365/2013 - Day 211

goodbye and good riddance

Today that awful weedy/viney/bush/thing that I dubbed "The Devil's Fingers" was finally defeated.  I have been fighting that thing since I moved into this house.  I called it TDF because of its long, long, tough, nasty, fingery roots that reached all the way down to Hell...LOL.

True, I have used some parts of TDF in a couple of projects but I am really relieved that thing is gone.

Adam and Aaron of Mowtown Outdoor Services had to use a chain and their truck to pull The Devil's Fingers out of that spot.  I cannot explain how satisfying that was for me!

I wish I had been outside to take more photos of the removal -- but this gives you a small idea of the tenacity of this thing.

Atomic Fireball Happy Hour's antlers/horns are a part of TDF...I want to do more with this guy.

This guy's antlers were also a part of TDF -- likewise, this guy needs more work but he is one of my favorites.

This is the LAST surviving piece of The Devil's Fingers...I am sure I will find something to do with it.

365 Day 331

a teensy bit of back story -- and -- a really great blog to go look at


Back on October 9th of this year my friend Andi came over to work on several of my weed beds (this particular one aka known earlier in the year as my lupines-near-the-mailbox area).

While Andi worked I hacked at the weed/bush/vine that has plagued me since I moved to Northville...the thing that I have started to call The Devil's Fingers because it is SO deeply rooted that we cannot remove it and it just keeps growing back no matter what I do to it.



As I was hacking at it and tossing the pieces onto the driveway I noticed that some of them looked kinda horns-y/antlers-y. I saved some of various sizes and put them in a pile on the porch thinking I would try and do something with them...most likely plaster cloth 'em.



These two were hacked and shaped to make a sort of a pair.















That night I had a fair amount of success with the first attempt at working with one of them. However, I really hated doing it because I was certain there were bugs inside of the wood and they would creep out and so I was extremely careful to cover up every possible "air hole" in the plaster.

Basically, I "felt" bugs on me while I worked with it (although I am pretty sure there really weren't any).

It has been in the "do something with it later pile" since then.





Back to present.

I have been thinking it would probably be a good idea to cover the partner piece. It is somewhat annoying to see the "do something with it later pile" mock me every time I walk by it (and I walk by it a LOT because I have to walk by it to get to the bathroom in my studio).


Okay. It has been pretty warm the last couple of days...relatively speaking. Warm enough that when I went out to the porch to retrieve the partner piece I started with the buggy feeling.

(I am still feeling itchy -- dry plaster cloth, dry!)


This is the first piece of plaster cloth in position.









I like how it looks like a patient getting a body cast.



















Why yes, I DID lay down a fresh white plastic bag underneath the partner piece so I could watch for bugs...how did you know?

And yes, I DID roll everything up -- EVERYTHING -- that was on the table and threw it all out...outside!


And I am STILL itching.










taaaa-daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!




















kinda pretty -- in a "forever" kinda way





















the two partner pieces together










HEY -- I wonder if this guy that I was guided to start on the other night is supposed to be some sort of creature with horns/antlers? Maybe that is why the Atomic Fireballs container was placed in that position?


Hmmmmmm...










I was just now looking at my friend Lynn Krawcyzk's blog. Look at her post for today -- how cool and amazing! And this, too -- I love it when stuff like this happens!