Artsy Fartsy

For the past three years, Luke and I have been holding an annual rally for the group of motorcycle folks that my dad hangs out with. They call themselves the Deadhorse Motorcycle Club and because we’ve extended our courtesy and the use of our grass to their tents, we’re honorary Deadhorses, too. Even Molly’s a Deadhorse since she’s ridden to two DHMC rallies now. She’s hardcore. So the Deadhorses rolled in to town this past weekend for what was once, unfortunately, JOKINGLY referred to as “Sweaty Boobs” (the summer counterpart to the late fall rally called “Frosty Nutz”) and which is now just called Luke and Lisa’s rally, or Leak and Lusa’s. We answer to both.

We spent the week mowing and trimming and battling rose bushes, spiders, and mice to make the area down by the river habitable and motorcycle-friendly. By Friday afternoon when the first camper arrived, we were already tired. Friday night was mellow and quiet. I had made a big pot of chili ahead of time so we ate chili and sat by the fire and crossed our fingers hoping that the rain would hold off.

I’m sort of a wuss at this campout in that, seeing how the house and my nice, comfy bed and hot shower are mere yards from the river, I don’t pitch a tent for the weekend. I sleep at the house. This is great for the obvious reasons, but tiring when you have to walk back and forth shuttling coffee to the early-rising campers who went to bed hours before me and therefore, are much chipper than me and my grumpy want-to-go-back-to-bed self. But the morning was bright, the clouds were clearing, and we were getting ready to take a breakfast ride out to a neat little chrome diner in Willimantic. My dad, with a GPS built into his cranium, found the way there without taking any main roads whatsoever. At one point on the ride, we passed what looked like a big heap of road kill but, when I rode past it and looked down, it turned out to be a giant, cranky snapping turtle in the road. We had a great breakfast at the diner, stopped for gas, and headed home. Luke and my dad switched bikes and halfway home, Luke pulled over and Luke and I switched bikes. I got to ride my dad’s BMW, which was a blast, but so strange. I couldn’t figure out how to turn off the signal lights and kept honking the horn and switching on the high beams instead. What a difference going from the rough, raw feeling of the Buell to the smooth riding-a-recliner feeling of dad’s Beemer. It was nice.

Back at the ranch we got our swim suits on and headed down to the river to look for crayfish. The first year we had this rally, I decided that I wanted to make crawfish jambalaya on Saturday night with the crayfish we catch in the river. There are a zillion of them and they’re fun to catch, so why not? The first year we caught a ton. It was impressive. Then last year, a sudden and strong thundershower on Friday night brought the water level up and stirred up the silt in the river making it impossible to see the little buggers. We managed to catch maybe six of them and then a freak accident by the side of the river dumped the bucket back into the water and we ended up with just jambalaya, no crawfish. This year we weren’t planning to try too hard to look for them. Between the mink in the river and the heron and all the other wildlife, we haven’t been seeing as many crayfish this year. But the Deadhorse Crayfishing Crew was determined so we waded in and tried our best. We ended up with a couple dozen - enough to call it crawfish jambalaya - I was happy. More relaxing, more floating in the river, and it was time to get the potatoes ready to bake and get ready to cook.

And then the sky opened up and dumped buckets of water on us. We were all under awnings and umbrellas. I was slicing onions and potatoes, some people were playing cards, some were reading, and something primal in me was saying maybe we shouldn’t be outside in this. Thunder and lightning were all around us, the rain was so heavy you could barely see through it. We should go inside. And then it was over. Blue sky, sunshine, birds chirping and CRACK! the most horrendous, loud lightning strike that sounded like it hit the house. The storm was over, the sun was out so the crack came as a huge surprise and we screamed and luckily I didn’t cut my finger off instead of slicing the onions.

More swimming and relaxing and it was time to make the jambalaya. Roland and Luke were working on a big pork loin that was cooking on the rotisserie and I whipped up the jambalaya and we all ate until we were stuffed. It was fantastic. The sun went down, the amazing full moon came out and Roland, Voyle, and Chris took out their guitars (and banjo) and we sang songs around the fire until the wee hours of the morning. One more midnight swim (more like a 1am swim) and it was time for bed.

6:30 came way too early the next morning, but coffee was needed down at the river so duty calls. Luke was amazingly kind and let me sleep in while he was on coffee duty. The campers made pancakes and ate bagels and I slept a little longer. Then everyone started to pack up and head home and it was time for cleanup again. It’s a nonstop weekend but it’s a good time. Thanks to all who came out, you helped make it a great weekend.

See all the pictures here: Rally 2007

Should you feel like you have jet lag when you don’t actually cross any time zones?  I feel completely exhausted and lost and behind by about three hours.  I can’t believe a whole week has gone by already.  It was a busy week of getting ready for our motorcycle rally over the weekend and I think I may have actually lost weight from all the walking from the house to the river to the house to the river to get things.  Luke finally got the two little dirtbikes going on Saturday so I was able to ride back and forth and give my tired feet a rest - hallelujah.

I have scrapes and bruises, mosquito bites, poisin ivy, and horse fly bites.  I’m somewhat tan and freckled, my flip-flop tan lines on my feet look completely ridiculous.  We swam in the river every day, we watched a mink scurry on the shore, and we spotted a HUGE frog in the water.  We floated on tubes, caught some crayfish, and tired Molly out so much that she only managed to jump on the bed last night and drop her stuffed duck on my book before she collapsed in a sighing heap and fell asleep.

Speaking of book, I bought Harry Potter last Monday and only managed to steal away a few minutes all week to read.  I’m already hooked; she is such a fantastic writer.  It makes me sad knowing that this will be the last book, I want to read it slowly and soak it all in.  But at the same time I want to read it FAST so I can see how it ends.  If you know how it ends - don’t tell me!!

Thanks to everyone for checking in last week to see if I had blogged.  It was sad to see my stats go down lower and lower and lower each day.  I did enjoy the few hits for key phrases like “Jason Statham Speed-O” (I think I may have to Google that myself) and, oddly enough, “Lucinda Dickey”.  We have some Breakin fans out there, apparently.

I’ll wait until tomorrow to tell you about our motorcycle rally.  I forgot to upload the pictures to Flickr and it’s just no fun to talk about without the pictures.  Catch you tomorrow.

I’ve got five minutes before I have to head out again but I was starting to twitch so Luke thought I should probably blog and get it out of my system.  We’re having a  great vacation so far.  Had a blast in Vermont.  Molly did very well on the bike and was quite a star.  We’ve been preparing for our motorcycle campout this weekend and playing in the river all day.  I bought Harry Potter but haven’t had a chance to read any of it yet.   I heard that Amanda has some exciting news, but I don’t want to steal her thunder so I’ll let her tell you when she’s ready.  So far it’s been a great week!  Now if only the rain would hold off until next week!  Well, I should run.  Maybe I’ll sneak in another update later.

Happy birthday, Flann! I hope you have a great day, and that maybe you get a puppy. Named Mojo.

Did you know there was a pub called Flannery’s? Apparently it’s in St. Louis, MO. Road trip?

Are you sick of me yet? I’ve got bloggarrea. Gross. Part of my recent wordiness is that I spend all day in an office alone, then I go home to a quiet land of Nod house where I tiptoe around all night while Luke is sleeping. I have no one to talk to except for Molly, and she’s sick of me, too. The other part is that I’m leaving on vacation and since we’re planning to pretend we’re away somewhere, I think Luke is going to consider the computer off-limits. I’ll get that “you love that thing more than me” glare if I so much as check my email, so I don’t think I’ll be able to blog.

I know how annoying this will be, me not updating, because I’m currently feeling a bit of pathetic annoyance toward those blogs I visit everyday which haven’t been updated in ages. Can you hear me MELISSA? I get disappointed when the same pages come up day after day after day, and then I feel like a complete dork because these people are probably too busy to blog, what with their lives to maintain and all. Maybe they’re seeing actual people and talking to them in person. How dare they?

So this is it, one more day of blogging for a whole week. I’ll try to leave you with a pretty picture tomorrow so you won’t be irritated when you check back every day, hoping for some reason that maybe Luke is napping and I’ve snuck back to the house for an internet fix to update my blog. We can all hope.

Sorry about that, Molly’s been watching too many episodes of Dog the Bounty Hunter.  She can’t help it, she’s got this thing for Dog’s son Leland.  Oh no, wait, that’s me.

Actually, these are Molly’s new Doggles.  Remember our last motorcycle trip with biker pup extraordinare, Molly?  She squinted and teared up for two hours, so for our upcoming trip to VT this Friday, we thought we’d get Molly some gear so she could enjoy the trip more.

She’s far too cool for me.   Up next, a leather jacket.  Maybe some chaps.

As of this Friday, Luke and I are officially on vacation and I am beyond psyched. It’s been over a year and a half since I had an entire week off. Well, I guess I have to technically take that back. I get the week between Christmas and New Year’s off but this year I had a rotten cold that I got on Christmas Eve and held onto until New Year’s day. So in my opinion, that week didn’t count. Plus, Luke worked the whole week so it really didn’t count.

Most years we spend our summer vacation week going somewhere motorcycle-related to camp with other motorcycle folks. As much as I do enjoy that, I would kill to go somewhere different. Somewhere with a real bed and a roof not made of waterproofed nylon weave. Somewhere where the food is good and there are cold gin and tonics at my disposal, and maybe a beach to relax on.

This year, I get to have my fantasy. I it all and we don’t even have to leave Andover. We’re staying home. But even better, we’re going to stay down by the river every day and pretend we’re far, far away instead of a couple of acres from the house. I am totally excited about this.

We’re planning to throw on our bathing suits and river shoes every morning, pack a cooler of food we can cook over the camp fire for lunch, and just hang out by the river swimming and sunning and reading. Molly can swim and run to her heart’s content and we can enjoy the beautiful, sunshiney weather every day. Maybe we’ll pitch the tent down there and really pretend we’re away from home.

(Here’s Luke at the river last summer, practicing for our upcoming vacation.)

But don’t you worry. I won’t get a chance to miss those motorcycle friends of ours, the first weekend of our vacation we’re heading up for two nights of camping with my dad’s group of two-wheeling folks in Somerset, VT. (I just Googled Somerset, VT to find a weather forecast and found that Somerset has a population of 2. Sounds like my kind of place.) And the last weekend of our vacation is the annual motorcycle rally at our house. So it should be a week of river relaxing, bookended with motorcycle camping. Sounds pretty good to me.

(Here’s a shot of last years rally. Looks like fun, huh?)

Now will somebody make me a gin and tonic?

I forgot to post this picture earlier. It’s a shot of the fireworks we saw on the 4th of July that I took for Paula since it was her birthday and she was off in a faraway land with no fireworks to celebrate her big day. Now take a moment to be impressed that I took this picture with my Treo. Frankly, I’m impressed. OK, back to Paula, happy belated birthday fireworks to you!

Hi everyone linking over from Craftgrrl.  Last summer when I posted this tutorial, I was hoping to use it to lure people to my Etsy craft shop, Lisa’s Studio, to buy tie-dyed onesies.  Since then, I’ve closed that shop that I link to, but I hope you’ll still enjoy the tutorial and please let me know if you have any questions.

My real goal with this post is to get you to go to my Etsy shop and buy a tie dye onesie (or three), figuring that making one yourself is just too darn much work. But on the off chance you’re a a Martha wannabe, or even a hippie wannabe, here goes, my very own tie dye tutorial.

First you need these:

Or maybe some t-shirts, or whatever you’re in the mood to tie dye. You’ll need to soak your boring white things in a mixture of one gallon warm water to one tablespoon soda ash. (If you buy a tie dye kit at the craft store, it will probably come with soda ash. If not, check at your local art supply store.) The soda ash breaks down the cotton fibers so they’ll accept the dye and your design won’t wash out as easily. Soak everything for at least 30 minutes. Then squeeze most of the water out and…

Find a bunch of these. Lots and lots, all different sizes. The thicker elastics work the best.

Now mix up some dye, I have red, blue and yellow. It might seem like you’d need more than just three colors, but remember: red + yellow = green, etc. etc.

I like to mix my dye into these little squeeze bottles. It makes it easier to apply colors to certain, specific areas, and it’s also a lot neater.

Now tie up your onesies - remember, it’s just like cutting out paper snowflakes. Don’t try to be perfect. The crazier and more creative you get, the better your end result.

These simple designs are for basic, striped onesies. The more complicated ones are for circles and stripe combinations. Once you get everything tied up, put on some rubber gloves. Trust me. Either that, or make friends with someone who has a pool. One summer I tie dyed several dozen onesies for a craft fair and didn’t use gloves. My hands, feet, arms and legs were tie dyed, too - I’m not kidding. I went to a friend’s house to swim in her pool and voila! The dye was bleached off. Sort of freaked me out about swimming in so much bleach, but hey, my feet weren’t green anymore. So anyhow, gloves on, start dyeing!

Switch up your colors and dye some more.

Now combine your colors - pour yellow onto the red to make orange. Bleed the blue into the yellow to make green - have fun with it!

Once you’re happy with your dye, wrap your onesies in individual plastic bags and let them rest as long as you can possibly stand it. It’s best to let them rest overnight, but an hour is the absolute minimum. The longer you wait, the better the color sets.

After you’ve waited as long as you can, put your rubber gloves back on and bring your onesies to the sink, or the bathtub, wherever you feel like making a mess. Under cold running water, rinse and squeeze the onesies over and over and over and over. Carefully cut the elastics off and rinse and squeeze some more until the water runs moderately clear. Now you’ll have something pretty like this:

Ohh… pretty. Hello dirty Kitchen Aid mixer, what a nice reflection you have. Now take your glove off and pat yourself on the back, but don’t fall in love with them as they are - remember, they’re wet so the color is darker, and the color will wash out a little when you wash them. OK, now wash them and, for Pete’s sake, don’t use bleach. Wash them with some dark clothes, too, unless you want everything you won to be tie dyed. After you’ve washed and dried them, you’ll have something fantastic like this:

Or this:

Snuggly and adorable, huh? Well get yourself to the craft store and tie dye yourself some tonight. Or… if that seems like too much work (there are a LOT of steps, and it looks like it’s NO fun at all) then just allow yourself to cheat just a little and head over to my Etsy shop where you can buy yourself an already made tie dyed onesie. See, wasn’t that easy?

What do you think?  Flannery inspired me to spiff up my dusty old template which meant tweaking my header and a few other things.  I think I like it.