Paraprosdokian Perhaps

Warning:
This has turned into quite a lengthy blog due to the fact that I have been a bit behind on the blogging. Let's forgo the part where I make excuses and tuck right in.

But first a disclaimer:
I have been asked to share my recipe for gluten-free bread. And I will! That recipe, among others, will arrive in the next blog on happenings in the kitchen. In honor of my brother's request to write more stuff about food, I will be covering such topics as a) how Cauliflower looks like brains and b) my attempts at making bitter leafy greens taste good.

And now an interlude:
Let me introduce you to a new friend of mine: Simon Ferdinand Merely. Below is a photo of him. He would be positively aghast if he new it had been taken at such an uncomely angle. For shame! Fortunately this is not a cameo appearance; he returns toward the end in a slightly more flattering pose.






I declare! On to more serious matters:
Two weeks ago David and I celebrated our anniversary. We went to stay on a friend's houseboat for a few days. The funny part is that we had no idea it was a house boat until we saw it. We thought it was a house by the lake! It turned out to be wonderfully perfect. We cooked in the little kitchen, enjoyed hours of reading, watched movies, gave each other gifts of more books, and rested.

Eating Indian food (cooked by David) on the houseboat. Quirky rabbit rug for atmosphere!

My card to David. A tiny packet of images from a medieval manuscript and hymns; a small handmade book titled "50 Things I Love About David"; an accordion-style card full of quotes and thoughts on our first year.

After a few days on the boat we drove out to Laity Lodge and enjoyed an inspiring weekend in the company of some of our favorite writers. The Chrysostom Society was having their annual meeting and we just happened to be out there at the same time. We enjoyed meals with them where they fired limericks back and forth and talked about publishing and books and a common love of good words. It was amazing to have conversation with authors whose books have so shaped me.

I spent most of the day working in the well-stocked art studios making things out of sheet of copper--a new material and technique to love! We left feeling so refreshed and inspired. Truly a great way to start our second year of marriage. On the way back to Austin we stopped and ate in Fredericksburg. Spicy sausage was the perfect completion of a great week.

Working in the art studio at Laity Lodge.

My little copper plaque.

Eating German in Fredericksburg. (German food, that is, not an actual German.)

Hungry animals loose in FredricksBurg!

I have been reading Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales again. I am overwhelmed by how unusual they are. It's really a great exercise for my imagination. People are always getting turned into birds or flowers, Witches appear everywhere, and someone is almost always either being captured by the wicked or banished to a tower. It's great and sometimes pretty strange! The best thing is, they all end happily and the good folks always survive. Ahhhh that's the world I want to inhabit.

Creatively, things have been busy for me. David went out of town for a few days and I took the opportunity to make a huge mess on the dinning room table. Snips of thread, scraps of fabric and pins everywhere. I covered some floor pillows for my sister-in-law in a fun red corduroy, altered and repaired tons of clothes that had been in the mending basket for months, and made some fun and weird little stuffed animals for a friend's baby shower. It was great not to have to clean it all up at the end of the day!

Meet Simon and Symore Merely. The first friends from the family of Merely's. Samples currently being made in the test studio, soon available for sale on etsy. (Cat pattern came from the awesome book: "Amy Butler's little stitches for little ones")

Two weekends ago our nephews, Cormac and Brendan, came over. We had a grand old time playing in the art studio. They helped me dig out some beeswax from old sculptures and watched me burn wax out of shoes with my propane torch. I love my propane torch.

We also made some awesome monoprints. One printed with me in the garage while the other practiced doing very important things, like balancing a wooden pole on your nose, with Uncle David in the front yard. It was glorious.


Lots of new creative projects are on my to-do list including making more little creatures. Can't wait to introduce you to Chalmers Tavish Merely!