December 14, 2020 Monday--1pm

Good afternoon!

This group of five partridges is actually here right now as I am starting our chat. 

I think I have two smaller coveys and one really large one that come every day.

Been so cold I am very happy to help them out.  Was supposed to get down to 5 F last night (-15 C).  But it probably was even colder because that is what the temperature is right now this afternoon.

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Leah and I had our video call Tuesday night and then she made a couple of drop offs at my patio door, too, last week.   On Wednesday she dropped off some stuff she ordered for me (and for them, too) for gut health.  ION is the name of it.  Got the drops and the nasal spray.

Supposed to help get your gut microbiome (?) back to normal.  Since Dr. Kessler said that was my priority issue to deal with we've done more research on gut health and leaky gut syndrome...and this could help.  Says to start out slow and I haven't had any issues with it yet.  Nice!  Fingers crossed.  I am willing to try just about anything.  Been a long year and a half with the new and different health issues added to my pain and exhaustion cocktail--LOL!  

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Leah also dropped off bird seed from Fleet Farm and some CashWise groceries on Thursday.  I met her in the garage where she piled the bird seed for me.  She said that the difference between getting a 40# bag or two 20# bags was only a dollar and something so she got me 20# bags.  They should be so much easier for me to haul inside and get into the bird seed bin--whoohoo!!  She is always thinking of things to help me out.  Is it any wonder she is so dear to me.  :) :)

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I worked on Christmas cards/letters all week long...every day.  Finally finished up yesterday and walked the rest of them down to go out in the mail today.  I can't believe I actually got them out by the middle of December--whoohoo!  That's my normal deadline.  Shock!  :)

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Meanwhile...I have limited time to do the free bonus mini-classes for Wanderlust so I decided to go through all of them and watch the videos so I could prioritize which ones I want to be sure and get to by the end of the month.  (Bonus classes aren't all available to download and keep like the Wanderlust classes in 2021.)  

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So, on breaks from Christmas cards, I was going through the bonus classes.  There were a few that were just a coupon code for money off of an online class or classes offered by that particular teacher apart from Wanderlust.  (I splurged enough on Wanderlust for next year, so no money for that.)  Then there was about half a dozen who had free printables for collage papers.  Since I don't really have "collage" papers I took advantage of those feebies!  After that there were 11 or 12 actual classes for free.  Most were one or two short videos, but maybe 3 of them were long full classes with many videos.  So, I know which ones I want to try to get to now and am organized.

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I plan to do all the bonus classes in the square Fabriano journal I did the first and only class in--LOL!

It's an interesting art journal with different shades of paper inside.

My one class so far was the mandala.

Now that I am done with Christmas cards and I have decided to use up leftover birthday cards for 2021...I am free to start on Wanderlust finally!!  That's where my spoons will be going.  ;)

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But what is so funny...

I totally forgot I had also signed up for the free advent calendar prompts by the lady who runs Wanderlust.  I would have remembered if I was getting an email with a link every day.  Turns out it was one link to get to all 24 prompts!  (Talk about being behind--LOL!)

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So I started watching these short videos to get an idea what was involved.  Lo and behold--these sound just perfect for me to start with!  They are supposed to be done in a very small art journal--preferably one you made yourself.  They're specific prompts; supposed to take a short amount of time; you are to try to be loose and fast; and supposed to gather up supplies to keep in a container of some kind to have at hand every day.

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Well, I haven't done any mixed media (or art in general, for that matter) for years!  The blank page is super intimidating right now.  And I actually have a small watercolor journal that I made eons ago.

One of the first journals I made when learning bookbinding...

...that felt too "precious" to use, you know?

So, I decided that it was about time I use this little journal.

Plus the heavy watercolor paper will hold up easily for collage, too.

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Step one: gather up supplies in a container.  

Easy!  

That won't take long, right?

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Three hours later...

...I finally had jammed full this tote with a handle.

I couldn't fit any paints in there--just gesso--but everything is close at hand for me in the studio.  I was mostly just trying to find all the tools!

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Leah was busy with babies when I moved here and I was pretty well shot for a long time after the move.  We have said we were going to eventually go through everything in the studio and hallway bookcases to organize and label things.  Well, we are dedicated procrastinators--lol!  

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So...I had this supply list...tissue paper--where the heck is my tissue paper?  Glue brushes--where would they be hiding?  This went on and on.  Was actually kind of fun because I had forgotten some supplies I had and it felt like an early Christmas!

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But got so tired and hurtin' that I finally had to just quit searching.  I did find tissue paper in a couple scrap satchels that could be used for collage...so I just cleared some space and drug them in from the hallways bookcases.

Obviously, I will have to change some things around in order to be ready for an entire year of mixed media.  At least this was a start.

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Anyways, that's how my week went.  All the Christmas cards are in the mail.  [I already have half a dozen new letters to answer from people I already mailed cards to--LOL!  At least they are not time sensitive.]  

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The covey of eight is here right now.  I got this picture last week of the one with 14.

They all stand up if they see me inside or someone coming down the sidewalk.

I froze so they would stay and eat.

But then they took off because of a lady walking her dog.

They do come back regularly, of course.  I think each covey comes by many times a day when it gets cold like this.

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We had a little bit of snow yesterday.

Barely a dusting.

I'm hoping for a good amount before Christmas!

For the partridges, too.  They stay warm by digging down and huddling in the snow.  Got to be a lot colder for them with no snow cover.

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Okay--so this week.  Leah is planning on coming over for a craft night tomorrow night!!  She's going to help me print off and punch all the pages for my 2021 bullet journal.  (You may recall she made up the pages for me for my 2020 bullet--and I have loved them!)  Then she will teach me how to store all the classes I will be downloading for Wanderlust--in the cloud--One Drive?  And finally--most of my colored twinkling lights I have (all year) around the patio door are burned out and I bought some new ones.  Leah is better at climbing around and doing that kind of thing--and she'd rather I didn't try, honestly.  So we will have a lot to do and I can hardly wait.

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We are also planning on an early Christmas on Sunday the 20th!  I will go over to spend the day--and the boys can open their presents.  Really excited about that.  Haven't seen them for a long time.  

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So, I hope all goes well and both those things can happen.  My head isn't AS plugged up as it was.  Seems to have moved into the chronic but less annoying phase.  Today I'm doing laundry and, hopefully, some cooking/baking.

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Oh, the end of that mini-series, Reckoning, was disappointing.  The acting was really good and all of that but it left you hanging.  Which would be fine if it was season one...but it said it was a mini-series.  I don't like being left hanging in the way they ended this one.  Being left hanging can be satisfying sometimes, but this definitely wasn't.

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I am currently watching the final season of Supernatural on Netflix streaming.  I have avoided hearing anything about how it ends--so don't tell me anything!  Had to first re-watch the first half that I already saw, of course.  (They always split their seasons for some reason.)  Fifteen years.  I don't want it to end.  

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Well, I hope to have and be company this week...and to start on the art journaling!  Eight partridges and about 30 sparrows are here at the moment.  Yup--birds are here from dawn to dusk when it is freezing outside...and I am tickled to have smaller bags to haul from the garage thanks to Leah.  :)

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Time to move the clothes into the dryer.  

It is almost Christmas!  

As I seem to say to everybody all the time this past year--stay safe and well.  Till next week...I am grateful for all of your company.  Best wishes!  :) :)

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"Sometimes our light goes out, but it is blown again into instant flame by an encounter with another human being.  Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light."

Dr. Albert Schweitzer