Tag Archives: newest painted sketches

August 29, 2026 · 4:39 am

Saturday 8-29-2026

This makes my heart sing.

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I just got back from sketching at the cafe. It rained like crazy for a while, and then, when it let up, I made my way home. Brian texted me after I got to my place, telling me to look out the window. There was a gorgeous rainbow!

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We went to visit Harvey at the nursing home this morning. I think I told you before that each visit is different. After all the glowing reports and pictures from the staff there yesterday, Harvey had forgotten all of that happened. We had to show him the pictures, and then he only looked confused. He was talking about throwing the suction machine (he calls it the torture machine) out the window again and burning it. He also talked about burning down a house he can see from his bed. When I asked him why, he said, “Because it’s there.” He also said he was going to “wreck Walmart.” when we asked him why, he never answered us. He did ask to see my sketches, so that was something good, and he WAS comfortable and calm, other than wanting to be an arsonist….

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Here are the sketches I finished today –

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I did well at the gym this morning. I was able to walk my mile on the treadmill without holding on to the handlebars. It felt good, too. My energy lasted until we were on the way home from visiting Harvey, then I was like a deflated balloon, almost falling asleep in the GRAB. I took a nap when I got home before going to the cafe. I’m HOPING that my change in thyroid hormone dosage is beginning to make a difference, but it may just be my HOPING that is fooling me. Anyway, it was good to feel energetic until noon…

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July 13, 2026 · 12:33 am

Monday 7-13-2026

Cristina Arcenegui Bono – womensartbluesky.bsky.social

I really can’t believe this is a QUILT. I am completely overwhelmed and just love it. I’m going to save the image and see if I can draw it.

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These are my two new sketches.

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Brian and I took a really nice walk this morning. We left my laundry, and then we were free to roam. We went to visit my huge koi fish. They happened to be feeding them automatically while we were there. All of a sudden soft pellet-looking things were floating on the surface. The fish didn’t have a frenzy or anything because apparently they are well enough fed that they are interested, but not frantic. There was a steady swimming around by all parties, each scooping up a couple of pellets. I swear they were ‘chewing.’ I KNOW fish don’t have teeth and don’t need to, but the motion they made with their mouths and jaws imitated the action….🐠

We also saw a huge gazebo with a double elephant statue in the center. It was really impressive. I took some photos and hope to be able to draw it well enough to share soon. 🐘

The last thing I took pics of was a humongous snail sitting on a step. He was beautiful. 🐌

The frogs were quiet, or have all left as of today. It was the first time they have been quiet in several weeks. I guess the mating season is over. 🐸

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I have the base painting done on one sketch and one Christmas card. I’ll take these to the cafe this afternoon to add the details, and then get started on something else fun. 🎨

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Today is yoga stretches day, so I’ll do that when I get back from the cafe, before dinner. I did pretty well on the treadmill this morning, keeping up my speed and adding some incline. 🚶‍♀️🧘

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The weather forecast is for ‘heavy rain warning’ for the foreseeable future, with the LOWEST chance of rain percentage 70%. It is quite cloudy right now. I’m trying to be like the Thai people, take my umbrella and rain suit and continue on with whatever I wanted to do – unless the rain is really pouring on us right then – and then we just wait it out. ☔️

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Joan Kempiak – Sweet Pea’s Whimsy

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July 3, 2026 · 12:29 am

Friday 7-3-2026

Jutta Bauer – PsychoBitch

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I’m having my usual Fabulous Friday. I did fine this morning at the gym. We had a good breakfast and I got a truly wonderful massage. It had been a while since I thanked the two ladies especially, so I gave them hand-painted thank you cards today. They seemed to really like them, smiling and showing each other the card they received. :0)

Brian and I just had a snack and we’re spending some time at my place and then will move to the cafe to be out of the housekeeper’s way in a bit. Meanwhile, I’m writing posts for the blog and catching up on some other things.

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These are my latest sketches. The bottom one shows two women on their hands and knees scrubbing the outside, floor, and steps of a building with rags, a brush, and buckets of soap. I was really impressed at how hard they worked and that it seemed to be a normal part of their duties.

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When I came home from the cafe yesterday afternoon, Brian was at my place finishing up installing a brand new shower assembly! The shower head I was using was 7/8 clogged and the whole thing was leaking pretty badly. It had gotten to the point where I was scrunching myself up in the corner in order to get enough water to soap up, wash my hair, and rinse off again. Brian called the maintenance man who brought a tool to install a means of securing the bottom part of the assembly more securely, and the job was done!

This morning was the first time I used it. I was in Heaven! I didn’t want to come out. I actually have a luxurious rain head in there now, plus a 2nd hand-held head if desired (you can switch back and forth) plus it’s the one the housekeeper uses for cleaning the shower. I already had the instant hot water heater, so I’m simply delighted!

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I had a fun time at the cafe yesterday. A lady from China (I think) stopped and asked me if she could see some of my sketches. I showed her, and we had a really nice conversation. She is an artist and does her drawings on something electronic. She showed me a drawing of an eye that was stunning. She was really good. Anyway, she was going back home yesterday afternoon, but it was the kind of spur of the moment thing that can happen in a large city like this that has a lot of tourists. I just love it!

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Pamela Schifano – Mermaid Musings – @pammypoo on Substack

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May 7, 2026 · 3:13 am

Thursday 5-7-2026

I just finished this latest painted sketch. This one intimidated me because it’s a shrine, a holy place, a sacred place, but I wanted to try to capture the quiet, the calm, the reverence of the many shrines everywhere we go in the city. On many days there are flowers left, soft drinks, snacks. It is said the spirits are fond of sugary things, and people want to please them. Piles of flowers, garlands, lights – all kinds of things are left to honor the spirits. None of these things are ever touched. I guess someone finally clears things out, but that happens when people don’t see it. This is one style of shrine. The other major one is a “house,” usually meant to thank the spirits for allowing the person to build a house or open a shop on a piece of land, and the house is meant to make up for that. I’ll try to find a good image of that sometime soon.

This is another one I finished today.

“Mr. Natural” is the first in the series of Harvey’s long time favorite cartoon characters that I’m painting and will add to his “Happy Wall” tomorrow when we go visit.

“Mr. Natural (Fred Natural) is a comic book character created and drawn by 1960s counterculture and underground comix artist Robert Crumb. First appearing in Yarrowstalks (1967), the character gained a following during the emergence of underground comix in the 1960s and 1970s, and has been extensively merchandised in various products.”

This is one of the mailbox decorations we made when we lived in Arkansas. Anyway, I’m hoping that Harvey will get a kick out of putting these up on his wall and give him some happy memories.

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Brian came up to my table at the front window at the cafe early today, saying he was ready to go home. When we got home, he steered me to the pick up area where there was some type of ‘goody’ waiting. It turne out to be the to-die-for delicious cream-filled, no-name “thingie” that we love. We snarfed it down handily. Then he tuned my guitar, and we talked about the fact that it seemed a little unusual that this guitar needs to be tuned every day. He then showed me another way to do the “C” chord that might help with my finger-stretching and flesh-on-the-box problem. I’ll try it after dinner.

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Medium

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May 2, 2026 · 10:45 pm

Sunday 5-3-2026

“Sunrise over Lake Superior from Grand Marais” – Bryan Hansel – Substack

Isn’t this glorious?

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Brian is trying really hard NOT to get sick, so we didn’t go to the gym this morning. He is resting and loading up on Vitamin C. We shared a Thai breakfast this morning of a rice porridge dish called, “Joke,” a combination of rice, chicken and nice spices all mortared and pesteled into a nice dish. We had a side of watermelon. I’m not sure if we’ll go to the cafe this afternoon or not.

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Two latest painted sketches.

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This is for everybody, but especially for Donna, who takes almost as much interest in the puzzles as I do. The border doesn’t show here, except for the black part under the cheetah.

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I’m moving from guitar practice, to puzzle, to blog post, to painting and then back again. It’s been a very nice morning. I will plan on adding my exercises with water bottles this afternoon since we opted out on the gym this morning.

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TheLawofAttraction.com

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April 28, 2026 · 4:13 am

Tuesday 4-28-2026

Newest painted sketches

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We had a challenging visit with Harvey this morning. He thought I was his mom and that Brian was his dad, even though we tried to correct him. He also announced that the nursing home had served everyone ‘dog’ with mashed potatoes for dinner last night; specifically, ‘your dog’ meaning his parents’ dog, Gypsy. He said he recognized her, but they were getting low on food… We took the reading light, and he seemed to think that would work well. We’ll see if he actually uses it.

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The rest of my day was super wonderful, though. On the way home from the visit with Harvey we stopped and found a used acoustic guitar! The shop owner through in the case, and Brian gave me a capo and a pick.

I feel as if this is Christmas, my birthdays, my anniversary, and National Pickle Week all rolled into one. The neck of this guitar is much wider that the guitar I had so long ago, so I’ll have to completely start over with learning and being able to play the chords, as well as build the calluses I used to have on the tips of my fingers, plus I sound like a sick frog – but I don’t care. I’m ecstatic! I found a Youtube site that shows me the basic chords and I’ll practice those until I know them again. I figured out that it has been over 60 years since I played and sang in college – so to say I’m a bit rusty doesn’t begin to cover it. 🤭 I have the perfect situation for starting over. No pressure. No time limits. No one listening. Just me and the guitar, croaking together. PERFECT!

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I spent a couple of hours at the cafe this afternoon. I did a sketch for our 57th wedding anniversary which I’ll paint and take to Harvey in June. I also did a sketch for Father’s Day, plus two sketches of his favorite cartoon characters.

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