

Tonight I did mortal battle with a large handsome example of the species. My tactic, when I see one of these monsters is to attack it with a towel, preferably a small kitchen towel. This I snap, as in showers in boys locker rooms (so I'm told) , at the creature rendering it stunned. I then zap it several more times to make sure.

The next step is to deliver it outside, sweeping it along with the towel or a broom....or if I dare, grab it with said towel and zip it into the garbage disposal or the toilet. I quite like insects as a rule, I even wanted to be an entomologist when I was a child. But this huge cockroach, as any one living in the subtropics will tell you, brings out some sort of primal heebie jeebies.

The roach, rest his little soul, is departed, and I am victorious.

disorganized pumpkin vine.....and house

My pumpkin seed is flourishing all over the garden. Huge yellow flowers and a vine that grows surely 12" a day decorate yards of my yard. I shall have to be careful of a single pumpkin seed in the future, but for now it is an adventure!

The rest of life is as disorganized as the pumpkin vine. Where is my cable to download photos from the camera? Where is that black top I like so much and no one seems to make anymore? Where are my favorite flipflops? There is a pattern here. Everything is lost until it is found and then you don't really need/want it anymore. Or you've replaced it. Or maybe it wasn't really that important. Like I finally found the instructions to the camera I got for Christmas two years ago. But now I know how to do the camera (at least as far as I'll ever take it).....but where the hell is the cable?????

surgery, impatient patient

Eye surgery and knee surgery within one week is just plain stupid. Flying to Calif to take care of an elderly parent while a week and a half out of said surgeries is stupid x 2. I have survived the stupid decisions and am back home limping and crutching along a little behind where a proper patient would be, given intelligent decisions.

And I'm a major whimperer to live with right now. None of us likes giving up independence, first born bossy women, least of all. So one should feel quite sorry for my other (not better) half.

All this bodes well for the gouache table, however. I tend to forget pain when I'm slopping paint.
Each day passes, things get better......I remember to be grateful for my minor pains....that thanks to the doc and his magic I am happily, with a little griping, crutching along.

delicious gouache

Nice thick rich paint.....gouache....my favorite flavor. Fun with still life this week....a sea urchin from Calif, Smiley Guy, and Bobbing Bird's birthday were my don't look past your own desk inspiration these past days. Icing the knee gives me an excuse to paint small.

scratch and dent body repair

I am back home getting the body work to keep on chugging. Knee repair for the torn meniscus (acquired while convincing my mother at 2:30 am that it wasn't a good time to get dressed and do battle with the perceived criminals in the hall); cataract removal in the one good eye (the other one a victim of NAION, a condition,
while not uncommon, only neuro-opthamologists seem to know about); a quick trip to the dentist to ensure continued chewing......you know, the usual dent and scratch fix up to the old carcass.

And I have to say that I am grateful for living in the here and now. None of this would have been a quick fix a generation or two ago. So, on my crutches and next week with a patch on my eye, I thank the world of medicine for my survival. My mother is doing well, and amazingly I am still the proud owner of all my buttons, as my charming but crazy mother would have said just a month or two ago.

I have been painting....though I'll take a quick break from it next week. Then, I'll see all my recent work with a new clear eye.....