6-10-2019 Monday-9:30am

Good morning.  This will be very brief.  I came down with a 101 degree temperature Wednesday through Friday.  Finally felt more human by Sunday...BUT.  Why is there always a but lately?  I can't remember if I had mentioned it in the last couple of weeks but I have had swelling and pain in my left foot.  I know I had hit the toes really hard on something--bed frame?  Anyways, I figured either I had maybe broken a toe or it set off arthritis or something.  Been bothering me for weeks.

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And meanwhile...I also smacked the back of my hand near a knuckle quite a while back, too.  Had a small scab that dropped off, but I noticed some soreness around that knuckle, too.  Nothing much.

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Well, since I got sick they have both gotten much worse.  Especially my foot.  More swollen and painful...hurts to step on it.  Being sick must have set off the inflammation.  Odds are it is arthritis, but I could have fractured my foot or broken a toe--who knows?  I'll find out this afternoon.  Leah is going to bring me to the walk-in clinic.  (That feels like a bad pun at the moment--LOL!)

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Being sick I had to cancel my re-certification appointment down at the office on Thursday, buying flowers, planting flowers, and Gramma Day.  So I have a rescheduled appointment in the office for all the paperwork at 11am this morning.  Leah will let me know when they are done with lunch over there and can come and pick me up.  So that is how things are going this past week--LOL!

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It was crazy hot in the 90s.  I saw 97 on Friday--while I was inside with the AC on, alternately roasting and freezing--LOL!  

We had rain a couple of times.

By Sunday it cooled down and was a beautiful day where I could open the place up again. 

Annie was thrilled! 

She's still been on vole patrol. 

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Was 13 years ago today that I started blogging.  I began blogging because, as you know, I am a letter writer but my health had been so bad for such a long stretch that I hadn't even been able to write letters very often.  And I had moved away up here to Fargo-Moorhead from Minneapolis with Dagan (only person I knew up here) and this was back when it cost a fortune for long distance calls.  I knew just a few people (family and friends) who had computers.  By blogging I could write one letter to all of them at the same time.  (Why I have always labeled my blogs like I start all my letters--date, day and time.)  Then I'd only have to hand write to the people who didn't own computers.  That is why I started blogging.  Lack of spoons for letter writing--LOL!

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Of course, later on I could write letters again but I kept on blogging.  Thirteen years have flown by in a way.  You may have noticed that I have never updated the look of my blog.  It's the same as it has been from when I started.  Just a place for me to write my letter--with pictures.  Who knew it would become a more public letter--that I would meet friends from around the world--and that some of us exchange private handwritten letters--for years!!  You all have become my blogger-family!  What a world we live in.  :)

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Well, I have to leave pretty soon for the re-certification appointment...and then go find out about my foot.  Always something, eh?  ;)  Till the next weekly letter...

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"Don't be concerned about being disloyal to your pain by being joyous."

Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan

6-3-2019 Monday-11:45am

Good morning!

Was a busier week.  On Tuesday I decided to do a simple, quick project...that took me most of the day--LOL!  Whenever I think a craft project is going to be easy it ends up taking way more time than expected.  Leah is the same way--LOL!

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Wanted to make up some "stationery" and decided to cut apart these (very stinky) botanical border stamps I finally got from New Zealand (through Amazon ordered in March, I believe).  Well, that was quite a project in itself--LOL!  They were so sticky that both my exacto knife with a new blade and my rotary cutter were total fails.  Finally got them apart using a scissors.  Had a sheet of acetate to store them on and picked out some of the Versa Magic ink pads that don't bleed through.  I had to scrub the stamps with soapy water before they would work--but when they did... 

...I liked them.  First I used the shorter ones where I had to stamp four times across the bottom of a writing tablet sheet. 

These first ones were a huge test for bleed through as they are the ends of a couple of Tomoe River paper tablets.  I have fallen in love with those Versa Magic ink pads!

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This time I was watching Miss Marple on Acorn TV.  Was in the mood for some cozy murder mysteries.

As long as I had everything out I made up four or five sheets with each stamp.  And as I went along I made up a sheet of card stock to show me what they actually look like when I go to use them next time.   

I finished up the Tomoe River tablets. 

With the last two I had started to use the longer stamps where I only had to stamp two across the bottom. 

Those were easier to stamp.  I got out a Clairfontaine tablet (thicker paper than Tomoe River) and went to town with the longer stamps . 

So, I have some more homemade stationery. 

Was worth the trouble because I do like botanical stamps.  Even if a few of these are quite abstract, I liked them. 

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Wednesday was the DMV.  Leah planned to drive around while I was in there so Liam could take his afternoon nap.  Ian is out of preschool now for the summer.  He wanted to go with me.  :)

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I am SOOOO glad I had an appointment!!  The place was so packed people were waiting outside in the entryway!  But I didn't have to wait long at all.  And he didn't seem to care I was 60 days late, either.  All going fantastically, right?  Then came the glitch.  My own fault.  I didn't realize that they would only accept the originals for your birth certificate and marriage license.  So--had to make a trip home and go back again.  But he said to just come right up to his window...so it didn't take long that time, either, for Ian and I.  Done and dusted...texted Leah...and went outside to wait.

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It was even more crowded by that time.  People were outside waiting.  I heard they were told there was a two hour wait!!  So even with my screwing up and having to drive home and back again we were still done in a quarter of the time.  I'd never go without an appointment again.  And I will try not to be so late, either.  :)

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I texted Leah and we waited outside under this beautiful tree that was shedding blossoms in the wind.

Ian pulled a flower off, which I told him he shouldn't do--just let them fall off naturally.  Leah didn't hear the text, so we spent some time under the tree. 

Gave me time to remember pictures.  Ian was tossing the flower up and into the wind and then finding it again and again. 

He brought it with to give to Mama.  On the way to my place there was something crawling on Ian's pants.  He was being careful not to smush it.  After they dropped me off they stopped to go shopping and Leah took these pictures. 

It was the teeniest baby inchworm!  So cute!  Was on his car seat buckle by that time.  You'll probably have to click to enlarge the pictures to see it--LOL!

They coached him on to the flower... 

...and left the flower on the roof of the car. 

It had blown away by the time they came out.  We hope the teeny inch worm is okay.

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Wednesday Leah came over for a Craft Nite.  She made the invites for Ian's birthday party in June.  We were talking paper most of the evening.  Found Neenah white cardstock for really cheap on Amazon pantry...if it really is #110 card stock, it will be quite the deal!  (Some people complained it wasn't #110 as advertised.)  Leah is going to order that because she can send it back if it isn't what it says. 

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Then we ended up on an online search for good quality colored card stock for cheaper.  Found a company Jennifer McGuire used to use called Papertrey Ink.  Really good deals and supposed to be #110, too.  So I ordered the sample set of all their colors and the sample set of their colored shimmer paper.  We can hardly wait for them to get here!  If they are as good as they sound we will make a big order of many colors!!

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We have seldom used colored card bases because the paper gets too expensive when we are making about 100 Christmas and 50 birthday card sets.  This will be such fun!!

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I had a Gramma Day on Saturday and Ian and I Marie Kondo'd his bookcase!  Took everything out and piled it all on the kitchen table.  Then cleaned and sorted it all!   

I wanted him to be a part of it so he knows where everything is...and where to putt it back--LOL!

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Then we watched some PJMasks till it was time to go home for dinner.

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Leah has back issues, too, and she brought over her leg wedge pillow for me to try.  I did.  For two hours.  It was good for my legs but I just can't lie flat on my back anymore--not even with my legs raised up.  I'd need a wedge pillow for lifting up my torso, too.  Like a homemade adjustable bed--LOL!  At least that didn't set my back off for more than a day--whoohoo!  Potential, I'd say.

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Today--Caroline is getting my groceries and will be here shortly so I need to move and clear off the table.  Leah is planning to try to make it for a Craft Nite tonight.  I got a call from the Goldark office and they claim they didn't realize they had to do a full-on re-certification every year for my rent reduction.  (I just did one for Federal Housing.)  I have never had to bring the past six months of my bank statements before...good grief.  They want copies of everything.  So I need to spend another afternoon finding and copying paperwork for an appointment in the office here at 11am on Thursday.

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Thursday afternoon we are going to Baker Nursery to buy flowers!!!  And Friday afternoon we are planting on the patio!!!  So looking forward to having some color out there.  And I don't have much time to tell you about the vole!  There's a vole that is nearby and runs across my patio here and there.  Annie is on alert ever since she caught sight of it.

She isn't even eating half the food she was.  Spending all her time at the patio door...watching...waiting.  I guess it is the one thing she misses from her days on the street.  Killing.

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Well, that's it for this week, my friends.  We've already had a couple 90 degree days in May!  Again tomorrow, I think.  This could be a long hot summer.  No time to proofread...till next week...  :) :)

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"Be happy for this moment.  

This moment is your life."

Omar Khayyam

5-27-2019 Monday-1:15pm

Good afternoon!

The week started out busy.  I worked on the second set of three-tree cards.

Used up a couple rolls of old carpet tape... 

...inserting these three green plaid trees. 

I finished them all.  

The next step was to put skinny double-sided tape around the outside edges, but I never got to that part. 

Leah was over on Wednesday night to finish putting together the teacher's gifts.  You may remember she had gotten them this far.  The thank you dies glued on and Ian's gelli plate art cut up and...

...taped on to the backside.  Then tape ready around the edges. 

All that was left was to tape those fronts to the card stock base.

She got them put together.  Each set was six cards. 

 Then Leah did wrap them in the packing paper Ian, Dagan, and I had played with last year with mark making tools and craft paint.  Each teacher also got a thank you card (different ones--LOL!).  Nice! 

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Okay--then on Thursday I made the mistake of deciding I would try to sleep in my bed again.  Been a long time.  I missed my bed.  My back has been doing okay.  If I am careful about what I do and how I move I've stayed pretty much in the ballpark of my usual limited life, you know?  Thought I'd tough it out.  If I didn't move I could tolerate lying there (sleep on my sides).  But I was really hurting when I went to get out of bed!  It hurt to move...at all.

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So, that little experiment resulted in three chair days where I slowly got better and better.  I was actually doing pretty well yesterday, but decided to take another day to see if I could get back to my new normal.  Yup!  Today I am doing laundry, moving around (slowly, of course), and can sit at the table to type again.  Not going to try to lay on my side again.  That's not an option anymore--LOL!

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On Wednesday I go for my Real ID driver's license renewal.  Like I said--60 days late, so I might end up with a North Dakota ID card if they refuse to renew it.  I haven't driven in a few years and don't have a car, so it wouldn't be much of a loss.  Nice to have in case of an emergency or something, though.  I'll find out.

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After that...since I think we are all fairly healthy for now (Leah gives me rides, bless her)...I should finally attempt to get to some of my long postponed appointments (new rheumatologist, eye doctor, dentist).  I going to try to hit them all this summer. 

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 Can you tell I hate going to appointments.  If I am going to deplete myself of spoons and end up shot for days...I'd rather it was for something fun...like going to Baker Nursery to buy flowers for my planters.  ;)  And that will be next!  Whoohoo!!  

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It's Memorial Day here in the United States.  If you are celebrating, I hope you have good weather.  Well, no matter where you are or what you are doing, I hope you have good weather.  Since I don't have TV and only have internet I never see the news anymore.  I just found out about the numerous tornadoes in the Midwest here and all the flooding and the fires in Florida.  I hope everybody is safe...everywhere!  

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Today here it is supposed to get up to 65F and then be in the 70s the rest of the week.  Hopefully I'll get to something else I have been procrastinating--doing the Marie Kondo thing with all my clothing.  I guess I had best get to it before it really does get hot here.  (That's 80 for me--LOL!)  Now that my back is better again I can get to the bigger projects on my list.

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 I am contentedly sleeping in my recliner now.  I never thought when I was younger that I would be this happy just to be able to do my laundry--LOL!  Appreciate everything you've got while you've got it...everyone in your life while you have them...and remember those who have passed before you.  Counting your blessings always makes for a better day.  :) :)

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Instead of my normal quote I am going to leave you with my very favorite refrigerator magnet.  

5-20-2019 Monday-11:45am

Good morning!

First of all I have to show you the gift that Connie over at Far Side of Fifty sent to Annie!  A hand made cat bed plus a couple of cat toys!

 Connie has been crocheting nests to donate to animal rehab.  They use them for birds and other small animals, too.  

I had never heard of this and think it is such a marvelous idea.  What a sweet surprise to get a giant one for Annie!!  Thanks so much, Connie!

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What a busy week...well, for me, anyways.  ;)

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Monday after blogging I decided to finish the rest of the Julia Cameron book.  I'm doing a lot of "artist's dates" lately, so I just finished the last two chapters of the memoir questions--moving up here to Fargo-Moorhead to go to college, and then being housebound and disabled.  Done!!  Whoohoo!

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Tuesday afternoon I went down to the historical presentation here in the community room.  A gentleman from the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead, Minnesota gave a slide show and talk about the old streetcar system they used to have in Fargo-Moorhead.  Was very interesting.  Minneapolis-St. Paul (where I'm from) had a streetcar system, too, years ago.

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Wednesday I made it down for the coloring group.  Kari/Carrie (I really need to find out how she spells her name), the activity director, had forgotten the picture she had been coloring.  Luckily, since she had shown an interest in the zendala templates I had with me last time I participated, I'd brought with examples of how I had finished them and a bunch of extra templates.  

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 Some of you who have been following the blog for years will remember when I was heavily into zendalas.  Here are some of the before and afters I showed her (and a couple of other ladies).

Sometimes simple and color are all I want to do. 

I don't know why this one is one of my favorites.  Just love all the bright spots of color and it has a kind of tribal look to me.  I gave Carrie the template to play with... 

...and, of course, had an extra pen and 6-inch ruler she could borrow--LOL!  So she started on her introduction to zendalas!  Next time I'll bring my zentangle binder to show her that's filled with tangle examples.  ;)

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Carrie is really into crafts, too.  After the coloring group she had to walk around to put a flier on everyone's door and was coming to mine as I was coming back from checking my mail--so I invited her in to peek at my studio and all our art & craft supplies.  She loved it so much she asked if she could take pictures--LOL!  And when Leah and I finally do downsize she would love to go through anything we want to get rid of--which is marvelous!  Either she will use it herself or use it for her job with seniors.  Awesome!  Incentive for us.  A lot of places that take donations don't seem to want art or craft supplies especially if they've been opened or used--like paints or glues, for example.  You'd like to find a place where they'd be appreciated.  Not that we will have all that much we can part with.  (Sorry Marie Kondo--it all gives us joy...or might give the boys joy...so we're having to part with joy--LOL!)

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 Then Thursday night Leah came over for Craft Nite.  But she didn't work on Christmas cards because she had an idea to make sets of Thank You cards to give as teacher gifts to Ian's two teachers.  It's his last week this week!

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You may remember when Ian and I played with the gelli plate one day using stencils and such.  Well, Leah took those papers Ian made and cut them up into squares to tape behind this three circle die she cut into the left side of the white card stock.  Then she cut out the matching green thank you die and glued it to the front on the right side.  

She got that far, but didn't finish taping the white fronts on to the green card bases.  She's coming by tonight to finish them off.  And Ian had a part in the artwork!!  Leah comes up with such clever ideas.  :)

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Then Friday early evening McFamily was on a walk and Leah stumbled across a garage sale with a TON of mounted rubber stamps for sale.  She was texting me pictures while I ate dinner...until we finally decided it would be easier for her to come over and pick me up.  So, I unexpectedly went to a garage sale and had a visit with McFamily afterwards!  Got to read Ian a couple stories before bedtime :)

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We got 29 stamps for $20.  

Quite a bargain!  Whoohoo!

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On Friday a splurge item arrived, too.  Platinum has come out with three less expensive roller ball maki-e pens.  I've been looking at the one with Mt. Fuji and the cranes...

...and Amazon had it cheaper than anywhere else I could find online.

I LOVE IT!!

So, if you get a letter from me with plain old blue or black gel ink and I tell you I am using my fancy maki-e pen...sorry...the joy is all on the writer's end--LOL!

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Then on Saturday it was Gramma Day and Ian had both lunch and dinner here.  We cuddled up and watched some Thomas The Train.  I was so exhausted after my busy week I was in bed by 8:15pm!  Me!  Slept for 12 hours and had a pajama day yesterday--LOL!

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Was a chilly, rainy week with scattered sunshine.  I think we were supposed to be down to 32 degrees last night, but it is 60 right now.  Basically expecting 60s all week and more rain.  I plan to be busy with the second set of 3-tree Christmas cards at some point.  Caroline comes to clean on Tuesday and we have a coloring day again on Wednesday.  I hope I can get as much done this week.  :) :)

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Another week has flown by.  All the rain is greening up the place.  Oh, and I've been watching Game of Thrones--am two episodes away from the final season!!  Maybe get finished with that this coming week, too.  The final episode aired last night, I believe.  Now if I can just not hear any spoilers in the meantime--LOL!

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See you next week!!

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"Patience is not just the ability to wait, 

it's how we behave while we're waiting."

Joyce Meyer