FLYING GECKO...more adventures with my wild and crazy DH

CH701 "STOL Aircraft" (short take off/landing)

Various pics of the plane we want that others have built
My DH has recently become interested in a small sport aircraft you build yourself. (yes, the motorcycle mania has worn off - on to newer and more dangerous things...who'd have thought?)It seats 2, is all aluminum can take off in 50 ft, land in 90 ft and cruises at 90 MPH. It also has an emergency parachute that brings the plane down at 10 MPH. It requires a "sports" pilot license, which is 20 hrs instead of the usual 40, plus ground school. He had decided he would wait until we moved to the mainland to purchase the kit and to build it at the factory's Calif outlet/hangar, where they rent
you space and lend you the tools. ...and then.......

He tripped across this little beauty,
just newly built with only a few hours of flight time - it was in its beginning process of being certified. The talented gentleman and his wife, who built it, are forced to sell their baby for financial reasons. The wife is an artist and the idea of a "flying gecko" came to her in a dream. It is sold, but the seller informed us yesterday that the new owners still haven't paid for it, so the deal might fall through...
.........and if it does, the "Flying Gecko" (how appropriate for us is that?) will be ours!
Keep your fingers crossed!

The completed Project....

This is the finished purse for Lorri:

Front and Back


CLOSER....

....Side
Yeah! All done!

Jericho is over....and a project almost finished....

My job is finally coming to an end! Wednesday i prep for an all nighter 2nd unit shoot on Thursday into Friday. I should be done around 5 am Friday, and I have a 10 am plane to Sacramento. There I'll spend about 10 days with my dad, boxing up and photographing things of my moms. We're going to post all of my moms stuff on line so all of my sisters and my brother can decide what they would like to have. The rest I will pack and store.
....and then, i get to go home to my DH, our dog Chalupa, and my ART!
Yeah.
I have one more project due - one that my fiber artist friend Lorri Scott is sponsoring. Lorri asked for volunteers to take a packet of trims, buttons and fabrics that she has put together and is selling, and to turn them into a piece of art and then send it to her to use for her display at Art and Soul, etc, where she will be selling the packets. In return, she sent you a second packet to use for yourself, later. I was going to turn my packet into a doll, but my friend Joanne had already done that, so I decided to make a purse...something I've never made before. My biggest obstacle was that I was not at home, and I had no sewing machine in Los Angeles.

These are some of the elements in my packet. Actually the pic just shows some of the cut up leftovers from my project. I didn't have the sense to photograph the packet with all the pieces together and pretty before I started. There were also buttons, a beautiful piece of black etched silk, more trims and squares of black and white printed silk - but I used all of those pieces in making my project.

This is the purse lining, the pocket, side panels and the strap

...and this is the purse panel. The big eye is the front and the eye vines are the back. The center of the eyes all get swarovski crystals, but i haven't added those yet. There are swarovski crystals on both sides and lots of machine stitching.....yes, i couldn't stand it any longer, i broke down and bought a $75 "shark" sewing machine at Target. Whoever heard of Shark? But it has a 25 yr warranty and it worked just great. I'll leave it with my son for the next time I am in Los Angeles...I always seem to have a project that needs a sewing machine .... I'll probably put some pink embroidery on the front panel. Then the furry pink and black trim goes on the edges, and then i have to sew it all together....oh, and all of the eyes have crystal "tear" beads...as in laughing so hard they are crying..... Here's a close up of the back:
So as usual I sort of over complicated the project. DJ Pettitt makes it all look so easy - she can do one in less than a day! I, on the other hand mess it up and then have to improvise solutions to fix it, which make it more complicated and then when I'm satisfied I do something like use acetone to clean some glue which puts a purple spot on the black acetate, which i then I have stain black, but my black doesn't match the acetate's black, so then i embroider over it and when i iron it, i make a hole, so I add a striped patch, etc etc. Ever had a project that went like that? It just seems endless because I keep screwing it up.....
I will post the finished project as soon as (HAH) i finish it.

...time marches on....

My Uncle died last week. Friday was his funeral. My Uncle Bobby was one of my mom's younger brothers. Funny, I always thought he was wayyyy younger than my mom, but I guess they were just 4 years apart. He sure looked really young, even up to last year, when I saw him last, before he got sick. My mom always told the story of how Uncle Bobby returned from the war and his arm had been injured and was paralyzed and they wanted to cut it off - but she wouldn't let them. Low and behold, after her massaging it daily, several months later he was able to use his hand and arm again...not perfectly, but it worked.

Uncle Bobby was really really handsome. He was an impressive dancer and was full of the dickens. He and his older brother, Uncle Richard, loved to pinch our cheeks and say "ay, chula", and we always squirmed and made faces when they did it, but we loved it! He was also an amzing cook- no bar-b-que was complete unless Uncle Bobby had a hand in it!

I was only able to attend the Catholic mass part of his funeral, where his family was given plaques from the Knights of Columbus in honor of him. It was in a huge church - and the church was packed! Later, at the gravesite, he was given a 21 gun Salute, for his heroism in WWII.

He will be deeply missed.


Robert A. Maria
1926 - 2007

Robert A. Maria, 81, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2007, at his home, surrounded by his loving family. His warm and generous spirit will be missed by all who knew him.
Bobby was born on April 4, 1926, in Oxnard, where he was a lifelong resident. Bobby's charm was legendary. As a young man, Bobby loved to dance. In 1944, Bobby was working as a longshoreman in Port Hueneme when he was drafted into the Army during World War II. He fought in the Pacific Campaign and at 18 received the Bronze Star in the battle for Okinawa and the Silver Star for heroism in the battles in Saipan. On June 14, 1945, he was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in action.
He worked 16 years for the Construction Laborers Union, Local 585 and retired after nearly 30 years as a longshoreman from the ILWU, Local 46 Port Hueneme.
Bobby met the love of his life, Angie Revelez, through a mutual friend. They were married at the Santa Barbara courthouse and spent 45 wonderful years together. Always sentimental, Bobby never lost track of how many years they had been married. He presented Angie with a rose for every year until she convinced him that she could not carry so many roses. Together, Bobby and Angie created a warm, loving home for their three children Michael, Richard and Monica.
Bobby was an active member of the Knights of Columbus in Oxnard for many years, donating much of his time to cooking for many events. He took great pride in his avocado and fruit trees. Always lucky, Bobby enjoyed gambling in downtown Las Vegas and Laughlin. Every week he bought his Lotto and scratcher tickets and usually won enough to keep him buying more. He was a loyal fan of University of Southern California football and a proud member of the neighborhood wine society.
Bobby Maria is survived by his loving wife, Angie Maria; children, Michelle Salinas (husband Buddy), Robert J. Maria (wife Dani), Michael Maria, Richard Maria (wife Cyndi) and Monica Torres (husband Francisco); grandchildren, Sean, Katrina, Serena, Robbie, Michelle, Robert, Billy, Alix, and Nicholas; 12 great-grandchildren; sisters Rose Duenez, Sally Bustamante, Alice Carswell, Josie Caudillo, and Kathy Romero; brothers Richard Maria and Peter Maria; and several nieces and nephews.
He will be dearly missed by his walking partner and mother-in-law, Julia Revelez, whom he fondly referred to as Mama.
Bobby was reunited in death with his beloved parents, Pete and Annie Maria; aunt, Josie Soto; sisters Betty Merrill and Maggie Rinaldo; brothers Frank Maria and Tony Espinoza; and cousin, Ray Padilla.
Visitation will be from noon to 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13, at James A. Reardon-Payton Mortuary, 511 North A St., in Oxnard. Rosary will be recited at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13, at Santa Clara Catholic Church, 323 South E St., in Oxnard. Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 14, at Santa Clara Catholic Church in Oxnard, with burial immediately following at Santa Clara Cemetery.
Robert Maria's family would like to thank the offices of Dr. James Hornstein, Dr. Danny Lai and Dr. Rosemary McIntyre; Kathy Lenz and Yolanda Lopez of Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice. A special thanks to the Maria girls, the daughters of Frank Maria. Y gracias a Licha.

GET OUT THERE AND VOTE!!!!!

***VOTE****VOTE***VOTE****
voting ENDS 9/19/07.......that's WEDNESDAY!
My youngest son Skylar wrote a song for the Star 98.7 song writing contest, and he needs your vote! it's called "Long Distance" by Skylar Adams and this is the link to vote!
http://www.star987.com/pages/10kslcd/
or
http://www.star987.com/main.html
or you can put "star radio los angeles" into google and the website will come up. You can enter one time for each email address you have, and please feel free to pass on the info!
If you want to hear him singing his song, it is on page 22 of the contest website. I tried to upload it here, but i need help to figure that out so I'll try tomorrow.
....feel free to send this request to your entire email list - (i have no shame!)
Thank you for your vote!

L.A. weather SUCKS boulders....and a few "Up To The Deadline Projects" completed...

Well- the weather here in Los Angeles has been HOT HOT HOT! On Friday night, after a long day at work I came home to a dark and roasting house. The power was out and was not restored until late Sat afternoon. It was miserable - and I couldn't use my printer or scanner or wash clothes or iron. I could only go to the cool mall and shop and play with my computer at Starbuck's. ....heh, heh
- i am so spoiled..........

Work is still going. I'm on my last episode - so i should see the balmy shores of Kauai in about a month...3 weeks here and a week with my Dad. .....i can't wait.....LA is just NOT my city anymore - but I have had a blast with my son Sky.

I've been too tired to be inspired to do much artwork, but I had 2 "Carnivale Mystere" Tarot cards due - so here they are:




THE 4 OF BATONS

The 8 of Pentacles
...and these are my Skyline Houses. Basically they are all the same, just hand tinted different colors. The backs are hard to see, but they are cockroaches. I called them "Tacky Towers" as the street address.

Well, I've got a busy prep week ahead of me ....and then back to gun battles and blowing up things!


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