Another Busman's Holiday

Sophie, Ozge and I went to visit Naomi at work. She showed us the Damian Hirst piano that Lady Gaga played at their Gala last weekend. Quite a different collection than the one we're used to. We had to keep asking, is this Art?

Art? Yes.

Art? I think so. Pretty sure it is, yes. I can't really remember.

And you can't wish for more wishes

Theron: Mom, have you ever really, really wished for something?

Me: Yes. I wish you could be quiet for 15 minutes.

T: A divine wish! But it will never come true.

Random Discoveries

This last week our enormous basketry show went up at Griffith Park and it is fantastic! Locals should definitely go look, - we all love it. Ten Native basket weavers from across the country curated the show from our collection of nearly 14,000 cataloged baskets. It is the largest collection of its type in the world. A few of the weavers came for a visit the following Monday to see our collection in situ for the first time, as they did all their work for the show from photos. A few of the visitors noticed the little collection of seal gut items that Ozge re-shaped. This bag was sitting with these things. The white pieces inside are piece of foam covered with teflon that Ozge used to help the bag keep its shape after the humidification. The visitors told us that this Northern Athabaskan bag is actually the membrane from a caribou heart. I guess we thought it was maybe a bladder of some sort, but when you look at the shape it becomes clear. There was no information in the database save several question marks.

Then today I opened a box for processing and found this tiny metal container.

What could this be, I wondered. So I opened it...

And it turned out to be a teeny tiny gun, a teeny tiny ramrod, and a capsule of teeny tiny blanks.

Actually there were a bunch of teeny tiny blanks in a little shaving kit container. This was donated by a Col. George Ball. He was on a business trip in Mexico and was held up. President Porfirio Diaz read about this in the paper and, being a friend of Ball's, sent him this pistol set and told him to carry it with him for protection! Ceci and I went crazy looking it over, peering down the barrel wondering if it fires. Upon further web research we discovered it does indeed fire and thankfully we didn't find out the hard way. Imagine that worker's comp claim. We found a video on Youtube of someone loading one and firing it.

I get home and can't wait to show Ash - Look! Look at the tiny pistol!!! Ash just looks and says - Oh yeah, when I was a kid I had a tie clip tiny pistol and it had the exact same blanks, and yes it does indeed fire and it's much louder than you would expect. He thinks it's probably still in his family's home somewhere. Next visit - find that gun!

Busy Weekend

Alan turned 8 and the boys celebrated by choking and ridiculing each otherBatman gave orders to Batdog

Then he went out collecting treats. He wanted Batdad to make it so that he could hang from people's roofs by his grappling hook then lower himself down when they answered the door. Batdad said maybe next year.

Sunday Theron and I went to a Japanese wood carving class. There were no injuries. Theron made a corn cob blank and I made a cigar.

We ate DELICIOUS pizza. I couldn't believe we found salad pizza in California! Of course they don't use avocado in NY - it was a scrumptious addition.

Ollie outgrew his baby collar and moved up to a medium. The fish tank moved to the living room so we can all enjoy!

Projects and Pets

Today we gave Lalena the quilt. I don't know why it took me so long, but it did. She was very happy. Terri's square, 4th one on the top row, is upside down, I think. Sorry, Terri, I looked at it every which way and I thought I had it figured out and I still did this.

Here's a shot where you can see the backing which Lalena says matches her bedroom perfectly.

Ozge and I also gave Sophie this tool roll-up as a birthday gift. I used my left over museum print fabric because she also works at Natural History.

Now meet the pets:

This is Fred the Ferocious Fish. I'm actually pretty fond of this little guy. If we're in the room he hangs out in the front of the tank. He also likes to hang out in front of the filter outlet and let the current blow through his beautiful fins. Sometimes he comes up and mouths things, like "OOO" or he flares his gills. He is interested in the frog.

This is George, the African dwarf frog. I'm not sure what to think of this guy. I recently put a new bulb in that should be better for the plants, but we noticed that we see the frog more too. Ordinarily he would hang out in the back of the tank, as hidden as could be. He sometimes squeezes himself into tight spots and bends one or both back legs so that all the joints are the exact opposite way. The first time I saw it I thought he was dead. Now I think he just does it to mess with me. But anyway, he's more active lately so we'll see. Hey, George, here's a dime. Go get yourself a personality.

Which brings us to Ollie. Mr. Personality. He needs it to be Theron's dog.

All of these would make nice framed portraits in the living room if only Theron would wear clothes. It's probably a job for Photoshop.

Eventually Ollie said No More Pictures!

PS Pee Pee

We learned last week that if a person drops a PSP game into the toilet, with pee, and that person's dad fishes it out, takes it apart, and lets it dry, that it can be saved. It's also a good way to ward other people off from wanting to use it.

Work Report

This week I worked 7 days in a row. During that time I used: a sewing machine, a chisel, a heat sealer, bowling alley wax, a toothbrush, a heat gun, and the Pythagorean Theorum.

Here's Ashley, his last week at work. The homemade cake depicting the floor plan of the Family Room at the museum was presented to him by the Education ladies.
My first questions were: Why are the Education ladies making you a cake?! And Where's mine? I like cake!

IVS Stuff

A few tool roll ups
In Echino fabric, flap closed

Flap openSideways cats (whatever), flap closed
Flap open

Autumnal, flap closed - SOLD
Autumnal, flap open
Vanessa modeling her tool belt while working on a wall painting in Ecuador.
Scott modeling his IVS water bottle in the Eastern Sierras. He's determined to be a spokemodel.

More Puppy Love

A Boy and His Dog

So Far...

Just a quick post that all is well. Unlike the first day of school last year there were no tears and no phone calls. Theron comes home happy every day. He's making friends. He's taking care of his dog. Fred the Ferocious Fish is making a bubble nest at the top of the tank for eggs that are not going to ever come. His tank mate George the african dwarf frog must be finding food even though we never see him eat because he's still hanging around. Oliver is learning and learning and giving us lots of doggy kisses. Our cups overfloweth with love and blessings. We know we're lucky.

And baby makes four

Introducing our newest family member, Oliver. Oliver is part Lab, part Australian Cattle Dog, and all fun. He has webbed toes and loves the water. He loves to give kisses. Loves to get on the bed.

Actually I could say Ollie makes five because we also ended up with a red betta fish that the neighbors gave Theron. His name is Fred the Ferocious Fish. Fred loves food, blowing bubbles, and sleeping on the bottom of the tank.

Okay, so the other excitement, not in a good way, is of the fires that have been oh so close. We have been able to see the flames from our house and driving up Hwy 2 to go home has been like entering the shadow of a volcano.

I learned a new word: pyrocumulus.

Ashley has better pictures, but this is two blocks up. You can see the flames in the nearby foothills. The sky glows orange, ash covers everything (I think it looks like burnt tortilla that has flaked off onto the stove), and we smell like we've been camping.

School was supposed to start Monday - now they tell us Thursday. I'm not sure if Theron was sad about it. His actual words were, "Oh, Yeah, Oh, Yeah" accompanied by a hula hoop hip swivel.

Other news: I'm almost done hand quilting Lalena's wedding blanket. More pictures of that soon, I'm hoping to have the binding on in the next few days. I got to go shopping with Kate this weekend to pick out baby quilt fabrics for a colleague of hers. It's the first time I've ever gone down to the fabric district and not spent a penny. And yet, it was highly satisfying.