And another one from the writer prompts....

This one had to do with finishing a nice lunch and, having picked up the check, noticed a message written on the check--write this scene.

We were just finishing our lunch when Jennifer, our waiter brought the check. As I glanced up to thank her for being a gracious hostess I noticed her somber mood--quite different from her usual cheeriness.
"Thank you." she said as she cleared away our dishes and nodded toward the check.
I picked it up curiously and found a message had been written in short-hand!
"Cheryl, we gotta go."
"Let me just finish ..."
"NOW!"
"Alright! I'm right behind you." As she gave me that "What gives?" stare.
Rushing out the front door after paying I broke into a dead run around the back of the building.
"Em!" "What the hell is going on?"
"Cheryl, that check had a message in short-hand written on it. Jennifer and I both took short-hand in high school. In short, they are being robbed and they have one hostage in back in need of medical attention. Call 911 for ambulance service while I call for back-up."
After calling for back-up I got my weapon from my inside jacket pocket and went to assess how grave the situation was.

My name is Emma and I work as an undercover narcotics officer for the Arizona state task force. I would say I'm quite good at what I do as my physical features belie my age and abilities--both mentally and physically--and allows me to go places the rest of the unit can't. Today just happens to be a day where the bad guys assumed Cheryl and I were just a couple of friends enjoying lunch--harmless.
"Cheryl!, are they on the way?"
"Yeah." "How do you remember short-hand from high school?"
"I still use it to take notes on work sites."
"You're not right Em--you're still a geek!"
"And that is why you love me as a friend--good,geeky, and great!"
"You OK?"
"Yeah, go on, get back out of here. I don't need to protect anymore than I have to."
"Call me!"
I saluted her and went back to scouting out the back parking area behind the restaurant. Back-up came in silent as I had requested and went into position. Two snipers were set at strategic locations. I had an inkling that the note Jen had written had more between the lines than could have been noted--could this be our lucky day? Could this be the drug bust I'd been working toward? It wouldn't be all that unusual really. I'd seen many of the suspected players in and around the restaurant on several occasions.
"Em."
"Go."
"We've got a lock on the one perp holding the hostage and Mike just went through the front door."
"Any in a harmful position in the main room?"
"No. All clear and the two scouts are...resting comfortably!"
"On my count then." I reached the back screen door and grabbed the handle.
"Three...Two..One--GO! GO! GO!"
Everything went into a tail spin of activity with some food thrown in for special effects. The bad boys were finally suffed and hauled away leaving a very upset but grateful staff. As we were being congratulated I stepped up and announced the real hero was Jennifer.
"Jennifer!?" someone hollered in disbelief.
"How?" came the same voice.
"If it hadn't been for her swift thinking and being able to get a message to me via a table check this could have gone a whole lot worse than it did. Three cheers for Jen!"

Writer's Digest Prompts

This is a geat site for budding writers or those who have the all encompassing writers' block. I've posted two entries under Emerald Gypsy and I can't wait to do more.....

Here's the poem I wrote for one of the prompts: You had to write a 20 line poem about your favorite article of clothing (hat, shoes, t-shirt, etc.). Do I REALLY need to tell you what my first poem was about? Didn't think so....here it is:

Oh little scraps of
cloth, leather, twine
to you I owe my most
heartfelt whine!

You dazzle and tempt me
with a window's stare
the color and shape
such a marvelous pair.

The dream of you
upon my feet
my heart starts racing
I make the leap.

Into the store
with "I'll try those on"
a flash in the mirror
seals the con.

As I strut my stuff
in an "all night long"
my feet complain
"You've done me wrong!"



And the other prompt was this: You wake up to the sizzling smell of French Toast coming from your neighbor's house. The problem is that the two of you are not on speaking terms. How do you get the French Toast?
Here's my rendition:



Living in France and unable to speak the language fluently has its drawbacks--or so I thought.
I was there on assignment and had just finished unpacking thru the wee hours of the night figuring an early morning start would give me time to acclimate to a new and exciting world I knew little about.
My first inclination of this assignment being different from the others was the intoxicating smell emanating from the kitchen window next door to me. Instead of the drab fare of bagels and cream cheese I was used to eating on the run this was an honest to God, authentic, mouth-watering, get your butt up and go get some--French Toast!!
There was only one problem--We, my new neighbor and I, had never met and I didn't speak enough French to even fathom an introduction. There comes a time however, when you throw caution to the wind and in this case the smell of that French Toast was about to send mine into a tornado!
Following a quick scrub-up, brush through my hair and the resolve to go forward I went purposely through my front door and knocked on my neighbors. The door was answered by an OMG hunk of mankind with six-pack abs dressed in jeans.
Working laboriously not to stare and using the little French I knew to try and introduce myself I caught his look of total surprise. Thinking it was my horrible use of language I stuttered but was caught short by his finger pointing back at me and his attempt at English saying "You,…okay?"
I looked down at myself only to discover to my complete horror that I was still dressed in my skimpy nightgown!!
I ran back to my apartment and slammed the door. What was I thinking? That was just it, I wasn't. My brain had been hell-bent on procuring some wonderful smelling French Toast only to have the hopes utterly dashed by my lack of attention to details.
Great. I'd not only embarrased myself for the eternity of my stay, I still had the gut-gnawing hunger for French Toast--HIS French Toast.
Humiliated, I went to my room and finally got dressed to meet the world. Just as I was coming out and wandering into my own kitchen for a dismal breakfast of cereal there came a knock on my door.
To my surprise it was Mr. gorgeous with a heaping plate of French Toast. He nodded toward my balcony table and smiled.
To date it was the best assignment I'd had and the outcome was an unexpected wedding five months later. The reception was held as an early morning breakfast event. Main course-French Toast!

Not too bad for some unblocking techniques.....My great novel might garner some momentum for the ones who want me to write one on my life's ventures--we'll see.

Hyperbolic Crochet--Geometry Comes to Life

This was a great surprise to happen upon while surfing the net! I found pictures of a coral reef all done in crochet when researching the Great Barrier Reef. I then HAD to follow it to the crochet sites that taught you how and why these great projects came about. I learned a great deal in the artistic form of the crocheting of many of the hyperbolic structures and feel vindicated with my reasoning of certain theorems I was told were not correct in 10 th grade geometry.....They are in fact correct now!! Life does have its moments!!! Anyhow, here are some pictures of my own "coral reef". It is tiered this way as it will be part of a display unit for my market bags and "going green" products for craft shows. Here are a couple of the sites to go and check out: http://theiff.org/, http://crochetcoralreef.blogspot.com/ and others

I'll keep adding more pieces as I go along to use up my scrap yarns but I think this is a pretty good start. I'll also get some better close-ups of the individual pieces too.

Shoes, art and other quirks of nature

Victorian Boot Cathederal

Glass Slipper Palace

Shoe Bridge Manor

Classic Pump Cottage

Wellington Boot Lighthouse

Thongs Intimate Apparel

Earth Shoe Rock Emporium

Prussian Boot Cat Emporium--Puss In Boots!

Imelda's Place

Achilles Sandal Restaurant

Casual Loafer Retirement Village

Going Home--Mom's Ruby Red Slippers

Pilgrim First National Bank

Sporto's Service Station

Waders Fish Market

The Geta Tea House

Equestrian Boot Estate

Swashbuckler Pawn Shop

Flippers

Western Boot Saloon

Mule Train Station

Toe Shoe Theatre

Elven Cobbler Bakery

The Sloppy Slipper

Penny Loafer Manor

Muckluck Lodge

Clog Port Inn

Platform Plaza

Wedge Way Apartments

Work Boot Grill

Well, at long last I have put my work online--am missing Stilleto Place (it seems to be unable to copy or upload)--So Lori B. it is now YOUR turn!!!! All of these drawings were worked with a .05 mechanical drafting pencil and each one took less than an hour to finish (most were done in about 30 min.). It kind of amazes me that they all just came together and when I was finally done with the collection everything fell into place for my gallery debut as well! The glitches in the middle were handled by STAPLES and a great team of people--A printing company totally messed up the preliminary samples and as I had a busted eardrum, less than a week before gallery opening of the collection, I was, to say the least, in a PANIC!!! All in all because of their SNAFU I saved over $2,000 and was thrilled with STAPLES and their efficiency and expertise.

Homes of Hope birdhouse project

Here are some pics of the little "birdhouse" I did for the Homes of Hope project...

As part of their rehabilitation from substance abuses men are taught some basic building skills at a local center and this is one of the designs they use. Local artists are then called to decorate the all wooden structures and then they are auctioned off at a benefit dinner. I decided to make mine look like a beach house as the open window design of the house reminded me of a little cottage on the ocean or lake somewhere. I even sprinkled real sand over the base and added 3D embelishements like the seashell used as a light fixture, the moss as seaweed, and the little fabric curtains for the windows.

It was a fun little project and has inspired me to paint a series of building blocks for a castle out of the many wood blocks a friend gave me to do something with--and now I know what it is.....that is IF I can keep the box of blocks away from Scooter's gnawing habit-he's eyeing the box as if it's his own private stash!

I Finally have succumbed to modern technology

Well Friends I finally did it--I'm putting my stuff out for the world to see--okay so uploading the artwork is gonna take some time--there is never enough time for EVERYTHING!! Lori B. Where is your stuff?

Not only did I create one blog but 2!!!!!! The Rustic Roost is the other one that will concentrate on life here at the okay hilltop...It should be called the rustic ruse as life here is (Ha Ha Quirky-- to say the least). Living here with the views and the quiet (save critter chatter) is heartwarming, challenging and wonderful if not humorous.

So I guess the next step is to find that disc of mine and start uploading my artwork huh?!..........

Not yet, still looking.............nope...........that wasn't it........dang........okay next time--uht oh Scooter is "helping" me and has just abscounded with a disc jacket.........