paros day 23: winston is finished

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Today has been another productive day, and to be honest I really hope this feeling continues. I’ve been painting all day and I feel great. I feel I’ve earned my Netflix tonight. I’m making some bolognese and will sit on the couch and watch Season 7 of Sons of Anarchy.

I gotta be honest here, my attention began to waver in Season 6. They were going downhill so badly, everything that happened lead to death and disaster… I could tell where this was going to end. But I’m not quitter. Plus I do want to know how it all ends. Badly. I know.

Anyway, here is Winston. Finished now except for his coat of spray sealant.

Winston was made using cardboard, toilet paper rolls,newspaper and a whole lotta masking tape to create the basic shape. And craft glue. The details were created using air dry clay, a mix of plaster with glue and water on fabric or toilet paper. And a bit more air dry clay. He was painted using artist acrylic paint.

To be honest I love the look of him from behind or the side, he looks more real from there. Still, over the last few days I’ve tripped over him a few times thinking he was a dog that just wasn’t getting of the way!

Not bad for papier mache though…

Hope he likes his new job guarding a tattoo parlour.

That’s all for today. The pasta is already cooking!

z

paros day 22: painting on marble

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Another cold, windy, rainy day.

I discovered that when its windy my new neighbour likes to smoke out the back in his little yard and the smell comes straight into my bedroom. NOT happy about that. Took me ages to get to sleep again, this time due to cigarette smoke. ugh.

Other than that I had an exciting day today. I drove to Aliki to buy bread at the bakery. I also stopped at the nursery to have a look around at all the beautiful plants I won’t be buying.

Back home I’m working painting projects. The way my home is I can really only work at one type of thing at a time. There is only so much room to spread out stuff so I have to limit it to related projects. Right now its painting on anything and everything.

But thats ok. Its better for me to concentrate on one type of creativity at a time cause I get better the more I do.

For instance, this was the first painting on parian marble I did:

Ok… Its ok. But I work with a mix of acrylic paints, watercolour and pencils of different types (watercolour, regular, pastel). And I forgot the cardinal rule… never use water based sealer on waterbased media. sigh. I smeared it a bit. Its not SO bad, but I can see it and I’m not happy. It lost its sharpness. Its a really heavy piece of marble so shipping will be very expensive but I’ll give to anyone who wants it provided you pay shipping costs.

The next ones haven’t been sealed yet but I’m going to use the oil bases spray sealer/varnish.

These were done of slightly thinner pieces of marble.

I absolutely love these. I’m eager to do more. I’m running out of marble pieces though so will soon need to do a run to the place where I get them. I really hope they have pieces now that most places are closed. I know the shade place opposite me (which is normally open all day for like 12 hours or more) has been closed for over a week. They’re obviously not getting any work right now. If its the same with the marble place there won’t be many offcuts.

If I run out I guess I can go back to rocks. They’re free on the beach!

z

paros day 21: crafting again

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Today was a much better day. I got up early and Lainee and I went for a long walk despite the strong wind and the threat of rain. That’s always a good way to start the day. Good thing too cause I spent the rest of the day up to my elbows in craft stuff. Poor Lainee had to cross her legs!

This time we walked towards Ag. Irini but it was too windy to go all the way to the sea. We did meet some friends along the way though…

And noticed some gorgeous flowers among the weeds. I’ve never seen one of these before…

Back at home I went back to work on Winston the bulldog for quite a bit. He’s drying at the moment. I’ll update on him tomorrow.

Meanwhile I didn’t waste the day like I have tended to do lately. After putting Winston aside I did some painting which I’ll share when I take good photos. I also tried my hand at some ‘zero waste’ wash cloths.

I was looking at websites about cutting down on waste and thought these little things looked cute. The basic idea is to make your own wash cloths for doing dishes or wiping down benches using scraps you already have instead of buying sponges you throw away. When these get dirty you toss them in the washing machine.

I made these as scrubby washcloths – the back is microfibre and the front is a double layer of burlap I had in my fabric stash. As you can see I had pink in both! It was meant to be… The idea is that the burlap is stiff enough to scrub and the microfibre soft enough to wash. We shall see.

It wasn’t till after I finished them that I wondered why you need to make your own when you can, basically, just wash and re-use the ones you buy…? Whatever. I made these now so I’ll give them a try.

Tomorrow I might make myself some makeup remover pads using some soft cotton if I can find any in my stash.

You have a lot of time to think when you’re at home creating on your own… I’ve been thinking about this whole situation we find ourselves in and I wonder how and when things will get back to normal. The greek government has just extended the isolation restrictions till the end of April. A lot of people are thinking that things will go back to normal after that. Or by summer.

I don’t know… but I very much doubt it.

I mean… just think about this: Greece shut down quickly and has been pretty successful in slowing the rate of infection. So, what’s the plan now? We keep isolating and minimizing exposure and limit the spread till the ‘curve flattens’. Does that mean we keep this up till there are no more new cases? Or till there are under 10 new cases a day? How does that work? If we simply have less cases and we go back to normal, we’re back to square one again in a very short time.

Let’s say the plan is that we lift restrictions once no new cases are reported for a period of time. Say a month. No new cases in a month anywhere in Greece. What then? We all go back to our normal lives cause there are no more carriers or sick people to spread the virus, right? But if one person gets the virus we’re basically back in the same boat again. Do we go back to normal but keep the borders closed till the entire world has no new cases for a month? How does this work? More importantly, how long does that take? And how do we know? Not everyone in the world is tested, and even if they are, doesn’t mean they’re clear forever… they could get it tomorrow or next month. Is there an end to this?

These are the things that keep me up at night.

I need to sleep… Last night I gave up and watched Netflix till 2.30am cause my mind just would not stop.

I hope I have better luck tonight.

z

paros day 20: bulldog update

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Its been a pretty blah day. There’s a really strong wind and its been raining on and off so its been an indoor day today. Only pee breaks outside (for Lainee, not me. I can use the indoor toilet!)

So after doing the usual time wasting stuff around breakfast I got stuck into Winston. Yeah… the name suits him and I basically just started thinking of him as that…

He’s pretty much done now. All the basics are done and he only needs fine tuning. That doesn’t mean there won’t be more carving and adding, it just means the main shape is now done. I worked with plaster and strips of fabric today, the odd bit of toilet paper soaked in the mixture to fill gaps.

Man plaster dries fast… I had to make it in small batches or it became impossible to work with.

I added his feet today. Not sure how the nails are going to hold… I made the mistake of adding them on, I should have carved them out… I reinforced them with some hot glue so lets just hope they hold. He’s pretty sturdy otherwise.

He’s going to spend at least the rest of today in front of the dehumidifier, maybe most of tomorrow as well. I’ll see when I look at him tomorrow. I want him totally dry before I start painting but he still needs some tweaking. His feet may be ‘on’ but they’re not perfect yet. And his face might need a bit more work. I’m not totally happy with it.

Other than that, I have done little today. After I put Winston down to dry I had lunch and watched a bit of Netflix and felt really sleepy… so I had a nap. A long one. Ugh.

My cousin Zefi is exercising and doing her gym class online. I’m a vegetable. She admires my work, I admire her will to not give up and turn into Jabba the Hutt.

I think about exercising then sit down and let the feeling pass. I think about what I can cook, I wash some dishes, tidy a bit now and then… I look at projects and get all excited about them, then I sit down and let that feeling pass too. I don’t get it. I love being at home. Usually when the weather is bad I’m happy cause I have an excuse to stay in and do my own stuff…

I guess having to do it instead of choosing to do it is the difference.

At least when the weather is nice I get out and walk and feel like I’m doing something!

z

Oh man. I just took a mouthful of coffee and had to sneeze. Word of advice: Don’t do it.

paros day 19 – the bulldog takes shape

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Lainee met the bulldog for the first time this morning. I mean, she’s seen this amorphous thing on the kitchen table but had no idea it was a dog till this morning when I put him down in front of the dehumidifier to help speed up the drying process.

I mean he has a face now. 

He still gets stints of time on his back as I fixed the back legs and his tummy…

He now has hocks for instance, something that was sorely missing till today.

paros day 18 – sewing table make-over

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The sewing table make over is finally complete and its back home where it belongs.

I can’t find any good before photos so these will have to do…

The top wasn’t in bad condition but I put some thick plastic over it originally to keep anything I sewed clean. Since I also painted on the table when I lived at my grandmother’s house I didn’t want to get paint on it either.

It was basically a pretty boring brown table with lots of chew damage on 2 of its legs. It was given to me by a good friend (the one who owns the dog who eats table legs). You can just see some of the damage on the right hand side in the above photo.

Anyway, I’ve had it for about a year and it was time to repaint and finish it. I’ve shared some during pics somewhere in the blog but (again) can’t find them right now so you’ll have to trust me. It was pretty bad. It took a lot of wood filler to make the legs look NOT  like a dog toy. But I managed more or less. I could have done more filler but a few imperfections are ok with me.

I sanded and  re-finished the top using an oil based gloss to give it a really good shine.

I used DIY chalk paint to do the legs. It wasn’t my best paint, I’m still not quite used to what I can and can’t buy in Greece. Still, I made it work. No wax on it so far, but that’s ok. I love the look of it as it is.

I kept the original tiny plastic drawer pulls as they’re too cute to replace. Not to mention I don’t have a big collection of handles and pulls like I did in my workshop in Tasmania…

Lainee had a little trim today and is resting on the cowhide rug as I type this. She’s also happy the sewing table is home and thinks its a successful make-over. 

Other than that I’ve been working on the bulldog, took Lainee out for a couple of walks and made semolina pudding. Yum. For once it worked out ok. Yay for me.

Today was a great day!

z

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paros day 17 – i’m back

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Yes, another day late post, but I had a good day yesterday. I didn’t do an awful lot creative wise, but I spent time outdoors which was great. Its spring here now and the fields are blooming and that’s always a pleasure.

I took Lainee out for 3 long walks yesterday, one by the sea, one in the country and one in town. Parikia is deserted. Its like the middle of winter, not a soul to be seen, not a single shop open except the bakery.

At this time of year people usually start freshening up the paint on the streets.

Leo, the market street cat, rests on the cobblestones probably wondering why its so quiet. This time of year is normally really busy with people getting their shops ready for summer. A lot also open for Easter at the end of this month, but I doubt we’ll be having much of an Easter this year. As far as I could see only one building was being renovated, the rest are all closed and waiting.

Meanwhile, back at home I did a bit more work on the bulldog and a lot of thinking of how to proceed. I didn’t sleep too well the other night trying to work out how to do the face. My mind wouldn’t stop niggling at it. Its not easy to do with paper, all those wrinkles which need molding… I think I’ve come up with some ideas. We’ll see when I tackle it today.

I also gave the table its last coat of DIY chalk paint on the legs and will be going to my uncle’s place today to bring it home this afternoon. I don’t have any wax to treat it with and I hope that will be ok. I really don’t want to spend the $$ they’re charging for stuff like that right now. Worse comes to worse, I’ll live with it as it is and give it another coat of paint and wax once I have some income.

I love the top though. I gave it three coats of gloss oil based varnish and its like glass. Good for a sewing table!

Of course bringing it home means I have to empty the spot where it lives… that spot has become a storage area for anything and everything I don’t have a spot for. Ugh. But I’ll be happy to have my sewing table back so I can do some sewing projects again.

Better go and get on with the day. I have things to do, places to go and people to see (not really!) I’m already halfway through Season 3 of Sons of Anarchy, so I can consider them friends to see… 🙂

z

paros day 16: laziness struck…

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Yesterday was one of those days…

It started off fine. Got up at 8am, Fed the cat, took Lainee for a quick walk, did some yoga, had breakfast, walked to the garage to do another coat on the table.

Then I came home to begin doing something. Anything.

I did another coat of paper on the bulldog, but had no inspiration to start forming the head.

I gave in to the couch and Netflix.

And I ate.

This happens to me now and then. I have bursts of energy which I put into making things, then I crash and can’t motivate myself to wash the dishes.

I struggle with some sort of depression. I just know that ever since I can remember I’ve felt different. I’d get these feelings and put them down to the fact that I questioned life while those around me sort of just went on with it, living the life they were expected to live. For instance, my female cousins all went to school and thought about the day they would marry and have children of their own. I wanted more from life. I didn’t know what I wanted, but I knew there had to be more to life than that for me.

I put it down to thinking too much. I thought it was cause they didn’t think beyond the everyday and truly believed they were happier than I was – they didn’t seem to struggle with any feelings of dissatisfaction or question their place in life like I did.

There were things that happened in my life at that time which may have been the reason I felt like that, but then again, maybe it was always there, in me.

When I was 10 we moved from Australia to Greece, leaving everything I knew and everyone I loved behind. I was 10. Up till then I never saw anyone who lived in Greece. I thought I’d never see the people I loved again. It was devastating.

I hated Greece. I hated everything about it (a feeling that’s hard to get rid of entirely). I went to American, then English, schools. I was greek but I thought in English and was educated in English. My parents expected me to act like the greek girls next door (good greek girls) when I had nothing in common with them. This just made the feeling of not belonging anywhere much stronger. Till I found my people in the punk world – greek kids who rebelled against society’s expectations.

The worst time for me was during art school when I actually went through a phase of not being able to get out of bed during the day and unable to sleep at night. I found I would cry a lot and would feel: ‘I don’t know why I’m so miserable. My life is good, I’m not unhappy, why do I feel like this?’

These were feelings I’ve often had in my life. The tears being just below the surface, or anger… yet nothing was really wrong.

My doctor back then recommended therapy and said it was a hormonal imbalance that could be corrected with pills. I’ve been on ‘happy pills’ for years. I only need a tiny dose, enough to maintain the level of energy I like to have most of the time. But sometimes this low breaks through.

In general, as long as I take my daily dose of happy I’m good. I sometimes have low days but they’re not rock bottom low where I cry for no reason. I maintain a sort of balance where most of the time I’m content and inspired to do things. Just sometimes the call of wallowing on the couch becomes too strong to resist. Hence this post is a day late.

I try not to feel guilty about wasting time but its hard to not beat myself up about it. Its different to days where I chose to take it easy and sit on the porch and read or have a nap, its more of a destructive type of wallowing where I eat junk cause I dislike myself.

It has nothing to do with the lockdown. I love being home, surrounded by things I love. I love doing my own thing. Yes, I’m very social so I do miss having a coffee with friends, but its not the be all and end all of my life and I still talk to friends every day.

I just have to find a way to never let this feeling go beyond one afternoon. Its not how I want to live or who I want to be.

Its 9.30am. Time to get up and get out for a walk, give the table another coat of paint, start working on something, anything.

And stop eating junk.

z

 

paros day 15: the curtain unveiled!

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lacecurtain1

I’ve finally finished the curtain!

I’m so pleased with it. I’ve wanted one of these since I first saw one on Pinterest years ago.

lacecurtain2

In the end, I decided a pocket would do, no rings, no tabs, no bows. Just a simple pocket. Partly cause I was too lazy to make tabs or bows, but mainly cause it would hang too low if I added those things.

lacecurtain4

The couch sits under the window. Its not ideal, but its a small place and I have an L shaped lounge suite, part of which sits on that wall, under the window. I love having a big corner lounge suite, but getting to the window to open, shut or clean it can be a total pain in the butt, having to climb onto the couch to do anything.

lacecurtain5

But I love my new curtain.

The house is still a mess, but the curtain looks darn good!

So, remember this cute little tap?

curtaintieback2

Mystery solved. Its my curtain tieback.  Well, actually I can simply toss the curtain over the tap to hold it back, or I can use the hemp string tassle I made back in Tasmania to hold it back. I’m going with the tassle for now.

detail1

I also did a few bits and pieces today – while the couch was out of the way so I could sort out the curtain, I took the opportunity to drill holes to put up my rustic chalkboard (which you can see on my porch in Tasmania here) and the fish mobile Wayne made me. I love that corner now. Its me!

corner1

The cubbies are almost finished. I still have to find the patience to make another 16 little boxes, then I need to find some kind of knobs for them so I can get them out! Its not easy making little cardboard boxes… I’ll get there.

Today has been a good day. I got up at 8am as I said I would. I did morning wake-up yoga, then was out the door by 10am. I did the first coat of paint on the sewing table and the second coat of varnish on the top. Its getting there.

I also asked the guys at the transport company just down the road if I could have a couple of pallets. They said no…

Then Lainee and I walked all the way into town cause it was a nice day. I collected some plant cuttings along the way and put them in some soil when I got home. Fingers crossed on those.

The seeds I planted are apparently doing well. I spoke to my friend who’s been babysitting them since I went to Athens. I haven’t seen her to pick them up due to quarantine, but I got a photo of the lavatera which is going great.

If all goes well we’ll have your lavatera growing on a greek island Ginny!

z

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paros day 14: a wire wreath

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Today was one of those glorious days you get in spring. Warm but not hot, a breeze but no strong wind. I ventured down into the storage room in the basement to bring up the outdoor table and chairs so I can sit outside and enjoy days like this.

And let me tell you, it took bravery to venture down there! Its full of rat and mice s%$t and none of the rat poison blocks I put down there have been so much as nibbled on. We have smart rats here on Paros…

Anyway, I brought out some boxes of stuff. To be honest its not all the stuff I thought I had down there, but at least now I have a clearer picture of what I do and don’t have.

So, having braved the rat infested dungeon, I earned a frappe and some time in the sun working on something relaxing and listening to some stand-up.

Last week I’d picked up a vine on one of my walks and twisted it into a wreath. Today I used some rusty wire bits and some beads to create this wreath.

As I mentioned, the wreath is made of rusty wire pieces and the vine. I collect any bits of rusty wire I find on my walks. Basically I never met a piece of rusty wire (or metal) I didn’t love. A lot of the time once I pick up a piece I make it into a heart as I walk, then bring it home and hang it above my sink. Today I used two of those hearts as part of my wreath.

I used some of my very fine gold coloured wire to hold the whole thing together and added beads for a bit of colour and bling.

I think it turned out pretty okay. I’ll most likely put it on Facebook for sale. Maybe someone will fall in love with it.

Other than that I didn’t get a lot done today. The bare minimum of housework and I thought about sewing the curtain tabs but haven’t managed to do that yet. I think I’ll tackle that tomorrow afternoon. Its meant to rain so I will still walk to the garage in the morning to do more on the sewing table. All I did there this morning was one coat of varnish on the top and drawers. I figure I can get a coat of paint on the legs tomorrow and another coat of varnish on the top. Providing I don’t have to do more gap filling.

Tonight I think I’ll go to bed early as I’ve decided to turn over a new leaf and get some real structure into my days. That means setting my alarm for 8am. Its all very well to wake up late, take a walk, work on whatever I feel like, watch Netflix etc. But maybe I need to actually have some kind of schedule. I don’t like wasting this precious time I have.

I’ll let you know how I go with it. (hahaha!)

z