PO’ed at the PO

WELL.  You know that Altered Book I worked on labored over for hours and sent off to the round robin exchange? 

Some Postal Employee went postal on my package between here and Idaho.  It looks like it soaked in a mud puddle for a very long time.

So right now I am mad as hell at all the Postal Employees in Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana and Idaho.  I hope whoever is responsible for soaking a book that was incased in a bubble wrap postal approved $1.89 mailer gets a pox and I hope his penis falls off.  Oh yeah what if it was a lady mail carrier… may her boobs sag prematurely and her hot flashes put Mount Vesuvius to shame.  Mind you it is not just damp…it was dripping with water.  For goodness sakes it is wintertime…too darn cold to have water anyplace…maybe it was left unattended in a post office shower…or maybe an elephant crushed the packaging and peed all over it…perhaps aliens stole it because they thought it was worth reading and when it wasn’t they hosed it down with their super duper space hoses filled with miracle water that never freezes.

I don’t know what I will do now.  Sure it is only a book.  I can make another.  It was one of a kind. How do you go about making another one of a kind?  I would bawl if I wasn’t so mad.

I can tell you this, lesson learned. The next book I mail off will be inside a Ziploc bag and then incased in bubble wrap and insured for $50 bucks.  I used to have faith in the Postal Service…not so much anymore.

I had a rough day.  I didn’t need anymore DRAMA in my day. Perhaps you have a Postal story that will make me feel better?  It was one of those SPF days and I am not talking sunscreen.

 

Still FFFreezing

We are hunkered down.  The larders are full, we are awaiting the storm and the extreme cold. (Wind chills will be –40 F to –60F with actual temperatures hovering at-35 F or -37C )  We along with hoards of other people headed for town to stock up yesterday while it was above zero.  Whilst we were in town it sleeted and then rained…unbelievable.
 
I got to go into one of my favorite shops; “Linda’s  Recycled.”  She is an old classmate of mine who is even crankier than me. ( Hard to believe but true.)  I needed a book.  I hoard books both in the house and on my Kindle Fire. Now what could I possibly need another book for?

I joined another Altered Book Round Robin.  Altered books are old books with good bindings…that are altered artistically with fabric, paints, stamps, stickers you name it and it can go into an altered book.  Of course I could not buy just one book, I could not make up my mind so I purchased: Apples of Gold a pretty little book with great sayings “Patience---in time the grass becomes milk.”  Working and Playing an old reader with beautiful illustrations from the 1950’s “See the Gingerbread Man put him in the pan” said Mary Ann. AND last but not least The World’s Best Dirty Jokes  “ The Judge came home and found his wife in bed with his best friend.  “Hey what do you think you are doing?”  To which the wife replied to the man in bed with her “See I told you he was stupid.” It is from the 1970’s so it isn’t real racy…but probably not appropriate for an altered book exchange.  ( Two of the gals would be fine with it, but I don’t know the other gals…there are eight of us in the Round Robin.)

I have projects going all over the house..scrapbooking, Christmas Cards, a photo project and some Christmas decorations are still up along with the Shiny Brite tree, two unfinished crochet projects and now I add to that an Altered Book Project and I have to make more Sympathy cards as they are leaving the house faster than I can make them…cold weather will do that… people drop like flies.  

The Direct TV Repair person is supposed to be here this morning if he doesn’t freeze to death.

The third fourth thing finally broke..Far Guy’s DVD player bit the dust.  It was 12 years old…he tried to repair it…unsuccessfully…but I am certain some motor or some part of it will be salvaged.  AND the new one he bought is not working properly…the instructions are in the box in the garage…downright handy when you are trying to figure out how new things work. He is not a happy camper.

Wherever you are stay safe and warm.

A Painting

Chance saw his shadow, so I guess we should honker down for another six weeks of winter. I for one am happy to put January behind me, February is a shorter month, it is the month of Far Guys birthday. A bright spot at the middle of the month.

I usually make a list at the beginning of the year of all the things that are broken and need fixing, all the odd jobs that need to be done. All the things that I want to get accomplished while the weather is really cold and crappy. I have not done that yet this year..but I should do it soon. Maybe one of these days.

I have been working on a few projects. I belong to an altered book group, all bloggers. It is a Round Robin. You had to find an old book and do something to the cover, I chose to recover mine in tapestry upholstery fabric. Then you fold, cut, paint, color, glue whatever you like to the pages to alter them into a book that represents your arty style. It is essentially a piece of artwork. There are ten participants in this Round Robin..so far I have worked on two of the books, both very different in their style. I just have to do one two page spread in every book, and then I mail it off to the next participant. I have been resurrecting some of my old art supplies, and some of my scrap booking supplies to alter these books.

I wish I had time to paint. I really should have Far Guy make me an easel. I have the perfect spot upstairs to just leave it up. I have not actively painted since back in 1987. In fact here is a photo of my finished painting..my one great piece of personal artwork. Don't be too impressed, it was a painting class, the instructor talked us through what and how to do everything..one of those hand holding classes. Everything I painted after that class was pretty abstract. I would like to try my hand at some landscapes again..maybe I have improved with age :)