blue monday

monday morning. just getting ready for work. i did sleep last night, but because i stayed up late (posting blog) i am still somewhat tired this morning. still groggy from allergies too. how can the spring blooming, which is so beautiful, make me so miserable? it seems to get worse each year. tree pollen will subside soon, i hope. 

i set up my drafting table in the studio last night. it has a solid oak base with cast iron supports and an elm/oak table top. the covering that was over the top of the table is gone. I cannot tell what was on it at one time. i need to figure out what to cover it with so it doesn't get totally ruined by paint stains. for now i'll put plastic over it and then put the fabric down on it, held in place with clamps. it is so cool. i found it at the elkhorn flea market yesterday, along with an antique "edison no. 12 mimeograph". it is not a mimeograph machine, it is too old for that. it is over 100 years old. it is a totally awesome box with a plate on it telling what it is. when you open the box, it has this wooden framed plate, which was used with the roller. the roller is there, but missing the actual rolling part of the roller. it has the handle and pins that hold the roller in place. there are two tubes of ink also! i cannot imagine how gummy and yucky they are by now. there is also a paper tube which holds the wax paper which was used for creating the stencils which were used for the copying process. it was used, as the plate is covered with remnants of ink. not sure if i should clean that up or leave it as is. the instructions are even still attached to the box. i will post photos, but i've been lazy and having downloaded pics from my camera in over a week. i have to sort through them. 

i got more cabinet cards yesterday too. they call to me when i see them. i found some more interesting characters. i am looking for photos of interesting men and couples now too. there are so many photos of women. 

wren is singing outside while i write this. he must have found a mate, as he's been busy building his nest on the northwest side of the house. i have three wren houses, and every year he has trouble deciding which one is right for him. he usually picks out that one in the end though. we clean it out every year before he comes. one of the houses is difficult to reach, so this year it did not get cleaned. i hope he doesn't mind. i need to put out my hummingbird feeder and oriole feeder (which some oranges). i get all of those birds and occasionally a blue bird. i do not have the right spot for a blue bird house, so they only come by to visit, not live. i'd love to put up a bat house, but again, i don't have the right location for it. we do have lots of bats because there is a tiny lake (used to be a quarry) nearby. they like water - lots of mosquitos.  glad i can oblige them. at least someone likes mosquitos. we had to cover the newly planted garden last night. it got down to just about frost last night. don't want to loose my plants! marc planted a whole bunch of raspberry plants this weekend too. he loves his raspberries. so do i, but i don't always enjoy picking them. i usually get pricked by them. i planted asparagus over 8 years ago here, and we get a handful of the tasty treats each season. i'm sadly disappointed by their performance. maybe they need fertilizer? they need some sort of help. my whole garden has been sadly neglected lately. for the past couple of years anyway. that's directly related, in part, to my passion for creation. i've been redirected to put-zing in my studio the last few years. hurting my foot two years ago (thanks, guinness) didn't help either. i was laid up for the entire summer that year.