April 3 and all is going well

I have decided to post daily to keep myself heading in the best direction - i.e. working hard. 

There are many errands to do, but here is the result of my full morning's work. Do you think I can finish it in the next few days - watch carefully as I document the progress.

So the truck is being serviced and brakes changed a bit early so that they will not fail on mountain roads. I am about to hop on my bike and weave my way through town to collect the truck. My partner - Cathy - is sounding very sick and I hope that she recovers as quickly as I did from the toe surgery.

We are still wanting to make appointments to share stories with positive people across the country. I will be writing people and seeing who - like the Nelson and Prince Gorge communities - want to sit and talk about - how many pills we consume, about intimacy, about art and recycled materials, about growing older being so much better than the alternative. We're looking forward to the trip and most of all meeting people as we roll across Canada.  Please contact Cathy or I if you have a group that would like to meet us.  My email is pegfrank@telus.net.

April 2 - 9 days until the CAHR Conference

Here is the most optimistic report that I can make. The sculpture fits together and could roll easily into the van to be at the Conference in 9 days.  I still need to change the stem so the height of the darn giant doesn't make that impossible. But today a little magic made me believe again. I don't know what I would do without friends.

Anne is trying to create a Facebook page for the Cross Canada Cocktail Tour - and we have people who like the idea - but can't seem to post easily - so back to the blog...

There is still so much to do and my energy is not what it used to be - but my determination is elevated and my foot is no longer needing that so much.  Yes surgery slowed me down a bit but also kept me leached to home.

Let me share the sneak preview that we gave the neighbours.  Of course I had to call them to help lower the bowl onto the stem, so the preview was not entirely voluntary!!

All is well in plastic land.  Hope all is well for those of you who are crazy enough to follow this blog.  Love  -peg

Almost ready for a Toast

Things are building up more quickly.  Check out the base and see what you think.

I had to beg for the last couple of bottles around the base and then an amazing thing happened. Hibou's vet arrived with a box of pill bottles.  They will be used on the bowl. 

Here is a sneak preview of the bowl under construction.  oops no that's the stem.  I am still on the lookout for a few HIV medication bottles which will be added to this Cocktail glass.  It's now more fun than washing pill bottles.

AND I now know what works best for washing off the labels.
Step 1 - Soak the bottle in hot water for a few hours, or overnight - most of the paper or plastic label peels or scrapes off.
Step 2. - Rub oil - cooking oil works - on the bottle and leave for several hours, or overnight.
Step 3. - Rub the bottle with a coarse rag until the residue is almost gone.
Step 4. - Use GooGone to get rid of the last little bit of sticky stuff.
Step 5. - Wash the bottles in soap to get rid of the oils.

I then have to prepare the bottles for adhering to the plastic form-work for the sculpture. This means sanding and cleaning surfaces with alcohol.

Another day I'll talk about what i have learned about adhesives for this project.

Getting the completed glass, or parts of same, into a vehicle that doesn't eat gas as it rolls across the country has many people talking and measuring. Cathy's van is just right as far as fuel goes but may be too small.  My truck needs a custom box for it.  So many miles between here and St.Andrew's, and we aren't heading in a straight line.

If you are enjoying reading this. please sign up as a follower - on the left - and pass the blog coordinates along. I hope that you can take the time to comment too.

Thanks to friends - 'This Aint No Cocktail Party' has Wheels!!!

This has been a great week - although my daily cycling routine has gone to the wind. So many wonderful people came by to help. We created a plywood platform, for the sculpture, painted it and put that on wheels with a pulling rope.  I wanted to get this done before completing the base as there are a few fragile bits around the edges.  And the wheels will make it easier to move the growing giant - later we can use them as a very frightening go-cart or skateboard!

Pill bottles were washed by at least five other people - faithful friends for sure. We finally found a simple way to get the labels off - completely!  We soak the bottles overnight in extra virgin olive oil, then take the elbow grease and Goo Gone to them in the morning. The final cleanse is done in the dishwasher to remove oil residue. It seems all the 'washers' still have five flesh covered digits, so it works better than before. My arthritic hands are feeling a whole lot better than last week, and really it just felt like they were worked to the bone.

Another bit of help fiberglassed labels to a set of HIV specific medication bottles that will be used on the stem - so that people can see them. There are still more bottles to collect - hopefully at the POZ Gathering in Vancouver next weekend. It amazes, even me, the number of different bottles just for the medications that target the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Thanks to an array of research and dedicated science, we have many options here in Canada.

And finally we have a devise for splitting pill bottles on the table saw. Not my design, but one I have to thank my fine carpenter friend for.  So the first round of bottles has been popped onto the bowl of the cocktail glass. I think I won't post any photos until its done, which should be soon as I only have 10 days before toe surgery.

And I am hoping you will see that first row, and all the rows after that, by - as they used to say in The Friendly Giant " Looking up - Way up there". 

Getting the Goblet ready for Ornamentation

jjj

The "Toast to Toast" Banner

I can't believe how quickly time is passing.  My next step is the banner.  You can't drive across the country without a banner. Here's another minion, my co-conspirator from the Oak Bay Mapping project, working on the banner for the Cross Canada Cocktail Tour - from Toast to Toast - "in a cluttered Victoria basement" as they remarked so astutely on CTV. 

This reminds me of a friend request that I need to put out there.  Because I'm working on the sculpture so many hours each day, I haven't had time to post, or organize the tour, so if there is a talented IT person or artistic geekish soul that wants to help - please join the team.

Base is almost complete!

Finally, I feel like there is an end in sight.  I've spent weeks washing pill bottles.  I'll arrive in St Andrews with nubs instead of fingers. It was with great enthusiasm that a friend took a bucket of pill bottles to wash. "Are you sure?" I asked. "Give me more she said. What can be so hard about getting labels off bottles." We were not so excited when she returned unwashed bottles - an old injury flared under the stress. Yes, there are many tedious tasks that underlay beautiful art! Imagine the old artists who ground their pigments... O.K. - they had minions. I've got minions of friends who are stepping up at every turn.  Thanks my merry minions - it's not even about washing the bottles but knowing that I am not doing this alone.

Look at the base - what an array of colour!  What texture! What shiny clean bottles! What an incredible beginning!