wowzer what a day that was. since the hubby is still 'officially' unemployed, he is working with a temp agency, and we are without insurance i had what i hope to be a first and last experience with a local free clinic. i needed a refill on a medicine that keeps my heart rate and rhythm in check.
first of all let me just say God bless those people. they are volunteering their time.
second of all...i will be applying to our local large well known hospital for future care.
this free clinic is located in the basement of the salvation army....behind the soup kitchen....and it looked just like it was out of a t.v. show, and worse than what you are imagining!
all of the nurses and doctors are, and i kid you not, 70+ years old. the doctor i saw said he was a youngin' and he was in his 70's. he was a big wig at our local large well known hospital until heart surgery forced him to cut back on office hours. he was the kindest man, but forgetful as could be. he said my heart sounded great.....and that always makes me feel relieved...i just hope he remembered what a great sounding heart sounds like.
one female doctor had to use a cane, it took her about 15 minutes to make it to the bathroom, which was about 25 feet from her office. one of the nurses had to ask her if she needed help. as she approached i notice the white-see-through-sweater-wearing-cane-toting-woman-doctor did not have a bra on. it was a bit chilly in the room. and oh-my-lawd i could see her....areolas. uh...according to google plural would be areolae. i suddenly turned in to a teen-age boy and had to hold back a bout of hysterical, i can not believe i am seeing this, giggles. i then asked God to forgive me, as i am doing now, and then prayed that she would not be my doctor.
there were no computers, calculators.....the nurses station i was at had one of those clip on auto lamps....my nurse was so sweet and was just as deaf as i am! *snort* thank God my daughter was there to translate for the both of us! it did not help that my tinnitus was roaring so loud i could not hear, and to top it off my hearing aid battery died and i was out of new ones.
the free clinic had just the group of people you would expect...your average person who you can tell works for a living but does not have insurance, and then couple on meth....or some form of drug, the gansta, a poor woman who had a stroke in january...she broke my heart. it was her first visit there as well.
the doctor wanted blood work done to check on my anemia, which was life threatening a few years ago. he took me to this room with a woman that i swear was about 90 and there was a place to rest your arm....an old wooden t.v. tray. i have had my blood drawn so many times over the years that i have track marks and look like a druggie so it does not bother me.....but, oh holy crap there was no way this woman was going at me with a needle while my arm was on a germy tv tray.....but thank God this was the medicine room. she could arrange for financial aid on presciptions if we could not afford them. thankfully my meds are only 12 bucks.
ok....so now on to happy schtuff......
ohhhh.....forgot to upload photos....hold on......
oh, as a treat for being a good girl at the doctor my daughter took me for some froyo at my new favorite place. orange leaf.
coffee, chocolate, and cheese cake frozen yogurt topped with mini chocolate chips, mini caramel turtles and reeses pieces.....i just know this is what heaven tastes like!
this one was steph's
so on the way home from our treat we were stuck in after school and construction traffic. i was thinking to my self how sad i was that i had not seen a sysco truck. the hubby and kids see them all the time, and since it is a rare treat lately for me to get out of the house i was sure hoping to see one. my dad was working for sysco when he passed away almost 8 years ago. it has always been taken as a hello from my dad since then. right as i began to then tell my daughter that i was sad i just happened to look up and see a tree in the shape of a heart. i reached for my camera, but was too late to snap a photo as traffic began to move.
my daughter and i caught the attention of several young hunky construction dudes....they waved as we drove by. that makes a girl feel good!
we decided to pull back around and sit in traffic again so that i could take a photo to add to my collection of hearts from heaven....and great, now the construction dudes are going to think we are out to pick them up....*snort*
on the way back we noticed the tree did not look at all like a heart from the back. as we approached the tree from the other direction it was not looking hearty in the very least and if my daughter had not also witnessed this i would have thought i was losing my mind. now i was really sad that i missed the photo op for this. then traffic began to move again and there must have been the slightest breeze and it looked like a heart again! i was able to snap a blurry photo of it. not quite as hearty as the first time we saw it, but hearty it was.
this project originally started as a necklace. wellllll....i decided mid construction to turn it in to a bracelet.
the top reliquary has a bird skull i sculpted out of polymer. the bottom and smaller reliquary has a coyote toe bone. (i bought the bones from a fellow etsy seller who promised the coyote was road kill and not just killed for the bones, just in case you wondered about such things)
when i first told my daughter she said 'you know that is huge mom' and i told her not much huge-er than some of the chunky bracelets girls were wearing lately.
ok...i am just way out of the box.....like i can not even see the box i am so out of it! i spent way to many years stuffed and crammed in the box.....i am now allergic to boxes.
so here we have the bracelet put together....but if you notice the end pieces....i had to remove the jump rings and re-solder them on a bit different to get the 'clasp' i chose to work.
this is a tim holtz doo-hicky. i believe it is a pocket watch fob.
and here are the jump ring do overs
and all patina-ed and the clasp attached.
and pics of the bracelet on in the studio and kitchen....
today was a wee bit of a nutty day. oh....but last night this night owl fell asleep at just a bit after 11 pm the night before and woke up without the aid of an alarm at 9ish! ....come to think of it, maybe that is why it was wonky?!
i have been looking on the internet for a tute on how to texturize solder. at least 2 years ago, maybe a wee bit longer, i have had a few bird nest reliquaries ready to solder, but i wanted the solder to look like tree bark.
today i found several photos of what i wanted but not a tute to be found for free that is....then it hit me. i know this look...i did it to my bathroom a few years ago. our bathroom paint kept chipping and for some reasone i got this idea to schmere the walls with joint compound and then give them texture with a wadded up plastic bag. the paint no longer chips!
well, i could not use a wadded up plastic bag on hot smoldering liquidy solder, so i used a paper towel...that was not quite it...then i added water to the paper towel and wah-freaking-lah! squeeeeee!
there was still condensation on the inside....the ants in my pants could not wait for the photo op.
now i liked this....but not quite what i wanted....
a few hours later i realized that i wanted the high spots to look more shiny, as though time had rubbed off the patina.
i wanted to use steele wool, but we had not a bit of it and the budget did not allow for a run to the hardware store....thankfully i had some bazillion grit wet/dry sand paper used in auto detailing that i used for the time being.
now this is just how i pictured it looking! like a dork i keep looking at it with the biggest grin on my face that i figured out how to do this technique, and for free even!
today, the 22nd, i get to share my birthday with earth day. according to the calendar i am 47. my mind begs to differ. it feels more like 20something.
i received this in the mail from someone i feared i might never get to talk to or see again and that made me happy beyond words, and that is a pretty difficult thing to cause when it comes to me....to be beyond words.
i have also received some of the sweetest and kindest and most unexpected birthday wishes. i believe this arty girl's smiley face might just get stuck this way....just like my mom always told me!
much love to you all. big sloppy smooches and squishy hugs.
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