Category: Just Life

it’s friday|

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… full wolf moon: I took this shot of the moon Wednesday morning, just around 7:20 am. I’d stepped out to catch the last vestiges of sunrise and was amazed to see the moon, full in all it’s glory, in the north western sky…

… brrr!  Today’s temp is a cold 25 degrees, up from this morning’s low of 15!  I am thankful that both the furnace and heat pump are working . Shortly after 1:30 pm I went out  to start the car, just to be on the safe side.  Eventually, I’ll resume parking in the garage if I ever get it cleared of overflow items that hopefully can be donated rather than sent to a landfill …

… 22 in 22! I’ve been drafting and refining my”22 for 22″ list over the past couple days …I find it astonishing that I am a bit challenged to come up with 22 things I’d like to have accomplished by year’s end.  Some  items are repeats; some have been on my list for a decade (I’m not exaggerating) and some are new to me … One in particular:  Go to the Smithsonian Museum’s National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden is at the top of the list…if only Covid would cease and desist… the last time I was there was shortly after Christmas, 2019.

The weekend’s weather forecast is not showing much change; that’s the bad news. The good news: My “22 for 22” List, despite the fact that it is not quite complete,  offers a choice of inside activities.

Have a good weekend.

Cheers~

 

 

and tomorrow …

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… #walk 20 in 21

begins a new month. I wonder what’s in store, how the month will develop, end? What the weather will be like? Will we be graced with those rare June days – or will Mother Nature announce June’s arrival with a vengeance ? Treating us to days of endless heat and humidity? Our plan – weatherwise – is to go with the flow, take each day as it comes… and hope for the best.

Over these next 30 days I have a few a few exciting items on the calendar:

  • a couple in person gatherings with friends;
  • a Zoom workshop with Samanthe Dion Baker, creator and author of Draw Your Day and soon (22 June) to be published, Draw Your World ;
  • a 30-days’ journaling e-course : Here, Five Things
  • 2021 summer Book Bingo : my list of potential titles continues to grow; my next step is to attempt to determine which title will best fit into what square. I am beginning with The Great Circle tho’ I’m not sure where it’ll go …
  • significant progress on my Confetti Quilt

I wonder where my June wall calendar has disappeared … perhaps it’ll show up tomorrow. The dinner bell rings.

Cheers~

tgif | 5.7.21 …

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  • at sunrise this morning: 6:05 am EST
  • knit the sky yarns – Done Roving Yarns
  • Hazel & Chris out for a walk

Currently, I am participating in the annual May rendition of LOAD – Layout A Day. Our theme this month is The Golden Girls and thus far it’s been a lot of fun. I’ve watched Golden Girls since it first aired in 1985; I suspect I’ve seen all 185 episodes at least ten times but each one is almost always fresh, new and funny! I normally catch a few episodes, aired on the Hallmark Channel, on weekends.

In my last post, I shared a bit about a PiP (project in progress…or not ): knitting the sky. No, I’ve not yet started the project tho’ Thursday morning , I did begin reading the book Knit the Sky on my Kindle. I rarely read ebooks so I’m relearning the platform – which has been updated considerably since the last time I read a Kindle book. Above are the yarns I’ll be using for the project…now, to get started!

And, also in my last post, I shared a picture of Hazel – niece Chris’ labradoodle. Hazel has a new look and I thought she’d be OK with my sharing another photo. She’s such a cutie!

My daily schedule has been drastically changed over the past six months and I’ve too often found myself trying to fit things in the old time frame, only to run out of time and steam! As I was drafting this post, keenly aware that too many days have elapsed since I last posted, I had a bright idea: Usually , M- F, I’m on line during the noon hour, creating daily pages in small 3 x 5 or 4 x 6 journals. I had the bright idea: I’ll use the following 12:45 – 2 PM time slot, give or take 10-15 minutes, to draft, edit, schedule or publish posts as well as attend to other blogging activity: reading and responding to comments, visiting others’ blogs, etc. As I shared earlier, I think this plan is a prime candidate for time blocking… time will tell… and as friend of mine oft said: nothing beats a failure but a try… I’m not quite sure how this will all turn out but I plan to give it a good try. Now if I could only figure out how to use Word Press’ new editor program. I do not at all like it!

Wishing all a great weekend! My niece Kayla – age 20 – got her first Covid-19 vaccination today! Maybe by Memorial Day we’ll be able to have a family gathering…

Cheers~

tgif | 10.16.20 …

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thinking : or as they say: best laid plans of mice, men and Honore´ … I wrote a draft of todays’s post earlier today but then got involved in sorting and planning several memory keeping projects for the balance of 2020. Can’t believe there are just 10 weeks left in 2020! Who-da thought we’d have the ride we’ve been on and are still on ???

grateful : for a stirring to resume a couple stitching projects – just as soon as I finish reorganizing my sewing room. one project on my agenda is “sewing school” for my nieces – they each want to learn how to sew and I have a few spare machines – one for each ( i.e., 3) plus a major supply of fabric, tools, etc. I think that with Zoom and my sister’s plus quilting friends’ help, we/they can do this…and heaven knows there are books ( many that I also have) and online resources to round out the curriculum. Christmas will be early this year…

interesting : “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” our neighborhood drugstore (Walgreen’s!) is still without rubbing alcohol – it’s been over three weeks. they are well supplied with hand sanitizers and masks and alcohol wipes and other COVID-19 related items… just no alcohol. truly a curiosity.

fun: October is another LOAD (layout a day month); I have been enjoying capturing autumn memories during this unprecedented year – COVID-19. The photo above was yesterday’s creation …

Have a great weekend!

Cheers~

testing …

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Today, 2:15 pm: Just about an hour ago, Norman and I were tested for Covid-19. Walgreen’s Drug Store is opening 700 sites across the country … and we’re lucky enough to have one as a next-door neighbor – in fact, I understand, the only site in Washington DC, so far. It is a drive-through only site.

The test itself was easy enough to conduct: we each received a packet with 4 Q- tips, were given verbal instructions on what to do: use the same Q-tip to swab inside both nostrils and deposit [it] in a small fluid-filled vial. Contact with the testers was minimal:

  • everyone had on masks and conversation/directions conducted with windows closed, i.e, rolled up; 
  • ID: insurance cards/driver’s license were held up to the windows – the worker entered the information on the forms;
  • we were asked if we’d had any flu-like symptoms in the past 7-10 days;
  • we each swabbed our own nostrils and deposited the cotton swab in a small vial – filled with a liquid – maybe water ???-  that we put into a plastic bag and dropped into a receptacle;
  • and then we drove off.

Results from this totally painless test are expected in about 5 days …

A quiet  – though still very hot – weekend on tap… I’m looking forward to reading, finishing my #100dayproject, staying cool —temps forecast low 90s for the next 9 days. It’s July. Why should I expect anything different?

Whatever’s on your agenda, do have a safe and good weekend.

Cheers~

 

hello today | 6.23.20 …

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this intro page in my art journal* 

  1. it’s tuesday and, and hot ~ a cool 90°!
  2. the new air conditioner is working just swell!
  3. the clock ticks, ticks, ticks, bringing my attention to the time of day: 3:15 pm. my time flies…and
  4. I’m rambling…
  5. interrupted by Norman needing help with the iPhone 6+ ( I gifted him my old iPhone when I upgraded to an iPhone XR just days before Covid-19 began to shut everything down, back in March. (Geez, it’s been that long?)…
  6.  he can never seem to get the phone to recognize his fingerprints; perhaps someday soon we can go to an Apple Store and get them to help make it easy for him to use the phone…
  7. t’is a source of frustration and consternation: the former for him; the latter, moi…
  8. this summer, I’m attending stay @home art camp, created by me for me. camp includes Daily pages, Haiku and a new activity: a summer art journal, and other creative pursuits, including more mask making…guess the latter is just going to be the case… and oh yes, the other item in the photo is the cover of a  2019 Happy Planner notebook of paper, most likely no longer available …
  9. and to wind up this post, a reminder that tuesday next, 30 june, is the monthly sharing of activity with our 2020 words – right here on this blog.

Stay cool and create on!

Cheers~

*is a collage I created from a quilting magazine article promoting a quilt – “Pine View” – created by Lori Mason using a fabric line, Shasta from RJR Fabrics; the butterfly shapes I made and I also used stick on letters and phrases…

week in the life | day 1 | 5.11.20

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6:29 am ~ morning sky

12 hours ago and counting, my day began …  and it is not over by any stretch of the imagination. Last night, we stayed up til midnight, watching reruns of The Golden Girls (1985 – 1992). The TV program is just as funny and pertinent as it was 28 years ago .

Today has been quietly busy, perhaps because I’m documenting it: participating in Ali Edwards inspired week in the life – WiTL. I think the last time I actually did a WiTL was September 2017 when I went to Oregon for a week long quilting class and then to Seattle to visit friends.

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~6:23 pm ~ evening sky~

All day, the sky’s been a study: clouds, clouds, clouds, appearing very ominous and then, sunlight and blue skies break through, if only temporary. Fascinating. Beautiful. Today I wrote Haiku:

The sky ~ a study.

Clouds come, go. Birds fly high, low.

Nature’s gift to us

As MSQT evolved, I made a list of 11 things to do today….of course not all have received my undivided attention but 8 will by the time I go to bed. Tomorrow I host our bimonthly Recent Reads gathering… because of Covid -19, we are meeting via Zoom. So on that note, I shall hit publish and move onto creating my LOAD Day 11, which is – conveniently – to document today.

I hope your day has been a good one and that your tomorrow, even better.

Cheers~

 

 

 

ensconced …

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Looking back on the week, I think it’s been a good one, despite*the current state of my well-being:

• Monday: I attended weekly quilt group meeting followed by my fave lunch at Nordstrom…

• Tuesday: @ home day, tackling and completing my least fave activity: tallying monthly expenses…

• Wednesday: a hint of spring in the air and the invitation to take a longer than usual walk. My walking companion: more of  Anne Patchett’s Dutch House. I am so enjoying this book; Tom Hanks’ narration is perfect!  Wednesday evening I started feeling punk…

• Thursday: I missed joining my stitching group, opting to stay home and take care of me. Wise move…which brings me to today …

• *Friday/Today:  I’m sitting in bed, surrounded by books, journals, planner, a magazine and my iToys, er uh, tools. Not too far away, a glass of water, my tea mug with tea half cooled; issues and a packet of DayQuil/NightQuil acetaminophen capsules. Yucky! Yep, I have been stopped in my tracks – I have a cold! Despite both flu and pneumonia vaccines. I tell myself “this too shall pass” and I certainly hope such is the case, soon! Of course, against the backdrop of novel COVID19, this malady takes on a larger magnitude, as cases here in the US spread and increase in numbers. My cold began late Wednesday evening and seems to be running the usual course. I certainly hope that is the case. 

My appetite is intact; that’s a good sign and an invitation to feed me some breakfast .

Have a great weekend.

Cheers~

ode to my mug …

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~11 may  2014~

All good things come to an end and this morning, my beloved ceramic tea mug*  bit the dust. I’d washed the cup in the dishwasher and emptying said, picked up the mug, out of the top rack, by its silicone sleeve whereby the mug slid out, landing on the granite counter – of course! Result: the rim of the cup chipped on two sides – opposite, mais oui! – thereby rendering the cup useless.

A quick web search this morning yielded many replacements but none quite measure up. A while back, I bought a similar mug from IKEA and it seems to come closest to the real thing! With Christmas coming – just 30 days away – I will soon be using my fave Scotty Dog mug – best for hot tea and hot chocolate – until I find a suitable replacement or Santa brings a new mug.

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In every cloud, there is indeed a silver lining; a post for today plus a zillion – I exaggerate a wee bit – mug shots (pun intended) above, taken over the years, through all seasons, morning, noon, and night. Seldom has my mug been beyond arm’s reach. I suspect the mug is still serviceable as a pen/pencil holder. I’ll consider.

Cheers~

 

*gifted to me by my dear friend Linda in Oregon, May 2014.