beetlegrass

Hooray for Office Equipment!

I've been without my printer/scanner for a month now. While I've been making do (or making doo -- see post below) by printing off important e-mails @ the library, not being able to scan artwork and not having a port to stick my camera's memory card into has been a serious drag, man.

All that changed TODAY (that is: like an hour ago), when my replacement all-in-one printer (they couldn't fix my old one, sad face) arrived via FedEx. I have quick-like-a-bunny hooked it up, and now we are cooking with the proverbial gas.

SO NICE to be able to print something off at will and get stuff done here at home! Hurrah & Hooray!

The crocuses (croci?) above were right outside my back door; took the photo a couple weeks ago, so these guys are now a thing of the past. But the dandelions are out in full force now, so take comfort in that.

This image © Megan E. Jeffery. All Rights Reserved.

A Walk Back in Time

Took myself off to Coggeshall Farm in Bristol, Rhode Island today for a maple sugaring event.
Saw how taps and troughs are cut for this procedure, as well as seeing a carding/spinning demo inside the house. Hearth cooking was also taking place, and, if I weren't so well-mannered, I would have eaten the salt pork stew and hominy out of the dutch oven with my bare hands. Man did that smell good!
Learned a bit about the history of this farm which sits on a beautiful piece of property abutting Colt State Park. It's one of those places where you just feel at peace. Add to that the silence that only a crisply cold & bright winter Sunday can bring, and the conditions are ripe for taking photos and a walk.
Click on images to see them larger.








Couldn't leave without taking some pix of my company's mascot: The Lowly Donkey.



Shadows are pretty. 'Specially when they're blue.
More of this series on My Flickr Page -- float down the photo stream.

All images shown here are © Megan E. Jeffery, 2008.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

I Lick You Very Much

My friend Jim sent me this link of a Pug screen cleaning. I like when the Pug pauses and looks over her shoulder as if to say, "Whut?" then immediately gets back to the task at hand. So cute.

Hopeful Cherries

This is a cherry tree I saw on Hope Street in Providence last week while walking around in the rain & fog.
Were the cherries this bright of a red?
No.
That's why God made Photoshop.

Brown & Sticky

Came across this stick-y formation on Brown University's quad today.
Don't know what it's for, who made it or why, and really don't feel like looking into it.
Some things should just remain a mystery.

Q. What's brown & sticky?
A. A stick.

As Promised...

Remember back when I was talking about the stuff that Santa gave me? And I told you about the "Inanimate" stickers (by Fred) that can turn household items into 'friends'?
Well, as promised, here are a few office-y type things with their new mouths and eyeballs.
Enjoy!

Now I just want to poke the phone in her nose.

Angry lamp: "You take one step closer and this lightbulb's gonna get it!"

CD stuff: one is not happy; the other is goofy.

Let sleeping staplers lie.

And here they are in a communal setting.

Boston Weekend

This weekend spent at the South End Open Studio of friend & fellow "RISDoid" Emily Gallardo, was busy & fun & financially-viable! Hoo-rah! Thanks Emily! :-)

Had some really engaging conversations with folks this weekend:

• Learned about a form of poetry, and if either of my ears functioned, I could tell you what it's called *ETA: It's called a Pantoum *
  
• Learned that you can do couching on a MACHINE (where've I been?) (Eh, who am I kidding. I'm not gonna work on a machine.)
• Learned that Guinea fowl are smart and can act as "watch dogs"
• Learned how to say "monkey" in Icelandic: sounds like "Ah-pi"
• Was given my "marching orders" by a college student (hi!) to make hats (she's given me a month to complete, heehee) and for "monster mittens". I want to bump that monster mitten idea up a notch and make opera gloves so the monster looks like Leviathan. Emily suggested, "Or the Loch Ness monster..." Then I'm thinking: argyles up the sides ... oh yeah ...

Did my part to share the Good News about color, and roving, and felting, and the joys that can be found through glow-in-the-dark googly eyes. I'm not just an artist; I'm also an Ambassador.

And mymymy: All the cute men were out this weekend, too, so thank you for THAT. :-D

(Above photo is a community garden in Boston that we passed this morning on the way to feed our faces with pancakes, eggs, and meat products.)

Recycling Center Photos

Tagged along with a friend who's teaching art to high school students to the Recycling for Rhode Island Education today. So many cool things there, and so organized!

Couldn't resist taking close-up shots of some of the interesting items they have for teachers and for students (RISD kids come here a lot): plastic bits from games; jewelry findings; cardboard tubes of every shape, size and texture; foam bits; fabric; ribbons; folders ... the list goes on & on ...
So much fun to see stuff and imagine what it could become. "Hey, they can make this! Or this! Or, hey, didja think about that?"

What a great resource, beneficial to all involved: teachers need the items; teachers & students are encouraged to be creative in their use of them; STUFF GETS RECYCLED that would ordinarily be thrown away; contributing businesses get tax incentives (I'm sure); people are employed by this facility.

Win-win-win-win-win situation.

Walkies: Black & Yellow

   

     

I always mean to take my camera with me on walks, but for some reason never do.
It's probably 3 parts: forget to 1 part: feel self-conscious.
Today started a new chapter. One that includes my camera.
This particular route is probably 4.5 miles, so normally there'd be more photos here that fall within the theme of Black & Yellow, but the memory card became full half-way through.

A few notes:

• The flowers are in my yard. I didn't plant them, and they seem to have survived my black thumb. I did transplant a chunk, and those did die. Something to do with consistent watering. Hunh.

• The yellow stripes in the road are interesting to me, the way the paint breaks down and makes irregular, unique shapes. It's like a code that the pavement is sending me. And that message is, "Get outta the middle of the road!!!"

• Cole Street is my street.

Click on images to see them larger.

Boston Walk

Sunday evening Emily asked me what I felt like doing. Since we had spent the majority of the weekend inside for Open Studios, I suggested, "How about a walk?" So we did just that, getting some exercise and taking in the sights of Beacon Hill and surrounding streets. Here are some photos from our wanderings...

 

 

I love pattern & grillwork & doors & architectural details. This middle door even sports my fave #! (Note how the 4 fits into the 2-- now that's good design.) In the third photo, pattern is created through light and shadow... pretty neat.

   

Lots of planters out, with pansies and pussy willows seeming to be the predominant players.

   

Emily tells me she likes "ferns in urns". I ask her if she also likes "pigs with wigs" or "foxes with boxes".
I pretend to take pictures of garbage or of graffiti and say, as a caption, "Emily's Boston", just to see if she'll beat me. She does not. She plays along. (Hee-hee.)

Man do I love New England.

Click on images to see them larger.