Halloween art

Glass panel downtown Northville

New glass pretty from Northville art gallery

 

The above are from various Halloween displays from the two downtowns we visited today. First a celebratory lunch, then to the other town to sign papers. Yep a few closer steps to selling the house but it isn't over until it is over so still nervous.

 

Last night was annoying. I went to meet Maya's tutor. I assumed the school assigned her, which they did during the day. But for after school hours, she expects to be paid. How can Naomi working part time for low wages afford this? The answer isn't pleasant.

Indian Summer

Glads all over

He is peering at us mad that he has to gets close to us to get food

What creature is this? A cross between a lion and a snake downtown South Lyon

Allie spinning

Tess

After a few days  of wind and cold, it is in the 70s and still. Flocks of geese honk noisily overhead; cranes make their ungodly prehistoric sound. A few trees have turned colors. I ran to the Gotfredson lakes this morning  in record time stopping to watch the herons and egrets.

The rain had stopped in time for our 30 mile organized ride yesterday raising funds for the trails in Michigan. I had a few issues with my bike. For a 5 mile stretch, the wheel rubbed against the brake until I could get it to the mechanic in the next town.  He fixed the bike but I noticed that I still was having trouble with hills. I have a 24 speed bike (3x8). Usually the hills in Southern Michigan aren't steep enough for the lowest chain ring. I was having trouble getting up a hill that I had no trouble with a few months ago (and I am in better shape now!). I said, Screw it, Have to downshift to the granny chain. Then I noticed I had been in the highest gear ring the whole time. Once I put it back to the middle ring, no more problems. But the ride was pretty even though it was overcast. Afterwards we were given beer by a new brewery and had lunch. We talked to the  new director of the Michigander providing input what we feel is important about the ride. It will be in the Western part of the state so it won't have the steep hills of Northern Michigan.

I've been seeing granddaughters. Allie yesterday, Tessa this afternoon and Maya tonight.

We are currently in negotiations to sell the house. It is stressful. Until it is closed, no peace of mind. We are waiting to see if they will accept a counter offer.

At what age do racists appear? Turns out to be 5. Two little blonde girls are torturing Maya for her dark skin. She doesn't understand it and is hurt. The teacher is supposedly taking steps to defuse the situation. Maya now has a tutor that comes over to help her catch up. She is going to address the racism issue with Maya tonight. She is African-American too. We thought the Ann Arbor School system would be best for Maya but we haven't escaped mean girls.

more trashy treasures

Original water color will look good in my purple and sage room. Haven't found out much about the artist other than she may be dead

From ArtPrize: peacock from spoons

Allie in front of her new kitchen

Allie put her baby to sleep on top of a birthday quilt and lay down next to her to comfort her

The very diluted out Hurricane Joachim is coming towards us in the form of high winds and heavy rains. Indian summer is over. Steve actually turned the heat  on this morning. As the winds are coming from an angle, the heavily wooded road protected me from most of the strong gusts  while I was running this morning but it has been way too windy to bike. The winds should die down in time for my bike tour with my friend tomorrow. Meanwhile there are no wind breaks around our new house and things keep getting knocked over.

Some major disappointments this week. I won't go through them and they could reverse but I need something to cheer myself up.

As soon as I got up Thursday morning (and I had gone to bed late due to ArtPrize), I get a call saying I was needed to watch Allie ASAP as she was ill. As Steve had at least an hour to go through his set routine (and there are no shortcuts) I went  to take care of Allie. IMHO, nothing was wrong. They take her temperature way too much and every little rise merits a doctor's visit and tests. Meanwhile, she is happily running around and asking for food. I never took my kids' temperatures unless I could feel that they were burning up, actually complained of something and looked tired and ill. Allie was disappointed that there was no Poppa Steve.

Where's Poppa Steve?
Oh he's sleeping.
Wake him up!

Repeat this conversation ten times. Obviously Gramma Sue was a disappointment.

I went to the other side in town yesterday in part to help my friend still recovering from her surgery. She is able to walk, with a walker in 6 minute intervals and was cabin crazy. Her neighborhood is difficult to walk through due to broken sidewalks and a street under construction so we went to a megastore with wide aisles. I was with her last week when she was released from the hospital listening to her final instructions. I am afraid she didn't pay attention to all of them as there were so many. I should have spoken up for her and now regret I didn't. Due to one of her complications, they took her off one of her medications that she has been reliant on for several years without explaining why (but I knew why) but worse yet, not offering her a safe substitute. Stupid doctors! (nurse was just the messenger) Did they think her underlying problem had just disappeared? I think I have found a safe substitute that she can call and ask for. Meanwhile she is left with just very short acting over the counter measures.

Before I saw my friend, I went to a resale house near her. It is the most disorganized place. No lighting (I take things outside for a better look) and things are just stacked in musty boxes with no prices affixed. You are literally digging for potential treasures but there is a big potential for good deals. I take my pile of things to the one legged proprietor . She always zeroes in on the most valuable item(pictured above) and charges what I believe is too much but then says I can have the rest of the stuff for a very little price. One of the little things in my pile is a set of glass photocoasters that retails for more than twice what I paid for everything. They currently have photos of the Pope (two popes ago) and some saints but those are easily removed. Then I take them home to sneak them in (easy when Steve is gone) and wait for him to leave so I can  hang them up without listening to him complain about the many holes I make. It sometimes takes him more than a week to see that I hung yet another thing up. Part of the fun is looking things up to see if I really scored a treasure but mainly it is a cheap way to decorate.



 

More ArtPrize

Inside a sculpture

Looked neat though there are editing aps that will do this for a photo

Walls of Mexican soft drinks

interesting chair

ArtPrize redux

very small scraps of cloth and thread

Building sized mural made from tape with me trying to fit into  shape

Huge

There was a whole series of couples minus their body parts

We were here earlier last year yet more trees had changed colors

Huge hideous heads

At the mixed breed cup

gauze with embedded jewels with Grand Rapids behind

cool wood carving. Two pieces of wood were sandwiched together. Took hours to carve

through Ford Museum window

huge, huge quilt. This artist won a prize last year

made of pieces of suede

The artist blew soap bubbles in the cold. As they froze on the snow, she lay on her belly to photograph the developing crystals under different light conditions and then had them printed on metal. Cool.

Yesterday we made our annual trip cross state to ArtPrize. Another Mom was able to join us as she recently retired. A perfect day weather wise.  Much less art than years past but still plenty to see. These are just a small fraction of the many photos I took. My poor feet are tired. I am away from my computer as I am watching a sick Allie though she doesn't seem all that sick to me.