Friday-4pm

We've had blue skies (and freezing cold) for several days.  Wind chill warnings of -35F and lower.  Brrr!

I have been dealing with laptop issues and almost wasn't going to even try to post today, but decided to see if it will work or not.  My laptop keeps saying my hard drive space is low or full, so I have been deleting and deleting for two days--to no avail.  The boxes still pop up and it says dropbox can't download pictures for me--even though I have deleted from dropbox, too.  Awk!
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I did get a few pictures and videos from Leah before things went completely haywire and my laptop froze up a few times.  I had to leave youtube open all night to get four videos uploaded.  I have been missing out on pics and videos because of my too full McLap.  So I have videos that are new and old that I have been getting randomly.  I guess when I have deleted enough off my laptop I'll finally get them all.  Good grief!  Anyways, McFamily plans to come over tomorrow to put my spacesaver together for my bathroom, so I'll have Dagan investigate.  Maybe things can be functional again soon.  :)

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Karma catches the morning sun and wonders why I look cranky--LOL! 

I forgot to show you the latest stacks of chick mysteries that Caroline brought over last time she was here!  I already had almost that many here, so I am set for a good long time...as I mostly read them in the bathroom, truth be told.  ;) 

I've even had pen problems lately--LOL!  I drug (the grammar police will be cringing) out some Preppy fountain pens again a couple months ago.  I forgot how much of a hassle they are with dripping from the sides of the nibs as I am writing with my hot little hands.  I went to open one that had a Diamine Grape sample in it and ink had even leaked all over inside the cap and got all over my table--so I brought it over and dumped it out on to an art journal page and blew the heck out of it with an air can.  (Felt good!)  So, while I was at it...  

...I had been suffering along with a Prera pen skipping and stopping a lot, right?  (Some inks are just too dry for fine and extra-fine nibs.)  So, I dumped that Noodler's Liberty's Elysium sample on the other side and blew that all to heck, too.  Ahhh!  I needed that.

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I really have gotten spoiled using better than $3.00 plastic pens and some better inks that don't run dry in fine nibs, I guess.  With the inks--thank goodness I can get small samples at Goulet Pens!  :)

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Let's see--I also cleaned out the fish bowl...again.  A regular thing when you have fish bowls.  All three fish are still alive.  You can see the two tetras...and center bottom is the tiny ottocinclus sucking on to the front of the glass. 

OMG!!  The ottocinclus almost went down the garbage disposal!!  I was pouring the bucket of water into the clean bowl (rather than catch them with nets again) and the otto went sailing out of the bucket, into the sink, bounced and flipped down the black disposal rubber thingie!  Oh no!  
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I quick set down the pail with the tetras and went to fish the fish out of the disposal, right?  Well, they have those spiny fins and it had splayed them out in angry, frightened panic--and caught itself precariously on the edges of the rubber flaps!  Whew!  I couldn't even see the tiny dark fish against the black rubber (my eyes aren't that great, to be fair), but I immediately felt the poke of the pointy fins and scooped it up in a flash.  Why it decided to try to fly out of the water this time...who knows?  Has the 2 gallon bowl made it suicidal?  I hope not.  Maybe it has learned not to try that again!  But just in case, I have learned that next time I will lay a net over the disposal.  ;)

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Meanwhile, I have felt so tired and sore that bigger projects have just felt overwhelming (took me four days to clean the fish bowl--LOL!).  But this current state of my body may not ever go away...so...it occurred to me that maybe I should break down bigger projects into very tiny steps.  Actually write them down so I can check them off and feel I am making progress, you know?  

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Do any of you remember "baby steps" from What About Bob?  I was thinking of that movie and chuckling to myself as I was writing out my long, extremely detailed list.

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So, that's what I did with the tweaking and sewing the rest of the first set of pads project.  I'd tell myself...well, you can just pin the sides together...okay, you can just sew around one lap (lol!)... or you can just turn them right side out...etc, etc. 

 I would do a step or two at a time and I finished them in two days--tada!  They still need snaps, but Leah is the official snap attacher.  :)
Baby Steps!!  ROFL!!

You may have noticed Karma stole my sewing chair as soon as I got up in that above picture.  She's been randomly in a wild and most foul mood lately.  Itching for a fight, as cats can be.   

Here we're playing try-to-catch-my-fingers. 

If she gets a bit too ferocious... 

...it's time to quit.

Cats are excellent pouters. 

One reason Karma's been in such a bitchy cranky mood is that I quit letting her get her cat treats in the living room.  She's used to me tossing them for her to race from one side of the room to the other (and burning off some of that "shades of the lioness" energy).  But I knew we would soon have a crawler in the family and Caroline only cleans once a month because she's getting groceries for me the second "visit".  I didn't want little pieces of cat food (Karma is not the neatest eater) to be going into Ian's mouth.  Not that it would kill him, but...well, you know.  ;)  
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Miss Karma thinks I am truly a cruel master at the moment.  LOL!

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But this is the reason for all the cat cruelty.

There are three more videos of Ian you haven't seen here that are on my youtube channel, if you're interested.  I wasn't going to try to post them in this blog because I'm not even sure it will publish in the first place.  But I know there are some of you who would like to see them all (like great grandma and grandpa Johnson).  ;)
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You can click here for more videos.
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McFamily plans to be over tomorrow to put together my bathroom spacesaver.  Gramma will be trying to corral Ian while Mama and Daddy are busy.  ;)  Ian is already thinking about how he can pull himself up to stand against furniture...so it won't be long and Miss Karma won't be safe up on "her" chair anymore--LOL!  Ian is on the move now!
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There have been so many people sick this winter.  Caroline just had strep and ear infections.  I have been very lucky that I have been feeling cruddy for totally unrelated reasons.  They had a cyclone in Australia.  Boston had more snow.  Spring will come.  (Or fall, depending.)  We can always count on change, right?  Take care, everyone.  I hope I get computer issues sorted out and that I will see you again on Tuesday.  :):)
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"Take care of yourself — you never know when the world will need you."
Rabbi Hillel

Tuesday-10:30am

Tuesday morning and we actually have the sun shining and 14 F today!

We've had some gray days.  Saturday night we had wind chill warnings of -40 to -50 F. 

I haven't been up to much.  Just slogging through the daily stuff.  This weekend I thought I didn't have anything lined up...but forgot I had soaked beans for 13 Bean Soup and was overdue on laundry and had paperwork to get into the mail for the state and the county...and so it goes--LOL! 

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Yes--that's my other new red coffee cup for you folks on T Stands For Tuesday.  So nice to have two so I can trade off.

I still journal almost every morning (turquoise QuoVadis) and am still totally in love with my bullet journal (open) and my new transforming pen case/holder.  Almost always have letters going.  Am watching Game of Thrones season 4 as they arrive (Netflix) and sad that there are only three weeks left, I believe, of Downton Abbey.  McFamily surprised me with a video call on Saturday--got to watch Daddy feed Ian his dinner and then see how Ian is beginning to scoot across the floor pulling himself forward with his arms.  So close to crawling!

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Miss Karma is always catching as much beauty sleep as she can...

 ...but has also drug out her toys during the night lately.

Since she doesn't "play" much by herself anymore, I take it she is restless for spring and the swallows.  ;)  

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I am having all kinds of issues with blogger/google.  As I am writing this I keep getting a big yellow error box over and over.  ???  I am only typing!?  Grrrr!  And still when I approve my blog comments they will post to my blog, but a lot of them I never get the notification email so I can't respond to you.  If you haven't heard from me, that's why.  Please don't stop commenting.  I read every one.  Or you can always email me if you haven't heard back from me for a while and you're used to us chatting back and forth.  ;)  

soulcomfort@gmail.com  

Then we won't lose touch.  Anyways, I'm not even sure this is going to post with all the error boxes popping up, but they do seem to have subsided now.  

(knock on wood)

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Well, I will keep this short, cross my fingers, and click publish--LOL!  Have an uncomplicated week.  Ignore the small stuff.  :):)

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"Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy."

Anne Frank

Friday-9:45am

Good Morning!

It doesn't look at all like this right now.

It is solid light gray right to the ground.

Wednesday morning we had -30 F wind chill warnings.  It's warmed up to 21 F this morning.  Looks like this may be the warmest day till next week.  Good weather to be housebound.  ;)  Caroline comes this afternoon.  Had to change the day because of a client's funeral.
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Miss Karma has still been enjoying her square of wrapping paper from the magnets.

The paper has that crinkly sound she loves, but she'd probably claim it, regardless--LOL!

Ran across this video called Writing On Water and was absolutely mesmerized!  Even if you are not crazy about pens and inks, I bet you might be fascinated, too.

I thought--I have to try this!  I watched another video where she wrote the words to a song as it played.  Awesome!  

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Then this song...I cried and cried...my heart leaking out my eyes.  This is how I felt about Dagan when he was little (still do).  I had never heard the song before, but immediately knew she'd written it for her child.

I wrote poems to humanity when I was a young teen that were similar to this.  Just loved people so very much I felt like I was overflowing and wanted to comfort them all.  But I never knew the true depth and breadth of loving another human being until I shared my life with Dagan.  

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And now Dagan and Leah know exactly what that feels like.  

You're okay.

You're okay.

You're okay.

:) :) :)

Tuesday-10:30am

Yes, I started this at 10:30 this morning.  It is now after 4:30pm.  I had trouble loading pictures and then I had a video to upload on to youtube (long story, but I took the video on the cell phone and I wasn't set up to dropbox on this new-to-me cell phone yet--so I couldn't do youtube till the video showed up today on drop box) and it took forever to load for some reason.  But--here I am--finally.  The sky looks pretty much like this right now again despite it being previously clouded over all day.

Not much has been happening since we spoke last.  When Karma is all settled down in the dim light onto one of the little red rugs in the kitchen...

...she doesn't appreciate me flicking on the bright light and disturbing her.  If I am not getting her something to eat, that is--LOL!

I did make it over to McFamily's on Sunday!  Leah and I had a sewing confab and made decisions on changes and alternations...which I will be working on this week.
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Ian--ready for dinner.

He has managed to bite a hole out of the spout of his sippy cup with those new bottom teeth (makes great little puddles on his high chair tray).  No top tooth yet, even though it has looked so close for so long.

This is a video of his entire meal--so only people who really need their Ian fix need to watch the whole thing.  Gramma loves it, of course.  It's like watching Leah feed a chubby-cheeked little bird!  Cracks me up!

Anyways, I am definitely going to be the last person to link to T Stands For Tuesday this week so this will be really short.  And I guess I'll have to count watching Ian drink water--or count me grabbing a tiny bit of pure white sparkly glittery snow from McFamily's yard on Sunday night--LOL!  Even forgot to get my drinking pic.  Oh well. 

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May this be a sweet, sweet week!!  :):)

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"We will be known forever by the tracks we leave."

Dakota proverb 

Saturday-2pm

Good afternoon!

We actually received a reported 3 1/2 inches of snow a few days ago.

Actually looked like winter and there was just enough for plowing and shoveling. 

I've still been up before the sun sometimes.  

Just been off kilter lately. 

We've seen some blue skies, but it's been cold.  Was 17 below a few mornings ago and 11 below this morning. 

Not warm enough to melt the snow or ice, but windy as all get out. 

Enough to blow some of the snow away--LOL! 

I forgot to show you these little OliClip magnets I ordered for my planners. 

I saw them on youtube and actually bought them from The Needle Nook online.  They use these for holding instruction booklets or something--not really sure.  But they are strong little magnets and can hold quite a few pages together easily as bookmarks.  I am loving them!

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They came wrapped up in a crinkly pretty paper that Karma immediately claimed, of course, and has loved ever since.  

My new sewing machine needles arrived.  Now I have regular, jersey ball point, microtex (for suede and silk it said), and denim. 

I made patterns and did some cutting of fabric for the trial pads. 

Am saving all the cool squishy scraps.  I thought if I chop it up I could maybe use it for the stuffing in a stuffed toy.  ;)

Well, I am learning as I go.  Definitely need more than 1/4 inch seam allowance--LOL!  I could barely turn under the fabric to sew closed the turning hole (which I shouldn't have left on the wing because it was harder to sew and warped the shape of the wing).  I didn't need as many rows of stitches to attach the core...suede cloth is slipperier than I thought...and I don't know if our idea of having the core come around the sides of the wings a bit is going to work well or be necessary.  We already have waterproof PUL fabric inside the wings, anyways.  Yup--learning as we go.  :) 

I didn't add the snap yet.  Planning to haul these over to McFamily's tomorrow to have another sewing confab with Leah.  Will probably tweak the pieces I already cut for the other two trial pads before I sew those and then remake the patterns with some final adjustments.  Once we get the final decisions made, though, it will be mass-production, assembly-line sewing over here.  These are so soft!  Going to really like them, I think.  

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The last of my February orders have trickled in.  My new hook for the bathroom hand towel and washcloth--for when my new spacesaver gets together and installed.  

A laminator!  I bought a box of sheets for it, too.  I can make my own dividers for my planners, bookmarks, and other stuff.  Cool! 

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Okay--I have mentioned how I haven't been doing as well...actually since last fall.  I know I have fibro (plus arthritis and other assorted goodies) and I'm used to dealing with the constant pain...but I am not used to dealing for months with the more severe chronic fatigue that can go along with it.  A day or two here and there--or even a week at a time occasionally--but it's been a long time since it has lingered on and on and on.  :(

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  I call them my noodle days.  You know how when you are really sick with the flu or something and you feel just sooo weak all over--like you hardly have the energy to lift your arm or move at all?  That's what it is like.  Eyelids are stuck at half mast.  You take your temperature to double-check to see if you really do have the flu because, after all, you ache everywhere all the time and have IBS so it's kinda hard to tell--LOL! 

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Anyways, this is how weak I've been...

and how weird Karma is...

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  When I got the new end tables I shifted things around my chair.   

I moved my lapdesk to behind the end table to my right because I now wanted to have two pillows available, which I put to the left side, for helping to hold Ian when he's over.   

Why do I need all those pillows?  Well, I need a pillow to put under the lapdesk to get it up high enough for me to write in my chair (very nearsighted) and I also need a pillow if Karma wants to climb up on me for a cuddle.  She knows this and politely waits for me to get the pillow.  Why?  Because it hurts for her to step on me.  When I say I hurt all over...I really mean I hurt all over.  Anywhere you'd say poke me even gently with a finger...raw.  Karma knows I need a pillow for my protection. 

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What has this got to do with the carpet and my silly cat?  

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Well, I have felt sooo weak that I knocked over my red thermos of coffee onto the floor just being unable to lift the lapdesk up and over the cup to put it back behind the end table...twice in three days!!  The lapdesk is not that heavy, folks!  And that is my good arm!!  *sigh*  I made an attempt to clean it up with a bucket and rag...but just managed to spread the mess around.  Hard to do when you can't get down on your knees, either--LOL!  So I am going to borrow McFamily's SpotBot tomorrow so I can clean up the huge mess I made.  

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Meanwhile, Karma has claimed the biggest, darkest, brown coffee spot (was fuller that time) on the carpet!?!  Do you believe it?  Silly goose!  Now we have proof that she will claim absolutely anything on the carpet!

I moved the lapdesk back to its old spot on the left hand side of my chair...

...and put the big red pillow behind that end table, too--LOL!  No more knocking over my favorite cup!  (Good thing it's not glass, eh?)

Oh, and in case you're wondering what those black stripes are on my lapdesk--another little thing to help my bum arm.  Velcro.  I have the coordinating velcro strips on the back of my clipboard so that I can write letters without the paper sliding around because my left arm goes weak and starts to hurt from holding the paper still--LOL!   

Oh, the myriad of little limitations in my life--ROFL!

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Anyways, the last order arrived today.  Tracking said that this package had been at the Fargo post office since Monday and yet wasn't delivered until today.  Out post office has gotten very slow lately (my Netflix DVDs are normally a day or two late the past month or so), but this was extra slow even for them.  

I got these fineline applicator bottles.  I've seen people use them to apply paint (can even write with them) and gel medium (for gluing in small spaces). 

The thing I love about them is that they have this pin built into the cover that fits inside the narrow metal tip and that is supposed to prevent them from clogging!!  Whoohoo!   

Also got this Heidi Swapp craft mat--specifically because people complained in reviews on Amazon that it was too thick and heavy to roll up and take with when they traveled.  

I have been using oven liners.  They're heat resistant, good sized, and 20% off at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  But the oven liners are so lightweight that they slide all over the place on the glass tabletop when I am working on the art journals.  So I thought I'd try something thicker and a little heavier...and this new one is heat resistant, too.  We'll see how it cleans up.  I do like the light turquoise color!  Hey--I just realized it matches the floor lamp I have over there.

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Oh--before I forget and say goodbye--there's new troubles with Blogger/Google.  Apparently when people make blog comments who don't have a gmail account--those comment alerts are not sent to my gmail.  They are still posted on my blog, but if I don't get the email alert then I can't reply via email.  At least I think that's what's going on.  So, if you don't hear back from me when you comment...that may be the reason.  More Google shenanigans!  May or may not be fixed.  And I am not sure if that is exactly what is happening or why--but I know I am not getting all my email notifications as of a few days ago and they are not in spam and that is what I have heard through the grapevine.  In the meantime, if you really miss chatting with me--drop me an email.  :)

soulcomfort@gmail.com

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  Have a great rest of the weekend!

Hugs!!  :):)

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"People are like stained glass windows: They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light within."

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross