Whirlwind

We are currently experiencing another round of craziness at home. Yes, it’s the new year and things were starting to settle down after the fireworks on the 1st, but I had to muddy the waters. Back in December (or was it November) I agreed to help a mutual friend with her dogs so she could take a much needed break to Oaxaca Mexico. Yes, there are 2 additional furry balls of crazy running around the house. One seems to like pooping in the living room and bedroom. The other has major reactive dog issues (on the super shy and uncertain mode, not aggressive). My biggest concern was how Moby would react to them: would we experience aggressive fights? pinning the new dogs and inflicting wounds? Or would he like them??? Fortunately the latter proved true!

Nala (Toy Australian Shepherd and just a tad larger than Hazel) and Nelly(Standard Aussie Shepherd) are now adjusting to life in our very dog-centric household. Me Me kitty is holding her own downstairs, enjoying a heated bed, pampered vitamin D laced wet food, and human time. She recently went through a barrage of major tests to determine current ailments. Symptoms pointed towards low thyroid, which would be manageable. Instead, the kidneys are starting to go funky. Urgh! She’s the first elderly cat who’s lived this long at our house (I think she’s around 15?). Right now we’re just watching and providing wet food with vitamin D. If we have to start fluid injections, I’ll opt for the “final injection”.

I’ve been going through my own whirlwind of medical things. Thanks to all my joint and muscle problems, I’m now seeing a Rhumatologist. His diagnosis was Psoriatic Arthritis. (insert grumpy/unhappy face here). Needless to say I’m now on several medications (methotrexate and prednisone) that provide side effects. On the happy side, I hardly have any pain in my joints and muscles anymore. This is allowing me to actually WALK and do activities, use my hands, and lighten up on the restricted diet. Jogging is looking more promising. Dog walks on my own are happening. Driving long distances remains problematic, but looks better and better as the weeks go along. When pain is removed from life, it makes everything seem brighter. It also makes me realize how much pain I was actually experiencing on a daily basis. No wonder I’ve not had energy for creating art.

Speaking of art: The Halsey art project from 2016/2017 is in negotiations! Yes, an actual project will be leaving my storage space to brighten up Halsey city hall. The city council has approved the purchase and are pulling together funding. It should leave home possibly by August.

Let’s see, what else has been happening? The new year studio clean-out is underway. I’m not following the Marie Kondo method, tho I’ve actually read the book and practiced some of the techniques in our main living space. However, bags of paper items have made their way to the recycle bin and quite a few finished/unfinished art projects have been tossed (the Ikebana Penis arrangement is gone). One dear friend told me that she unframed items if they don’t sell. Such a brilliant idea. Why hadn’t I done that years ago? Silly brain! Certainly makes for easier storage or one step closer to the recycle bin.  Maybe this is the year we design a studio on the property. I dream of a day that all art tools and supplies are removed from home. That would give us almost 1000 sq ft of space to live in! It would be shocking! Oh, the little dreams that make the brain happy….. Hopefully they might come true!

Dog photos to come.

I still have kitchen towels for sale on Etsy. Check out https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheSaffronFern

Hoping to get the fern towels listed soon. Maybe a few lamps as well.