Happy Labor Day, which Handsome Son is observing by working, ironically in his unionized job. I'm observing it by reading in bed with a cup of tea and an Elin Hilderbrand fluff book and blogging.
The weather is blessedly cooler, in fact I broke out the quilt last night, and slept very well, with benign, if confused, dreams.
Yesterday however did not start auspiciously. The bathroom sink has been draining ever more slowly, despite plunging, which worked temporarily, over the last couple of weeks.
I wondered if I might have to undo and clean out the gooseneck pipe, under the sink, but one look told me it needs a big wrench which I don't have. And my neighbor is helping his daughter move house, couldn't possibly impose on him.
So I did the baking soda and vinegar application, which foamed up very excitingly, then I added water to wash it diwn. Whereupon it stopped dead. Half a basin of brown water, from the vinegar, no drainage at all. Holiday weekend, this is exactly when this happens.
Sooooo I plunged and plunged and plunged, arms tired, then plunged one finger blocking the outlet in the front of the sink to force the action down to the pipe, not around the underside of the sink.
Result was a blocked sink now full of nasty gunk. Oh. More plunging. More. Then finally a gluguguging and the sink drained and is now clean and draining like a champion.
You definitely don't want a before picture, but here's an after picture
Repeat for the people at the back: this picture is after it drained, just to be clear.
I confused people yesterday by showing the pruned maranta plant, not a before picture of the shaggy looking specimen it was before pruning. And I find people read the pictures more than the words. So when I explain in words what's up, they miss a step.
As a lifelong word person as well as artist, I tend to forget this. But I do treasure the word people. And I'll try to be clearer.
Anyway I was so happy with the sink result, without plumbers or neighbors or wrenches, that I had to run in here and brag.
For me there's not a lot of difference between holiday weekends and others. Just no mail, no library. No big plans on any of them. Family of two, one of us working.
When I feel deprived, which I do, keenly, hearing friends' accounts of family visits, I try to remember my advantages. Which were illustrated recently in a chat with next door neighbor.
He has a life full of family and connections, high income even in retirement, active, smart, happy guy, seemingly enviable. We were talking about his butterfly bush which is huge and very visible, complete with wildlife, from my vantage point on the sofa.
I commented that I'd had hummingbird sightings, as I looked up from the artwork I'm beading, to rest my eyes. He suddenly got this really poignant longing expression, and said quietly, that must be a perfect life!
I remembered that other people's lives tend to look rosier to the observer. It was a good reminder. I know he longs to make art, and I've encouraged him to try his hand.
Like a lot of onlookers though, I think he wants to make art like someone who's been doing it for decades. Or playing music like a pro. Being a beginner and looking a fool, putting in the thousands of hours is a bit less appealing.
But just the experience of trying is worth it. I think a lot of us are trained to go for product rather than the experience of the making. You can have great satisfaction in making, even if what you make isn't exactly what you hoped for. And you don't have to show anyone.
Hop down from the soapbox, self, and move on to bread. I finally got around to making a giant loaf, whole wheat, oatmeal and white, yesterday
The oatmeal makes a lovely crisp not hard crust, and look at that crumb. The white opens it up a bit like that.
And here's the makings of a great supper.
Tomato lemon jam, Irish butter, Vermont sharp white cheddar, bread warm from the oven.
Jam with sharp cheese is a combo made in heaven.
Back to reading fluff now. Happy Labor Day, if you celebrate it, happy Bank Holiday, dear Brits, Happy New Year if you're embarking on Rosh Hashanah. Happy Monday if you are in yet another group!
Thank you. Rosh Hashana begins at sundown. I have done some laundry, cooked a pot of soup for later, cleaned up, eaten breakfast and taken care of the trash, groceries coming by 2 PM. Pretty good for early in the day. Enjoy your book and your day!
ReplyDeleteYou've already done a day's work, e! Enjoy the rest of your day.
DeleteHappy Labor Day!
ReplyDeleteMethinks your sink has a sympathy situation with mine because the last few days, I think I've heard a few air noises of the glunk glunk kind.
Oh-oh! Well, you know my remedy anyway!
DeleteI need to do my kitchen sink with the vinegar and baking soda and probably the plunger too. and I did understand that the picture of the prayer plant was the after picture. I don't mind unruly, I figure the plant knows how it wants to be. I thought you had posted a picture of it pre-pruning previously, I remember you writing about how it had grown and scrolling down through your posts I didn't find it but I see I messed several.
ReplyDeleteand on making art, it's the making part that I like, that engages me. the finished product/project is good but it's done, no more engagement. and I'm remind by your neighbor of the question to artists, how long did it take you to make that and the answer is 20 years or 30 years or however long you have been working at your craft.
The maranta was actually choking itself, so tight packed. It's imprisoned in a pot, really. I'm guessing it grows like Billy o in the wild.
DeleteSooooo true about how long did that take! I've had people seeing me do a rapid drawing say, look at that. It just took a minute. Nope, to get to where you can do that, it took all the years, in mine nearly eighty, of doing!
You're absolutely right! The joy of art or music (or doing anything, really) is in the process, not the end product!
ReplyDeleteI think it's the difference between wanting to make a fill in the blank and needing to make art, wherever it takes you, which is rarely what you'd have predicted.
DeleteIt's not plan and execute. It's surrender to your materials and where they need to go.
Excellent and persistent plumbing! Good for you! I would feel so accomplished if I managed that task.
ReplyDeleteAnd you're right about art- we all want to suddenly be able to do what it is we want to do with great talent and ability. Perhaps this is why artists of one kind are so good at other art forms. You know what it takes to become proficient and although it may be daunting, it also seems possible. You have done it before!
Speaking of art- that loaf of bread!
I suspect that the bits of home improvement I do along the way are related to making art. Your hands learn skills you can turn to other uses, you live with problem solving, you can't quit (!), you can think of several approaches to practically anything.
ReplyDeleteYou certainly learn to improvise if you're an artist with a low income. My first easel as a teenager was a tripod I rigged up from three bits of bamboo I found in the street, hitched with a rubber band. Worked fine while I found out whether I liked oil painting.
I never had any money for materials even if I knew what to buy. No-one to ask. Got a couple of tubes of flake white and burnt umber from a brother in law house painter, who gave me a small stretched canvas, which I painted over again and again, used turps lying around the house. Suited my purposes.
I also found it triggered my asthma, so that moved me on.
Congratulations on your successful unclogging of the sink. Didn't it make you feel good when you heard that glugging as it drained?! I use baking soda and vinegar to unstop drains too (even the toilet) and if they are stubborn I follow it up with almost boiling hot water.
ReplyDeleteHoliday weekends are no different for us either. I'm going to make a batch of brownies just to have something special. We used to see family on days like this but now they all go in different directions with the grandchildren grown.
That homemade bread with all the goodies sure looks tasty!
The myth of the three generation family all gathering Norman Rockwell style for holidays.
DeleteI can feel your neighbor's desire to have arrived at nirvana. Bet he was a VP of Manufacturing once.
ReplyDeleteSo funny. He was a high level exec in IT for a huge financial firm you may have heard of. Endless meetings, few decisions, no tangible product. Massive salary.
DeleteI'm so happy to read a happy ending to the clogged sink. I smiled that you "had to run in here to brag". I've so been there. My blog is the only place I can get kudos for accomplishing something most people don't even consider trying to do. :) That said, while I tend toward DIYing a lot of things, you often reach levels way above me.
ReplyDeleteYour thoughts above got mine turning over in my noggin'. I wonder if creative people are more problem solvers because of the way their brains work, or if it's the creative process that makes people problem solvers. Not sure if I formed that question exactly right, but the answer is probably a little of both, but I wonder which comes first...
One of my favorite play toys is vinegar and baking soda, lol. I found that following the vinegar and soda with a chaser of very hot water also works well, too. And the foamy part is great fun to watch. I also use that for getting the burned on bits off of cast iron skillets. Annnnd vinegar is a nice laundry substitute for bleach, when the directions say 'do not bleach" but you do need a whitener.
ReplyDeleteI hear the voice, Boud. That poor wistful fella, wanting to 'make art'. I always wanted to play the guitar. My mother, who was deaf in one ear and stubborn in the other, would say, "what do you want to do THAT for?" and, "you'll never practice, I know you." Im not sure if she was right, or I was just giving in. And of course over time the hands started to go, and I discovered just how amazingly expensive a guitar can be, and I've learned to be wistful-but satisfied at what I can do.
Becki, I think creativity and problem solving go together. I used to make reed baskets and sell them at craft shows. More times than not a woman would come up to me, hold up a basket and say, "it's lovely, but what would I PUT in it?" So I'd list the things she could use it for. And she'd laugh and put it down and walk away. le sigh.
Sinks are always clogging here too. Those attached stoppers catch everything and clog the sink easily. The days of the stopper attached to a metal chain are long gone.
ReplyDeleteThere must be a rash of sink clogs going around because we had to deal with one last week. I did everything - plunged, vinegar/baking soda, and even resorted to the big guns and tried Liquid Plumber (which I hate doing). Absolutely nothing worked beyond a large amount of gross gunk that surfaced. Finally resorted to calling the building super and he came with a different type of plunger and dealt very smartly with the issue in short order. Obviously the type of plunger you use matters...who knew! We now possess a new plunger - and hope we never have to use it!
ReplyDelete