Things are starting to come together on the Christmas cards I’m trying to paint. I’m trying to do stylized Christmas trees. I used bleeding tissue paper for the ‘leaves and branches’ part. Today I outlined the ‘tree’ with 3-D white paint, added a star on top and painted part of the ‘trunk’, for these are ‘live’ Christmas trees – the ones you can plant when the holiday is over.
I’m letting them dry now and will see what they look like tomorrow.
Filed under holidays, playing in my art room
Janet Pulcho Watercolors via Margherita Cole, MyModernMet.com
Filed under Janet Pulcho, paintings I love, Watercolors I Love
I’m getting into the practice of adding more veggies and fruits to our diet, eating in a more Mediterranean fashion, and my husband and I are feeling better for it.
I’m on DAY 18 of my daily yoga practice, having increased the length of my practice from 30 minutes to 45 minutes, adding a few more poses and some abdominal exercises. I’m trying to build a HABIT/ROUTINE/REGIMEN where I just DO it, rather than having to talk myself into it, shame myself into it, etc. I AM noticing some differences, so that’s encouraging.
I’m ready to focus on losing the lard again, after putting some health issues behind me.
My starting point is
I’m going to focus on 5 pound increments on the weight loss, and plan to measure again at the beginning of September.
I will give it my best shot.
I’ve been busy this morning, just now taking the time to write. My font got smaller, and I’m working on how to fix it.
In my next life, I’m going to be very tall, so I can reach things instead of having to get up on a box, ladder, etc. I’m going to be VERY strong so I can do my share on lifting and moving things. I’m going to be tech savvy, so I can understand and use all technology without snatching my hair out. I’m going to be able to look at something, figure out how it should work, and fix it. Of course, I’ll also be slim and beautiful, be and exercise fanatic, and will have to REMIND myself to eat… :0)
I just looked at ‘preview’ on this post and see that YOU will see the normal size font, so that’s good. I’m still working on how ‘I’ can also see it, rather than having to strain to read the small type…
I just came back in from taking our trash down for pick up at the bottom of our driveway. I also got our mail, and actually LOOKED at the arm of the robot to see if there were any UPS packages there. There WAS, so I got that, too. I guess I’ll have to train myself to check that daily.
Our wonderful driveway guy came back from vacation and came to the house yesterday afternoon. He has an idea of a better crusher stuff to put on the driveway and recommends three truckloads to be spread by his partner, whom we met yesterday. He also thinks we should have kind of a ‘ridge’ down the middle of the driveway that will encourage the water to run to both sides, plus channels for the water every so often, getting any water off the driveway as soon as possible, delaying erosion and damage. We have agreed to the upgrade and they will do it when they can get everything together. Mark, the man who has the tractor who will spread the material, will arrange to be here before the first truck arrives, ready to spread the stuff while the truck goes back for more, so we don’t get stuck in our driveway this time. Hopefully, this upgrade will last for quite awhile. Help is on the way!
We got sprayed for everything including elephants recently. We received an invoice and I paid it electronically. Yesterday we received another invoice with the same charge plus another charge added from last year! The company has changed ownership, so I called this morning to see if we could make sense of things. The lady was very nice and agreed to take off the extra charge.
I did July bookkeeping on my computer this morning and got things filed! I patted myself on the head because I’m keeping up with things rather than putting the bookkeeping off over and over and getting buried.
I hope your Tuesday is calm, safe, and productive.
I’ve been having a fun afternoon.
Once I finished vacuuming the first floor tiles and carpet, I made our lunch and then did the first of the month stuff. Then I headed up to my art room to see what I thought of my efforts yesterday on making Christmas cards for my friends to go with their presents.
So far, it looks like I have an interesting start to the cards that might work. (I used bleeding tissue paper on card stock yesterday and left them overnight to dry.) I took off the tissue paper this afternoon and am now trying to get the card stock to lie flat. (I put a gazillion sketch pads on top of the pile of them and will leave them until tomorrow, when I do the next step.)
I also took the tote bags I finished painting to spray the first side with some protective spray that will help avoid stains and increase the lasting power of the paint. I’ll spray the other side tomorrow.
I spent some time clearing off my drafting table so I have a good space to work tomorrow.
Now I’m going to do yoga practice # 17 and then dive back into my book.
Lovely afternoon!
Filed under water paintings
Last week I griped that our UPS driver left two packages on our robot at the bottom of the driveway instead of delivering them to us. He then reported that he left the packages “at the front door.” Since we didn’t know they were there, they stayed on the robot overnight. I finally went to check, since I was expecting the deliveries and there wasn’t anything at the door or the end of the garage, and found them.
I finally found an address I could use to email them. I provided the tracking numbers for both packages. I had done this before, but hadn’t received a reply, but I thought I would try again.
We got an email reply (!) that they had received our email and that someone would be getting with us. I thought, “yeah, right” Later on that day, I got a phone call from UPS!
The lady was nice. She commiserated with my problem. She said the drivers were personally responsible for their trucks, any maintenance, damage, etc., came out of their pockets. We agreed that since our driveway is long and steep, he probably decided it was too risky to try to drive up, though we’ve lived her for over 30 years and they have always delivered in the past. Fedex still does.
I did ask if there was anything else that could be done. If he would let us know we had a package, we could come down and get it. She suggested a lock box with a code might help. She said that usually an email is sent that a package has been delivered.
Though our problem remains, the fact that UPS emailed and then called is wonderful. Kind of restores my faith.
Filed under Challenges
I’m sitting here at the computer, getting ready to write to you, and just now figured out today is NOT Saturday, as I thought it was. I have no idea why I ‘felt’ it was Saturday. I’m trying now to adjust now to a new new day, new month, new to-do list, new set of goals as I drink my much-needed coffee.
Thanks to Susy, we have a Matt Dixon image for August.
1st of a new month means several first-of-the-month chores, plus end-of-the-month bookkeeping. Today is DAY 17 on my daily yoga efforts, and I’ll make a decision later today on whether to go forward with my Christmas card efforts from yesterday or pitch them and start over. Vacuuming of the first floor will suck up the ‘whole dog’ Amber has left on the carpet and tiles. Since hope springs eternal, I’ll check to see if we have any ripe tomatoes.
Enjoy your MONDAY, the first day of AUGUST!
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
I’ve just come down from my art room.
I made two designs for Christmas cards and threw them both away today. I tried a third idea and it might work!
I’ve started 10 cards now, and they are drying. I’m using a background of ‘bleeding tissue paper,’ and that requires a lot of water, so I look a bit like this child – every bit as happy and excited, but not nearly as cute, with bleeding tissue paper ink (?) all over the tips of the fingers of both hands.
I’ll see what I think later, when the backgrounds have fully dried, but I THINK I may have a start now.
Filed under fun in my art room
This is one of my many faults. I’m aware of it, though, and work on it constantly. My mom did it, too. It was much easier for me to recognize it when SHE did it, than to acknowledge that ‘I’ did the same thing for many years. I try to stay CONSCIOUS of my tendency. If I find myself jumping up and down inside to say something, I know I’m doing it again.
Yes, you want to share. When someone is saying something to which you relate because of your own experiences, you want to tell them that you understand. But if you DO jump to tell them, some people even interrupting the other to share, you miss out on so much of life.
When I was in my ‘holier-than-thou’ period of teenage years, I would try to get my mom to change, to make her aware of what she was doing. When she would visit with someone, she dominated the conversation. She would be so eager to talk she would interrupt the person who was talking to tell her story, using the very same words she used the LAST time she related the story. I was very critical as a teenager – being perfect myself :0) – and would ask my mom what the person she had just visited had said about 1), 2), and 3). My mom looked startled, and then said she didn’t know. (I found out many years later – when I had finally quit being ‘perfect,’ that she actually knew quite a lot about her friends. She just found out details at different times than when I was listening.)
I found myself doing the same thing and was horrified. Yes, I wanted to share if I thought something we were doing might interest my friends, but I wanted to know what was happening to THEM, too.
The way I finally got my own attention about this problem was that I wanted to be able to tell myself what was new in each of my friend’s lives and how they felt about it after we had visited. I wanted to come away with a feeling of closeness and understanding – maybe even an idea of their hopes. If they weren’t forthcoming, I would ask questions, showing I really was interested, and LISTENED to their answers, and then responded to what they had said, or asked another question.
It’s a work in progress, but it’s one at which I really want to be successful. My friends are wonderful and deserve my ears and attention.
Filed under caring, Friendship
Janet Pulcho Art via Margherita Cole of mymodernmet.com
Filed under Janet Pulcho, paintings I love
Wow. These make me drool!
Filed under 3-D Paintings
We just had what MAY have been 5 minutes of a good rain. I TRIED to take some pics, but I couldn’t capture the ‘glorious-ness ‘ of it. By the time I had snapped 3 pics and walked to the front door, the rain had stopped.
Since I’m a greedy person, I want MORE. It’s so comfortable in the office right now. Amber is sitting beside me, moving every couple of seconds, wanting a cookie. The ceiling fan is moving the cooler air around nicely.
You can see that my husband has the ‘brown and crunchy’ lawn that is his favorite, but there are a few patches of green here and there. I don’t want him to have to mow, but I DO want more rain…
Filed under Mother Nature
I’m a happy camper this morning. The doors are open. The ceiling fan is on, spreading fresh, cooler air all through the house. It’s only supposed to get to 89 today, with a chance of some good rain. Yea!!!!
Today is Day 16 of my attempt to make daily yoga practice a habit. Yesterday I was running out of time and chose to do yoga practice over spending time in my art room – an amazing decision for me! I ended up making a smaller-than-normal space in the office because my husband was watching a rented movie in the living room where I normally practice. The practice went well and I was happy to add my sparkly star to my desk calendar. :0)
Today is the last day of July. My only ‘accomplishments’ for the month are
Make this a good day!
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Filed under sculpture, Sophie Verger Bronzes
One of the packages that I told you the UPS driver left on our robot on Wednesday to spend the night outside before we found it and another package before the rain started Thursday was the “Abandoned in Death” book by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) that I pre-ordered in February for when it was available in paperback.
I was in the middle of another book, but dived into my much-anticipated book as soon as I could. Once I started it, I found it very hard to put it down. Life and obligations kept getting in the way, so I found myself last night reading in the living room until early this morning to finish it.
It was like a reunion with old friends you feel as if you haven’t seen in forever. As usual, the ‘crime’ was all encompassing. I can never figure out who the perpetrator is, no matter how much I think about it.
The next book in the series, “Desperation in Death” will come out in paperback in December of this year, and I’ve pre-ordered it. There is another – #56 – “Encore in Death” – that will come out in hardback in February of 2023, and will probably be available in paperback sometime late in the year.
I always feel a bit sad when I’ve read all available paperbacks for awhile. It’s good that she’s such a prolific writer that I have something to look forward to.
I made only messes in my art room yesterday in my effort to create a Christmas card design. I’ll try again today. I have an idea rattling around, but I don’t know whether it will turn out to be complete trash, as my two ideas did yesterday. “Hope springs eternal” ~ Alexander Pope.
Filed under playing in my art room
I want this!!!!! And if I had won the Mega Millions yesterday, I could probably afford it. :0(
Filed under Favorite Things
There is so much I like about this artist. She does beautiful large ceramic rabbits in positions you never see in sculpture, showing she has studied and loves rabbits. These sculptures of children are so wonderful in the details. They are playful and show REAL kids. She also has a sense of humor with the dog peeing on the brick wall. One girl’s foot is turned, overlapping her other. Just wonderful.
Filed under Annie Peaker Ceramic Art, ceramics
I love this painting!
We got rained out (hooray!) yesterday on grocery shopping. We’re supposed to get more today (HOORAY – AGAIN!) so we’ll leave soon to see if we can get our mail and replenish our food supply before the rain starts. We actually have the doors open this morning and the a/c turned off! This won’t last, but I’ll sure take it right now. :0)
We tried three places yesterday to buy Mega Millions tickets. One place didn’t sell them at all. The two places where I’ve bought them before have changed ownership recently. They have applied for their licenses, but don’t have them yet. I was disappointed, then learned this morning the winning ticket was sold in Illinois….
I had fun experimenting in my art room yesterday afternoon, but only made messes. I have another idea to try today…
I hope you’re enjoying the last Saturday of July.
I’m gradually deciding that I’m going to concentrate on ‘eating healthy’ rather than ‘losing weight.’
We’ve been feeling better – and our systems are working better – since I started adding more fruit and veggies to our diet – while watching my husband’s blood sugar readings carefully. As long as his numbers look good, and he’s feeling good, I’ve decided I’m not going to worry about anything else.
Technically, since he’s a Type II diabetic, he’s supposed to avoid all sugar, including fruit. I’ve just decided to change from ‘low carb’ to a more Mediterranean style of eating, although it’s my own form, since I’m having trouble finding recipes that he will eat. He looks at me in horror when I mention most veggies, and does things like stop me when I’m serving veggies at dinner. He DOES agree that he’s feeling better since I’m concentrating on serving him more veggies. As long as his numbers are good, I’m serving fruit, too.
As far as my dieting goes, I’m trying to either not eat at all between meals, or be very careful what I’m snacking on, watch my portions at meal times, and exercise.
I love having a ‘colorful’ plate of food. It lifts my spirits. Hopefully, all this will come together to give us the results we would like. :0)
Filed under .gifs I Love, DIET!, exercise, Mediterranean Eating Plan + Recipes
Filed under Annie Peaker Ceramic Art, ceramics
Filed under Carola Van Dyke Textiles, Embroidery/Sewing Art
I finally found a place to email UPS yesterday, after getting totally frustrated trying to call and actually talk to a real person. Their phone ‘trees’ only allow you to say certain things and the default is to frustrate you to the point you give up.
UPS used to deliver things to us all the time. Yes, our driveway is steep and sometimes bumpy, but they delivered and we were appreciative.
Fedex delivers to us all the time, smiling and really nice on this same driveway.
I checked on a couple of deliveries online yesterday and found that UPS said they had been delivered – “left at the front door on WEDNESDAY.” I checked again, just to make sure, and also checked on both side of the garage. Nothing.
I told my husband that I was going to check around the bottom of the driveway, though I hadn’t noticed anything when I went to get my massage. We drove down, and sure enough, there were TWO packages sitting on the back of the robot we built at the bottom of the driveway right off the street.
The packages had been there all night where anyone could have taken them. Since we were forecast to get rain, it was particularly frustrating.
I guess the driver who serves us has decided that he is not going to drive up our driveway anymore. If this is the case, it would be NICE if he would call us and tell us he has left a package, emailed us, sent us a text, left a flag on the robot, a note in the mailbox, a carrier pigeon – SOMETHING.
I wrote to UPS, just as a formality, really. The last time I wrote was when they left a humongous box (70+ pounds) containing my husband’s new over $2000 heavy computer. My husband and I practically killed ourselves trying to get the box into the back of the truck and then out again at the house, in the house, and into place in our office. UPS didn’t even bother to answer my email, so I’m not expecting much this time, over two ‘inexpensive’ items. I just refuse not to say ANYTHING when people don’t do what they say they will do.
Filed under Challenges
It rained, with some lightning and thunder, last night. It’s raining right now, and is supposed to continue today. HOORAAAAAAY!
I don’t care if we drown during Lunch Bunch and our errands today. The rain is BEAUTIFUL! Everything in our yard is saying, “AHHHHHH. THANK YOU!!!!”
Today we’re planning to –
The overcast skies and light rain are truly great for my soul. I’m going to enjoy every minute!
I hope things are good where you are today, and that you enjoy your Friday – rainy or not.
Filed under Mother Nature, Thoughts on a ________
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