Kathryn Vaughn's Blog

Thursday, 7/19/10

I have really enjoyed making all my new 'mini masterpiece' jewelry. The idea and the title (mini masterpieces) was initiated by Becky Guzman.  She is an artist friend who makes clay beads in her own shop.  First I paint the paintings, then cut them into miniature shapes, seal them in the bezels and then pour the resin over to preserve them.  Some of the pieces have leaves,  moons, birds or filigree flowers right in the resin. Some (which are my personal favorite) I have leaves in and out of the resin so they are a 3D effect!  The resin pour takes 72 hours and it is really rocket science to be sure every variable is thought of to ensure a good 'pour.' I always feel like I am hatching dragon eggs...each piece is totally unique and an original creation. The Historical Museum is now selling them in the gift shop!  The jewelry is in its own case right by the register.  In the spring of next year, I will be teaching a painting/resin class at the Shake Rag Alley art community in Mineral Point. Check out www.shakeragalley.com.
It is a lot of work but rewarding to be able to preserve art in such a unique way!
There are also several sets in "The Cornerstone Gallery" downtown Baraboo and at "Bianca" which is in Fish Creek, Door County, in the Settlement Shops.

Thursday, 7/15/10

I am so glad that Door County is really so close as I can whisk away, even just overnight so I can still enjoy the entire day up there, too!  All work and no play is really not good.  The latest exhibit at the Hardy Gallery ends this Sunday.  I REALLY wanted to see that show.  After all the work and energy of making this new jewelry and working for two months on painting (both of which are in this show) I just had to see it for myself.  It's also a rush to see the other artists work who made it to the show, too, some of whom are my friends.  I was lucky enough to have perfect weather.  I found a great new place to swim, went to my favorite antique stores and got to two new galleries I had never visited before.  The mosquitoes were really bad...but they're bad everywhere.  I made the mistake of opening the hatchback of my car and invited a whole slew of them in.  With the humidity like this, I just try to focus on how lush all the trees are instead of cursing the vampire bugs.  Coming up Friday the 23rd, downtown Stoughton is having an Art Walk.  Lots of stores will be open until 8pm with guest artists sitting in with their work.  Eighteen artists within four blocks...I always have my art in the Robert Rae Gallery but I will be sitting in at Main Street Flowers from 5-8pm with my new jewelry.  Be great to see you!

Tuesday, 7/6/10

I love my place but I do miss having a garden.  I have to make due with a few pots of flowers outside my door.  So going to Eberts...the huge and gorgeous greenhouse village in Ixonia...is especially fun. Recently they arranged for a bus to go to Chicago to enjoy a tour of the Botanical Gardens. Last Thursday, my best buddy Lori and I stopped in Lake Mills for primo coffee and scones, then got to Eberts where we hopped on the bus and headed south.  The tram driver was quite the wit giving us the 40 minute slow ride. He would stop for excellent photo shoots, one of which was a pair of white swans with 3 signets in tow.  Then a really nice box lunch we ate out on the deck and then a few hours to noodle about on our own. Then to the gift shop and then back to Eberts. They treated every person on that bus with a huge box of flowers just for going!  The English walled garden was my favorite but for photos, the lilly pads where sensational. Also, in the arbor of the rose garden hung ginormous white begonias.  They were just gorgeous. Lots of places to sit and cool off in the shade, too.  There are over 340 acres so I do plan on going back another time.

This Saturday are the Art Fairs on and off the square, but also my own new jewelry trunk show (10-5) at Hand with Seeds in downtown Stoughton.  It's right across the street from Catfish Arts and Antiques.  I'll have seconds and pendants only and some holiday things, too.  Be nice to see you!

Monday, 6/21/10

Was Saturday morning beautiful or what? I was up and out in time to take my walk as the sun rose. The were so many birds singing and chirping at the same time I wondered if there was some bird event they were all talking about?  Baby bunnies, all out close to the path, at least seven of them...when they turn to run away, half of them are white tail!  Lots of geese with their teenagers and ducks with their little ducklings.  One Mom must have been ducky day-care...she had no less than at least 14 behind her, all in a row, waddling across the road heading for the river.  There was a nice breeze blowing which was especially great because it swept away ALL the gnats that usually swarm over the top of the foot bridge.  No mosquitos, no dogs, no people, no bikes, just the sunshine filtering through the wooded walk path and a lone dragonfly that zipped over my shoulder.  It's interesting how the birds take turns at different times. That early it's the baby hour.  Usually about 9 is when the cranes start in.  Even if you don't see them, there is no mistaking the almost prehistoric sound they make. There is one little clearing, close to the railroad tracks, where a pair of cranes walk their carefully placed, long strides. I am always astonished at how BIG they are and even more amazed that they stop and check me out, too.

I'm now working on the jewelry for the trunk show I'll be having at "Hand with Seeds", a lovely new shop in downtown Stoughton, on July 10th from 10-5.  I'll be there all day with my tools and doing some demonstrations.  I am also working on a new, big painting that will be hanging in the courthouse.  How cool is that!

Monday, 6/7/10

So, did you have a nice relaxing weekend up North?  I had to laugh when I got asked that...that was the plan...sort of.  I got back from Door County Monday as the sun was going down over the rolling green fields.  There were huge, freshly rolled bales of hay, lined up like big shredded wheat cereal dotting the landscape.  There was a lovely hot air balloon drifting low and silently across the field.  It was funny because in one field, there where all these tiny brown cows and I thought they were a very unusual species until I noticed that there was one Mom off to the side and all these were the baby cows!  I just never thought to see such a big group without their moms!  (Recall I am a natural blonde.)

But that was the only 'relaxing' I had for the four days!  I spent a lot of time visiting with my artist friends, shopping for beads for my new jewelry and antiques for my soul, and of course the main reason for going, getting jurried into the France Hardy Gallery  (yes, both my entries were accepted in!) and being at the Paint Box Gallery opening Sunday morning where my new work is up on display.  Not only did I stay at the Inn on Maple again (I love that place) my artist friend Bobby Spencer (she does lovely watercolors) taught me how to make pie crust from scratch.  Before, whenever I'd try my hand at it it would either become the shape of Italy and stick to the rolling pin or Asia and be too out of shape to get it properly in the pie plate, or once when I rolled it all out and baked it, I needed a saw to get through it.  But now I've got it down!!  We made it with rhubarb that she just yanked up out of her garden!

Next time I go up I'm bringing a few books and my journal and plan on catching up on sleep!  It's all good!

Friday, 5/21/10

It's amazing to me how when I get engrossed in an art project the hours are like minutes. I get so focused it's very easy to lose track of time. I've already burned two dinners and Joe pushed the cardboard door open and made his way all the way down the hall before I realized he had escaped. This new Bubble-Check jewelry I've been working on is coming along just beautifully!  I can now do the whole process.  Paint the picture, select the proper shape, then the proper bezel, then Mod Podge it 3 separate times, then the resin pour (which takes 72 hours to set (bubble-check and top-em off) then find the beads, glass, findings and assorted chains, ribbons & leather and then closures to finish off a piece of wearable, very unique original art!  Whew!  This year I plan on being part of the Agora Art Fair, (Aug 21) as Avalon Blvd. Studio (me) will be part of Diakonos Design Studio booth. What a fun event that is!  Live music this year, too. You'll want to come see it!

Monday, 5/10/10

It seems I am always in the middle of so many projects.  I really, really enjoy the time I get to spend with my son, Gregg.  He has become a real foodie too, and at least half of our conversations are taken up with some nummy, new ways to prepare meals.  He's making circles around me these days.  We went out for Thai food not long ago.  I cannot recall the name of the place...it's on PD by the Barriques coffee shop.  In truth, dry cleaning stores have more atmosphere but the food was amazing.  We both love curry....  Gregg always goes for the hot, hot stuff.  He had shrimp in some pastel green sauce, I went for the duck in pinky-peach.  Both were really, really good!  Next time, we get it to go....

Friday, 4/23/10

Well the two new artworks are painted, framed and delivered to the "Secura Art Exhibit"
(in Appleton )Tuesday, jurried and hung for the opening tonight. The show ends on Sunday when I have to zip back up there to pick them up again.  I know, I know, it's a lot to do for such a short space but the caliber of the work in this show is so high I am very honored to even be in it.  (That I won an "honorable mention" ribbon last year has nothing to do with it....haha) Actually I find a quiet car ride helps me relax.  All the flowering Almonds and Crab trees blooming are superb and Wisconsin is a lovely state to traverse in!

Sunday, 4/4/10

Last Saturday I was in the kitchen of the house I just finished wallpapering.  Beautiful Victorian here in my town of Stoughton.  I had a lot of patching up to do, which of course means a lot of sanding is needed.  That dust gets everywhere so I decided to use Peg's vacuum.  If I had any doubts of its origin, they were quickly dispeled once I figured out how to turn it on.  It was R2D2's great, great, great-grandmother, I'm certain of it. It was called a Queen Anne or was it Queen Bee?  Anyway, it had a long metal hose in two pieces and a long nozzle on the end.  I was just holding it up and turned on the vacuum...wow, it sucked the curtain right up!  HOLY MOLY, I pulled on it and took the curtain rod right off the window...O-my-God...I quickly turned to move the vacuum to shut it off but it fell over! O-my...the little wheels spinning like some sick robot...I turned it back upright, but in the process, the vacuum got hold of the thin plastic sheet covering the table!  O-my...I got a hold of it, still keeping the vacuum upright, before everything went sailing off the table, and held it really low so I could reach the turn-off button but not before it snarfed up the plastic sheet that was covering the cabinets!  I was like, OK, where's Ethel?  Where are the TV cameras to document this???  When Peg called to see how things where going, she laughed her head off and said she never uses it ALONE.

NOW she tells me...

Sunday, 3/21/10

Well my life is never boring...my friend Becky Guzman (a bead artist-she actually hand makes clay beads) came up with a way of framing small parts of my art work into bezels and coating them with resin.  Who'd a thunk!  Kathryn Vaughn art framed and worn around your neck, arms or dangling off your ears!  We have been working feverishly to make as many as we can for the bead show coming up this weekend.  The resin process is slow (72 hours).  It takes constant vigilance, melting out the trouble-some bubbles and keeping the temperature warm enough so the resin won't cloud over. I am a total goofball to begin with, but get me really tired and working with a great friend, well let's just say I know where the expression 'slap happy' originated.  This brand new line of jewelry is now called "Bubble-check."  You know the place, right below Romania and just above Bulgaria?  Yeah, and the president of "Bubble-check" is "Top-em-off"  and we can't forget his twin brother "Top-it-off."  We spent a lot of time by the river "Bubble-watch" that runs through the heart of "Bubble-check."  I've made hearts, ovals, squares, circles in all the designs I've been painting for years.  It's like discovering I've got a tail and didn't even know it.  I like it!

Monday, 3/8/10

Last Saturday I had just a really nice evening over at Lanette and Marc's place. Back in January, I had a flat tire right on the busy Beltline. I was really rattled and God bless her soul, Netty sent her Marc over to help me out.  She and I were scheduled for an appearance at Sentry for the "YWCA Baby Shower" for 5 o'clock! This was 2ish.  Well, Marc was Mr. Chipper, telling me all about righty-tighty and Lefty-Lucy as he cheerfully taught me how to put that skinny tire on my car.  It was damn cold out but he was like 'bah' and proceeded to follow me to Comstock Tires not too far from where I had blown a hole the size of my pinky in a brand new tire. All of a sudden the chopped-meat shreds the salesman showed me off the inside of my tire was just funny instead of terrifying. He just said it was nothing and sent me on my way to meet Lanette at the store.

When someone is able to do something so nice and helpful, the only thing to do in reply is to make a fab dinner.  It took some time for us all to get our nuts schedules to match (they are getting married in April as you may already know) and to snag them for an evening is a good thing.  Well, I made chicken Parmesan, stuffed shells, Brussels sprouts a la Marsala and a vanilla Butterfinger ice cream cake to top it off.  Of course I made sure all the fat, calories and carbs where carefully cooked out.  And then, Netty insists it be a sleepover party as well!  Piper (a big fluffy cat) stayed in her drawer all night and Luna (a big happy dog) brought me all her toys to share.  We yakked up a storm and let the dishes soak.   Friends like family, how much better than that does it get????

Sunday, 2/21/10

Yesterday I managed to finally get out for a long walk.  What a triple treat!  No wind, freshly fallen snow on the trail and the trees bare enough I could even see the female cardinals flitting about.  With dreamy snow reflections in the river and bird chatter and a rare visit by a HUGE raccoon I stayed out until it was starting to get dark. I am very lucky to live so close to such a nice trail.  Best part is hardly anyone else seems to walk about it on Saturdays so it was incredibly peaceful and stunningly lovely. Claude Monet was famous for always painting outdoors but I just I can't paint with gloves on...

Wednesday, 2/17/10

Well, I finally did it...I've been painting so many other people's homes and never my own. I have been in my latest apartment for eight years now; whenever I find a color I think my suit my bathroom, I splash a little on a wall to 'see it up' and so far, all I had was a clown pants variety of colors that look just awful!  My bathroom has no windows, white wainscoting halfway up the walls and an old, claw-foot tub. I found the sweetest light peach and have begun the transformation.  All the funny photos and art work look so much better.  Hopefully I'll get it done this weekend! 

Monday, 2/8/10

This week I am beginning to paint a dining and living room for my friend Bev. She liked the green when she painted it that some time back, but, she wanted a change. Ta da, enter KV!  We had a major pow-wow of what she had, what she wanted to do (and didn't want to do) and off I went to get the color swatches for her. By next week she will be one happy camper because soon the colors will be warm and very inviting.  It seems it is just about February that people want to change things in their homes and also buy art. I'm sure it is a mild form of cabin fever.  She has chosen a pair of Tuscany yellows for the living room to go with her red chairs.  It is going to look marvelous!

Monday, 2/1/10

I always get a kick out of changing all the calendar pages when the month changes.  But boy, this month is so busy!  Several listeners called me during yesterday's "Sunday Smooth" and asked me just how many things do I do.  I had to laugh...somewhere around a million and a million and a half!

Seriously, besides being on Magic 98, I am a painter (ink, cold-water dyes and metallic powders), I write, I make earrings, I design and arrange flowers, I do interior decorating and repair and I teach art classes.  In my spare time...

Tuesday, 1/26/10

It is a strange little thing that happens here at the Magic 98 building. In the ladies room, close to the studio, there are these very tiny black bugs that show up now and then.  (Ever hear that expression "as cute as a bug's ear"?  What in the heck does that mean? Bugs don't have ears...).  Well these little critters are actually pretty. Lanette Hansen and I were even talking about where in the heck they come from...the building is nearly hermetically sealed.  Well there was one on the floor this past Sunday morning, on its back. At first I thought it was trying to fly because it was spinning around in a circle.  I even thought about turning it over so it could get up.  But then I noticed it was kicking its little legs in such a dramatic fashion that it reminded me of one of those super dramatic operas and this little guy was in the throes of some passionate aria and I didn't dare disturb him.  Then, as I was on the air, of course, I had to leave but all of a sudden it seemed it wasn't a operatic performance, but more like Seinfeld pretending to sing an opera to get my attention...I like working at Magic 98--even the flies are great.

Tuesday, 1/19/10

If you want to have a great lunch, not counting anything so boring as calories, fat, carbs or sugar, I can highly recommend David's Jamacian over on Monona Dr.  My son, Gregg, and I went there last week and I don't think there is a better meal in Madison.  Mango peach juice on the side!  Gregg only has a brief lunch hour, good thing, we would probably still be there going for 4ths...

Monday, 1/11/10

Just when I think Joe can't surprise me anymore, there he goes again.  I was sitting in my kitchen working on my book and I heard the French doors creaking open.  I had left Joe sitting on his little tropical island catching his rays. Joe is a little turtle.  If he's in front of the fridge, with his head up, if I open the door, he's in the clear. Sure enough, he does his 'swnk' 'swak' shuffle over the carpet through living room all the way to the kitchen to sit by me while I work. So next time, I stay out in the sunny studio, too, and I watched him. He puts up his little right foot on the door, pushes until it starts to move. Then he pushed his shoulder shell against the door, getting the back leg action going and by golly, the door creaks and he is through. Next day I'm in the kitchen again and I see the empty gallon water jug moving across the floor.  It looked as if it was moving on its own at first which really cracked me up. I just wonder, does he do things to entertain me or himself? I mean, do turtles think?  

Tuesday, 1/5/10

Just got finished hanging the last of the paintings for my latest show at the McFarland Coffee Cafe  (5923 Exchange St.). It used to be a flower shop until the owner, Fern, had a stroke and had to let the business go. Now Ann and Bill Barker have completely redesigned the inside and left all the lovely garden things outside as they were.  It'll be gorgeous in the spring!  They are having a special dedication to Fern on Saturady, January 9th, at 2pm, naming the front room after Fern.  She will be there for the ribbon cutting and cake and coffee and I will be, too, as I have 16 paintings of mine up in that honored place, too. My show will be hanging there until Feb. 18th. The shop is closed on Sundays but open until 7 most nights...if you get a chance, stop by.  Food is great, Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream and pastries are always available, too. 

Sunday, 12/27/09

I am so glad my son (Gregg) and his wife (Schula) have chosen to have a house big enough to accommodate a serious party. (Though I adore my place there is hardly room to change your mind, never mind have a Christmas gathering...) They have a dog, Luke, who thinks he is one of the cats. He is the color of a deer and leaps on his long, slender legs onto the back of the couch and tucks his feet under himself. He is huge, taller then me when he is on his hind legs, but has the balance of cat.  The cats (Hendrix and Weenus), on the other hand, think they are people.  Gregg built them a "cat condo" way up above the kitchen cabinets. When there are too many people legs and feet on the floors, you can see the two of them watching everything from their Olympian perch. But this Christmas, the normally imperious Hendrix parked himself in one of the empty Christmas boxes. It was as if he thought no one was watching him and he was just grooving on the "inside of boxness" thing. It was just hilarious. After all the other people had their fill of turkey and ham, each cat sat politely on a kitchen chair, their little faces right up to the table. They were very carefully keeping their paws down and took their sweet time between delicate bites, while watching the other people clean up their plates. I bet they have a kick-butt stereo system in that condo...

Monday, 12/14/09

I must say I feel really blessed to be able to work with the people I do here at Magic 98. Amy Abbott, Netty Hansen, Liz Terry, Pat O'Neill and Jimmy Mac and myself were Santa's elves with roller skates on behind the scenes to make this year's Holiday Wish fundraiser one of the finest yet. I am astounded, too, in how generous our listeners really are!  Several times a day we were all moved to tears ourselves seeing it happen over and over, people who have are so willing to share with those who don't! Just a hair under $8,000 was the amount taken over the phones and online!  Private donations are still coming in!  My favorite call was the gal who said I should give her $50 to pay back all the eye makeup she cried off listening to those who had monies awarded to them!

After all that business-numbers-money stuff, it was very nice today to sit and demonstrate my painting style with all the customers who came into "The Cornerstone Gallery" in Baraboo. I have a lot of my artwork there and Christine, the owner, set up a nice table for me so I could show how I do my stuff! It's right on the corner of 4th and Oak if you ever get up to Baraboo, stop in and say hi!

Monday, 11/30/09

When I want to treat myself, I take a fun day trip to Ebert's Greenhouse Village. My friend Marie wanted to see the place and offered to drive and buy me breakfast at the Pine Cone (which is on the way) if I took her along. I'd have enjoyed her company even without all the bonus points, but it turned out just that much more fun. (Pine Cone has some of the best corn beef hash) When we got there I saw a sign: "PIE PUMPKINS." Remember...I grew up in a city...different pumpkins for pie??? You bet! Cooking pumpkins are smaller, a deeper orange and more formed to look like Cinderella coaches. How Martha Stewart! How wonderfully tasty! How blissfully domestic! HOW DEMENTED! My kitchen looked like an orange bomb exploded and that was after I took it out of the oven. To start with, only Hercules could hack that thing into pieces without hurting himself. If I ever see a sticky pumpkin seed again I just might get sick. It took over an hour in the oven to finally soften up and then the real work started. Well, now it's all baked and looks nice enough but I called Gregg (my son) and asked if he thought I should make another one in case. I can't tell you how many times some dessert has been transported to its destination with a sliver taken out of it with the outright lie of "I had to make sure it was OK" attached to it . So when he suggested I take a taste to 'see if it was OK' we had a real guffaw over that. Being the grand man he is, he assured me that he had made a cookies and cream pie and a chocolate cream pie. I already had the white chocolate and banana cream pie made, so if it didn't come out, we surely would not starve. Our Thanksgiving is later today. Hope yours was great!

Monday, 11/23/09

I am very happy to say I did get my paintings up to the Appleton Art Center on time. It was a nice day to travel! It is tough to see all the dead deer but the harvesting farmers more than made up for it. Growing up in the cement of a city, farm scapes, old barns, livestock, tractors, horses and whatever that thing is that picks the corn and spits it out are just so romantic to me. I confess, I don't know what those really long, huge white plastic covered things contain, but there were two fellows running pell mell along the top of one! I wanted to stop my car and run after them it looked soooo fun!

I did stop at the Harp Gallery as it was recommend by a fellow antique lover. It's not even 5 minutes off Highway 41 and well, it was just jaw dropping. I highly recommend taking the few moments to stop in that place! I saw a watchmaker's bench, a Victorian corner chair, art easels and a set of 'Gentleman's Chairs' I'd have bought if I had the place to put them! Their website is one of the finest I've seen anywhere - www.harpgallery.com, You can even see those lion chairs I just mentioned. I liked them so much I bought some of the fabric they were newly upholstered with for my living room.

Monday, 11/16/09

I have been working nonstop, it seems, to get the newest paintings ready for the Appleton Art Museum show. Everything had to be at my framers (Donna & Gerry) today! It's amazing to me how hours get used up like minutes when I am really focused on getting something done for a deadline. I've also discovered a great new place to bring my paintings. The McFarland Coffee House, right across from the library, not only whips up a perfect Americano, but they are going to have a show for me in January. Steven Kozar has a few of his paintings in there now. He and I already 'hang out on the walls' together in The Robert Rae Gallery of Fine Art in Stoughton. (They are having a Gallery Walk/Ladies Night this Friday evening) so we meet again there. We will both be at Robert Rae on Friday night and I am pretty sure Steve and his son will be playing music, too. Stop by, it's free and everyone is welcome!

Monday, 11/9/09

My daily stroll had become very important. Having all this very fine weather makes it really easy to roll out of bed and start the day. There was a new fellow on the path, Coco, a huge Burmese Mountain dog, with one eye blue and the other disappeared into his shaggy face so I couldn't tell. His owner told me that he used to pull her children around in a wagon when they were little. He looked like a small bear. I learned that my favorite dog to visit's name is not Lucky, but Pepper. He is black and white and very old but so sweetly affectionate I can see why people have dogs for pets! I don't have one and don't want one...Joe the turtle is a perfect little fellow for me. I brought him over to the stream on Friday for perhaps his last outing before he goes off to sleep for the winter. He found a little black frog and tried to eat him. Good turtle action! He hid in the water under numerous yellow weeping willow leaves and I was startled at how even - as I never took my eyes off of him - his yellow stripes on his neck blended in so perfectly he disappeared for a few seconds! Freaked me out. He squished around in the mud and like any turtle worth his salt, didn't want to go home. But once we were walking again, he just hung his little paws over my hand and watched the world go by. Even with my glasses on I cannot see very well far away. On the path ahead of me were five red spots. As I approached, the five spots turned into 5 male cardinals who flew in unison up to a tree. They were like the blue angels pilots, all landing in formation on the tree. They all stood out on the branches like a posed Christmas card! All the leaves are off and they were live ornaments. Joe just stared at me.

Wednesday, 11/4/09

It has really been nice to take my daily walk. One of the fun parts is meeting all the dogs people walk every day. There are a few I see frequently...some I've only met once. I hardly ever know the owner's names, but the dogs are easy. Like Cloey, she is never on a leash and is more like a deer. She is black and white and runs like the dickens all over, very fast, always chasing some elusive thing. Sometimes trying to get up at something in the sky! Then there is Danger...he is a dachshund who is always wearing a little sportcoat. His eyes are nearly coal black and his nose is very pointy. Danger to what, I can't begin to imagine. Then there is Lucky, she is some kind of poodle mix who got her name because it was considered she was lucky to be taken home. She absolutely must get a nice pet on the head or you can't pass by her. Griffen is a young but very friendly German Shepherd. To see him, he looks like he'd go for your throat - viciously - but he's like a big baby who is more likely to lick you to death. My very favorite is a very old black and white mutt (also named Lucky) who walks so slow her owner says the dog takes her for a walk. You can always see her owner but Lucky is so far behind she is usually standing on her own. There is another dog...I cannot recall its name...but the owners say it's a Golden Doodle. With a title like that who needs a name...

Monday, 10/26/09

Even in all this rain the trees this year are just glorious. How can people live in a place that does not have fall colors?? I've been taking my daily walks and yesterday there were at least 12 robins splashing around in the stream. At first I thought it was like the old Roman Baths but the more I watched it was more like a Packer party. I was very close and they were having such a good time it was like they didn't know I was there. It really is just soo fun to walk through all the leaves. I remember there was a very grouchy old lady who used to live up the block from us. Mrs. Boswick. Everyone on the block had to line up the raked leaves up to the curb and the big, orange leaf sucker truck would come and snarf it all up. Well, walking home from school we would kick through that whole line of leaves with such joy it could hardly be contained. One day, old Boswick was out before us with a boiling kettle of water and she saw us coming and poured it over all her leaves so we couldn't kick them up. She was also the same lady who when we played kickball and it went up on her lawn she would run out and grab it and bring it into her house! One of my best costumes I ever had was to be dressed up as her for Halloween. We would get to the door, say our very polite "Trick or Treat" and the neighbors would say and who are you? "Mrs. Boswick!" No one could ever keep a straight face...

Sunday, 10/11/09

I have been wanting to take the New Freedom train ride for years! It was even more enjoyable than I thought. Mind you, I love antiques and American history and I am just goofy about Cowboy culture. I've read so many Max Brand books I feel like I've been dating him this past year. Considering he's been dead since the 40's, I consider myself lucky he has some 300 more books I have yet to read. Some of his characters actually jump on and off trains which is all fine and dandy reading about it. But seeing just how big and powerful those cars are, just the engine weighs 99 tons. Is that not like, 50 elephants??

Just hearing the properly attired conductor say 'All aboard!' gave me a thrill. My Grandpa was a railroad man in New York, perhaps it's in my blood?

There was a little girl, about three, who smiled up at me now and then from the depths of her blanket. There is no heat or seat belts, but you really don't need either of them. The slow pace, huge windows and small electric fans on the high ceilings really make you feel you are in another era. I wouldn't recommend it for little, little kids as a great 'fun thing' judging from the girl across the car. Her pink ankle socks were more present than her face for the duration of the trip!

In some of the cars (set stationary indoors in the train yard) there were dummies dressed in period clothes that are just 'campy' cool. But the thing that wowed me was the gigantic old snow plow. I don't know why I never thought about how trains get rid of snow. I somehow assumed train tracks where just exempt or that snow would automatically blow off the tracks I guess. When I first sat it, I thought, why do they have a ship in the train yard? It's huge and made of wood and carved in such an unusual way. The ride is just long enough to give you the feel of the old days. The leaves are in early color so that was nice, too. Next week is the pumpkin train if you were up a very laid back treat. The site is www.midcontinent.org if you want to check it out.

Sunday, 10/4/09

I am so glad the weather has cooled off! It has made it possible for me to go into my personal music vault and pull out as many groovy tunes I can find for the new "Sunday Smooth" show. How nice it is to have people call and say, "Finally I'll get to really enjoy your show so much more!" Apparently more people than I knew could only listen a little in the morning while they were getting ready for church. Then they would only get a few moments in the car on the way home. Now they can listen all the way til dinner and have a great soundtrack for all Sunday meals. They can read the paper all day! Two listeners called and actually said, "It''s about time!" Thanks so much for listening and calling to show your appreciation!

Also in this cool weather, my best friend Lori and I drove down to Ixonia to go to Ebert's Greenhouses. She got three huge mum plants on sale for a song. But more, it's just a nice drive and Ebert's is so delightful to walk around. They have one part right out front where you can make your own scarecrow. Big piles of hay, all kinds of clothes, hats and gloves to pack up and costume make your own character. We got some hot coffee and treats to nosh on while we went through the children's story house. First you sit on the hay bales while they read a story, then you walk through the stage set of the book! Fun!

Monday, 9/21/09

I don't know how anyone could really choose to live somewhere that the seasons don't change. The leaves are just going to be spectacular this year, I can feel it in my bones! To help that along, I have subscribed to an email update you might like as well. It's www.travelwisconsin.com and is just a great site for what to do around our great state, but there is a leaf report they update every week so you can plan your trips to see the leaves at their prime. Over 100 people are part of making that happen!

I take my daily stroll, along the river, delighting in passing my favorite trees... one of which is a huge, I mean sofa-size trunk of a chestnut. Yesterday there was a Nolan Ryan of a squirrel just hurling the early nuts from above. I never saw it; I could only hear the nuts clunking one after another on the ground below. I was glad I wasn't walking under him...someone could lose an eye! Though he was neat, nothing has topped the two squirrels that lived in the oak tree over my little cottage I spent a fall and winter in some years back in Cambridge. I was working on my book "Silverpond." Very first draft in the middle 90's, and I would hear 'clunk'--'roll' for five seconds--and-- 'plompt.' After six of these, I went out to look. Silence. I go back in and of course it starts again. I go out. Silence. This time I went in and snuck out to the little what I called "yodel" balcony and quietly watched. Silence. Back in again and just as I sat down to focus my thoughts they must have shaken the whole branch because it was like a machine was tearing up the ceiling, then the load of them all thunder-bundled along the pitch of the roof! When I went out this time I went straight for the 'plompt' sounds and found a huge pile of acorns at the end of the drain pipe. I looked up to see two squirrels, totally quiet, watching ME. Their tails were going a mile a minute and I think they were wondering if I was planning on taking their booty. However, in my furtive imagination, I swear I heard one of them giggling and the other said, "You ain't seen nothing yet!" That was the day I learned where cartoons came from...

Thursday, 8/27/09

Joe is such a card, really. I was going to go to the post office but when I went to put on my shoes, he was situated so snug and comfy in one of them I just couldn't bring myself to make him move. I want to take him to the 'turtle amusement park' I've written about before, but putting mosquito repellent on seems more like putting plum sauce on a leg of lamb and I am the lamb! They are just vicious! Thing is, Joe doesn't care, because they don't bite him on his hard little head.

Often on Friday mornings I am either bringing artwork to or from my framer, Donna. She is more than that...she is my mentor, my friend and like a Mom to me. Now that I discovered that Joe will behave himself in the car if he is in the laundry basket, I am planning on taking him with me. Donna's garden is situated in such a fashion that she can stand at it. I could easily let Joe ramble around under all the coleus and still keep an eye on him. Only thing is, Donna has one of those 'hot dog' dogs. She calls him Puck but I call him Puckazoid. He is a very happy and cute dog but I have no idea what Joe will think of him. Puckazoid might think of Joe as a snack...I'll keep you posted.

Thursday, 8/13/09

Door County never lets me down! I went to bed early and slept in everyday and even got rid of the dark circles under my eyes! I didn't lift a paint brush, check my mail, answer the phone or cook one meal. I did read two books and journaled for hours every day which is real vacation for me. The place I stay at is just a quiet little place in the woods where every kind of moth known to humankind is on the screen door at night and this time, in the morning, a 'walking stick' and a 'cicada' stopped to rest as well! I got to have long visits with several of my artist friends and met a new artist I really hope to do a show with sometime soon. Her name is Bren Siblisky (www.brensculpture.com) and her sculpture is just out of this world gorgeous. We had a great breakfast at Cafe' Tlazo (in Algoma). I highly recommend a trip there. The coffee is perfect, they have indoor-outdoor seating and the food...I had perfectly poached eggs, black bean bread toast, Canadian bacon and a few grapes for garnish, as my breakfast. Bren had their homemade granola and yogurt that almost looked like dessert. Then we went off to her farm to meet her horses and talk art all day! I hope she and I will do a show together soon as I paint in metallics and her sculptures are bronzed! How cool is that!

Wednesday, 8/5/09

The adventures of Joe continue. He is often sitting on his little palm tree island which rests on the floor in my studio. The sunbeams shine right in on it. He was there every time I checked on him. He has his little legs stretched out and lifted up in the air in all directions. It always funny to see him so! Sometimes his eyes will be closed and it seems like he's got a new yoga move going on. Other times he just stares ahead and I think he's pretending he's Superman. My office is divided from my studio by only a door. I keep the air conditioner on where I have my computer and where I paint but it's tropical in my office. I have a lot of plants, a little fountain, and garden statues and best of all, dried leaves on the floor. (My entire apartment has gorgeous hardwood floors). As I don't have a yard, my office does double duty. Thing is, that door is always closed to save the AC from having to cool it. Well, once again, I cannot find Joe. I'm calling, crawling around the floor checking out all his favorite haunts and he is not showing up. Well, after a few hours I started to freak because he simply was not anywhere. Usually when I call he may take his sweet time, but he'll make some noise or even come out so I pick him up. Was he stuck? Impaled on something? Did he get turned over?? (Which is fatal for turtles as they suffocate this way if they can't get righted). Worst of all, he doesn't love me anymore and won't come out???? Don't ask me what made me go check in my office because I don't know. But when I pushed the door open I could feel him slid with it on the other side. I kid you not I started to cry. Being the silent, little fellow that he is, he was there the whole time I was calling and looking for him! HOW he got in there and how he closed that door between us I can't even fathom, but to see his little face when I realized he was just helpless to get to me, well, can I be a big baby or what? I was planning to shower and go to bed then but I decided to sit and read awhile so he could sit on my foot for as long as he wanted.

Tuesday, 7/28/09

The other day I was waiting for the cars ahead of me to obey the traffic light signals and I noticed that there were quite a few of those black birds that are often on the street diving at something they were all interested in. I kind of mentally prepared myself for the usual grim carrion snacks those creatures usually dine on. But this batch was in frenzy. They dove at each other to push them out of the way. They flew fearlessly down into the group of moving cars. There were some closer that the other pecked at to gain their spaces. It had rained a bit earlier so the road was still a little damp. Then the line of cars from the other side was freed to move for their legal left turns and the birds didn't even care! They fought like mad. I thought oh man, it's gonna be some gross, aflattened raccoon or something equally as unsavory and I really tried to turn the other way when I passed, but I couldn't help myself. I just had to see what made them so insanely nuts to risk their necks for. It was a flattened hamburger bun!! A hamburger bun! It was even all soggy! It still cracks me up because that coveted piece of bread made me think of the programs that are on TV these days and those birds, the ratings that get fought over for them. No accounting for taste...

Wednesday, 7/22/09

I'm happy to say I got my "lake fix" in today. Bathing suit, flip-flops, packing a lunch and my journal and having the beach to myself for hours...awesome. Well, almost by myself. It seems the seagulls and the geese take turns on the beach. Today was a seagull day. I'm not making this up - when the geese have the beach, the gulls stay away. When the gulls are there, the geese stay away. Today there was a pair of them chasing each other around in circles. I think they were playing some kind of catch me-chase me thing and I swear they sounded like they were laughing and really enjoying themselves.

This beach is one of those 'swim at your own risk' places which so contrasts to the type I went to when I was little. Back where we sometimes went swimming, it was a huge pool that started shallow at all the edges and went deep in the center. One day, the lifeguards suddenly hustled everyone out of the pool. All the children were told to stay out of the water and all the grown-ups held hands around the whole pool and slowly walked to the center together. I had no idea what was going on but the power in all that sudden silence was very real. Then a shrill whistle blew, everyone went back to their chairs and towels and squeals and shouts and splashing commenced. I then learned from my mother that a child had been missing and they were combing the pool to look for him! You might think I would be scared to go back in, but even though I was only about five, I distinctly recall thinking how neat it would be if it were me who was lost and all those slow moving legs and careful eyes were making sure I was found. I must add here that when I was small if you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up I set my sights on being a real mermaid. Not like those fake ones on TV!

Wednesday, 7/8/09

I had thought there was so much being said about Michael Jackson's death that I'd keep my thoughts to myself. However, I was lucky enough to be invited to see Stevie Wonder and John Legend at Summerfest last Sunday. John was even more then I expected as a major talent; what a wonderful voice he has and so much depth and style, too. But when Stevie came out, he was quick to thank God for all his blessings but was very upset about how Michael was being treated so negatively by the media. No surprise there, really...they were known to be good friends and fellow child stars, but I don't think anyone was ready for his emotional flood. At one point, he stopped singing his song, put his hands over his face and just lost it. He started to cry. Mind you, the entire audience was on its feet singing every word of the song while Stevie just melted in grief. Then he lay down over his keys, sobbing, until his daughter and a stagehand came out to comfort him as best they could. I've never seen anything like it. Eventually, he gathered his courage up again and asked John Legend to come back and sing one of John's songs. Then he asked John to help him finish writing a song for Michael right that moment. They did several of Michael's songs and even a Chick Corea number which seemed to recharge everyone's strength again. Then, for me the highlight of the night, his daughter, Aisha came and sang a flawless take on "I'm Going to Laugh You Right Out of My Life." (Nat made it famous.) She is her father's daughter in her very own right. Then, you can imagine, he sang "Isn't She Lovely" while she sat right there with him for the song. He went on to do all his hits and no one was sitting, everyone was singing along as everyone knows all the words! He did go on to do more of Michael's hits, but before that he came to the mic with Aisha and said quite boldly, "I'm not ashamed of my heart." And I thought a quick review of all his lyrics over the years and thought, for sure, it's been the key to his brilliance. 25 Grammys, in addition to numerous other awards, say everyone else thinks so, too.

Wednesday, 6/24/09

Sometimes I tend bar for my friends Susan and Gary at the darling "Water St. Pub" in Shullsburg. Gary is just a fantastic cook; his burgers are beyond this world...they are soooo good, with sweet potato fries and the best iced tea! Susan, God bless her, has shared her secret with me and I have shared it with my good friends and now I will share it with you! Very simple and very affordable, it's a "Mr. Coffee Ice Tea Maker." You put in the water, then use bags or loose tea, then fill up the pitcher with ice (all of which is marked on the side of the pitcher), then push the pitcher up and push the button! It makes perfect tea, every time! I have really gone nuts and made all kinds of tea combinations. But my most favorite so far is French Vanilla(Bigelow). No sugar and no caffeine...no calories! Sometimes I make a pitcher each of French Vanilla and Black Cherry Berry (Celestial Seasonings) and mix them together! I also really like the Yogi Detox tea which I can't even sip when it's hot---tastes like medicine to me-- but iced?! It's great!

So far I have not seen these anywhere but Target and it's the best 20 bucks I've spent in a long time, not just because it makes great tea fast and perfect every time but because it's just plain fun to try new flavors all the time.

Monday, 6/15/09

It's all a bit nuts again getting set for the big art weekend (June 19th and 20th) coming up. I have the bulk of my work in the 'Robert Rae Gallery' but for this 'Fine Artsy Weekend,' in an effort to help promote Stoughton's groovy new co-op grocery store, I'm the featured artist there for a month..
The receptions start at 5pm with free food and music happening all over Stoughton's historic downtown, but I'll be at the Yahara River Grocery Co-op on Friday and Robert Rae Gallery on Saturday all day. After the work of setting it up is complete it's a blast, but yipes a mondo, there is so much to do! Hope to see you there!

Wednesday, 6/10/09

Well, I have got to say,my life is surely never dull....this last trip up to Door County for the art opening at "The Paint Box Gallery" started off with a nice early take off but my car broke down on the way there. The battery light came on then in about an hour the whole car just stopped! Then I realized my cell phone battery was also dead! How much fun can you have in a day?? I looked up, and right across the highway, was a friendly looking fellow talking on a cell phone next to "Petersons Pluming" and as it turns out, was Rich Peterson himself. He was such a kind fellow, he opened shop, called to find me a tow and a place to get my car fixed, (not so simple on a Sat. morning). Next, I was brought to Mike Witt's "Lincoln, Ford, Mercury" (I just so happen to drive a Mercury) and they too astounded me with their kindness. Mike not only went and got me an alternator, but had trusty Kent install it right then. John whipped up the paper work and patiently explained how alternators work and I was one happy camper on my way by noon thirty! I learned a little about bass fishing and elk hunting and visited with several other fellows, (in for oil changes) while I sipped a cup of freshly perked coffee. How nice of the universe to arrange all this on my day off rather then on my way to the Magic studio at 5:30 in the morning on Sunday! Next time I go up, I plan on stopping by both places to say hi and thank them again.

Friday, 5/29/09

I am leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow for Door County again. I love driving out of town through all the blinking yellow lights! "The Paint Box Gallery" in Ephraim, is having an opening reception ("11 am till 2 PM"-----come on up if you're not doing anything, everyone is invited!) As I am one of the many artists on display there, it's always a nice time to see all the other artists and catch up on everything. I am leaving Magic Sunday Morning in the very capable hands of Lanette Hansen so I know all is good while I'm having a morning to sleep in a little!

Sunday, 5/24/09

Several years ago, I was bringing some art work up to the Francis Hardy Gallery in Door County. I was looking for a nice B & B to stay at so I called "Inn On Maple" which I found in a B & B brochure. Turns out the owner is named Louise Kathryn and I am Kathryn Louise. Add to that, her husband Bill is a cowboy book reader like myself. I call that Divine Providence! It's in a historic building. The bedrooms (all six of them) are decorated with antiques, quilts and soft colors. The breakfast...yipes a mondo! I was once again, bringing up art this past Saturday and had pancakes, a warm apple tart, fresh strawberries and bananas, cherry-orange juice, lemon poppy seed bread and Door County coffee. The evening before, Bill made a fire in the common room and Louise and I yakked like family while we sipped hot lemon tea. It was soooo relaxing! But the best part was taking a long, hot shower and drying off with the thirsty, white towels. Louise puts some kind of secret fragrance in them. There I am, with one towel wrapped around me and the other completely over my head laughing like a lunatic and thinking how I must look.

Next to each is a journal that people who have stayed in the room make notes in. It's just so home-like and cozy. I always feel like I'm at my aunt and uncle's place. Whether I sit outside on the private deck, in the front porch dining area or in the common room, it all feels like a home away from home.

Monday, 5/18/09

This time of the year is my busiest! First just getting new paintings done, then off to my wonderful framers Donna and Gerry, then to all the charities, galleries and stores. I'm lucky if I don't fall asleep at my painting desk. I have nearly completed painting my friends' condo and I must confess - it looks stunning! I am blessed that my good buddy Kevin Korth was kind enough to lend me yet another ladder, as the 12 foot was fine for the castle kitchen, but the bedroom peak is 12 feet. Today that gets the last of the soft purple and the bathroom gets its second coat of sea mist green. Classy!
The WHA Art & Antiques Auction begins next Tuesday (5/26) and one of my favorite paintings will be for sale. I donate something every year but this time I have been put in the brochure it you want to check it out.

Monday, 4/27/09
Through the Appleton Art Museum, I was invited to participate in "Secura's 29th Annual Fine Art Competition." I have some brand new work I am really, really pleased with so I decided to go for it. Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw it with a green honorable mention ribbon on it! Who'da thunk an award would feel so nice! I paint for a lot of reasons but this was such pleasant surprise. The other winners had some gorgeous work so it was doubly nice to be considered part of that! Now I am making more, only much bigger!

I have been also painting on the inside of one of my dearest friends' new condo (Lori and Greg are the friends). The kitchen is a tall, castle shape and I have been working on a 12 ft ladder. I now know at least 12 yoga positions, which I can assure you are not in any books known to man or woman.

They have left me Matty...she is the Pug guard dog who makes sure those dangerous school buses don't attack us. As the condo is across from a elementary school you can just imagine how much work she has to do. She'll get in a few feisty 'baarf! barrf! baarfs!" Those buses hightail it outta there.

Then there is another Pug, Sofi, and she is a close relative to Eyore from Winnie the Pooh fame. I have never heard her bark, but when I walk in she always looks at me like, "oh man, there is that nut that moves all the furniture around and climbs the walls, I am so outta here..." and she'll go hide in one of the bedrooms. Then there is tiny poodle, Lyla...I keep expecting to find her little label sewn into her side somewhere. She is so small she fits inside one square of the floor tile. She stares up at me every day and seems to say "do you live here now?" I'll pet her and she trots back to the enormous pillow they all share in front of the patio doors. All of them are rescued dogs and it's a fine picture to see them, a big puppy pie, like a little raft of snoring, floating fur, from my lofty perch.

Tuesday, 4/21/09
Sure was nice to wake up to the sound of a wood thrush! My visit home was entertaining and fun. I am now back after a rather wild few days going from Troy/Albany New York, to Mass. (it's only a 45 min ride from Troy) and then up to Quebec City. LOTS of driving but my Aunt Lisa and I were brought up like twins since birth and we always enjoy our time together. It's true, my mom was just 15 when she had me, and my Grandmother was 39 when she had Lisa. So, even though she is my aunt, she is still six months younger then me. They dressed us the same and we were play pals from bed to baths.

She also is a painter so we went to the 'Clark' (an amazing museum) in Mass. and to about 20 galleries in Quebec City. There was even a little snow up there but the cool weather made walking up the hills easier. It was very perturbing being so bad at my French, but for the most part, it was a lot like Sesame Street learning. A red octagon that said 'Arret' was easy to understand as 'Stop' but the writing on all the monuments? Yipes a mondo. And menus? If the people around us weren't so friendly and knew at least some English we would have really been in trouble.

When I got home, Joe sat on my lap for two hours without moving. I guess he missed me, oui?

Thursday, 4/9/09
I often journal while eating my breakfast out. Once my blood is carefully replaced with coffee, I can get the most clear-headed ideas and work through any issues confronting me. One of my most frequent, favorite places is on the lake, in a window seat, known to the waitresses and staff as my 'office.'' It's bliss to have my coffee poured for me, a steamy plate of scrambled eggs cooked just right and the lemon remembered for me in my glass of ice water. Normally the TV sets that are anchored on either side of the dining area are on, but muted. This is one of the reasons I enjoy this place. However, the other day, I was sitting in my 'office,' just relishing the sights of the usual 'clown pants verity' of patrons, when a woman at least a day or two older than God shuffled in and sat right behind me. I casually watched out the window, the backs of two fellows I've never seen in my life, walk to their car. It astounded me that I didn't have to see their face, know their name or what they were about to know they were father and son. Why, not only were their gaits exactly the same, their blue jeans hung off their backsides in the exact same fashion. All of a sudden, the TV was blaring and the canned laughter tracks made me jump a little in my seat. Madame behind me was riveted to some game show! Did she have a remote in her purse??? She was talking very loudly to the waitresses who spoke very loudly to her. She was very, very cute but I was glad I had already finished my eggs before I heard her blow her nose even louder. After she had left, the waitress told me that this same woman didn't stay to see the end of the show. Apparently she raced out of there to watch who the winners were at home! It made me smile to think that one woman's office was another woman's living room.

Wednesday, 3/25/09

I have been on the other side of my brain. That does not mean I am out of my mind, it just means I've been painting! Right brain thinking. Writing is left brain thinking.
I had been so worried about bringing Joe with me to teach the little kids at the art workshops. Usually loud noises and car rides are horrible for him. But the ride in the car was only for five minutes so he just tried to climb out of his tank all the way there. There I was worried that when all those 5, 6 and 7 year olds would be ogling him in his tank he would hide in his shell. I looked over my shoulder and there he was hamming it up! He was pressing his shell bottom up against the glass so they could all look at him! He was a hit. I had gone to several libraries and taken out over a dozen different books for the kids to explore, too. The two-headed turtle was everyone's favorite photo. I was amazed at how much the kids enjoyed making a turtle top! It's a great program called The Kegonsa Family Arts Festival . The kids get to try everything from karate and dance to clay tiles and beads and my class, painting! The moms and dads who came along learned something, too!

Next time I'll have four workshops and fewer children in each one so we can have more time to learn together. I met a lot of new artists that day!

Saturday, 2/21/09

It seems that just about everyone I come in contact with is counting the days until spring. E gads, you can wish your whole life away! It's cold six months out of the year...how silly to choose to be negative about it. I love it like this! I'll admit driving in the snow and ice is not so great and I wouldn't want to have to be outside fixing telephone poles but I am convinced I must be descended from a long line of polar bears or something because I prefer it colder. The air is so much crisper and the lighting is so lovely and snow itself is magical. I mean, come on, you're walking on water! How cool is that?!
Coffee and I go way back, too, and whether I'm snuggled up on my own sofa reading a good book or sitting in a coffee shop with a friend by the fireplace talking stupid for awhile, that is top shelf enjoyment. As for working, I get a pot of chili or some nummy soup going on the stove and then slip on a good book-on-tape and have a story read to me while I am painting or making earrings. Hearth and home are so sweet if you let them be.

Sunday, 2/8/09

Joe is living the life. Right now, as I am typing away on my computer, he has both his feet stretched out the back and his little arms stretched out the front. His eyes are just hidden underneath the fronds of the tiny palm trees on his little island that sits in the middle of the studio floor. Six of these little trees are staggered into different levels of green formed foam...he's right on the top. When I had a yard, at my last apartment in Oregon, I'd float the island in one of those round, kiddie pools. Between the driftwood log and his island, he'd float around catching some rays while I would journal. I miss having a yard!
Last Saturday I had a new student over for a few hours and Joe politely made his way over to her foot and sat on it for a moment, his way of saying hello, before he went off to explore under a pile of drawing papers I leave for him to enjoy.

They have asked me to teach a few short workshop classes in March for the grade school here in Stoughton. It was my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Horowitz, who introduced me to painting. Not only am I really looking forward to it, it's my way of saying thank you to her. My trusty assistant, Maggie, will be helping me. I've decided to call the class 'Turtle Top' giving the 'youngins' a chance to try different mediums and still have a 'dressed turtle' to take home to hang on the fridge.

When Joe and I go on our outings, people don't often see him right away. They just see me walking slowly, looking at the ground a lot and talking and make snap judgments about my sanity. However, once I explain that Joe leaves his Bermuda shorts and sun glasses up in the studio because he likes to keep a low profile, they realize all is well.

Monday, 2/2/09

I really enjoy my Monday mornings, as it is my Sunday morning to sleep in take my time to do what I want for the day! My son, Gregg, is coming over this evening for linguine and clam sauce along with some brussels sprout-parsnip soup. I've got my 'Viking rune' shortbread cookies baking in the oven, too. This Christmas time I made oodles of them for my family and friends. Just in case you are not familiar with runes, there are 24 of them in the alphabet I have learned to read. All the rune symbols can be made with short, straight lines which makes them very easy to press into the shortbread dough.
I have brought some of my artwork and earrings I make to a terrific place called "The Railroad Cafe" in Galena, Ill. Galena has always been a place I've enjoyed visiting and this cafe has great food and great coffee in an antique atmosphere. You guessed it, it's right by the railroad tracks. They also have live music on the weekends and a menu that serves some vegetarian things. If you ever get down that way be sure to stop in and tell Connie hello. If you want to call ahead, (they are closed on Wed.) for directions, the number is (815) 777-0047.

Oh, I nearly forgot. I promised some listeners I would post this phone number if you had any questions about your TV switching over. Clint, from WPT TV, gave a snappy little lecture and demonstration at the Stoughton Library and left this number for people who have questions about the change over. (800) 422-9707.

Sunday, 1/18/09

My newest treat these days are those VERY cool Redbox DVD rental units. We have one in Stoughton right in front of the Walgreens. It's kinda Star Trek to be able to walk up, use the touch screen to go through the movies, pick what you like, zip your card, tell them your email and it slides out your choice for $1.00. Then when you get home it sends you an email telling you what you rented. From your computer, you can check out the movies at all the boxes, get a synopsis of what they are, reserve them if you want, and when you're done, return them at any of the boxes. I have a thing for cowboy movies. Real good ones, like "3:10 to Yuma" which I had already seen was at the box in Stoughton, but when I went to get my new eyeglasses at the Shopko on the west side, la de da, there is a Redbox inside Cub with cowboy movies I had not seen yet. Sweet! When you're finished, you put them back in the same slot they slide out from and your return conformation is in your email box. When I first started using it I ended up teaching whomever was behind me but it's really easy to do on your own and more important, fun!

Sunday, 1/11/09

Looks like I am going to have to break down and BUY another pair of ice skates. I've been going since I was five and naturally I've had several skating costumes. The photos of me in them are borderline hilarious--red fluffy ear muffs and matching red corduroy short skirt. Don't get me wrong - I'm only an average skater. However, I grew up in a city, so we slung our skates over our shoulders and walked to the indoor rink. We went all the time. When I came to WI and had to skate on bumpy ice it was an education in falling the best way you can.

Only a few days left for all those paintings to be in one place (The Robert Rae Gallery of Fine Art), at the same time! It's been a nice show and I'd like to thank all Magic 98 listeners who took the time to visit and also buy paintings and bookmarks. These will still be available but a lesser amount, as Steve Kozar's show will open on Jan. 16th and he'll need the space. A few doors down, at Peeling Ceiling Pottery Studio & Gallery, you will find a lot of my paintings and earrings, too.

Monday, 1/5/09

I am lucky enough to live three doors away from the Cinema Cafe in Stoughton. There are four theaters and all have round tables and upholstered swivel seats so you can eat some excellent pizza while you watch the movie. My son, Gregg and his wife, Schula, and I went to see 'Yes Man' last night. I had at least five belly laughs, two of which I lost my breath it was so funny. I will probably watch it again. Jim Carey has always been accused of over-acting but it doesn't make him any less hysterical. It's a cleaner movie than 'Liar Liar' was (which I really enjoyed, too) but the crudeness is like what all of his humor is based on...what people really hide! I'd give it 4 1/2 stars and recommend it to anyone who'd like to up their happy quota.

Monday, 12/29/08

The holidays seem to bring out the best in people. On Christmas Eve, I was sitting in my living room and heard someone, light of foot, come up the stairs. An envelope was slid under my door and those light footsteps went back down the stairs. I got up and saw it was red with a stamp on back that could be my pet turtle Joe's twin! I opened it and found a gift card from Kwik Trip (which is very appreciated because I go there at least once a day for something) and it was signed 'From Joe.' I STILL have not found out who sent it...it's a mystery! I would like to say thank you but I don't know yet who it is. My name was spelled differently but it's got to be someone who knows me and is resourceful. A stamp of a painted turtle is not only clever and thoughtful, it touched my heart. How sweet is that!

Sunday, 12/21/08

Nothing like sleeping at Magic 98! Really, the hot cocoa machine is really good...I brought my own shortbread cookies and overnight bag and didn't have to do anything but wake up and be at work! I drove here during the day when traffic was zipping at 60 on pavement, but by midnight my car was an igloo with wheels. By 6 am, the wind had blown all two feet of snow off! I guess we are all getting a glimpse of what it is like to live on the South Pole. One of the gals who works at Home Savings (my bank) walked to work in snow shoes. I actually really like the frost patterns with Christmas lights on my studio windows, too. Starting tonight at 10, along with the 98 Hours of Christmas Magic, I'm going to paint! I hope you get to do what you like to do, too.

Wednesday, 12/16/08

The older I get the more I look for the best around me. I learned as a child that how you look at things is really how they will affect you, but as an adult, I keep needing to remind myself. It's just a better life if I do! The holiday lights and people bundled against the weather are always entertaining. I've written before how fascinating it is to see people's breath when they talk; in the latest National Wildlife magazine they have the photo winners and there is actually one of a red winged black bird, three little puffs of breath as he sings. How cool is THAT! But I find this year, playing in the snow is supreme fun. Laughing and sledding with messy hair and snow in your boots with the people you love most is pure joy.

Monday, 12/8/08

Well just let me try to catch my breath! Fifty-seven paintings are now hanging gracefully in the "Robert Rae Gallery of Fine Art" right there on Main St. in Stoughton. It helps a great deal I only live right next door! I have not had such a big show since 2002. Thanks sooo much to those of you who came out in the freezing cold! I am grateful to my friend, Barb, who gave me the ginger cookie recipe. I just HAD to make cream cheese frosting to top them. Something about ginger cookies this time of the year with the hot, caramel cider is so, homey!
Because I am an abstract painter, I'm often asked "How did you come up wtih that?" The show is called "Trundling Through Time" so the theme in these paintings are different aspects of time. Just like a "trundle" bed (one that is always there but hidden underneath the one above it until someone rolls or 'trundles' it out) the art reflects the images hidden right in front of us. For starters, there is a group of 12 paintings, each designed for a month of the year. It was originally put together to be a calendar for the Community Action Coalition. Before it was completed, the segment we were planning to do the fund raiser for folded. So, someday it WILL be a calendar, probably 2010, but now it's the months of the year each in its own frame.

"Rune Moon" pays homage to Odin, the principal divinity in the pantheon of Norse gods. Legend says he hung from the Tree of the World, for nine days, wounded by his own blade, tormented by hunger, thirst and pain, alone and unaided but just before he fell, he spied the runes and seized them. This painting is a creamy, golden moon with 10 'floating' Viking Runes 'trundling' from the past reflecting from then to now the amazing discovery of the alphabet.

The largest painting in the show was inspired by a rather small, very adorable, little girl, Greta. The parking lot behind my building was being completely dug up and resurfaced. Mud, stones in my shoes, parking far away and having to walk with heavy groceries, noise, noise and did I say noise? Well, I was really getting crabby about it until the one day Greta was out there watching. She was just about the height of the yellow working tape that surrounded the entire lot. She was just starting to talk and even though I had seen her since before she could stand on her own, it was the first thing she ever said to me. She turned, her eyes as big as dinner plates and said "TRUCKS!" In that nano moment, I was able to 'trundle' away from my grouchy, negative attitude into the wonder and power of what she was able to see. This inspired some 24 paintings using the vibrant primary colors. Yellow, red and blue dominate all the work of this "Greta" series. All but a few have sold, but the largest one, "Child Hood" is now on display.

"Trundling Through Time" will be up until January 11, 09. I sure hope you can come and see it!

Monday, 11/24/08

I always have to remind myself that Thanksgiving is only an American holiday. I like being an American! We used to get dressed up like Pilgrims and Indians. At the time, I thought it was just hilarious to watch my grandmother gobble up her stuffing with a war bonnet on her head. Not until I was much older did I realize my mom was "keeping us busy" making these costumes so we would not be in the way in the kitchen. At our house, Thanksgiving was the time of year EVERYONE was over to our house. Most everyone else lived in an apartment in the city. We lived in a house on a dead end with a big, old maple tree out front.
We had a fireplace and a sliding pocket door that divided the living and dining rooms. That stayed closed until everything was ready. We would bake pies for days ahead of time. Luckily it was the time of year they could actually set outside on the back porch because it was cold enough to keep them fresh.

After our combined families ate, the dining room was shut off by the pocket door until it was all ready for dessert. Then, ALL our friends would come over! All those pies were brought back in, usually about 25, the candles were lit, another fat 'ole log tossed in the fireplace and the door opened with much ceremony.

Thanksgiving usually lasted until sometime after 1am and often times, it would just be snowing those nice, fat, wet flakes New Jersey is famous for. After the guests went home, we would stay up at least another hour or so for (if you can believe it) MORE pie and fresh apple cider.

The memories are as rich as the pumpkin pie with whipped cream I'll be having on Thursday!

Monday, 11/18/08

Getting ready for my art show opening! Just got back three paintings from my wonderful framer with more to finish and get framed yet. The opening reception is on December 5th right in the new 'Robert Rae Gallery of Fine Art' Main St. Stoughton. I hope to have about 35! The big disk that was juried into the Sundance 608 Theatre when it opened up is hanging now in the window.
Also, there will be noshing and live music! Goes from 5-8pm and everyone is invited. It's also the kick-off for the Victorian Holiday Weekend. That includes the costume ball at Tobacco Junction (Performing Arts Center) and Peter Engler, the famous wood carver, will be in All Through the House up the block from the Robert Rae. The historic downtown always looks great for this weekend so I hope lots of people come!

Saturday, 11/8/08

Once again, Joe, my buddy the turtle these 20 years, surprised me. Joe is a painted turtle. He eats, sleeps and does his duty ALL in water. It's just the way God made the fellow! He never makes a sound except the mild scuffing of his shell softly scraping along the wood floors of my home. If he can, he will climb into the recycle pile of bags and 'crinkle' for awhile but he is rather intelligent as reptiles go and bores quickly at that. Well, I have mentioned before, sometimes he just hides too well and I won't see him until the morning when he will be just waiting for me to get up. He just sits there, right where my feet hit the floor.
Well, I was in that nice, soft place between asleep and awake, ready to roll over for another half hour of a great bear-like-hibernation-type of snooze, when I heard the strangest sound. I thought, why, THAT was a sneeze!! Mind you it's only me and Joe in that room and that little critter has never been sick a day in the 20 years I have been hanging out with him. I literally leapt out of bed, I confess, terrified that he might be catching a cold or something more horrid. A turtle sneeze is truly something not many people have been privileged to hear! It sounded so....so......cute! Well I darted around to where he was, a feat in itself as I really WAS in the sleepy side of myself, but when I found him he had a huge, I mean, T-rex size, dust bunny trailing off his back left foot. Aha! They are the ones that live under my claw foot tub, too low to clean under easily! Only a gnome or a very nimble troll can really clean under there. Since I don't know any of them personally, I have thought about training Joe to get back under there with a nice, soapy rag...

Saturday, 11/1/098

Happy New Year! (On the Celtic calendar it is now the new year).
What a nice morning I had at the Farmer's Market! Spinach picked yesterday, a stalk of brussel sprouts to make my favorite soup, fresh mushrooms, fresh broccoli topped off with smoked trout. Next Saturday is the last one of the outdoor season and the vegetables are nothing short of gorgeous. I go very early, not so much to get first picks, though that is a plus, and not just because the Marigold Kitchen only has duck hash on Sat. mornings, that too is a plus, but I get to see everyone's breath when they talk! Many of the yellow sugar maples are still packed with those magical leaves! Fall is glorious, oui?

Sunday, 10/26/08

The past few days have had me on roller skates getting the flowers ready for a friend's wedding. But boy, it sure paid off! Everything went very smoothly after gathering relatives from Alaska, Arizona and Michigan, the fiasco of the wrong tuxes, then opposite table placements at the club rearranged, pins in the right places on the bridesmaids and keeping frisky children, dressed in light cream, ready and clean before show time (just the average wedding scenario)... everything was fine! With the fall colors outside matching all the fall colored flowers inside, it was a truly magical day for Amy and Adam. I wish them all the best and hope to be there today for the gift opening party.

Sunday, 10/19/08

I don't know a soul that doesn't like the fall. Truly, some of the trees in Cambridge this year are sooo amazingly gorgeous I've stopped in front of them just to bask in what seems like an inner light glowing out of them.

Today, when I get back to Stoughton, I am one of the judges for the kids Halloween Art they have painted all over the store fronts downtown. It's actually really tough because they really are all really fun and full of bright ideas. We are really lucky in Stoughton because the art and the business folk often work hand-in-hand to make our city fun. It's a nice event where kids and parents can do things together and having your name in the paper when you are a kid is such a thrill.

Oh, side note for Liz Terry...she keeps thinking it's the rawhide that gives poor Burt gas, but really it's the pair of old gym socks he ate when no one was looking...

Sunday, 10/12/08

There are some really terrific gems I have saved off of walls...here are some of my favorites:

"Drink coffee...do stupid things faster and with more energy."
"Drink coffee! You can sleep when you're dead!"
"Any young child left unattended will be given an espresso and a small puppy."
"Depression: anger with no enthusiasm."
"Football... keeping Dad from chores since the 1950s!"

Sunday, 10/5/08

I am, as always, amazed at my little buddy Joe. He is now sitting on my foot as I type away. Lately he is fascinated by the little green light that signifies that the modem is on. When the seasons do their thing, I do, too, by putting all the summer sandals away and rooting out all closed-toe shoes. For some good reason, which I cannot recall, I was taken away from completing this task and left a pile of summer shoes beside my bed. Being Joe is an aquatic turtle, it's a good idea for him to get back in the tank at night. He'd much rather sleep under my bed in one of my slippers. So I often walk around my place calling his name at night until he either shows up or I hear him scuffling to get under something before I can catch him. The night before last, he neither showed up nor scuffled away when I called him. However, when I turned the light on in the bedroom I was actually not surprised to find him, looking quite dapper, snugged into my bright turquoise slip-on! It's what I would have chosen and I was so impressed I let him stay up a half an hour longer...

Sunday, 9/26/08

I really like taking a walk around the river by me. There are four, great old trees I like to greet every day. A pine, a chestnut, a locust and a weeping willow. Each has to be at least 85 years old judging by the girth of the trunks being so enormous and the canape of leaves so spectacular. There is a train trussle that one must honk at before one can cross under it. You can not see if there is another car on the opposite side and I've seen many motorists having to back up to let someone else go through first. I heard tell that one day two guys each refused to move thinking they each had the right to be the one to go through first. They actually had to call the cops and let the men in blue pick who would go! My favorite was the day I had to walk through first and stop the cars from coming in. It was late spring and there where no less then three families of geese walking through! They each had about 7 to 11 chicks behind them, taking their sweet time, waddling along like they owned the road. Well, that day they did!

Sunday, 9/14

It's been kind of crazy getting ready for the 5th annual 14 South Artists 'Open Studio Art Tour.' I will (again) have my studio open for this Saturday and Sunday 10-4 each day. I only open it to the public once a year as I live and work out of the same place! Avalon Blvd. Studio is set in historic, downtown Stoughton. I find my studio to be a dreamy place with 10 foot stained glass windows, hardwood floors and the original doorknobs on all 13 doors! Of course it looks like chaos where I actually sit and paint so I do actually make a path for folks to get through. This is a lot of work! However, I get to listen to Magic Sunday Morning, thanks to Lanette Hansen who will fill in the air chair, while I am at home demonstrating. It's always just a blast to be a part of the 43 other artists who open their studios to the public and all be part of the groovy art road trip! If you'd like to know more, hop online to www.14southartists.com and get a map and join the fun!

I have my latest paintings in the new Robert Rae Gallery of Fine Art, 184 W. Main St. Stop by on Friday (the 19th) night 5-8pm for some nibbles and wines and meet a lot of the artists all part of the tour!

Sunday, 8/31

It really has been quite the weekend! Great Thai food, perfect weather and then one of the highlights of my career, meeting David Pack! There are popular musicians and talented artists all over Magic 98, but in my eyes, David's songwriting skills and fantastic voice have spanned so many years and STILL sound fresh! When I saw and heard him perform I had to pinch myself to be sure it was real! In my eyes, he is a real star, like one of those that light the sky at night.

When I spoke with him backstage, I was very surprised at how soft-spoken and humble he was. He is a deeply spiritual man and was quick to point out that he never wanted to take anything good for granted. When I assured him he had a LOT of fans out there I don't think he really believed me until he went on stage. The crowd sang whole verses of his music, high notes and all! His newest disk "The Secret of Moving On" is one I highly recommend. It's a new sound on his classics remade (we play some of these on Magic Sunday Morning) and his new things are amazing, too. As an artist myself who paints abstractly, I was really delighted to know the painting behind him on his CD jacket is an eight foot painting done by Bernie Taupin. It sooo matches David's voice and style I thought David had done it himself.

He will be on Broadway in Sept. and is now making a Christmas CD. I sure hope he'll come back next year for the "Taste of Madison" again. Everyone was crazy about him!

Sunday, 8/24/08

I really wanted to be able to see my nephews before they grow mustaches and spend time with my family, but by golly, I've really become a Midwesterner! It was so wonderful to walk into the quiet, sunlit Dane County airport! It's so clean with nice acoustic guitar music playing, comfy, cushy chairs, good coffee and the amazing lobby display of all the fabulous black and white photos of the sirens and hunks of old films! They really know how to do it in Madison.

Sunday, 8/17/08

There are all kinds of vacations & I suppose some people would like to see Italy or some sandy beach with aqua blue water, having umbrella drinks while you dangle one foot off of a well-used hammock. But I am having a time of it figuring out which was the best highlight of my time away. It's really a toss up. Seeing my father's sister, Suzanne, for the first time in four years felt great! Sleeping in the Superman bed with the day glow stars on the ceiling was extra special. Being called "Aunt Kate, watch this!" 15 times while my nephew, Josh, all of seven with wet spikes of hair standing straight up from the top of his head & his blue goggles flapping like martian wings out the side of his head, as I taught him how to dive. Then there is watching my 78 year old stepmom chase her 'darling' puppy (at 4:30 in the morning), a fluffy fur ball called Bonny, circle the coffee table with my underwear she stole from my suit case and refused to give up. There was my sister, Janny, driving me to Newark airport at 4 in the morning in her pajamas and my brother-in-law, Al, with a skull & cross-bones on his black eye patch, talking pirate, while one nephew hung on his leg and the other around his neck. There was the visit to my cousin's new supper club now in the incubator stage. It's on such a hip block, Lark St., in Albany, NY. It will be called The Theory and my art will hang there. I think now, in hindsight, the visit to the Clark Museum was the best moment. Not just because my Aunt Lisa and I zipped over the Massachusetts to see Degas, Monet, Whistler, Inness and Sargent originals, but because of a Winslow Homer quote written up on the wall not far from a huge photo of him holding an umbrella over his head, his dog at his side, standing on a beach. It read:
"The life I have chosen gives me my full hours of enjoyment for the balance of my life. The sun will not rise, or set, without my notice and thanks." I would have liked to have met him!

Sunday, 8/3/08

How insane can one get trying to get ready to leave the state for awhile? This is not a trick question; I just hope to have some hair left on my head before I have to put up with being an adult in a car seat for a few hours. Can you tell I don't like to fly much? Luckily it is really only a small jaunt over a few states and I will see my sister and two nephews at the airport. Those ocean voyages are really for folks more savvy than I! Thanks to Amy Abbott for handling Magic Sunday Morning while I am gone...I'll miss everyone here! I wanted to bring Joe, my turtle, with me but he'd have to ride in the belly of the jet and I wouldn't do that to my nice sneakers never mind my little buddy these past 18 years!

Sunday, 7/20/08

Well, I find it hard to believe, but I have not gone swimming yet this summer! This is serious. I promised myself I would always go swimming at least once a summer. That's it, I'm going tomorrow even if it rains! I know right where my bathing suit is and I've been keeping my Gray's Diet Cream soda and sun screen in the fridge just for the occasion. I may even get my hair wet...

Sunday, 7/13/08

Even though most people won't admit it, it is a well known fact that if you don't like your hair, you don't like your life. The sooner we embrace this, the better our lives become! I have really thin hair so it's been a challenge ever since my mother put my first "Pebbles Flintstone" ponytail on my head. I was blessed to discover Olive, a terrific hair dresser, because she turned me on to the world of Aveda products. 'Sap Moss' is more valuable to me than gold. It is a heat-activated spray you blowdry into your hair to give it volume. Well, last Sunday morning, I had used a conditioner to help comb out the tangles and the Sap Moss (which is actually taken from the sap of trees in Iceland) and turned my head up-side down to blow it dry. I even had a diffuser put on my dryer so my hair doesn't blow to kingdom come. Both the conditioner and the styling spray are heat activated so when I looked back up in the mirror, &$#*%*!
Now I know Bozo was a huge hit with his hair winging out the sides like that, but he never had to wear a headset to work! After crossing from laughing to crying for several minutes - several times - I ended up using six combs to sort of capture it all back on to my head. Mind you this is all going on before I had my coffee and a few moments before I have to be out the door to get to the Magic studio for Magic Sunday Morning. Proof again there is a God!

Now I do it on purpose and wear nicer earrings!

Sunday, 7/6/08

What great weather for the holiday weekend! We deserve it after putting up with all the crazy stuff. I was at a really nice picnic for the 4th. Lucas turned six, so it was his birthday party as well. That translates to a Noah's Ark cake (complete with cows, tigers, elephants and horse cookies on top) after our taco dip, fruit salad and turkey sandwiches. All the little boys were squealing, trying to hold up drippy shorts and do the new 'Slippy Slide' right. There were all kinds of coaching tips from the grown-ups with their cabooses firmly sunk into lawn chairs enjoying the punch. But only when Kerri, home from college, showed them how to do it did they really start to have fun. Furthering our education, she told us they had huge, plastic banners covered in soapy water for their slides. Man, that is why we send our children to college, to learn the things that matter...

Sunday, 6/22/08

I have recently listened to a re-telling of something that happened to Monty Roberts (the man who listens to horses) when he was in school.
He had written an assignment in which he was to project what his future would be like. He said he wanted to have a 200 acre ranch and a herd of horses to train. The teacher gave him back his paper with a F on it, failed, because he lived very poorly in a trailer home and the teacher felt his expectations were not reasonable. The teacher then gave him a chance to re-write it for a better grade and Monty said "You keep the F, I'll keep my dream." Thing is, that teacher was well meaning but...wow. In the 1980's, Monty Roberts gets a call from the Queen of England's office inviting him to come to her country and 'teach them how to do it.' She was so impressed with him, she said he should write a book. He then wrote "The Man Who Listens to Horses" and changed the face of horse training forever for the world! So nice to get official permission to dream bigger than ever! If you'd like to learn more about him and his continued work, he is at www.montyroberts.com.

Sunday, 6/15/08

I am sure this weather will get nicer any day now and all the fun, summer things are all just on the horizon...jeez, even Joe the turtle was having anxiety attacks. When those warning whistles went off this last time, I took Joe, a book I am reading, my cell phone, a flash light and my keys and headed down the basement. Well, he HATES being put in a box and I didn't think of the laundry basket until after I was below the building, so just carrying him was a handful. Once he had the freedom of the floor, though, he kept making the exact same pattern across the carpet. He did it constantly for the whole hour we were below. By the sixth time I could see it was like a V, with a brief rest of his head on my foot at the bottom of the V, then a Z or maybe an N depending on how you look at it. Do turtles have compulsive behavior disorders? Reptile brain kicking in with an underwater mud pattern they all do when a tornado is approaching? These ideas keep my mind sharp...

Sunday, 6/8/08

I am thinking that I am going to buy one of those mobile air conditioners for my apartment. I am up on the second floor, something I really like but my apartment is sooo hot, I am near microwaved when I leave my place! I mean, my normal, effervescent cheerful self turns into Ms. Crabby-pants! I get so irritated I can't stand me! I am learning that I'm not alone in this and it has to do with the air pressure or some such thing. Well, until I figure it out I'll just have to hide out in chilly coffee shops or my hometown movie theatre. Not only can you eat dinner at a private table while you swivel on your own oversized chair, they have a dining room, too, so you don't even have to see a movie to enjoy a really good home cooked meal. Great handmade pizza, too. Please note if you go to Stoughton Cinema Cafe, it was I who did the wallpapering there!

Sunday, 6/1/08

I've lately been working on a book I nearly finished some 8 1/2 years ago. I was still living in Cambridge and was only two chapters shy of completing it. It had taken me three years. I spent one entire summer on research alone, never mind the countless edits, computer snafus and newer ideas replacing the older ones making for more edits. I was so close to finishing it I thought I was in the home stretch, but then I got deathly ill with the same type of pneumonia that killed Jim Henson (from 'Muppets' fame). It had a very fast growth rate and from what I understand, the few others in the area who also caught it, did not make it. Anyway, being on death's door was the only thing that would have stopped me so close to the end. Well, the universe has its way with us and now in hindsight, I can see it was a good thing. Frankly, after nine more years, I've become a much better writer! Not only do I know what I can edit out with ease now, I have a completely different ending in mind! One I really love compared to the one I had felt before should be the end. I still have my work cut out for me, the manuscript is nearly 500 pages long. I am hoping that Amy Abbott is still willing to be my first copy editor again! The book is called "Silverpond" and even though it is written as 'for children' it has several stories within the bigger story that anyone will enjoy...

Thursday, 5/22/08

This Sunday, Liz Terry is kind enough to take over the helm of Magic Sunday Morning so I can be present (along with some 30 other artists) for the opening reception at "The Paint Box Gallery" up in Door County. On Sunday morning you, too, are sure welcome to come up and join the fun, food and great miniature art on display! It is at 10426 Hwy 42 North Ephraim, WI. The "Paint Box Gallery" is one of the few that is open year 'round and has been for over 40 years. I am honored to be amongst this group of some of the finest painters and artisans in the country! I confess, I will miss doing my show but I will be back next Sunday for sure and I know I am leaving it in good hands!

Sunday, 5/18/08

I am lucky enough to have found a great apartment that is also my art studio. It took me seven years, but it is worth it. Now I have involved myself with helping other artists who might want to live and work their art together, too. The Stoughton Chamber of Commerce is taking a big part in helping to find out if our town is a good place to actually build a moderate income facility to make this kind of studio/living space available. There is a terrific company out of Minnesota, a not-for-profit organization, that does all is needed to see if it is feasible, lucrative and even really wanted. They have successfully gotten 20 of these buildings up and running in the black! They are designed to remain economical and artist community buildings.

Now they have a survey they are asking artists to take a part in to see if we can do it! If you are an artist, know an artist (no matter where they live) or are interested in the arts in any way, please take a few moments to take the short survey online at www.artspacestoughton.org. Please help us find out if we can be a part of this! I took it myself in a few minutes. The information is not sold to anyone else. I plan on being a part of this venture if it can be done!

Sunday, 5/11/08

Reflecting on what Mother's Day is all about, I found myself remembering when I first learned I was with child. I was excited and wanted to tell my good friends but I really could not figure out just who to tell first. As it happened, I was going ice skating with my three best pals, Lauren, Rosemary and Re and my moment just happened like magic. We were all bent over our skates, lacing them up with our heads down. In this way, I was able to tell all three at the same time! Three heads popped up at the same time; they thought I was kidding! By golly, that was 27 years ago and we moved to Wisconsin four months after this episode. I've not seen the three of them together since that day so it's even more of a marker than I ever knew it would be.

Sunday, 5/4/08

Mother's Day is always a really nice holiday for me as I have several Moms and I am a Mom of a really amazing son myself. One Mom lives near the beach - she read poetry and stories to me. Another is terrified of water, loves to gamble and watch old movies. The other is also my mentor and beautifully frames all my artwork and listens to all my woes and the other has gone on but I feel her presence most when I am writing or driving alone in my car. She encouraged honesty and used to fuss so nicely over me! Being the Mom myself now I have learned the real joy is just in the loving of the child! I am so, so lucky!

Sunday, 4/27/08

It is now finally warm enough for me to take Joe to the turtle amusement park. This is actually a natural stream not too far from my place. I have two shoe laces, tied together, that work as his leash. It gets wrapped snugly around his middle, then he sits in my pocket while I drive over. Then we walk a ways down the trail and head to the stream. It's just lovely before the mosquitoes get out! He chases fish, swims away from frogs and sticks his back legs out for a stretch in the sunlight. It's all under a very old willow tree with some great squishy mud to play in. I have had him now 18 years. He never makes a sound (except when his shell scraps along the floor when he's trucking across the hard wood floors) but I know when he sits on my feet as I am painting he loves me very much. I am seriously considering writing stories for a book about him and his adventures. Beatrix Potter was able to buy and leave 4,000 acres of untouched land to the National Trust from the sale of her little "Bunny Books." James Harriot's "All Creatures Great and Small" stories, all of which are true, were best sellers. I am encouraged to take a stab at it!

Sunday, 4/20/08

It always astonishes me when a new song is able to transport my whole mind and body to such a nice place! Music is really such a powerful mood maker. I was driving really early - still dark out - here to the station, kinda sleepy and thinking about what I would play on Magic Sunday Morning. I had Magic on, of course, and I heard Landon Pigg's "Falling In Love In A Coffee Shop" for the first time. My whole energy level was lifted, as if I was floating! His voice is pleasant, but the music is so well produced and those lyrics? They are fine poetry. Don't get me wrong, I love the La, la la la la, la la la la's in Simple Minds "Don't You Forget About Me" (from the "Breakfast Club" soundtrack) or America's La la la la la la's in "A Horse With No Name" and I actually need to take Dramamine if I plan on seeing an IMAX film, but that song rearranges my molecules! I LOVE when that happens!

Sunday, 4/13/08

My pottery friend, Jen Wolfe, turned me on to the 'Marigold Kitchen' for the first time when we were working the Art Fair on the Square a few years back. They have this fantastic duck hash, the best eggs anywhere, fresh fruit and a decent Americano - my drug of choice - and fresh pastries. This past Saturday (which is the only time they serve the duck hash) Jonathan Little and I met there, yakking up a storm like only radio cronies can do. He has a much wiser head than I and I go to him for sound (no pun intended) advice, but our notion of what is really ridiculous is exactly the same. He can say, with the most somber of expressions, something so funny food comes out of your nose. It is my friends who are kind and see things with that appreciation of the absurd that make life worth living. Another day, another friend and I were standing in his kitchen, sharing a pizza to celebrate my selling a painting. Not a coincidence that we were listening to two radio hosts joking about just how holy Mother Teresa was. We were doubled over and out of breath we laughed so much. Pinnacle points marking the value of my life; laughing is good medicine...

Monday, 4/7/08

I just finished reading this really interesting book that told of this great "teaching." I thought it so profound I'd share it with you:

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. "My son," he said, "the battle is between two wolves inside of us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.

"The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, empathy, benevolence, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Hmmmm...

Sunday, 3/30/08

I used to kind of shy away from my birthday coming up; thinking how 'old' I was getting was depressing. However, my conscious thought process has always been set to 'put some latitude in your attitude' (Joe Sample's "U Turn"). Many of the highest moments happened on my birthday which I had no control over at all. Twenty years ago, my son made me his first serious birthday card, letting me have a sneak peek into his future as a terrific artist. Seven years ago, I fell so hard in love I never got up! Three years ago I had one of my life's dreams come true, waking up in Scotland. I looked out the window and there was a great blue heron perched on the neighboring roof...they are common there. Every year I always have some wonderful nighttime dreams, too. No matter what has gone before, I am always grateful to have been born and having a chance to sample this world. I think, too, if I had to pick my own day to be born I would choose the same day. When I tell people it's April 1st, they always laugh and say, no surprise there!

Friday, 3/28/08

I never knew that spring fever was a real sickness until I found myself just itching to dust and clean my apartment. This is very serious because I enjoy cleaning as much as a root canal. No, I prefer the dental work. You've heard of dust bunnies...I have dust dinosaurs! I simply could not put my boots on one more time so I went for my walk in that snow yesterday in my sneakers! Whoever came up with that ridiculous figure of 100 inches of snow is out of their mind because there were at least that many just in my driveway alone. Before I knew what I was about, I had cleaned out the whole fridge! This is serious because even as I write this I am typing faster and faster so I can go home and get that old chair over to St. Vinny's and get a load of laundry done...

Sunday, 3/16/08

As a writer of children's stories and an avid believer that knowing a language of a culture gives you direct insight into that culture in a way nothing else can, I chose Japanese to be my language to study in college. Very fascinating, very difficult. Eight credit class even! I was so wanting to learn it I thought I could do it. True, I was a single mom while I was at the UW, but I just could not keep up no matter how much I studied and practiced. I was doing so poorly I dropped the class. Not to be undermined, I went on to Edgewood College, hoping the much smaller classes would help. Again, I gave it all my energy. My teacher was as patient as God, extra help, extra books, there was always a constant willingness to help me along. But there it was, just a few weeks into the semester, I was handed my paper with the big red F and I was just crushed. It takes a great deal for me cry. It's just about impossible to cry in public, but there I was in the cafeteria, tears streaming down my face. I was so wretched! In my own mind, I felt as if I was letting down half the children of the world because I would never know them. I am sure there is a God because without even asking it so happened my counselor stood by the table, looked at me and I showed him the F. He plopped his sack lunch down and sat quiet for a minute. Then he said something so wonderful it changed my life. He took a bite of his sandwich and said, "Kathryn, I can't give birth to a child, but I am not going to beat myself up over it." How amazing it was to just embrace my biological limitations. Thank you Peter Fabian for your passwords into a door I was stuck behind.

Yesterday I was journaling at the Cambridge Bakery. I have a stuffed toy bluebird I've been carrying around that sings a few very sweet notes. It's actually a bluebird recording tucked inside of it. To me, I am carrying around a "bluebird of happiness." Just as I was writing, a pair of very dark eyes smiled up at me. She is 10. She is Abby. She asked me what kind of bird was that? She pushed the button and we smiled together as it sang it twice. An eastern bluebird. She followed me over to the bin where I dumped my plate in. "What animal would you be?" she quizzed. "A gryphon," I said. Her eyes lit up. "I would be a dragon!" and she led me back to her pile of books. She handed me the one she was reading now..."Firestar" I think it was. She went on to tell me about it and showed me the others that went with it. Then she said, "I was born in China." Well, somehow the whole world seemed to right itself. They say truth is stranger then fiction and, well, yeah!

Sunday, 3/9/08

My pet turtle, Joe, is such a special little friend to me! He has been with me for 18 years and he's just a feisty as ever. One of the only real troubles I've had being his caretaker is that he absolutely hated to travel in the car. Considering how very often I have moved - I've now lived longer in my present apartment/ studio longer now than anywhere else in my entire life - I used to just dread moving. I tried everything. Small dark box, he'd freak out. His tank with water, more freaking out. Tank without water, forget it. I even tried holding him, no go. I used to just grit my teeth, pack every single thing and take he and the plants last. He would just scramble and be terrified the whole time. Last summer, I was watching my friend Kathy's house while she and her husband Gary were off to visit their kids. Kathy owns "Main Street Flowers and Gifts" where I work part-time designing. You can imagine a florist would have lovely flowers in her gardens to be watered. I figured that Joe would freak out with the car ride there, but Kathy has a pretend stream in her yard that ends in a sweet little pond that I knew Joe would really like. As it turned out, I just got finished doing my laundry and just to be funny, I stuck Joe in the laundry basket thinking it could be like a play pen for him while I watered the landscape. What do you know, he LOVED it. There he sat in the basket on the front seat of the car and just watched everything through the little "squares of air." I just laughed and shook my head in disbelief. I have no intentions of moving anywhere but I think I may be able to take him with me up to Door County now...

Sunday, 2/24/08

I went to see "Enchantment" and it really was quite the film! It started out sooo hokey I was tempted to leave the theater. There were a million kids there so I decided to stay. It was just hilarious. Once the cartoons change over into real life and featured New York as the place where 'dreams never come true,' I was hooked. Everything that happened was totally a surprise which makes for quite wonderful entertainment. When she started singing and the real rats & birds and cockroaches started cleaning up the apartment there was no turning back. It is a movie to go to with the kids for sure, but I think the grown-up parts were really the show stealers. Take the time to see it if you need a good laugh and like great writing. I think it may be one of the DVDs I'll have to buy!

Saturday, 2/16/08

Here at the Magic 98 radio ranch we have quite a spiffy lobby. A huge, split-screen TV showing four DJs in their respective booths and a fancy pants juke box playing the radio station of choice for the day. There is also a very cool piano key rug in the center of a very cozy grouping of chairs and a black leather couch. Tonight, it's even more groovy because I made the choice of driving here at about 60mph, on dry and snowless blacktop with at least 50 other cars instead of crawling at 20 on icy, snow blowy roads passing the three or four other cars slid in the ditches. I brought my fave quilt and Door County double fudge hot chocolate for a nightcap. I'll turn the TVs off, the juke box to mute and go to sleep knowing I'll be here when you need the company to start your morning right! It's also nice to know the coffee machine makes a perfect cup of creme brulee and this time I remembered to bring breakfast and my tooth brush. Life is good...

Sunday, 2/10/08

With Valentine's day just around the corner I will be nearly chained to the floor of the flower shop I design at. Main Street Flowers, downtown Stoughton, right across from Catfish River Arts and Antiques, is a small but man-oh-man busy place! I am not quite sure how cherubs and Cupid got confused with each other. Cherubs are those chubby baby angels and Cupid was the Roman god of love. Or how such a sad tale of the Martyr Valentine turned into such a wacky doodle holiday of underwear with hearts and eating chocolate and giving diamonds away. However, the flower business is just insane. Even for Mother's Day you have a lot of flowers but people often come and get them. On V-Day everything has to be delivered to be a proper Valentine. Yikes, I won't surface again til the 15th but I will have a bouquet of white flowers for myself! It's my favorite. It reminds me of a Plato quote I really love: "Light is the shadow of God." All white flowers mean the design of the arrangement has to be really something! Line and form and the green of the leaves get all the attention. And the fragrance???? Delicious!

Sunday, 1/27/08

Boy oh boy, you think a little cold weather and some snow was the end of the world as we know it by how some people whine! Don't people realize it's the fact that the ground freezes so hard that we have no earthquakes? What about fireplaces and hot cocoa with whipped cream? Did you ever see such amusing hats when it's hot out? Let's not forget those fun fadangusus you get to kick off the wheel wells of your car! The sound of the soft crunch under your boots when the snow is a few inches deep is totally pre-kindergarten fun! Snow is the four letter word that brings every cranky adult a chance to play again just walking out the door. It's a blast to walk down the street and see the warm breath that envelopes around your friends when they stop to chat. Come on, kids in snowsuits looking like oompa loompas who can't get up if they fell down? Frosty crystal patterns on the windows Monet would treasure, steamy windows that hide even what you know is behind the store you go in every day, eye glasses that fog-you-blind as you walk into Kwik Trip? Yipes, all this stuff is free! Did you forget how every insect in the world is on a vacation? When I see the tracks geese leave I know where the expression 'silly goose' comes from. You gotta love watching the dogs trying to do their business on just one leg...

Sunday, 1/20/08

I was sitting in one of my favorite places - the leather couch by the fireplace at Barriques Coffee Trader - when a little fellow was carefully placed by his mom on the couch right beside where I was. He had on a little black hat and a warm coat. He was so small I could see the flat bottom of his shoes a good eight inches from the edge of the seat. He had a 'cowboy cookie', which by any standards was big, but for him it was like the steering wheel of a car. He very carefully ate around the edge until his mother came back. She was a lovely gal, but she looked a little wiped out. I thought, the little guy can't be more than four, so of course she's tired. But as we started to chat a little it turned out she was one of the people in that horrible 100 car pileup in the fog on 90 not long ago.

My friends and I just couldn't figure out why anyone would be driving so fast in fog so I asked if she didn't mind talking about it. In hindsight, I think she needed to talk about it. Anyway, she said some of the people were really driving too fast, but it was the fact that it was perfectly sunny one minute and the fog came on like a wall. You simply could not see past it. That would explain why there were so many cars, I thought. She said the airbag was something she was really not ready for. It hurt to hit it, but she had to admit it saved her life.

By now, that cookie had vanished, Will was naked from the waist up and thinking the fireplace glass would be fun to touch. Her name was Nicole and she patiently explained to him that this fireplace was different from the one at home. Will then slid off the couch and climbed over the top and tumbled into her lap. She said she didn't mind at all if I talked about her in my blog.

"What about your car?" I asked.
Her eyebrows went up.
"I have to get a new one..."
"Darn!" I said.
It's amazing how much a smile transforms people.

Sunday, 1/7/08

One of the things I like to do is bake. I have a few recipes I have finely tuned over the years to the point where they really have become my own creations. One such recipe is what has been now renamed 'Vanilla Vaughny Shortbread'. It is very simple really, with flour, light brown sugar, butter and of course vanilla. The extra ingredient is a choice of either walnuts or pecans chopped up. Also, most recipes say to chill it first. I never do. I just hand press right out of the bowl. Anyway, I was at the new Super Target store in Verona, searching out its merits if you will, and no bulk nuts. Nuts. I went to the bakery section and a really nice gal, Marcia, wearing her official white bakers cap explained they did not carry bulk nuts. This lead of course, to us swapping shortbread recipes. She went on to tell me she was looking online to find a cool kinda cat face to make on a cake and happened upon a recipe for 'kitty litter cake.' ???? Yes, she laughed telling me, you actually get a kitty litter box and make it in that and of course, use chocolate frosting for...ug! But really, after I thought about it, the 'gummy worms in dirt' desert, which little kids just love, was good, why not? I'm still looking for the recipe...

Sunday, 12/30/07

Yipes, the last days of 2007 are slipping under me like some cosmic banana peel! I never saw it leaving until yesterday. Honestly, this year lasted about three months and most of that was in just over the Christmas holiday! Here I am, on my 'keesta' trying to figure out where it all went. I have a great photo download of my son Gregg and his wife, Rebecca, flying along a zip line through the trees of Costa Rica. They went there for their honeymoon and their radiant smiles are something I continually treasure. It's so wonderful to see your children really happy. I also wonder who in the heck took the picture, a monkey up there?

My neighbor next door, Rich Lazzaro, left me a surprise gift of a sack full of 'baby' jade buds wishing me a happy new year. I'm on the search now for a really cool planter to put them in! All the cards and well wishes from my family, spread around the country, come one day at a time, making it more like Christmas week rather then day. Just seeing the postmarks make me smile. My neighborhood is all of downtown Stoughton, so it's holiday trees and cheer all over the place. The ice spikes frozen along the alley are terrifyingly beautiful. One of those puppies could easily puncture three men and a boy! But the best is the tree the city itself put up. For the first week up it was tilted way to the left, the next week, way to right, the next week, forward. Last week it was laying down! Lights on and everything! Who could top such entertainment? Right now it's perfectly straight up, so my guess is there is someone buried under the snow holding it...

Sunday, 12/23/07

It's the time of year when everyone really wants to get everything done and right on time. Count me in with everybody and what...my cell phone goes goofy on me! I tried every little trick; there are plenty of minutes to use but all I got was the three ascending tones from, I think, maybe Pluto? Me, drive in this wacky weather without my cell? Not gonna happen! So I called the 800 number for Einstein service and there is no doubt in my mind, I did get hold of a celestial being going by the name of Scott. If he wasn't a cherubim he was at least a very high ranking elf. Not only did he know what kind of phone I had (which I bought three years ago) by my scanty description of it, he taught me how to take it apart, clear the static out and put it back together. I tried a call and he listened to those annoying three tones and knew in a nanosecond it was not static, but had somehow switched over to the second line (I had two lines?) and all I needed to do was switch it back, which he instructed me how to do as well. He then sent over some other goodies so I can use my phone for my email if I so choose. Thing is, I know he was busy but he never made me feel rushed or let on he thought I was a moron. This is surely heavenly behavior and I believe deserving of some special tribute. It is true that I have been naming my cars for years, but now, I am naming my phone. I may have to field a few Star Trek jokes, but it's got to be Scotty!

Sunday, 12/16/07

Boy, oh, boy! We are some kind of lucky radio station to have such nice listeners. I was taking the phone pledges for a good part of the Holiday Wish program and how generous and wonderful people are is just astounding. Really, it was absolutely moving to be part of such a display of kindness. That old-fashioned term 'brotherhood' keeps coming to mind, like 'he's not heavy, he's my brother.' Does not matter HOW many times I hear the stories, they all make me cry. However, seven of us from the Magic Crew went to Cheeseburger In Paradise later in the evening. If you were there, you would know what table we were at...what a bunch of yahoos. We just laughed as hard as we had all cried. Amy Abbott even gave me her mini sunglasses that were perched on the honking large strawberry sailing on her fishbowl-sized drink! Liz Terry had a strawberry daquiri I almost stole from her but luckily the waitress got me my virgin pina colada before I made a thief of myself. I finally got to meet Amy's boyfriend and I think he secretly is a radio guy in another town...he fit in so well with the rest of us screwballs. I also learned that Lanette's car has one of those seats that heats up! She very politely assured me I had not wet my pants; it was a modern perk of her spiffy car. Pat O'Neill and Jim MaGaw each had one of those fishbowl drinks with the pineapple boats floating in them but somehow I just cannot get myself to taste something the color of fabric softener. There was not a crumb or a drop of anything left at our table when we were through. I was still laughing this morning when I woke up just remembering how much fun we had!

Sunday, 12/9/07

I used to think that everyone named their car. How boring a car is with no name? It's like having a pet with no name! Unthinkable. Every car has its good and bad attributes, like the silver Tracer I had that would start, even at 25 below first time every time, but would konk out if it had to sit in hot weather for more than five minutes at a red light. That was Alvin...he was not classy by any stretch of the imagination, but he had a kick-butt stereo system! There was Greg, my very first car, a very well-seasoned, cream colored Volkswagen bug I used to have to start by sticking my fingers to move the fly wheel. No heat, had a moon roof and was so much fun someone actually stole it. My first new car was Bruce. White Grand Am with blue interior. Split seat in the back so I could carry my compound bow or my son's cello without it falling off the seat. Now I have a silver Tracer wagon, perfect for hauling artwork around but still decent on gas. He is Jed. Short for Jedediah Clampet, borrowed from one of my favorite TV characters. He was always so kind, good-natured and FUNNY! Jed, the car, is a little worn around the edges, but he is always so reliable despite his quirks. Like the interior lights never work and you must become a pretzel to find the blankety-blank seat belt. But the heat is fast, the AC is even faster and it is so easy to park! The gal who owned it before me had great dogs and I think all their friendly vibes are still left in the car.

Sunday, 12/2/07

The roads were such a mess early on when Amy Abbott and I got back from our remote at the Mounds Pet Store, I decided to spend the night here in the Magic 98 lobby. I always have extra blankets in my car...I use them to transfer my paintings with...and the sofa here is a nice, soft leather. The coffee machine has premium roasted beans; vanilla creme brulee is my favorite. There are enough things packed into our staff fridge to feed a small army, including a turtle ice cream pie from Michael's Frozen Custard. I usually get up at 4:30 so I can actually be awake enough to do Magic Sunday Morning, but now I get to 'sleep in' a little because I am already here (ha ha) and can just roll off the couch and run up to the Magic 98 studio! By golly, there is even orange juice in the vending machine for breakfast. Now, if I can just get them to put in one of those portable fireplaces...

Sunday, 11/25/07

One of the nicest things that can happen to me as a longtime music director is to have a fantastic CD come my way. To have a holiday CD is even more wonderful. This year 'The Cambridge Road Ensemble' has a new disc out that is just marvelous. No singing (seems there is always enough of that), just pure gorgeous melodies with Irish whistles, piano and brass and even one with a church organ. My favorites are 'Let all Mortal Flesh Keep Silent' (#9) and 'Good King Wenceslas' (#10). I've had the disc on repeat in my player for a few days now and I like it more and more. If you want one, www.cambridgeroadensemble.com is their site. The Heinecke family has once again put together some really excellent music. So lucky for us to have such terrific local talent!

Sunday, 11/18/07

I am really, really lucky to live in such a nice town with such great friends. My neighbors all know about my pet Joe. I think it's the only turtle people actually know personally. Well, the other day I was making my favorite cookies. I love to bake once it starts to get cold outside. I needed a few things from the grocery store, so I put up my pre-made note to "watch out for Joe" on the door and zipped over to Pick-N-Save. When I got back, there was the mixing bowl of softening butter and light-brown sugar with a note propped up against it.
It read, 'Kathryn, John from "Midnight Moon" had these left over from fishing and thought Joe might enjoy them. They are in the fridge. Hope you are not too appalled by them...S.B." S.B. is Sharon Blum, a fellow artist (she does pottery in Peeling Ceiling which is right next door to my place). John and Lynn have the huge bead store right across the street from me. There in the fridge, right next to the SKY HIGH apple cider, were three tubs of night crawlers! Appalled? By golly, I was thrilled! Of course I can't watch Joe eat these, but this is steak for him! It's just soooo nice being so connected. It just so happened that I ran into John later while I had the tin full of my best shortbread cookies...

Sunday, 11/11/07

It's amazing to me how the seasons do what they do and then we do what we do. Maybe it's because I grew up in a mostly concrete city and things that grew out of soil and animals that are big and alive were fiction.

Those huge sugar maple trees that turn that bright yellow, as if lit from inside themselves, make my heart pound faster. They are only that way for such a small amount of time and to be lucky enough to catch them in their glory is a thrill. Walking through stacks of different colors of fragrant apples, jams and pies opens synapses in my brain! Even the way trees look as if they are now upside down, as if now they are root up and under the ground the green leaves are resting, makes something young skip into my being. I really like seeing the drift fences go up. The freshly plowed fields all look like chocolate cake and the fences make sure everything stays tucked in.

I drove over to Baraboo on Wednesday early in the day and got to see an absolutely magical frosty coating on every tree, bush and clump of grass. The rolls of hay looked like giant shredded wheat with sugar on top. Black crows flying against the fall rust and tan foliage...what a life!

Monday, 11/5/07

I know I am not alone in being nutty about dragonflies. Most people don't realize that there are about 500 different types or that they go back to the dinosaur days and used to be huge as well. I find them particularly wonderful because for the first two years of i's life, it lives as a nymph under the mud underwater. It changes up to 15 times, just eating and growing until it knows to climb up on a reed for the sun and light. Then its head cracks open - I have actually witnessed this on the Mississippi River - and the dragonfly emerges. It only lives two to five weeks after that. But what a life! Flying 65 mph, 30,000 eye facets all at once, flying forward and backwards and catching its food in the air! Makes me see the best is yet to come for me...

Sunday, 10/28/07

Other than the "no drinkable coffee" hazard, the road trip was a lark! Jen's magnificent dress was all wrapped up and carefully placed on top of everything so it wouldn't get crushed. Well, the best laid plans...short of having the train flapping out the back of the van, it had to be folded somewhat. We figured when we got to the cabins we'd hang the dress from the rafters. Surely being suspended a few feet off the floor for a few days the folds will smooth out, right? Nope. Not a problem, Jen's mom has a portable steamer! Well, my seventh grade science failed me...I forgot in Colorado's altitude the water boils at a different temperature. The steamer refuses to steam! Of course, everyone knows it is bad luck to see the gown before the wedding, so on to "Plan B": evacuate the dinning hall so we could use a huge, round table to iron the dress.

Recall now this is Halloween night! There we were, four women, three of us very carefully carrying the dress in the light of a nearly full moon across the camp grounds while the forth held the door open. It was all I could do to not laugh but it had been drizzling all day and one slip in the mud...I shudder to think.

It all turned out spectacularly in the end, mostly because on the wedding day, Jen stood in her silk slip and cowboy boots as the dress was gently let down from the rafters right over her head!

Sunday, 10/21/07

November 1st is the wedding anniversary of some of my best friends. It was a grand affair as they had met each other at camp, in Colorado, when they were 16. All kinds of life went on in between those years but in their 30s they decided to finally tie the knot. It involved a road trip accross the country so the wedding could take place at the very cabins they first found each other. Three vans loaded with food, gifts and all kinds of wedding finery (including the magnificent dress) headed out west, using walkie-talkies to navigate between her Mom and Dad in van one, her sister and brother-in-law in van two and Jennifer and I in van three. It is no secret that I am a coffee-aholic. There are places accross the country that have machines that read COFFEE on them...no doubt in 1988 they put some beans in...but it was not until we got to Colorado that we found a place up to Wisconsin standards. The 'Congo Bongo' was no mere coffee shop...it was like a tollgate to heaven! I wanted to kiss the ground but settled for buying a thermal travel mug which I still use every day. The camp was magnificent and as the rehearsal dinner was on Halloween, everyone was given a pair of those funny glasses that make your eyes look like they are opening and closing. It was a really hilarious dinner with great food, as Ken (the groom) is a gourmet chef and prepared the best barbecue and corn bread anyone ever ate.

Sunday, 10/14/07

People often comment about how they could never do what I do because they would just be too shy. I was shy, once. I'll never forget it. I was three, sitting on the front stoop of the apartment building we lived in. I didn't know how to read yet, but I was carefully studying an "Archie & Jughead" comic book. There was boy who lived up on the third floor who I thought was the cat's pajamas. He was really old, maybe 14, but he was so cute and nice...I was wild about him. I had just gotten my brand new sneakers with yellow, orange, red and white stipes. I knew they were very cool and I guess being physically so much closer to them at my child height, I couldn't stop checking them out.

Well, this fellow came down and stopped to talk to me. He was really nice. Not condescending or patronizing; he was just trying to have a conversation with me. Well, I just scrunched down a little lower behind my comic book. He was still nice, making a comment about how neat it was I could read. I scrunched lower still. He complimented my good taste in choosing sneakers and I almost spoke then. But instead, scrunched even lower behind my comic. He realized I was just not able to speak and said some kind of nice goodbye and left me sitting there. It was an epiphany for me. I can even recall hearing myself say, "THAT sure didn't work!" Shy kept me from getting what I really wanted and I was not going to do that again.

Sunday, 10/7/07

Some things just need to be done first. Before it gets too cold out, I make sure that I get to the lake as often as I can. I like to share the path of the Great Blue Heron. It is just this one, gorgeous creature that hangs out in the same area all the time. Once, I was actually close enough to see we are the same height! It had a fish in its mouth that it swallowed in two gulps. For a girl who grew up in a city, with the one tree we saw down the block, this is National Geographic material. Even when he is not there, his big footprints are still sunk in the soft silt at the water's edge. That's the fun part...I hike up my pant legs and walk one foot over the other right on his prints. I go slow, so the schools of little minnows can come with me, too. They all turn and shimmer at the same time and and swim with me until a few of the bigger blue gills show up. They flit off but come right back after the coast is clear again. There is something totally magical about sitting with sandy feet drying in the breeze watching those same minnows leap up out of the water, catch a flicker of light and dive back into the green.

Sunday, 9/30/07

What would you think if someone invited you to a chili dump? I was asked over the phone so he didn't see my face when the first impressions showed up. However, I said "sure" just so I could find out! Turns out it was a really nice party out on the 11 acre Hart Farm in Edgerton. BIG fire pit with whole tree logs burning some blue-hot colors. One only has to bring some warmer clothing to ward off the fall chill and a pot of your own chili to 'dump' into the huge one in the farm kitchen! It was to-die-for delicious. Crusty bread, all kinds of nice dips and veggies. Though I don't drink at all, all my friends where smacking their lips on a number of New Glarus beers and every kind of wine ever made. We all sat around the wraparound porch with bowls of chili resting on our knees. Amos the basset hound watched...wishing he was human I'm sure, the way he drooled all over. Looking at that dog I couldn't help but think of Jed Clampet & wondered out loud what all was in the chili pot? I mentioned something about Granny's vittles and road kill and well, it was all downhill after that. We laughed until we cried over those old TV episodes. Someone has yet to take the credit for calling it a 'chili dump'. If they don't soon, I will!

Tuesday, 9/25/07

This past weekend I was not only the florist who did the flowers for the wedding but was a guest AT the wedding. So in real life, that means Kathy (my flower boss) and I had to get the wedding flowers to the church first, set that all up and then zip over to the reception and set all the tables up. This in itself was no small feat. The Concorse is a fabulous place to have a party - the food was the best I've had at a wedding reception - but there was a game in town so you know what that means for parking...NONE! Anyway, after taking care of that, back I go to the wedding to change in the bathroom into my formals. Yikes. It reminded me of Superman changing in a phone booth, only he didn't have to get into panty hose...oh, wait a minute, he DID have to put on panty hose! No wonder they call him Superman...

Sunday, 9/23/07

Sure was nice to be in my studio last weekend for the 14 South Studio Art Tour and visit with so many nice people who came to visit! It is also nice to be able to actually hear Magic Sunday Morning myself...of course I had it on all day. Thanks to Liz Terry for getting up early and doing such a fine job, too!

We had such a nice staff dinner last week, but we all agreed it was just not the same without Bob and Jimmy. We'll all feel the loss of Jim's mom...he spoke of her often, he gives her all the credit for any talents he has and that is quite a lot. We are also really glad Bob has bounced back so quickly after being so close to the edge! We are all anxious for our two funny men to be back with us soon! It's just not the same without them!

Sunday, 9/9/07

They say that people are really like their pets and I don't know exactly who 'they' are but they might have something there. Some years ago my great friend Lori and I were out and about looking for just the right thing for our children for Christmas. We were at the 'Ben Franklin' in Oregon, in the back by the birds and fish and such. There we were, two grownups not quite noticing there was a very small person with her nose pressed up to the glass below where we stood. "What can we get for the boys for Christmas?" I asked. This little voice from below pipes up, "Why don't you get 'em a hamster!?" Now you may not believe this, but even though we were back by the critters, neither Lori nor I had any intentions of looking for a small rodent to give to anyone. But, well, there was just something about the way it was suggested that gave us room to consider it. I'm sure that little person is on her way to a fantastic career in sales somewhere.

Lori and I looked at each other, the way only friends of like minds can, and each picked out a little fur ball to take home. Well, I'd never had such a pet so this was big. We got the cages, wheel, water bottle & stuff that hamsters eat. They put the little creature in a small box, with lots of little breathing holes and a handle, and I took her home. I hid her on the top shelf of my clothes closet while I went to work and then would have time to put the cage together. Well, I get home and look in the closet and there is the box with a huge hole eaten out of it and NO hamster. I confess, blind panic struck. I had a flash nightmare story about cornered rats attaching people run though my mind. The idea that I was giving one to my seven-year-old the next day was just mortifying. As it turns out, the poor thing must have been scared to death to eat its way out of the box only to find itself in scary closet land. I looked down at my feet and it sat there, trembling, looking up at me with pleading little eyes. It was mostly tan with what looked like a little white vest over its shoulders. Well, I just picked her up and made her cozy thinking she was just a going to be a sweet little thing. Gregg named her Hammy and insisted we get her a rolly ball. In case you're new to hamsterdum, a rolly ball has a little cap that comes off, you put the hamster in it and it can run around the house in the ball. Well, Hammy loved that thing. She'd get in, run pell mell into the wall, the cap would fall off and she'd be high tailing off to only God knows where. Gregg also saved up enough paper towel and toilet paper rolls to link up a pipe system that went though our entire apartment. It started in the hall and ended up on the couch. Hammy would trundle through that thing in lightning speed, and run out on to couch, hide in the couch cushion until Gregg would find her and let her go again. Sweet little thing my aunt Fanny...once I had company and Hammy was in her cage on the coffee table. Running her wheel, cute. Then hanging by one arm and swinging like a little monkey. Cuter yet. Then she started flinging her little poops at us! Her cage was kept clean, I swear it, but she found some to hurl out at us. Side arm, right-handed, tossing them like snow balls. We just howled over that. Oh yeah, did I say pets are like their owners? That was GREGG'S pet!

Sunday, 9/2/07

This summer has really been the season of parties for me! Last Sunday, Pat and Bud Erickson celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. It was held at Eugsters (on 138 in Oregon). When I first moved from New Jersey to Wisconsin in 1980, I was as yet an unpublished writer. Naturally, I spent a lot of time at the library (still do) and Pat was the director. She took me under her wing, read my work, encouraged me and never once did she doubt I would succeed. In her life, she is just that way. She would help every and all and just consider it her place in life to do so. But now poetry, articles, a column for four years and an entire career in radio still flourishing for me later, I sat by her side while the endless line of well wishers hugged and congratulated her for such an achievement. Fifty years of doing anything deserves big rewards. When the line stopped for the three minutes she had to nibble on her potato salad she had been trying to eat for over an hour and a half, I thanked her for believing in me. It was a teary moment for me; people having faith in you like that is absolutely priceless. She said with her gentle smile she was happy for me. I looked at her perfect white hair and classy outfit and thought, I wanna be just like her when I grow up.

I am now working on finishing a book I started over eight years ago. It took me three years to get the 450 page monster on paper but it still needed a lot of work. The life threatening pneumonia with complications I had back then stopped me from doing anything for awhile. When I told her I was at it again, she said she wanted to read it as soon as it was possible. She made me laugh then and there is no doubt that I'll be handing the manuscript right over! Another well wisher came by, taking Pat's hands into her own, and said, "Too bad you don't have any friends to help you celebrate your day..." I laughed out loud and Pat just blushed and giggled a little. The whole barn had been filled to capacity!

Sunday, 8/26/07

Well, back to going away...I had everything ready so I could be away for a few days up to Door County and I had let Joe have free roaming rights. I often do that while I clean his tank out so he'll be in fresh water while I am away. Well, it was coming up to 3am and I could not find him. I usually leave about 6:30am so you can imagine how anxious I was to find him. There I saw myself, crawling around on the floor checking all his usual haunts, calling "Joey come on out now" in my sing-song voice that he always responds to. No joy. Finally, after about an hour, I just happened to turn my head and saw that he was behind me, quickly slipping into the last place I just looked! He had been following me all that time!

Now my search is for a companion for him. My favorite man had given me two tiny baby turtles he had found...they were beyond the cutest, most precious things I ever had, but they were snappers. I did some research and found out they were known escape artists, eating filter systems (including the rocks!), growing very large and able to snap your finger off. But the real clincher was that the zoo will not even take them. I wonder if that is why turtle soup was invented? Anyway, I had to hold back tears when I put them both back in the river and watched them swim away. Sometimes when I walk along the river I'll see the tell-tale bubbles of the turtles under water. I don't know if it's them, but I like to think so.

Saturday, 8/25/07

It's no secret that pets can tell when you are going away, even if they don't see you packing a suitcase or checking the oil in your car. My pet is Joe. He has been my pal for over 17 years and still has the power to charm and fascinate me. When I was getting ready to leave for Door County for a few days, I went about the usual procedures, one of which is to let him have free range of the studio and apartment while I clean out his tank. Joe is a painted turtle. A very cute one at that.

They told me at the pet store you cannot tame a turtle; well, don't tell HIM that. He sits on my foot while I paint, sometimes for hours. If I am journaling, he'll sit on my lap, his little front feet dangling over my knee. He'll find one of my many shoes I have around my place and just park inside it. Sometimes he'll find a reflective surface and stare at himself awhile. I have a small, floating island with 12 palm trees that I keep on the floor in the sunny window. He loves that. I tell people that inside the house he wears Bermuda shorts and some happening shades, but when we go out for walks, he likes to keep a low profile. No pun intended - only my friends know when I am walking very slowly and talking to the ground it's really to Joe.

Sunday, 8/19/07

Getting things to each of the galleries that sell my art and jewelry takes up a big part of my time these days. I am glad for all this rain we need, but it gets old fast having the wipers on all the way to Door County. There is a vibrant coffee/book store in Egg Harbor called "The Bridge" which carries my paintings, as well at "The Paint Box" in Ephraim and "The Tens Gallery" in Gills Rock. I am lucky to have kind friends in Fish Creek and Bailey's Harbor who let me stay at their places when I go up there! Sometimes I need to get up there in a hurry but most times it's major putzing. I hit my favorite antique places, thrift outlets, bead stores and coffee shops on the way up. Then on the way back, I stop in Algoma at 'Bearcats' fish market to get freshly made salmon spread for my friends at Cheesers. Neither UPS or USP will risk shipping it, so I load up the big cooler and by the time I get there, they have it all ready for me. I've seen other people from Chicago restaurants waiting to pick their fish up as well.
With all the fish packed under ice, I head back for home. Peg or Marie will put the "fish is in" sign on the front door and those who appreciate fresh fish think I'm their best friend! I grew up ocean side, so being near a body of water is crucial for my mental health. You could offer me a home in a mansion for free but if it was not near water I'd have to beg off. Even now I am only a block away from the river. It's a nice way to have a life!
Sunday, 8/12/07

I am happy to report that I have actually done some really nice things for myself this summer. Not just the big events of my son getting happily married and co-hosting the July 4th 'Concert on the Square', but just having the time to watch my son play ball in the evenings. I've been watching he and his friends play since T-ball days when no one could hit or catch a ball for beans, to now, when they all have facial hair, wives, serious jobs and grand slams out of the park and triple plays more fun to me than professional ball games!

I am very involved in my town, as I live and have my studio where I paint and write right there, and it's just cute. Stoughton is a historic downtown and many of the buildings have features they just do not make anymore. For instance, between Cheezers and Woodland Gallery, there is a half door (way in the back) between them. This makes for 'Mr. Ed' kind of conversation between the shops. Gary and Cindy, managers of Woodland Gallery, have a sofa-sized dog, Sheena, who is always treated with cheese scraps of the finest quality! I have my artwork in Woodland Gallery and I work a few days a week at Cheezers (I help to 'herd' the hundreds of fresh curds in from the dairy), so I get to stand at this little door often.

At Cheezers they also have Babcock Ice Cream. One day a child so small I can hardly understand how those little feet could hold her up, sat at one of the little tables with her Blue Moon cup of ice cream. Her legs dangled a least a foot off the floor & she had blonde pigtails popping out of either side of her head. I can never bring myself to eat an ice cream the color of fabric softener, but this was my chance to find out what it did taste like. After I asked her, she rolled up her eyes as if she was looking inside her head, poised her plastic spoon up and said matter of factly, "Blue." Well, now I know!
Wednesday, 8/8/07

I am beginning to think a crack in hell has opened up and this humidity is leaking out from there. My normal, effervescent self turns into Ms. Crabby Pants when it is so 'close' like this! I'm not alone, either; many other cheerful friends of mine have taken to hiding in places where the air conditioning is set on 'meat locker' just to be sociable. Just goes to show how much I like my friends...I actually baked a birthday cake!

Here in my town of Stoughton, we celebrate the place where the actual coffee break got started...right there on Coffee St...by having a cool car show, arts & crafts fair and all kinds of goodies for sale out on the Main Street. All kinds of things going on, just this Saturday, all day. I'll be working on two weddings (yes, I am a florist as well as an artist, writer and air personality) at Main St. Flowers but I plan on have some great coffee and taking in all the fun as well.

Sunday, 7/30/07

What a magical event Gregg's wedding was! No rain, no bugs, floating candles in the lily pond, Chinese lanterns in all the old trees and inside the tents, deep magenta lilies on all twenty eight tables and the DJ playing their song, Al Green's "Let's Stay Together", while my son and his new wife, Rebbecca, held each other tight on the dance floor. So nice to see him so happy! NOW I understand why the mother of the groom cries! And party? Like rock stars! At 12:30 am the private bus pulled and took the whole wedding party to the hotel to go swimming....I took off my wickedly lovely (but totally uncomfortable) shoes and walked blissfully down the moonlit hill to my car. I turned back and took one last look at all the glowing, delicate faces of the Queen Ann's Lace flowers nodding softly in the night breeze. Even though it was not quite a full moon, it's serene light was bright enough to bathe the entire landscape. It made a wonderful end to a wonderful chapter of my life.

Sunday 7/15/07

Well, after pulling up crab grass that has been in between the stones on the garden path since about Moses was around, the yard is ready for the big day. Do I want a little cheese with my whining? Ok, it's just been HOT to do yard work outside. My son, Gregg, has been following with the mulch so he has even more to do yet. I am just hoping that if it rains, it's either before or after the wedding. We have the big tents of course but...well...sunny, breezy, cool is the order I put in for! The guys are all wearing dark chocolate tuxes, and my new daughter-in-law is just about the most beautiful young woman I've ever seen in her champagne gown. Now that they have been engaged for these past few years, it's nice to see them hitched. Amy Abbott will be in for me on Magic Sunday Morning. I'll need that time off to recuperate from wearing 2 inch heeled, black, strappy satan sandals for hours.....

Sunday 7/15/07

Sometimes life just amazes me...last Thursday after Amy Abbott and I were through with our appearance at the Oregon Kwik Trip, I came home, put in a DVD (It was 'Morse'---British detective) and I just put my feet up and started to eat my salad and I hear 'bam bam bam' on my door.
"Who is it?"
"Police."
"WHO?"
bam bam bam
"Police." A little louder.
I'm thinking, did I park my car in a bad place??!
I opened the door and there is a huge, very pleasant officer, smiling and holding a very soiled, black purse.
Had I reported a missing purse?
I had, in 2002! I couldn't believe my eyes. All my credit cards where still there, my license, photographs, phone numbers and addresses in my little black book no one except me could decipher, but what thrilled me was a simple, small "Thank You" note that was very precious to me. It was from my favorite man's mother for flowers I had sent her for Mother's Day long ago. I had thought I would never see it again! I guess life is just full of neat things that sometimes, only time can take care of . There was even a lipstick (Revlon's older 'color stay' ) that has since then been discontinued. That alone is a small miracle.....

Sunday, 7/8/07

What amazing fun the 4th of July Concert on the Square was! WHA-TV was there filming the whole deal and "Five By Design" were so kind to come by the Magic 98 table and sing for us! A perfect five-part harmony singing OUR jingle! How cool is that! Because this was the first 4th of July that Andrew Sewell was conducting as a U.S. citizen, the WCO presented him with an American flag that was once flying over the Capitol in Washington D.C. He started to cry (so did I...it was soooo moving) and then had to conduct the orchestra! God, he's more then great. There was a little boy in plaid shorts and sky blue crocs (you know those rubber clog-like earth shoes) having his first experience with a real camera. He had at least 10 shots of the ground, five or six of his own eyes, a couple of the sky and at least three of his Dad. He was just precious. I learned his name was Sam and the camera was digital, as I watched his Mom beam out most of the really off stuff. He gave me a big hug when I told him he was going to be a great big brother to the new baby on the way.

If you are not too busy this Friday night (July 13), consider yourself invited to the Firefly Coffee Shop in Oregon around 6pm. I have a whole new group of paintings on the walls and "The Matt & Pete Variety Show" will be performing. Pound cake to nosh on, too! No cover charge, of course, just a very informal gathering of the locals. Be nice to see you!

Saturday, 6/30/07

Well, here I am with my very own blog! For awhile I really thought a blog was one of those big pimples you get in the middle of your forehead or the tip of your nose. I decided I wanted to have my own blog because when I 'googled' myself I found out Pat O'Neill was talking about ME on his blog! Being back here at Magic 98 is so much fun my face hurts from smiling.

What a blast Jim McGaw and I had at the first "Concerts on the Square." I just love how very human everyone in our business is. Of course, when we interviewed Andrew Sewell on the air, he was a perfectly composed (no pun intended) gentleman, but off mic, he and Jimmy were swapping notes about how they try to keep the gray in their hair at a mimimum! The music was so wonderful, the weather was perfect, the food the Concourse served us was just right for Haydn!

The best part of the evening for me, though, was when a quiet little dragonfly landed on the sleeve of the woman sitting in front of me. It was my favorite music of the evening and it apparently thought so, too! It sat there, blending completely into the black and white stripes of her blouse, just as Hugo Alfven's 'Midsummer Vigil' was played. As soon as the last note drifted away, the dragonfly flew close to the face of another woman at the same table. I am sure it was only trying to say "Wasn't that splendid?" But the woman was in a different moment, trying to eat her dessert if I recall, so I thought I'd share this with you.

Well my life is never boring....my friend Becky Guzman (a bead artist---she actually hand makes clay beads) came up with a way of framing small parts of my art work into bezels and coating them with resin.  Who'd a thunk!  Kathryn Vaughn art framed and worn around your neck, arms or dangling off your ears!  We have been working feverishly to make as many as we can for the bead show coming up this weekend.  The resin process is slow (72 hours).  It takes constant vigilance, melting out the trouble-some bubbles and keeping the temperature warm enough so the resin won't cloud over. I am a total goof ball to begin with, but get me really tired and working with a great friend, well let's just say I know where the expression 'slap happy' originated.  This brand new line of jewelry is now called "Bubble-check".  You know the place, right below Romania and just above Bulgaria?  Yeah, and the president of "Bubble-check" is "Top-em-off"  and we can't forget his twin brother, "Top-it-off".  We spent a lot of time by the river the "Bubble-watch" that runs through the heart of "Bubble-check".  I've made hearts, ovals, squares, circles in all the disigns I've been painting for years.  It's like discovering I've got a tail and didn't even  know it.  I like it!