10-22-2018 Monday-12:45pm

Good afternoon!

We've had some pretty fluffy-cloud days 

(taken from left to right).

We had a couple unexpected warmer days (60s-70s!). 

Then right back to jacket weather. 

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By last Wednesday I figured I was done enough in the studio.

Well, I had just a few more things to clear off... 

...but I really needed to get going on the Christmas cards.

So--good "enough".

 I decided that all the various drawers can wait.  Most of them are already organized and just needed tweaking and dusting. 

Except for the first few drawers in the tall cherry cabinet that are a mess--but we do know where to find what we need in there--LOL! 

I passed on the dusting of the top of the wall shelf unit and all the punches on the punch racks.  Good enough for now.  Things to do and time is a'wastin'. 

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The Girls are here a few times a day when it's cold.  There are eight of them and they are full of beans!  Hopping and chasing and being silly.  Such fun to watch.  

I'm glad Ian got to see them on Saturday being all wild and crazy.  :) 

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I finished clearing off stuff in the studio on Thursday and called it a day. 

Feels good. 

Even though that OCD voice inside my head nags and complains about the undusted...the not quite completed task.  I will beat her back to some far quiet corner--reminding her that more dust always comes...there are Christmas cards to make...and I am slow-slow-slow these days...time to move on--LOL!  ;)   

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Across the way--status on the three trees.  The middle one turned and lost all its leaves in the rough winds.  The third one is turning.    

Still on their right to left trajectory. ;)
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Does anyone else always seem to think it strange to see the moon before the sun goes down?  I know...I see it frequently...but it always seems just a little bit wrong. 

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Saturday we had a Gramma Day!  Was a special one because Leah brought Subway for lunch and stayed a while.  We worked on our final decisions for the assembly-line Christmas cards.  Leah made up card samples... 

...while slowpokes Ian and I were still eating lunch. 

I told Ian that I needed to remember to take some pictures when he comes for Gramma Days.  He's at this age of trying to gross you out with chewed food... 

...and making funny faces...

...but I caught him looking himself, too--LOL! 

While he ate lunch he watched a narrowboater and another pottery video on youtube.  We had a quiet day after Mama left.  I showed him more of the pottery Mama had made long before he was born.  Even switched up the candy bowl for the heck of it to another gorgeous bowl she made.  (Easier for little hands to dig through.) 

We're pretty sure she went two different years.  (Neither of us has the best memory--LOL!)  You can kind of tell by the roughness and thickness of some of them compared to the next batch.  I have covered a lot of the bottoms with felt so we can't check the dates.  All the better ones with good bottoms say 2007.
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I use a lot of them for pen cups and water bowls for painting. 

These were quite the invention! 

You know how with acrylics it is often hard to get the paint out of the bristles? 

Well, Leah made these big water pots with all those rough chunks on the bottoms to rub the brush on! 

I love the top edges carved to hold your brushes, too!  Leah is so clever!

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Here's some more pen holders and cat dishes.  

And this treasured item!!!  She made this special for me (and wrote to me on the bottom). 

It's a beautiful rice bowl! 

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Then Ian wanted to get out the punches, of course.  This time Gramma got some special gifts--so I taped them on to my laptop with washi tape so I will see them every day.  :) 

He is punching up some strips of painted paper of mine.  It is such fun to do mark-making!
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The subway lunch came with decals for Ian.  (Zootopia, but he hasn't seen that movie.)  Ian put them on the patio door and...well, all over the place.  We were talking about how Liam might get a hold of them and put them in his mouth, as toddlers do.  We decided to gather them all together and put them on the door so he wouldn't forget them when he left.  Ian was showing me how high he could put them.  I took pictures to show Mama because we weren't sure she'd let him bring them home. 

Ian was right--Mama said yes.  :)

Ian thought I should take videos, too, on Gramma Days.  
I think so, too.

Then we settled in to watch Maru the cat and My Self Reliance till it was time to go home for dinner.

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I was so tired from the visit and from three weeks of the head cold...I slept 12 hours!!  And slept well!  Did again last night--about 8 hours.  I hate to jinx myself, but it feels like I might be over the hump--tada!  (knock on wood)  The head is less stuffed, headache is less, breathing is better...maybe getting over this annoying, sleep-stealing cold?  Hope so.  :) :) :)
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Yesterday I worked all day (yes I am slower than molasses in January) on starting the new bullet journal.  My hands weren't working great when I started out, but they warmed up a bit.  Did a simple future log and that's it for any extra lists.

Going to put all other lists in separate notebooks I'll keep in my big turquoise travelers notebook style cover.  So I need to copy all the lists/collections into a nice new travelers notebook, too.  If you've forgotten my fancy leather cover, I'll show you when I switch over in November to the new bullet journal.
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Got November calendar set up.

The tracker page and the goals & correspondence page are nearly completed.

And almost done with the weekly spreads.

So many lines to draw.  Kind of a fun thing to do while I watch something on TV that I don't have to pay a lot of attention to or while listening to an audio book.  I had nearly forgotten I needed to get November completely ready before I can work on cards.  I actually have all of next year roughed in the bullet to work on whenever I feel like listening to audio books.  ;)
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Well, that's it from here.  Goodness!  That's a lot of photos this week.  But one big weekly post works better for me lately so I hope you don't mind.
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Today it's a balmy 51 degrees.  The sun is shining.  I can usually breathe out of one nostril.  I barely have a headache.  I feel back to a normal pain level.  Life is good!  Not that I didn't appreciate each of my head cold days...but life is especially good today.  ;) 
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Till next week, my friends!!
Count your blessings!!  :) :) 
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"When the bridge is gone, the narrowest plank becomes precious."
Hungarian proverb

10-15-2018 Monday-11:30am

It's Monday again already!

Last Tuesday we had rain... 

...and Wednesday we had snow. 

Ever since the snow fell the sparrows have flocked up and are here off and on all day long chowing down like there's no tomorrow.

You can tell how windy it was with the wet snow packed up the side of the tree trunk the next day.

I had the patio door cracked open the next morning while I was doing my morning journaling at the kitchen table when I hear that familiar clucking!!  As soon as the snow flew "The Girls" remembered my patio as a place for a fast, easy meal. 

Just made my day! 
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With all the construction going on nearby I didn't know if I would ever see them again.  Hadn't seen them since last spring so I was thrilled they returned.  :) :)  
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The flocks of sparrows and a few juncos are pretty much here the majority of the day.  

I went from doling out one cup of seed a day to 3-4 cups.  Time to get the bird feeder out there pretty soon.

Even when Annie is sitting with me she's been keeping and eye out for the grouse.  She seemed as excited as I was to see The Girls again.

And by evening the word had spread.  Instead of four grouse, there were eight of them!

Can you see Annie's ears at the bottom of the photo?

They've been coming every morning and at dusk.  If they stick around this winter, once it gets really cold they will come during the day, too.  Gosh!  I am delighted to see them!
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All the snow melted away in a couple of days.  Not that it has warmed up, by any stretch.  It was 25 degrees when I got up this morning.  Winter is here already.    

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I've been dealing with the head cold all week.  I guess it must be just a cold and not allergies if it didn't let up when the snow flew.  I had to sleep in my recliner three different nights (easier to breathe) and have been extra tired just due to the messed up sleep--but it's more of an annoyance than anything else.  Like I said it is gradually letting up...I think.  As you know, I like to be optimistic.  ;)
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Saturday was Gramma Day.  Before Ian arrived at lunchtime I had been out cutting down all the flowers in the planters.  They had died before the snow came because of freezing temps at night.

I tried to save the big stems from the coleus so the sparrows have some perches this winter.  They use them all the time.  :)  That's about as welcoming as I can keep it this winter. 

I got the cart all set up for Ian and I to take a trip to the dumpster and garage.  Cleaned the water dish for the birds (frozen solid almost every morning now).  Took in the hose and pot I hide it in--added that to the cart.  Had a whole extra trash bag filled with the dead plants, too.
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Meanwhile, I had put water out in a bucket for cleaning Bubble's bowl three days earlier, too.  That was something we wanted to do, too.  (And totally forgot to take pictures again--duh!  I am hopeless.)
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First was lunchtime.  While we were eating we got on the topic of Mama having made some bowls and pen cups for me when she took a pottery class back in 2007. 
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She made this beautiful candy bowl... 

...a gorgeous votive holder with hand carved vine leaves... 

...and the cat dishes that are now handed down to Annie.  :) 

Of course, that led to us to watching a couple youtube videos that showed how pottery is hand made.  One even showed where the man went walking to find the clay dirt chunks to grind himself.  We watched how a potter made and put together all the parts of a teapot.  Fascinating!
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 I was going to show him later some more of the cups and water pots I have in the studio that Leah made--but we forgot.  Next time.  Got all wrapped up in cleaning Bubble's bowl.     

Previously Ian's job was to just keep an eye on Bubbles to watch that he didn't jump out of the bucket.  (Which Bubbles wouldn't do, but it was the same first "job" Dagan had when he was that age.)  This time Ian wanted to help catch Bubbles.  So, we captured him together--pretty easy as Bubbles doesn't move much--LOL!  Ian wanted to put a few plants in the bucket with Bubbles while I cleaned the rest of the plants (silk), bowl, and the gravel.  
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This time he also wanted to put all the plants back in the cleaned bowl.  I scooped water out of the bucket and filled the bowl partway so he could "plant" them all.  He even scooped some of the water in, too.  Then he chased Bubbles into the scoop (measuring cup) for me so I could dump Bubbles into the clean bowl.  Ian helped more than he ever has before.  Nice!  (It turns into a boring task after while...just ask Dagan--LOL!)
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We left the bowl on the counter for when Daddy came to pick him up so Dagan could carry it back in the bedroom for me.  (Otherwise I have to take it in half full and fill it in the bedroom--which I do when alone--but it is easier to just have Dagan carry it in there, of course.)
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And where is Bubbles?  
Above you can hardly see his face peeking out at the bottom right side of the highest leaf there on the left side of the bowl.

He lays somewhere 98 percent of the time. 

Looks suspicious of me taking pictures, but he never moved.
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Anyways, next we made the cold trip to the dumpster and garage.  Dropped off all the things for the garage and then filled up the cart with all the things to bring back to the apartment.  Time for the brown half-circle rug and snow shovel to be ready in their winter spot.

We brought in the bird feeder and some extra bird seed in a bucket for when it's time for that to go out.  We emptied the big bird seed container in the garage so needed to have Dagan go dump a new 40# bag of seed for me.  Ian wanted to take Daddy out to the garage when he came but not tell him what they had to do till they got out there.  He's at the age where he likes surprises and secrets.
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We warmed up after our trip to the garage by cuddling on the recliner and watching Maru and My Self Reliance (the guy building the log cabin in the Canadian woods).  I couldn't remember the name of his channel and have written it down now--but Ian remembered it!  
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Daddy arrived around dinnertime--moved Bubble's bowl and Ian took him out to the garage.  Ian's gloves were all full of bird seed dust when he came back in.  He wouldn't tell me what he did, though.  A surprise for next time I go out to get bird seed, he said.  (I think he buried the big scoop--LOL!)  Ian gathered up his bento boxes (lunch and snack), we had some hugs, and off they went.  Ian blows me kisses at the end of the hallway. 
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I collapsed.  Watched two DVDs this weekend--Billions and Masters of Sex.  If it wasn't that Masters of Sex was based (however loosely) on real lives I don't think I would have watched this far.  But Billions keeps me wondering what is going to happen all the time.  :)  
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During the week while nursing this cold I started watching a series on Netflix streaming that is going to be gone November (7th).  It's a Danish detective series called Dicte.  Since it has subtitles I almost didn't even peek at it--harder with my wonky eye--but it has been good and I am hooked.  Can't do anything else but snuggle under a blanket with Annie when reading a movie.  Which was about my speed this past week...might be this week, too, at the rate I'm going--LOL!  
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It's such a nice way to spend these cold days...waiting for The Girls to visit...with a box of Puffs...hot coffee...lots of water...good shows to watch...with Annie snuggled up next to me purring away.  That did mean I didn't get in to the studio all week, though.  Maybe this week.  :)  More time than money, as they say.  I have learned patience.  ;)
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Annie would say goodbye but she's here next to me...snoring softly with her eye covered at the moment.

Till next time...have a really good week.  :) :)
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"There must be always remaining in every life, some place for the singing of angels, some place for that which in itself is breathlessly beautiful."
Howard Thurman

10-8-2018 Monday-12:45pm

Good afternoon!

With no mail today I almost forgot--was thinking it was Sunday--LOL!

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Dark, drizzly day.  The predictions are highs between 38 to 46 degrees until next week and lows of 27 to 41.  At this rate the kids will be wearing winter coats under their Halloween costumes.  I remember a few times we went out with snowsuits under ours as kids in Minnesota, for sure. But right now it is 41 and raining lightly.  Not too windy, either.

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Since we have new management now, I plan to try hanging the bird feeder out again this fall and see if they complain.  Goldmark might not care.  I suppose it depends on how many residents complain.  ;)  And in a senior building you are bound to get a few complainers--LOL!  I hope they leave me alone this time.

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This month was cat and fish month.  Annie got stocked up on canned food on sale and a new container for her dry food from Amazon.

I took a chance on the size of this locking container and the whole large bag of cat food fit in there no problem!  Whoohoo! 

Bubbles has a new Betta Bites container of food coming this week.  Yes, Bubbles is still alive.  

He basically lays around sideways like this on the plants or at night he's on the bottom of the bowl laying on the rocks.  It's a huge effort for him to move around...but he's still hanging in there.  A few of my bettas over the many years I've had various "Bubbles" in bowls had lived like that for a long time, too.  Makes me wonder with the inbreeding if they get the fins so darn long and heavy that they actually have trouble swimming?!  Anyways, now that I bought a new container of food...I hope that doesn't jinx him, you know?  Murphy's Law and all that.  

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Annie is sticking pretty close to me since it was Gramma Day yesterday.  

I was feeling pretty decent so Ian and I did a lot of things again.  While he ate lunch I chopped celery for the freezer for soups and cut up a cantaloupe.  We got to talking about recycling and he didn't know what a dump was...so...I found him a YT video all about garbage that showed from our trash being picked up by the garbage trucks, going to the transfer station, and then in semis to the dump.  I do so love the internet!  So many things you can learn.  :)

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We gathered up Gramma's trash and broken down empty boxes, loaded them into the cart, and took them out to the dumpster.  Then we stopped at the garage to get more dirt for cat grass and so I could look for the wires for the bird feeder.  Found them!  :)

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When we got back inside Ian told me it was time to fill the humidifiers.  He noticed in the bedroom that we had forgotten to look at the musical treasures in my curio cabinet.  So we had to listen to (clockwise) the singing bowl, Tibetan bell, ting shaws, and chime.

I showed Ian my container of little rocks and crystals. 

Funny--I can't remember half of the names anymore.

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Ian found my loose sage in a box in there, too...so we had to take out the burning bowl...

 

...and burn a little sage for good energy.  

He just loved the smell!

Yes, Ian does some different things at Gramma's house--LOL!  ;)

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Then he wanted to do some more paper punching.  We decided to work on a card for Mama to cheer her up.  She is getting better...gradually.  Since we were running out of time before Daddy was coming to pick him up around 5pm, Ian picked out which punched shapes he wanted, told me where to put them on the card, and I took over gluing them down with a glue stick.  Ian had me write what he wanted to say.  When it came to signing it--well, I remembered we had also played with my old Underwood typewriter in the bedroom, too.  He had wanted to type Ian--and I told him the letters to find for McGregor.  Then he wanted to write something else and I gave him the letters to find.  So his card was from:

 "ian mcgregor  

thomas the tank engine"  

LOL!  

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Daddy came shortly after I found an envelope for Ian's card.  And--never fails--I didn't get any pictures while Ian was here--duh!  We are just too busy having a good time.  

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I didn't get a lot done in the studio this last week.  Did slowly get most of the paper supplies in the newly designated paper bookcase.

Hopefully I will get the other bookcase filled this week.  

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I rented the new documentary on Mr. Rogers...and cried a few times.  What a sweet, sincere, kind man.  I had forgotten he was a Presbyterian minister.   

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I also rented the new season of Masters of Sex.  Makes me want to read up on Masters and Johnson because it's based on their lives but I'm sure they've taken leeway in the series.  You probably have to have an open mind to watch the series...or at least a curious one--LOL!  I'd watch after the kids are in bed.  ;)

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I remember there was quite the hubbub about their book when it came out.  Even though I wasn't old enough to read it (I think I was about 15) information trickled through in magazine articles, etc.  I couldn't believe they got volunteers to hook themselves up to equipment and be observed having sex!  No wonder they had to start out with prostitutes.  I still have a hard time grasping that there are people who'd volunteer to do that.  What folks won't do for science, eh?  LOL!  Anyways, the series has more to do with their family lives and relationships.  I never thought about what it must have been like to be their children.  You know how mean kids and teens can be.  Whew!

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Anyways, after Masters of Sex I'll be back to finishing renting Billions, which has been really good.  I like a series where you can see good and bad in almost every character.  I like being surprised at turns of events, too.  Let's just say I was led down the garden path a couple times already--LOL!  Really good actors.

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On Netflix streaming I have been watching Heartland.  (Thanks, Linny!)  There are ten seasons so far--wow!  So I have a long way to go to catch up.  I'll probably watch other things in-between, but I will keep going back till I am up to date.  It's another series with interesting characters.  Basically--about a ranch that takes in horses with issues and behavior problems for healing, but so much more.  Am really enjoying it.

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I hadn't planned on show reviews--LOL!  Oh well. 

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Annie is softly snoring.  Sparrows are eating seed out there.  I think some of them are juncos.  The water dish has been frozen some mornings so it won't be long and I'll have to take that in, too.  But today--cold rain.  I think of how my mom will have a time adjusting to winters in Minnesota again after something like 35 years in Florida.  Mom finally decided a little while ago to move back to Minnesota to a big senior complex near Blaine and Kathy!!!  So glad I can't even tell you.  All the activities going on--she will LOVE it!!  Whenever an apartment opens up I'll let you know what's happening.

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On that happy note...shall chat again next week.  :) :)

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"If you restore balance in your own self, you will be contributing immensely to the healing of the world."

Deepak Chopra

10-1-2018 Monday-11:15am

Good morning!

We've had freeze warnings a few nights this past week.  

Annie is always glad if I crack the patio door open for a while.

At this rate it won't be long and we'll be closed up for the season.

She still has mad love for her favorite spin-toy.  :)
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Thanks to everyone who commented on Friday.  This nomination has stirred up a lot of people--male and female.  I'll be waiting to see what this week holds.
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A mystery box arrived from my sister-in-law, Kathy!  She remembered I had said I would love to have something Mom made one day.  When they brought Mom back to Florida for the winter Kathy noticed this throw/blanket that Mom had knitted for Dad because he'd get chilly even when it was 80 degrees out--LOL!  Mom said she'd never use it, so Kathy asked if she could mail it to me!  How nice.

I am already using it when I have the patio door cracked for Annie when it's in the 30s and 40s.  ;)  It's doubly special because Mom made it and my dad had used it to keep warm.  
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Not a good picture, but The cat grass came up from when Ian and I planted some the week before and Annie was thrilled.

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I spent most of the week down the news rabbit hole--but I did get the two bookcases emptied out and ready to be switched.  
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Why switch identical bookcases, you may ask.  Well, we have the Vagabond die cutting machine set up next to that center-of-the-room bookcase and I wanted to move all the paper racks and paper supplies over to the one next to it by the closet door so that we could put all the dies, embossing folders, and supplies right next to the Vagabond for easy access. 
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As you can see below Leah made some extra shelves for the bookcases and rather than dealing with moving those all around--just switching the bookcases themselves was easier since I do have to empty everything out to clean and organize anyways. 
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Daddy and Ian came over yesterday afternoon and we had a busy time of it.  Dagan switched the bookcases for me--tada!  Then he decided to help me wipe down the top and shelves with a damp cloth, too.  Ian wanted to help, of course.

Here's a little taste of our busy day.

The paper racks are too heavy for me to move as is.  These days I would have to empty all that paper out, move each rack, and then refill.  Dagan can just lift them up and move them...like I used to be able to do--LOL!
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Paper racks moved!

While I, myself, could still move after they left I did gather as many of the paper supplies to the little table as I could find easily in the various stacks--ready to find a new home in the "paper" bookcase. 

You can see what a mess this place is--stuff piled everywhere.  There's more piled around elsewhere, too--LOL!  The kitchen table, my desk, the bookcases in the hallway...lots to go through. 

But it won't take too much longer now that this hurdle has been jumped.  ;)  As soon as the room is done (have to wait on closet, hallway, etc, where other art & craft supplies are lurking) I really have to get going on Christmas cards!!  
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After we switched the bookcases we headed out to the garage with a huge stack of stuff on my little cart.  I pushed that, Dagan carried two tall fans, and Ian had the job of carefully carrying my cell phone...because I needed to get pictures for Leah of the chair mats.  As you can see, even with weighting them down for a month when it was in the 80s and 90s (and you know it's hotter in the garage) they did not flatten down.

  Leah is going to send pictures to IKEA, I guess.  They may do nothing now because it has been quite a while, but it doesn't hurt to show them the mats were permanently warped.
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Anyways, Ian filled the bird seed container all by himself with the huge scoop.  I took pictures of the dangerous-to-me mats.  Dagan gathered up the humidifiers and then he even filled them for me when we got back!  Aren't I spoiled!
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Ian had some "punch time" with some new-to-him punches and scrap papers while Dagan and I sat and talked a bit.  After a while Ian said he needed a break so he climbed up with me in my chair, had a snack, we watched the latest Maru and Hanna video and then found the log cabin builder guy.  Ian and I watched the builder man cutting logs while Daddy sawed a few with a short nap--ROFL!!
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We all shared apple slices.  Ian and I cleaned up the punching mess.  They left about 4pm.  We were blowing kisses and I told Ian to save one for Mama.  Leah told me when they got home Ian found a small box in the entryway and put the kiss in there to present to her--LOL!  
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Well, I am so far behind this month.  I haven't quite finished setting up the bullet journal for October or finished with the monthly banking and bills.  I also printed off my request for a write-in ballot last night and need to fill that out and get that in the mail, too.  My back already hurts, so you know there is going to be a lot of stretching and frequent breaks.  In time, I'll get it all done.  But starting back in the studio cleaning and putting things away--not today, that's for sure.  Maybe by Wednesday...or Thursday.  ;)
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I hope this is a really good, positive week.
*hugs and blowing kisses*
Bye for now.
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"Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness."
Chuang-Tzu