Wednesday-8am

Over at Stamping Ground it's WOYWW.  This is what is on my art desk this morning.

I'm doing this workshop called Unearthing (one of the 21 Secrets Workshops).  This one involves making a collage painting about dreams.  I'm just doing a page spread in my journal, though.  We were supposed to pick something positive, wonderful, and even magical from our dreams.  I immediately thought of time-jumping!!

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I used to have them very rarely, but in the past decade they have been quite frequent.  The most common way for them to occur has to do with transportation or how I am traveling.  Kind of hard to explain...

...but say I am walking along on a path... 

...and suddenly I'm on some type of bicycle...or, most commonly, I'm on horseback. 

If I start out in a car in present day...I am often suddenly sitting on the back of a horse cart.  Happens in an instant. 

I don't know why most of the time I go from a car to an open cart, but I have also ended up on covered wagons, gypsy wagons, and carriages.  Most commonly there's only one or two horses, but occasionally there are several teamed up pulling us along. 

I am most often alone on horseback or alone in a small cart pulled by a single horse...occasionally walking and leading a horse who's pulling a heavy cart.  Lots of horses in my dreams.  Of course they were everything before automobiles, tractors, and trucks.  I have only ridden a horse once when I was a kid in this life (and apparently how to ride them without bouncing and smacking your bottom repeatedly didn't come instantly back to me from some past life--ROFL!), but I have always felt drawn to horses.  

I tried to make the pics kind of peek out from the gesso like I did with "little me" in a previous spread--thinking it would make them dream-like.  It worked okay on some of the pics, but with some of them the paper started to rub away.  I might not have put enough of a ModPodge layer over them when I glued them down--because I found all the pics on google images and they were all printed on the same copy paper.  See I am learning new things with every workshop.  :)

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Anyways, doing this workshop is fun for me no matter how it turns out in the end because I really enjoy my time jumping dreams.  Ever since I can remember as a child I have always dreamt about people I've never met, places I've never been, and other time periods.  Frequently I meet people I know I should know in these other time periods...but they don't look the same...and sometimes aren't even the same sex.  But then I am occasionally male, too.  I can know exactly who they are right away...sometimes it will come to me as we spend time together in the dream...or sometimes I can't quite figure out who they are but I know I should remember them.  Do any of you have dreams in other time periods?  Anyone else time-jump? 

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Anyways, my Amazon order arrived!  

My red chair cover!!  (Haven't taken it out of the plastic bag yet.) 

A bread machine cookbook recommended by Jeannie.  

Thanks, Jeannie!  Can hardly wait to snoop through this!  

The new envelope punch board for making your own envelopes.  Whoohoo!

 I thought this was a longer bread paddle when I ordered this one pictured below. 

But, as you can see, it is just exactly the same as the other grey paddle I bought that looks similar to the original old one I was replacing (on top).

Which is okay, I guess.  I was able to throw away that old yucky one now that I have a new back up paddle. But it doesn't look like the picture to me.  I was thinking maybe a longer paddle might not as readily leave little bits on the walls that get baked into the sides of the bread loaf.  Oh well.

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So that's it for today.  We have sun this morning for the first time in three days!

Looks like maybe we're back to 70s and 50s again!! 

Karma was so happy to see the sun. 

Bask!  Bask!

But right this minute she's on the porch watching the darting shadows of the swallows dancing and swooping about in the wind...and she's praying one of them will land on the railing.  The swallows are apparently just as delighted with the sunny day.  Ahhh!  The little pleasures in life.  ;)

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Have a fun day!  :) :)

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"To see a world in a grain of sand

and a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

and eternity in an hour."

William Blake

Tuesday-9:30am

Yes, it's already T Stands For Tuesday where you can see what people have been drinking and doing here.  I've been mostly reading and writing letters.

No, I didn't make it in to see Dr. Topley yesterday. 

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Warning: TMI: Skip down to Karma if hearing about bodily functions makes you cringe--LOL! 

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One of the many gifts of fibromyalgia that I was blessed with is unpredictable, little-or-no-warning, stress-magnified IBS.  Being home alone, close to my porcelain throne, it's basically no problem.  But when I had appointments I used to take anti-diarrhea pills for a couple of days ahead of time so I could more likely be able to get there...but then was in such misery for days with cramps and such afterwards that I finally couldn't take doing that anymore.  Weaning myself off of all my various pills (even one for IBS) a few years ago helped with consistency, shall we say, but not with all the rest of it.  What I've been doing for the last couple years is fasting for usually 24-48 hours before the appointment and just crossing my fingers (leg crossing does not help in this case--LOL!) that I won't have to cancel at the last minute.  I'm usually in the bathroom many times before I leave the house because if I'm not going it feels like I have to.  If I get to the just feeling like it--I'm probably good to go.  Nobody wants to worry about not making it to the bathroom in a public place--that just adds to the stress, right?  So, it's not just the pain and exhaustion that keeps me housebound, ladies and gentlemen.

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I had started fasting Wednesday night--and here I made it over to the clinic on Friday and was doing pretty well.  Was a better day.  Was even there early.  You know the rest...they'd told me the wrong day.  Well, I wasn't up to continuing to fast on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday to get to the appointment.  Especially since it was just a check-up, right?  The fasting and then eating usually throws my system off in the first place (an easy thing to do--I often have no clue what sets it off), but I gave it a shot.  I ate Friday night and Saturday--and then started fasting Saturday night again...but it obviously didn't work.  I've been all messed up and not doing well for a couple of days.  This is why I try to never schedule two appointments in one week.  (Also, since my whole body is worse in the mornings and it takes me several hours to thaw out, I always try to make afternoon appointments.)

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I did discover, though, that I could cancel my appointment online and make a new appointment.  If I had checked online I would have seen that they told me the wrong day, I guess.  Now I know.  Well, I gave myself a long break.  October 4th.  I'll have money then, too, for co-payments.  

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So, for now--I can relax!  And, since I have Dagan and Leah's car, I might even go over and visit Sammy and Annie after Caroline is done cleaning this afternoon.  Dagan and Leah's is one place I can get to by car in five minutes and they have three bathrooms.  :)  Be nice to get away from these four walls for a while.  Ariel's living with them (Leah's youngest sister), so I didn't have to go and check on the cats this time while they were away...but it's always been nice to go visit with them and take a book with or a letter I'm writing.  Just to be someplace different for a couple hours, you know?  No offense, Karma--ROFL!

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Speaking of Miss Karma...and welcome back to those of you who skipped the TMI...she's been cracking me up.   

If I remove the heating pads, Karma will not go up on that chair...but put them back and up she goes.  What a goof!

And it's not because she won't sleep in an empty chair because she sleeps in my little rocker-recliner at night all the time.  She never goes up on it in the daytime when I'm awake, though--like she respects that it's my favorite chair, I guess.  Silly girl!

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Oh, I can't leave today until my big package from Amazon arrives via UPS--and they usually come in the afternoon to early evening and it says that it is out for delivery.  Whoohoo!  I'll have some goodies to show you tomorrow.

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That's it for now.  You got to find out what I've been doing up here in much greater detail than you ever expected or wanted--ROFL!  There's always a bright side.  I got a lot of reading done on my porcelain throne--LOL!  Happy Tuesday!!  :) :)

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"True wisdom lies in gathering the precious things out of each day as it goes by."

E.S. Bouton

Saturday-8:15am

It's a wispy morning.

Well, thought I'd tell you what happened yesterday.  I drove over to the clinic, was early so I wandered about the mall for a while, perused the pet shop, waited in line for ten minutes (by this time my sciatica leg was going numb), only to be told that my appointment is on Monday.  What?  I told the girl that I wrote it down as I was told and the person even said the word Friday and I repeated it back to her...and then she even called me back to change the time from 1:20 to 1:50pm a few minutes later.  This young girl checked on the computer to find out if it was a service they use or in-house.  I could tell she fully expected it to be the service--but a flicker of surprise and then resignation flashed across her face.  There was an apparently involuntary minuscule head-nod and eye-swing to her right as she said, "I know who it was" she said evenly--hoping I would think she meant the service.  I did not look over to find the culprit.  This nice young girl was determined to be professional and I didn't want to let on that her body had betrayed her.  She apologized profusely.  I have to do this all over again on Monday.

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Not for just a blood pressure check, either.  

I saw they have me down for a full physical.  

Not surprised.

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It was so hot and sticky!

So glad the Gallant has AC!!

And so glad I will still have the car on Monday.

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No modem arrived on the 3rd or 4th from the new internet service.

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I tried to call them on the 4th (when the girl had told me I'd be hooked up).  Spent a long time on hold to finally get a human being.  She told me I had to talk to a different department and transferred me...to be on hold again for a long time.  I finally got a mechanical voice and was following directions and pushing buttons...but when he told me to enter the zip code of my work order (where did she send me?) I entered my zip code and was told it was not a valid number.  Three times I entered my zip code...and then he politely said he didn't understand and told me good-bye.

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I still have no modem.

Still using my regular internet service.

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I will have to do phone battle with them again soon.  (Dagan and Leah won't be back for over a week so Dagan can't hook it up anyways--but I want the modem here by the time he comes.)  I only have 30 days to reject their service or I'm on a one year contract--so I don't think my 30 days should start until I have the modem and have it hooked up.  *sigh*  Always something, right?

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Anyways, I got out black pens and white pens--a couple I hadn't used before and found they behaved quite erratically--LOL!  Added some 3D dots here and there...and called it a day on the Wild Winds workshop.

Karma.

She has not once gone up on the new chair since it arrived.  She jumped up a couple times, stood there a moment, and jumped off.  Since Karma never uses it, I used it to lay down my old heating pad and one of those grain filled bags you heat in the microwave (feels good on my lower back when it's cranky).  Guess who was up there for the very first time--lol!

If I leave them there, she goes up there to snooze once in a while. 

 I find this highly amusing.

Maybe once the red chair cover arrives she'll accept the new chair.  You know, since she prefers the lumpiness of the heating pad with the cord underneath it to the chair surface--maybe she'll like it better when it's covered?  Who knows.  Oh, and the seat is really too small to hold her cat bed without it looking like the whole thing would fall off if she got comfortable.  (You know what a sprawler she is.)

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Notice anything new?  One thing came from Amazon...  

...a skinny red wastebasket.   

I wanted something where I can toss all the used-wet-messy paper towels and baby wipes because I want to save most of them for future mixed media art projects.  :)

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Speaking of baby wipes (and gelatos)...I started another 21 Secrets workshop called "Unearthing".  Has to do with dreams...preferably your more magical, wonderful, pleasant ones.  I'll fill you in as I work on the collage part. 

I'm soooo far behind online...like a whole week!  I hope to catch up this weekend.  Seems like I am always catching up on weekends these days.  I may have to read and not take the time to comment sometimes on blogs--sorry.  Limited good time--certainly not disinterest.  :) :)  When I am doing more art and other things I just have less computer time.  Just the way it goes, right?  

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As my Amazon stuff for this month comes I'll show you what I ordered.  Yup--ordered the red chair cover.  I pray it fits or can be adapted somehow.  This is a really small chair.  I may have to pin it or tack it on--LOL!  I also ordered something special on sale (to me, anyways) from Cheap Joe's Art Supply!

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Anyways, have a super weekend!

Hug somebody--virtually or in the flesh--LOL!

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"They invented hugs to let people know you love them without saying anything."

Bill Keane

Wednesday-8am

Good Morning!

It's a wonderfully chilly 55 degrees this morning.  Even though it got into the 80s yesterday and I had to turn on the AC in the late afternoon, I could turn it off at night and sleep with the window open--ahhh!  They're talking 80s-90s in the daytime, but 60s at night for the next few days, so should be about the same for a bit.  :)

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Anyways, it's WOYWW--What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday.  I wish I had time to look at all the over 150 creative spaces around the world every week, but I doubt I'll ever make it through them all once let alone every week--LOL!  Oh, and I wanted to say that I don't leave comments when people have word verification--sorry.  And I am only able to follow you if you have the "follow by email" option.  But thank you for leaving your WOYWW number, so I am able to find you!  (If I don't already follow you, of course.)

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Okay--down to business.  ;)

I started another of the 21 Secrets workshops called "Doodle Your Way".  I gessoed the page spread, picked music instead of text, some printed paper, and some stamps I had colored long ago...arranged them...and then used gel medium to glue them down.  (I think I am still peeling gel medium off my fingers!)   

I learned that when you use a napkin (music) you need to separate the layers and take the backing off first--duh!  I had a heck of a time with a couple pieces until I figured that one out.  

Man, that napkin paper is thin! 

The blue circles (LOL!) are what I didn't use on the bathtub with the new flowers I put down (so I won't slip and kill myself in the shower).  Added a few other stickers--the butterfly and a couple real flower stickers. 

Too chilly to sprawl in the mornings for Karma.  I actually had to get long pants on, too.  Love the change of the seasons! 

Back to the workshop.

Next she used a ruler to divide everything up into smaller sections. 

Just have to stop and say, I do so love my new art desk area! 

I got that far on Monday.

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Karma had a thrill.

We have baby swallows and one fledgling stopped to sit on our railing...calling for mom and dad to come feed it.  It pleaded for about ten minutes.  Mom and Dad would fly nearby but wouldn't land because of our floppy make-shift screen...and maybe they could see or sense the feline below--LOL!  So finally the hungry baby had to find another spot that was parent approved.   

Karma waited for it to come back for a long time.  She is endlessly fascinated by birds.  Adores them.  She is still looking for it this morning.

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Meanwhile...I did some coloring with copic markers like she used.  Then I got it in my head to try these old rub-ons I had.  Went to rub the sketchy-looking "encourage" on to the page, right?  Lifted the sheet of rub-ons up and saw there were little pieces all over the place...and half the "o" from "hope" had parked itself right on those lines.  (I guess you need to cut them the rub-ons apart first.  Live and learn, eh?  I've only used rub-ons a few times.)

So, I decided to call it a happy accident and use up all the words that had pieces missing. 

Then I went in with a thin permanent pen and filled in the missing parts.  That's as far as I got.  Next is doodling...although I haven't left myself a ton of room--LOL!  Oh well.  Just having fun.  :)

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Dagan and Leah came over last night.  Forgot to tell me that they are taking an actual vacation next week (visiting his stepbrother&wife&little one) and were leaving me a car while they are gone.  So I can drive myself to the doctor on Friday.  And I can go visit Sammy and Annie a couple times (their cats).  Leah's sister, Ariel, lives with them and will be taking care of the furbabies but I can still go keep the cats company...and get out of the apartment a little since they live so close.

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Which means--Dagan isn't sure he can come and hook me up to the new internet before they leave Thursday night.  But I didn't disconnect my old service...so Dagan says it will still work.  Apparently he can hook it up when they get back?  I have no clue how those things work, but I'll take his word for it.  The modem should arrive today because the new company was supposed to get me started on the 4th.  I'll let Dagan know if it arrives.  He'll let me know if he has time to do it today or not.

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And why am I going to a doctor?  Well, I've been seeing my rheumatologist all these years (once or twice a year) and you may recall he started me on blood pressure medication a couple months ago.  But--truth--I haven't seen my regular doctor since before I moved to Fargo in 2005.  I figured I'd go when I got really sick...assumed I would...but being housebound I quit getting bad sick all the time like I used to.  Just not around other people and not as many germs I guess. 

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Dr. Sleckman must have told on me--LOL!  (Sleckman knows full well I haven't seen Topley for years and years because I'm a pretty much an open book sort--and they have everything on computers now so Topley probably found out that way since I am still listed as his patient.)  Anyways, I got a call from Topley's office last week saying they wanted to see me so he could check my blood pressure.  I have an appointment on Friday.  Haven't seen him in about 9 years.

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Not looking forward to it.  It's like when you bring an old car in for a minor repair...they always want to check a ton of other things and are bound and determined to find something else wrong...or at least try to--LOL!  I'll let you know.

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   I haven't driven for--well, Dagan and Leah thought it must be a couple years since the Paseo was running.  They are thinking of just getting rid of the 21 year old, dead Paseo because it's always been kind of dangerous to drive when it's icy in the winter in the first place.  Said that maybe when I needed a ride to an appointment they might be able to carpool and leave me the Gallant for the day.  Nice!

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So, I am off to call and cancel the senior bus for Friday.  Maybe will have to take the Gallant up and down the road tomorrow a bit to get used to driving again.  Like riding a bike, right?  ;)

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Enough chattering...

Happy Wednesday!!  :)

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"I personally believe that each of us was put here for a purpose - to build not to destroy.  If I can make people smile, then I have served my purpose for God."

Red Skelton

Tuesday-8:45am

Good Morning!

We had the most gorgeous fall days (40s to 70s) Sunday and Monday and it is still cool this morning (55 F right now), but we're suppose to be right back up close to 90 again today.  Oh well.

Elizabeth said we don't have to have pictures actually from Tuesday for T Stands For Tuesday...so I'll show you what I was doing and drinking over the weekend.  I finished a page spread for the "Following The Wild Winds" workshop (from 21 Secrets).   

I was wondering what to do with those gessoed layers and the hockey tape border...add more layers, right?  May as well really test this acrylic thing out to the max, I figured.  So...for this workshop we were supposed to add some collage...including a picture of ourselves (see toddler me down in the corner).  I added small sections of the local newspaper's pet ads, too, with pictures of cats and dogs.

All those small craft bottles of paint with the white caps in that tub were a gift from Joe's wife, Betty, after he died.  I worked in the office (days) and was the live-in emergency services person (nights and weekends) in an independent living senior building in Minneapolis before I moved up here to Fargo-Moorhead to go to college.  Joe had a stroke years before I met him and had lost the use of his right side but he never complained and was always grateful for any kindness.  He loved to play cards, could walk with a leg brace, and learned to paint simple drawings left-handed.  He also had a woodworking friend that cut shapes from thin balsa wood that Joe would paint and then add a magnet to the back.  When I left he painted a card...with a picture of Dagan and I driving away in my car...

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Anyways, when I was still able to travel, I made it back down for a visit.  Those people had become like a big extended family to me.  (I still hear from Betty at Christmastime.)  Joe had recently died and Betty wanted me to have his paints.  I was honored to take them...even though I had been trying to learn watercolors and didn't know much about acrylics.  It occurred to me that was over ten years ago...as I was finger painting--(yes, using my fingers!)--to add another layer of color to this page spread...

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I was thinking of Joe.

Then I added another thin layer of gesso.

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BTW--I am using an Agave Nectar bottle for my Dick Blick gesso.  I spied this in my pantry and it has a spout of sorts--so I moved the nectar to a glass jar, cleaned this out, and it is exactly what I was looking for!  Works really well and is much easier for me to handle than the big quart jar.

I digress

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Face it.  

I am going to always be in trouble for long posts with T-Tuesday and WOYWW.  Those of you who already know me know that I really can't tell a short story...ask Dagan and Leah--LOL!  ;)

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So, I gessoed... 

...and left my baby face peeking out. 

It was hot as Hades.

Naturally, Karma was outside heat soaking. 

I added stencils and splattered (with my fingers!) some yellow about. 

I knew it needed something else.  

Let it sit overnight. 

Just stared at it. 

Still didn't know what to do with it.  

Went to check the mail.  

handwritten:

"Ever since I first watched the videos on the Vision Quest walk I wished I could go on one and find a feather.  Feathers were my favorite things to find since I was a kid.

When I am working on this--lo and behold--what do I find in the hallway...

a gift from the angels."

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I've lived here since February of 2005 and I have never once seen a feather in the hallway...let alone on third floor.  Yes it was right down the hall waiting for me on the carpet.  Looks like a wild bird feather, too.  Must have come in on the wild winds, eh?

The page was finished.  :)

And all the while I was drinking black coffee in my dented thermal mug.

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You can go here to see what others are doing and drinking. 

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See you tomorrow!  :) :)

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"A heartfelt smile gives warmth enough for three winters."

Mongolian Proverb