January 14, 2008 Greetings! Wow, time flies! So, on the 10th of October I got engaged to my sweetie of 7 years, Jay, and we got married on the 5th of December. That was just about the shortest engagement that would be doable in my mind. Then, we had Christmas and New Year's Eve to celebrate, so I'm finally able to get back into my work. Luckally I sign "Jen" as my new name is Jen Mulder. October 8, 2008 October already???? Well, I went to my first "Juried Art Show" last weekend and had a good time. It was really great to have a bunch of other artists to discuss with and share stories/ideas with. And, the weather held out, as well! This week I got my landscaping beds cleaned out for the impending leaf storm. And, I got a couple of halloween decorations out. I do intend to do more, though. ;) I have also finished prepairing my halloween costume for this year. Amazingly enough it didn't require any sewing and very little shopping! Wooo hooo!!! But, I'm not telling what it is! LOL September 10, 2008 Boy was I glad that my face was covered...... I was blushing when I won! I will be putting the 500 dollar prize money towards a potters wheel so I can keep making pots! September 4, 2008 Aah, school time. Not for me, but I did start a walking regimen with my neighbor, Trisha - who's a teacher, so we go when she gets home from school. I have updated my paintings - and have been doing more of that recently. I think I have another kiln full of pottery right now that I just need to get bisqued. YAY! I didn't do any firings this week, as I have been working on The Duckmobile. :) I hope to do a bit more of that tomorrow before we head to Sheboygan for the night and then I'll be driving her around with the new additions next week. I am hoping to get about half the hood done. We shall see if I can work with the garage door open tomorrow or not - the fumes give me a headache when I have to work with the door closed. I should be able to get the kiln firing for a few days next week and figure out what I'm donig with the glaze/firing situation. I am pretty sure it's official that the pottery school I was attending is closed for good now. :( My first few firings went well in my kiln at home. I did lose a couple pieces, I think I put some stuff in that wasn't completely dry the first time.... and I lost the penguin vase in the bisque this last time - I think I didn't press the body hard enough to get all the air out when I attached it to the vase.... the head and arms are still on there, though... LOL. This week I changed out all the paintings that I had at the Iron Horse Gallery in Mazomanie. They have gotten a ton of press lately, as they were included in the Top 10 Coolest Small Towns in the USA by Budget Travel Magazine, so that has been exciting. I also have some of my paintings in a 2nd gallery now, in Stoughton, WI. That was pretty fun. Stoughton is a cute town, with a lot of artists - much like Mazomanie in that respect. It's called the Spring Willow Gallery. I put up some new pics of the kittens - if I can still call them that. I did one "then and now" comparison. They've grown sooo much. August 12, 2008 Man, time flies! I can hardly believe that it is August already! I have been trying to get some inventory amassed, so I have been potting almost every day. I love it! I have also found time to make a solitary spirit dancer painting, but I have not found the time to finish the edges and get it ready for show, or get it on the website. I did however, join etsy.com. I opened my shop yesterday and put up a couple of my prints today! Please check it out: www.jenlandarts.etsy.com I will be adding prints as I have them made, paintings, and pottery. I have a glaze firing happening this week. I'm very excited. It is like Christmas when things work out and I get a bunch of new pieces. This is the first time I am firing one of my vases with handbuilding on them. In this batch I have an elephant, a lion, a giraffe, a fluke, and a bird. I just hope that I did ok glazing them. It is really one big experiment. I also have some nesting bowl sets, heart shaped bowls, spoon rests, and some soap dishes in this batch. I have done some other sculpturey vases that I will be hopefully bisquing at home in my new (used) kiln! I have not fired it off yet, so please wish me luck on that! So far, I have a turtle, a penguin, an octopus, a cat, a porcupine, and a dolphin. Yesterday I threw a bunch of canisters. Hopefully they will turn out well. My nephews visited just over a week ago and they both put on garbage bag smocks and tried their little hands at making pots. They are 3 and 5 now, so that was pretty fun. And, for those of you in the know, I did the centering for them! In other news, Jay and I gave our 75 gallon fishtank from the living room to my brother-in-law Bob - thanks for coming to get it! So, now we just have the one in the basement. The girls went to the vet for their annual check-up and are doing perfectly. Bruce has lost 5 pounds and is getting closer to his ideal weight - mind you he's still 20 lbs. LOL July 1, 2008 I have had 4 shows so far, and have had great feedback at the shows. My set up is still working well, even though this past weekend I had 40 mph winds and some hail! I have also found a printer and have gotten some prints of my work made. Things have been going well so far, and I hope to continue my success. The summer has been heating up here in Madison. I have gotten more ducks on my car and have been signing up for more art shows around WI. Our cats seem to be getting along better, which is really nice. I have a new pic on the pets page. The girls are still growing but still seem tiny compared to Bruce and Vicky. Now that they are bigger, they get into more and more of our stuff. And, our neighbors love how attentive they are when they are watching them from our windows. :) May 28, 2008 Hoo Boy! I was working 16 hour days 7 days a week getting ready for my Art Fair season. I did my first show this weekend, and am pleased with all the work I did. I couldn't have done it without all the help I received. Thank you guys! Hopefully, the next show I am in will have more foot traffic, but I did manage to sell a few things, so that's great. My mom came down to help me over the weekend, as Jay was singing with his chorus at Bratfest here in Madison on Saturday. Thanks, MOM! I've done a ton of updating to the site. I am interested in feedback if you have suggestions or if you find broken links or anything. We also finally got in our garden this weekend. It's minimal again like last year, but I am just happy to have it in. :) We installed some solar lights out in our front yard, and those are working out well so far. I also did some serious trimming of some of the bushes and trees in the yard. I'll have to try to get pictures up soon. April 30, 2008 Things have been going well. I have been very busy with creating Jenland Arts. I have worked at the co-op a couple days this month and have been working on expanding my techniques with the pottery. I have also been working on printing cards with my images and testing some of them on tee shirts. Please let me know if you find broken links. Thanks! April 2, 2008 Couldn't post yesterday - as this is all SERIOUS! LOL, but yesterday I joined the Iron Horse Gallery Co-op in Mazomanie, WI. :) I included paintings and pottery in my space. I will be manning The Gallery 2 days a month during my membership. The pictures of my installation as well as the link to The Gallery can be found here! Other than that I've been working on my pottery and paintings. Jay has been studying Spanish, and working towards his annual barbershop show this weekend. Details here! His parents will be coming for the event! We are excited and looking forward to it. A bunch of our friends are also planning on coming to the show and after glow... so that should make for a good time! Too bad my nephews aren't at quite the right age yet to come too. Brucie started passing blood in his urine yesterday.. so he spent the night at the emergency clinic... that was not fun, but he's home now and seems in better spirits. There were no major tiffs with the other 3 cats when he returned, so that's a good sign. Other than that, Vickers seems to be accepting the fact that she shares the house with the other 5 of us, and the girls astound daily! They are ~wow - growing every day. Jay finally got to experience yesterday what I deal with with Gracie in the painting studio when I'm there during the day... all the other cats have the sense to sleep.. she dances between my feet, occasionally jumping up to claw both my shoulders and hips or just reaching up to claw my love handles with her front claws in an "I'm bored, play with me" stretch! March 18, 2008 Greetings! We had an excellent holiday season. And, the new year is turning out well as well. As you may know, we had a banner year for snow this year in Madison. I wished for snowbanks like when I was a kid - they were taller than me! - and we certainly got that. We had a number of days joking with the neighbors as to where we were going to go with all the snow. It's melting now, though, which is nice because some of my flowers are trying to make an appearance though the snow!
I finally quit my job at the state lab of hygiene due to being sick all the time from allergens in the air, and I am starting to feel more like myself again, which is awesome. I've been doing some painting and have updated a couple new pics on the site today. Hopefully there will be more to follow as I get more rested and back to normal. I also have been taking pottery classes and you can see some of my pieces here. I just started my second class last week, so I should have more to add soon. We have taken two trips to MN this month and have enjoyed the time that we got to spend with Jay's family. This weekend, we are going to see Mike Doughty in Milwaukee. The kittens are getting pretty big. I updated a few pictures of them as well. November 20, 2007 Hoo-Boy! I can't believe that it's amost Thanksgiving. Jay has had concerts the past two weekends. My family (excepting Hunter Bobbler) came down to stay with us last weekend and see/hear Jay sing in is fall charity concert for the food pantries in the Madison Area. I should have had us take a picture with our tongues out as Donovan, my nephew with the yellow and blue jacket, gave us all pieces of his blue raspberry taffy during the final numbers.
Things with the house have been good. We are almost completely "winterized". And, we are almost done with the leaf clean up period. We have one tree that is still dropping a few leaves, but other than that it is mostly over. Before the boys came to visit, I built a large leaf pile for them. It was their first, and they had a great time being thrown into the pile, buried, and with leaf fights.
Jay and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary recently. Our relationship is so comfortable that I feel like I've been with him forever, but at the same time, thinking about 6 years is just wonderful to me. November 2, 2007 The pumpkin carving party was a success! Some saws were broken, but we had no loss of life or limb, no bandaids needed, so I'm calling it a success. And - even with a 40% chance, it didn't rain! woo hoo! Jay and I also went to a costume party for Halloween, and had a good time there. I dressed up for work and then stayed in my costume for handing out candy. We actually had over 50 little goblins come to our house!! It was a vast improvement over last year. Jay had a disembodied head hung in the tree in front of our house and he rigged up a spotlight on it - taking a 100 foot extension chord over the house and in through the poarch door. He had it plugged into a switch chord, so he could sit comfortably on the couch and turn the light on and off when groups approached it. It was pretty cool. Two of our neighbors had sweet decorations. Pictures of these events are on the Halloween 2007 page. Other than that, not much new to report. Jay is still learning his Spanish. I was pretty bizzy working on the carving party and then prepairing for the trick-or-treaters. So far we haen't gotten any complaints from the parents of the kids who got both a trick (whoopie cushion) and treat from us (candy of course). The girls got their sitiches/staples out on Thursday and Dr. Hook said that they were looking good. I brought in the soft e collar that Grace got to wear. She had scratched all the way through it in a few places. He got a good laugh out of the number she did on it. October 24, 2007 September was quite bizzie for us. We make the trek to Minneapolis for Ryan Fleming's 30th bithday party. Went to San Francisco for a few days for Dreamforce. Jay had much work, but I went along to see friends (sorry I didn't get to see all of you!) and eat sushi! Mmmm sushi! Then, we made a vegan wedding cake for Jason and Belena's wedding. See pics here. In the midst of making the wedding cake, my mom and I managed to make a Ho-Ho cake for Jay's birthday!
We had a wonderful time at the wedding reception - we didn't make it to the wedding as we were putting the final touches on the cake wheDivision End of Summer pot luck. It was enjoyed by all. Pics here. Last weekend we got to attend our friend Mike's "open studio" for his wood working. That was very fun. We also got to see most of the Badger Football Game with Ryan and Stacy and Lisa and Kyle. That was fun as well. Jay is studying Spanish this semester, it has been fun to practice with him. It's amazing how much I remember, but more amazing what I have forgotten. It's a good review for me. He got 19/20 on his first quiz so I guess I'm not confusing him tooo much. ;) This month is going to be bizzie with Dreamforce and making a wedding cake and Jay's birthday! Bachelor/Bachelorette party this weekend - should be interesting. I think it's my first one! September 4, 2007 Wow - it's been a while since I updated..... sheesh, we've been bizzie. Saw Dave Matthew's Band at Alpine Valley which was muddy but good. The trial run of the tiered cake worked out well. I have also made 3 test cakes since then. My calla lillies are going nuts that I planted. I am hoping that I get some flowers. Our tomatoe plants are still going berserkers and that's yummy in my tummy! I tried my hand at making kitty beds - those worked out well. Now our little meows don't have to fight over who gets which bed. I also made new pillows for our living room, as the new futon will be coming in a few weeks. And - I got curtains up in the spare bedroom. The sewing machine has had a bit of a work out as of late. This weekend we trimmed one of our trees - just the low growing branches, but it looks so good, I think I'll have to climb the other trees too! Jay's choir sang the National Anthem at one of the Madison Mallard's games - Jay ended up winning a tee. He has also had some singing engagements at the various local churches. We finally finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - and we loved it. Jay passed his summer course with flying colors - and just started the new semester today. I had my 1 year review at work and passed with flying colors, so I am happy about that. July 30th, 2007 Bruce is feeling better, and losing weight a little too fast??? is that possible?? He has made the adjustment to being back in the whole house well, although Vicky really enjoyed having the place all to herself. Friday we let the kittens out of quarantine, and they proceeded to run non-stop in the basement for a few hours. They have explored the whole house. We have been trying to get them on the feeding schedule with the other cats, and that seems to be working well actually. They have met some more humans and are very curious and playful, so that's a great sign too. They don't do so well with the clumping cat litter, so we have installed a few more litter boxes to make sure they are comfy. It'll just have to be that way for a little while. Vicky did some growling and hissing, but for the most part things have calmed down, and I didn't lose any sleep! woo hooo! I put up some new pics here. I had my first couple experiments with vegan cake making this weekend. That was fun. I have posted a cake page off of the projects page, if you want to check them out. In the garden, it seems like the raspberries are slowing down, just as the tomatoes are ripening all over the place. We also have had some kohl rabis and one of our broccoli plants is starting to flower. I got a whole mess of Calla Lilly bulbs off of craig's list and got those in pots, the ones that the squirrels/chipmunks haven't dug up seem to be doing well, they are starting to show a little green over the top of the dirt. :) I also got some free green and white hosta plants that I need to get in the ground this week. We finally got a little rain, but we are still having to water every other day. Jay is half way through his first class - Hans Christian Andersen - literature class. Soon he'll be done and then we can read the new Harry Potter. Should be good, and so far no one has wrecked it for me, although I know a bunch of people who are in the process of reading it right now. July 16th, 2007 I'm happy to say that Bruce is feeling better. And SURPRISE!! It's TWINS!! When we went to pick up our long anticipated new kitten, we ended up bringing her sister home too! We named her Grace. So, this morning we took them both to the vet and they were given clean bills of health! They are sooo cute. We had a fun weekend, we attending the reception for Chris and Colleen and got to see a bunch of people that I went to high school with. We also went over to a fellow reefer's home and got some corals for our downstairs fish tank. No pictures of that yet... was bizzie with the kittens. July 10th, 2007 Whew! We've had quite the roller coaster ride with Brucie Kitty.... he was in the hospital for a few days last week, and is going back to the vet today. Poor Buddy. He really does not enjoy his E Collar. LOL I got the landscaping done, 600 lbs of sand, 96 pavers for edging, and 35 bags of mulch. I did a little re-arranging of some plants as well. I am happy with the result. We are going to see Harry Potter tomorrow night! Woo hoo! Tonight Jay has practice with the Capital Chordsmen. Here's a pic of them singing at the Taste of Madison last year
Now he stands more in the middle, so it's hard to get a good shot of him when they are singing. I was pulling "before" pictures for the house projects that I am uploading, and I found this pic from Muir Woods in CA.... I thought it was too beautiful to not share.
That fungus? growing on the log reminds me of some of the plating coral we have in our fish tank! July 5th, 2007 Bruce stopped being able to urinate. He went into the kitty hospital on Tuesday night. I should be able to get him home tonight!!! He did, however, pull out his catheter 2 times!! Little punk even on meds! LOL Jay is in MN for the holiday with his family, but I'm working on the house. We get Molly kitty in a week! We are very excited. June 27th, 2007 We have some of the second coat of the trim paint on, and it's going well. Last night it was too humid and hot for me to be up on a ladder... but I think we'll finish this weekend. :) Then I'll post pics. Ryan Hagemeier and his wife Stacy moved to Madison this month, and we have seen them a few times. They are frantically working on getting settled. Paul Schrauth also came down for an interview this week, and it was nice to be able to have lunch with him while he was in town. Other than that, not too much is new - the gardens are going well - the tomato plants are taller than I am! We have plenty of fruits on the vine there, as well as raspberries. My kohl rabi is starting to show signs of fattening, and I have many blossoms on the cucumber plants. Hopefully I'll still be able to get the rain barrels on soon. May 30th, 2007 It has been an interesting Spring. We have had nice weather, and have had our gardens planted for a few weeks and painting the house. :) This spring, we did some finishing and plumbing work in the laundry room, as well as having installed an RO/DI water filter for our fish. We have two reef tanks now. We converted the one in the Living Room to a Reef in March, and have since set up another tank in the Rec Room which will be a Reef eventually. Pictures can be found on the Fishies page. We are also adopting a new kitten. Her name is Molly and she's a Savannah kitten. We will get her in July. We are very excited. Right now she's just under a month old. She can be found on the Molly Kitty Page. We are also in the process of re-painting the house. Jay and I went paint color shopping, and both picked the same color as number 1. We put it on our shed, but will be doing the house soon. Pictures are on the Projects page for the house and the garden. February 27, 2007 We have almost made it through a winter here in Madison. The worst of the snow came last weekend. We got a little over 16 inches. Here are some pics! This was after about 7 inches or so:
This is after the 2nd wave hit!
yes, the snow is over my head here
When we finished shoveling, I felt like my arms would fall off!
We have had a bunch of wildlife action here, though. We fee the squirrels suet in the back at about 1 block per every week and a half, and cardinals continually come to the front feeder. The flying squirrels can be seen eating the suet here on you tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnnJmbKZxGg Here are some cardinal shots:
Saturday the 16th of December, 2006 Today, it’s overcast and around 40 here in Madison. We are enjoying the milder weather. The summer was good. We put in our hot tub, after having the electrical upgraded. We got a new roof on the house because of a hailstorm and got to visit both of our families. We are enjoying Madison quite a bit.We have found that there are flying squirrels in the neighborhood. And we get many cardinals and other birds on our bird feeder. I am working at the State Laboratory of Hygiene on campus. I get to do a ton of reading and am enjoying commuting by bus. Jay is enjoying working from home, as well. Jay had to work in Dublin, Ireland the last week of November this year and I got to tag along. Here are some pictures. Yes, we are still bad at taking bunches of photos. We went camping this spring at Devil’s Lake. This fall we took a ballroom dancing course, and had a blast. Thanks for reading my journal, and Happy Holidays! Monday the 27th of March, 2006 Greetings from Wisconsin! That's right - Jay and I have moved to Madison, WI! We got here last Monday night, the movers brought our things on Wednesday night and we are mostly moved in. We did some work in the yard over the weekend, and have found our first flowers!
We also put up a bird feeder and have had our first customer - check him out!
Not quite the type of bird we were hoping for!! Other than that, we should have our salt water fish tank by the end of the week. As you can see above, there is a little bit of snow left on the North side of our house. We are very happy with our new digs. More soon! |
