There are several artists who do beautiful work with pebbles or stones. Some even convey emotions with their work. Erzsebet Sziljka brings even more, combining painting and story telling with the emotion. This is truly an art form when she is at the helm.
It’s sunny and 39 here right now. Not really THAT cold, but it sure SEEMS like it. The fact that the weather folks are saying we might get ice or snow this coming weekend adds to the feeling.
Chef John’s Buttermilk Biscuits – AllRecipes.com
At my husband’s request, I’m going to make some more biscuits today. I’ve only done it once before, but they were edible, and my husband really enjoyed eating some with butter and jelly, so he asked last night.
MakeMyLake – Etsy.com
I’m coming to the end of my glass etching project. I’ve learned a ton and finally found the etching tool I can use the most comfortably. Last night I found a diamond bit that worked well for me. I’m starting to get a feel for it now and look forward to using the etcher/engraver on other things in the future. I think the sample above done by MakeMyLake on Etsy is really pretty.
There is 17 pounds less of me this morning. A good start. Here’s to making it to 20 off.
I hope that you’re enjoying a really nice Tuesday.
I just texted, called, and sent carrier pigeons to all those involved, and it LOOKS like the Lunch Bunch group will do our regular Christmas gift exchange on the 22nd! Trying to reach people has become a real challenge, so I was surprised and delighted to be able to contact everyone this morning.
Sadly, it looks like Lunch Bunch – a really special event for every Friday for over 25 years now – seems to be coming to an end. My husband and I go every Friday, but have been stood up so many times lately it’s starting to get on our nerves – mostly because if LB isn’t going to meet, we would really prefer to eat a late breakfast at The Dari, but the timing is wrong for that. Time will tell, but our Christmas celebration may be the end of it.
_____________
Otherwise, we just finished driving our trash down to the bottom of the driveway for pickup tomorrow. Since we were driving down, we got our mail and changed our mailbox decoration. This is “Pepe Le Pew and Penelope.”
This afternoon I’ll start packing the elephant ear planter full of leaves. I’ll do this every day until I can get a good, thick blanket over the plants. I also plan to work on the glassware etching.
“Reading In The Library” – Peter Walters via @GregCatarino1 on X
I’ve been enjoying re-reading my collection of J.D. Robb’s (Nora Roberts) In Death series in preparation for reading the latest ones in paperback.
Right now I’m re-reading Desperation in Death, #55 in the series. I have the paperback of Encore in Death waiting and will get Payback in Death at the end of this month or the beginning of next month. The newest hardback, Random in Death, will be released in at the end of January 2024. I’ll have to wait until that one is released in paperback to get it.
I’ve been doing five main things lately – working in the yard, trying to etch glassware, revamping my Etsy site, listening to music, and reading. This makes for some super nice days and evenings and I’m feeling quite spoiled. I’m THINKING about adding more housework and exercise to the mix, but am only doing the minimum on housework (I’m a slob) and only my yoga stretching on the exercises so far. Maybe I’ll do better when I’ve finished reading my new wealth of books…
This is what used to be the iris planter. It’s now weeded and ready for tomatoes in the spring.
This is the second tomato planter.
And I’ll plant spinach and lettuce in this planter. All three are filled with Mel’s Mix.
This is where some of the iris plants ended up.
This is a tall planter beside the front porch.
And this one is in the front yard, to the other side of the front porch.
I also cut the elephant ear plants down as far as I could. I’m starting to cram as many leaves as I can get in that planter between now and the first real freeze, with all appendages crossed that it will be enough to protect them until they hopefully start shooting leaves up again in the spring.
Imagine my shock that I’m NOT aging gracefully. I’m doing it with some resentment, dragging my feet, gritching, and gnashing my teeth. Changes bother me more and more. I’m tired of ‘rolling with it,’ ‘adapting,’ etc. My latest gripe is companies that are changing the way they are paid.
One example is our water bill. It used to be that I wrote and mailed a check. I did this with everything else, so that was fine. Then I was paying everything online through my bank EXCEPT the water bill, for which I wrote almost the ONLY check I wrote each month. They are finally allowing online payments, but they must be done through their payment thingie, which charges you an extra $2.25 to use the service and you have to enter all your information each time, like you never used it before. UGH.
I was cleaning out my gmail this morning and ‘newly’ discovered some emails saying my insurance bills are due. (They sent these in November and the bills aren’t due until the middle of December.) We always get a slew of bills from our company in December, putting me off my Christmas spirit a bit, but I’ve gotten used to it. When I saw them, though, and we haven’t received the paper bills yet, it got my attention.
Maybe they won’t send the paper bills this time. They’re due the 12th, and I haven’t gotten anything in the mail. I went online to check, but then had trouble (imagine that) getting logged on. I went through my notes and was reminded that I had to sign up for a ‘new’ account with new agent in our regular company, and so had a different user name and password now. I logged in and discovered that they were now doing everything online.
To make a long rant a bit shorter, I went ahead and paid the premiums, and then had to go looking for the paperwork that should accompany the bills for our records. I found and printed them. I’ve never met the new agent and now the company seems to have gone all digital, so I may NEVER meet him.
Now that I’ve overcome yet another change, I’ll probably get the paper bills in the coming week…
I’m feeling a bit smug because I FINALLY had a thoroughly productive day yesterday after several sloth days.
Gardener’s Path
I dug out all of the iris from a planter in the back and redistributed them to planters in the front. I need to finish weeding the back planter today in preparation for using it in the spring for tomatoes. I’m moving my raised bed, square foot garden activities to the side yard planters this spring, limiting the garden to lettuce, spinach, and tomatoes. Besides weeding, I’ll do clean up from yesterday, plus work on the planter in the front that has our elephant ear plants.
I tried my new Dremel last night. It’s a rechargeable cordless model, so I had to charge it for over two hours before using it. It came with only one bit, but I was able to use one of my other diamond bits, putting it in myself with no problem! The design of the Dremel allows me to use it pretty comfortably. It’s also much quieter, so I don’t grate my teeth while using it. I think this one will work beautifully, allowing me to finish the glassware. I’m already thinking of other projects for the Dremel. :0)
My husband has been grousing because the turkey is gone. I cooked another turkey breast yesterday, and told my husband dinner tonight will be turkey sandwiches. He’s been smiling ever since.
I also finished the first round of totally revamping my Etsy site. This includes creating a banner, new logo, lowering prices, then renaming the items so they will supposedly show up better when people are putting in search terms as they shop. This is a work in progress, and I’m just getting a good start on things I see others are doing.
Since we’re having stellar weather and our high is supposed to be in the 60s this afternoon, I’m hoping to have another productive day. I hope that YOU do, too; OR that you do something FUN. After all, it’s Sunday!
A short while ago I finished most of the major revamp of my Etsy site. Of course, there is ALWAYS more, or another good idea I can try. I’m still trying to figure out how to offer deals on multiple purchases, for example, but the main reorganizing is finished.
I just came in from the first session outside. I have all the iris plants out of one planter in the back, and am now relocating them in the front. This may take more than a day, because my back is already reminding me that I’m not a spring chicken anymore, but I’m making progress. I’m trying to get outside each afternoon that the weather is cooperative and get SOMETHING done.
When I finish my outside stuff for the day, I plan to try out the new Dremel and see if I can do any good with it. Fingers crossed on THAT.
It’s gray and raw and 46 outside right now, so I’m using the morning to work on my Etsy shop and write blog posts. I’m HOPING that it will, in fact, get to the forecast 58 degrees this afternoon.
Gardener’s Path
I’d like to pull the iris out of one of our brick planters in the back and distribute them in two other planters in the front. This will free up the back planter for a downsized square foot planter garden in the spring. My plan at the moment is to use an 8 foot brick planter for lettuce and spinach and two other square brick planters for tomatoes. All already have Mel’s Mix in them and will be ready for planting.
My husband insisted that I buy a Dremel glass etcher at Walmart yesterday. If it doesn’t clearly show how to change the bits, I’ll try to call the company. The new one will allow me to continue my work on the glassware today. The one I got from our shop is too large for the work I’m doing. My hands are strained just trying to hold it, much less trying to do anything with it. Fingers are crossed that this one will work for me.
I Should Be Mopping the Floor…
My To-Do List is beyond daunting at this point. I TRIED to feel good about doing one thing from the list each day, but the list is growing exponentially and I just feel guilty about all the things I SHOULD be doing. I may just throw it out and start a new one, listing the things I NEED to do THIS WEEK…
I hope that you’re having a nice Saturday, doing something that brings you joy.
I’m now down almost 17 lbs from my heaviest. My newest goal is to make 20 off.
I’m trying to eat NO added sugar and as little as possible with prepared foods. I’m trying to read labels carefully and mainly only eat the sugar in fruit.
I am still putting a bit of salt on a hard-boiled egg at lunch, but I’m adding no salt to the food on my plate otherwise. I’m trying to add as little as possible when I cook, and trying to buy low salt varieties when I can, reading labels again carefully.
I’m eating lunch and dinner and trying not to eat in-between meals or before bedtime. I’m trying to watch my portions carefully.
I’m trying to do my yoga stretching every afternoon for half an hour or so.
My eyeballs are floating because I’m trying to drink more water. :0)
SO – one day at a time. One meal at a time. Slow, steady weight loss and improving my lifestyle so the changes become habits.
I enjoy making gifts for local friends for the holidays. I think about what I’d like to try to make, how I should do it, etc. I buy the supplies and tools. I think about my friends as I work on the gifts, remembering fun times, getting a bit teary at other times. I hope that each will enjoy and use what I make, but the biggest thing is showing them they are special.
One of the people I follow on X (the former Twitter) posted recently about handmade gifts –
cutigers-@cutigs1 on X
I’m lucky to have a special circle of friends for whom I can try to make things. Whether gifts are handmade or chosen with love, we can try to make the holiday spirit last all year long.
As I get “more mature” (read ‘older than dirt’), memory becomes more of an issue.
I used to think it was ‘aggravating’ to go into a room, then realize I couldn’t remember why I had gone there. I had to go back to what I was doing, get into it, and THEN I remembered why – getting up again to go DO it this time. NOW I write a sticky note before I get up, KNOWING I won’t remember. I’m not sure I can call this an ‘improvement.’
Paul Harizan-Getty Images
My husband has kept a spreadsheet on his computer for years that lists what he considers important things for us to remember. This has helped us many times. We’ll list the date of installation of our new tankless water heater on there, for example.
I’ve devoted a whole big notebook to keeping stickies with artist information on them so that I don’t have to start from scratch when I feature an artist’s work on the blog. Right now I have 6 pages of these.
I have stickies everywhere – on my desk, on my computer, in my hand, on the fridge, on the ‘go-out’ table, etc. You get the idea.
I notice I have a word retrieval challenge more and more often these days. I’ll start to say something or write something and the word I’m trying for just won’t come. I’ve given up on being embarrassed with names, even with people I’ve known for a hundred years or so. The words simply ‘disappear’ until they’re ready to come – usually in the middle of the night. I’ll sit up in bed and say, “THAT’S what I was trying to think of!” (Unless I write it down on the notepad on the table beside my bed, I’ll forget it again by the time I get up in the morning.)
I write notes to myself, leaving them on the dresser I pass on my way out of our bedroom, reminding me of something I need to put on the grocery list, or something I need to do during the day.
Even though I’m coming up with ways to get around the problem, I’m aware that the problem seems to be growing faster than the solutions I can come up with. I comfort myself with the following –
It’s a thing of beauty and a joy forever! It will probably last longer than WE do. :0) It was installed yesterday and the grin hasn’t left my face.
Travis, our wonderful plumber, is coming back sometime today to clean up the installation debris, old unit, etc., and has agreed to cart off the old backup regular water heater that failed and has been sitting down there, as well. I’ll write him a check today.
My husband and I both think that the water is getting hot more quickly than with the old unit. I don’t know if that’s because the former one was failing or if the new one is more powerful, more efficient, or what, but it’s NICE.
Any condensation goes into a drain in the floor. It’s wonderful not to have to ‘wonder’ if the hot water will come on when I’m washing my hair in the kitchen sink in the mornings, or whether the hot water will STAY on when I’m taking my shower in the evening, constantly having to turn the knob to adjust the temperature.
Our weather forecast is for showers this morning, “splattering of showers” this afternoon, and heavy thunderstorms this evening. I’m really glad our plumber and his helper don’t have to get under our house or up on the roof for the ‘chimney’ for the tankless water heater installation today.
It’s 50 degrees F., so not cold, but it seemed like a good idea to start a crock pot full of chili for tonight. I just finished doing that. I only forgot we didn’t have water ONCE – pretty good for me, since I usually clean things as I go, putting the rinsed things in the dishwasher…
I’ve paid bills and gotten organized to balance checkbooks and do my spreadsheet bookkeeping later. I’m going to finish up at the computer and then go up to my art room soon.
I hope the weather isn’t messing up your plans for the day.
Our wonderful plumber is here. The installation of our replacement tankless water heater has begun. The water to the house is off until further notice.
I know without a doubt that I wouldn’t be a good burglar. When I get stressed, I need to find a bathroom, and that’s a real problem if you’re trying to get away with something, be quiet, or cooperate when the water is off. The only ‘comfort’ today, since I have no clue how long the water will be off, is that we have two bathrooms upstairs that I can use and leave to flush later.
I guess it is my perverse nature that I react this way. Usually hours and hours can pass and I can easily wait – but turn off the water and tell me I ‘can’t’ and my system goes into ‘high production.’
I’m hoping that this will be a smooth, relatively quick installation. We are so lucky to have Travis Hawkins as our plumber. 479-461-8347. It is beyond price to know that someone knowledgeable will come when needed, and that we’ll get a fair price and can trust the work done.
I’m going to work in our office, write posts for the blog, and then work in my art room to stay out of the way. :0)
“Branch Manager and Assistant Manager” – @Buitengebieden On X
Well, I’m feeling quite happy now.
Our plumber just came to take some measurements for the replacement of our tankless water heater.
I had told my husband that I wanted HIM to handle things, since the two of them speak the same language, and that I would just try to stay out of the way, but available, if needed.
Travis, the plumber, said he would be back tomorrow at 8:30 for the installation.
The best part of the whole thing is the resolution of the question of the chimney for the unit, which has to be vented through the roof. My husband had gone on chat (with me typing) to ask if we could use the stainless steel chimney we already have with the new system. The chat people couldn’t help us and gave us the number of the more technical folks. We talked to them, and they basically said to use the PVC pipe they wanted. My husband wasn’t convinced.
When Travis and he were down in the basement taking measurements and talking details, they talked about the chimney. They have agreed that the stainless steel chimney should be fine for the new system, and that they don’t need to run the PVC pipe. This will save Travis a LOT of time and labor, and should save US some money.
We had agreed that we would do what Travis wanted to do, since HE was the one who was doing the installing, HE was the one who had experience with this new unit, and HE would be the one we would call about any problems.
Since Travis is fine with this, it’s a win/win for everyone. :0)
“Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams – they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do – they all contain truths.” ~ Muhammad Ali
Just had to share this. This festive mouse made my heart melt.
The sun is shining. It’s supposed to get almost to 60 this afternoon. Nice.
Our wonderful plumber called and said he is planning to come Wednesday or Thursday to install our tankless heater replacement. It’ll be really good to not have to ‘wonder’ if we still have hot water or not, or if the unit will reset or not.
The tankless has been a good thing for us. We used to run out of hot water when we had a regular hot water tank. The tankless takes a bit of time to get hot, but then we have as much as we would like. Luxury!
The old system required that we install a stainless steel chimney. We paid more for that than we did the tankless system. The new unit requires PVC. My husband talked to technical support this morning, trying to get them to okay the stainless we already had, but they wouldn’t. They also didn’t give a reason. I told him that we just needed to suck it up and get it done. The new one is a Navien, which supposedly will last 20 years – probably a lot longer than WE do…
creativeartworksblog 