Maybe it has something to do with the fact that for the second year in a row, it never stopped raining. We're used to rainy springs but '18 and '19, I don't think we had an entire week without rain from April on...
And I'm not talking summer showers; none of this sprinkle stuff. No, when it rains, it rains for hours and we get measurable inches. I do like that the lakes and creek are at near flood levels in October, it just seems healthy but I'm tired of only getting three nice days in a row before I have to endure another string of gray, wet days. Minneapolis is trying to become Portland in more ways than one.
So maybe the water table has something to do with it but we're usually in peak color by the end of the first week of October and this year the trees have barely begun to turn. it still looks like summer out my front window.
But it's clearly autumn in the back yard.
There are trees every block or so that are in full color regalia and they remind me of the scene at the ball in Start the Revolution Without Me, in which the King is the only guy in costume. Everyone else is in full ball dress and he's in a chicken costume. Yes, its very funny. The trees are like "Come on, guys; it's October! Party!!" and all the other trees are so "Gawd you're such a loser. No one shows up this early."
MJ, Katie and I walked around Lake of the Isles two days ago. It was 70 degrees under a clear blue sky and the lake was a mirror. MJ pointed at a bank of trees that were all green but one in the middle had turned bright red up on top. "that tree is like a third grader who needs a bra." she said. We all laughed because apparently we're mean girls.
Oh wait, the mean girls are usually the ones who needed bras in third grade. Hey, life is tough for everyone; being hypersensitive about it just makes it hyper worse. Dave Chappelle gets it.
Business is booming. For the first time since the housing market crashed and nearly took the global economy with it (back in '08), I've got more orders than I can possibly fill in a week. For 34 years, I thought needlepoint was recession proof, then that happened. But I always had enough orders to keep busy so I didn't have to worry too much, I could keep my phony 'job'. During the best of times, I had a six week backlog of orders. Today, I have enough to keep me busy for three weeks, so YAY!
Unemployment is the lowest it's been in 50 years, everyone is making more money and people can actually spend some of it on frivolity, which means I get to keep painting. So, what does it tell you that one political party wants to change all that?
The Democratic party loves poor people so much it want to create more of them.
The Republican party loves poor people so much it wants to turn them into rich people.
Choose wisely.
The Twins were easily vanquished by the Yankees, so its a good thing we painted Twins' themed items last week.
Saturday I went to Katie's house and hung out with her and BoopityBoop all day. We had planned on painting some furniture but as usual, it rained all day so we couldn't. We did test out some color on a drawer and clean some brass pulls, which look lovely. Then I made a tarp for the girls' play castle in the back yard. Katie had gotten some wood snaps to attach it. We finished the sewing at dusk and were out there, pounding in snaps as darkness fell. We go the last snap on the tarp and attached it all in full dark. There was a gusty wind fighting us every step of the way but I told Kt, if it lasts the night, nothing will tear that tarp off.
It lasted the night! And it looked very pretty in the morning sunshine. The rest of the outdoor fabric will be made into curtains to make a play house out of the lower part of the castle.
Now I have to get back to work. I love having a big pile of orders.