gear, originally uploaded by mintyfresh.

Things are just a wee bit insane here at my house these days. I work all day, I sew all night, and then sometime, around 3 am or so, I fall blissfully into bed and remain there for oh….four more hours before I get up and do it all again. Every day. God how I have started to live for weekends!

Pictured above is the result of tonight’s session. Nearly thirty camera straps, some pillows, and some massive studio cleanup. This place is like a war zone – but maybe only a war where the thread was fighting the seam rippers and lost out to the fabric scrap army.

Anyhow, on to my funny story. Some of you might remember how once upon a time I mentioned I was allergic to nickel. You know, nothing major. Just allergic to my pants. And belts. And rings. And AIRLINE ARMRESTS. And some razor blades. Nothing terribly uncomfortable.

A few weeks ago I went to the dentist for a cleaning. And I thought nothing of it. Until I could no longer drink a glass of water without dreaming of painkillers. Apparently if you are allergic to nickel, your friends? Not dentists’ tools. Because HEY, THOSE ARE NICKEL PLATED. And when you ask your dentist? They are all “how should we know what they’re made of?” Hmm.

They will say NO, not nickel plated. Ha! Sure! Tell that to my four-advil-a-day habit since I was last in your dentists’ chair.

Also kind of funny is my impending root canal. Ha ha ha funny root canal. Guess what insurance-approved crowns have in them? I have never had a better excuse to skip the dentist.

In other news, here’s what I’ve been distracting myself with lately to maintain some sort of sanity:

• chow
• concierge.com
• and making books with blurb

stripes, originally uploaded by mintyfresh.

one of the MANY MANY projects that’s working its way out of my studio.

I have a WIP pile that’s about, oh – three quilts, some baby onesies, 100 guitar straps, 100 camera straps, and goodness knows how many other things, big. And some of these projects go WAY back (and are WAY overdue). Yikes.

Atomic Rooster, originally uploaded by mintyfresh.

I am actually going to post something here – a photo even – that was taken outside of my house for a change. I really have to start hanging with my camera more.

This shot is nothing special, but hey – did you hear that Somerset House pretty much collapsed on the weekend? We did too, so we wandered over to check it out on Sunday. Lucky for us we did, since it gave us a chance to check out the Atomic Rooster (warning: website still under construction) – a promising new local bar & bistro at the Somerset/Bank intersection that showcases local arts talent, and serves up a good (and reasonably priced) brunch in the heart of Centretown. It’s a GREAT spot for people watching.