Thursday, November 03, 2022
Tuesday, June 14, 2022
Demons from Hell
Last Friday I was cleaning out a flower bed in front of my house, trying to do a little delayed garden spring cleaning. All of a sudden my ear was in agony and I was surrounded by little bits of flying hell. I was slapping them away so hard I actually slapped my earring out of my ear!!! I got at least 5 stings, maybe more, before I escaped into the house, 3 stings on my face and neck, 1 (or maybe 2) on my arm and 1 on my elbow. And they hurt for over 3 days!
Yellow jackets (the evil kind, not the Ramblin' Wrecks) build most of their nests underground leaving only a 1/2" to 1" hole for an entrance. Dig that hole under a few fallen leaves and you have the perfect portal to hell.
Saint Gene and I went back after it started getting dark and sprayed the entrance with wasp and hornet spray and closed the portal to hell. Now I can get back to planting the daylilies I planned to put in that location.
It wasn't a fun experience but it gave me a good subject to sketch for my journal.
Thursday, March 24, 2022
Spring Forward
Spring also beings Daylight Savings Time and, being a nightowl, I LIKE Daylight Savings time. I would rather have my sunshine at 7 p.m. than at 7 a.m. I can easily catch up that hour of sleep.
Now I'm off to have lunch with 3 friends from the office. Nice to renew friendships.
Tuesday, March 01, 2022
Letting Go
Now, the question is: Why do I still have them several years later? They were never meant to be permanent, just to be a little fun something for the retreat. But I still have them and hate the thought of throwing them away. The pandemic made sure we didn't have a retreat again and the chances of having another one in the future are not good, so it's not like I will use them. But yet they remain.
Another "for instance." My mother lived with me for 3-1/2 years until her death in 2012. I still have the ID badge that she needed for her job at Robins Air Force Base. A job she had been retired from for many years before she needed to come to live with me. Why do I still have it and am reluctant to let it go?
Friday, February 25, 2022
Well, I'm going to try again
My daffodils are blooming and their happy colors make me smile!
Friday, July 16, 2021
Thursday, June 29, 2017
Feeling the Colors
I used AirBnB for lodging for the first time and it was an overall very good experience. I rented a bedroom in a private home for only $55 a night including breakfast each day (hotel minimums were running $150 a night). Yes, staying in a private home while the homeowners are there is a little awkward but my two hosts were so great that I got past that pretty quickly. There was a great swimming pool (which I didn't manage to use - but next time.....) and the food was fantastic. They even invited me to have dinner with them two nights and I'm sure glad I said yes. Wonderful gourmet cooking.
Overall, a great long weekend
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
I've Been "Resting"
Ok, so maybe "temporary" was somewhat of an understatement. It's been two years. But I'm considering restarting.
Retirement suits me. I never liked my job. I loved the friends I made on the job. But the job itself, not so much. But the money was good. And I miss that. But I don't miss the job.
I've rediscovered painting. I had been "painting buddies" with a friend here in my town and I loved having someone to talk with and discuss painting with and throw paint on paper with and critique paintings with, well, you get the idea. But she moved. She announced one day, out the clear blue, that she and her husband had decided to move to Asheville, NC. And just like that they moved. She listed her house and sold it almost immediately. And, boom, my painting buddy was gone.
And I kind of lost my will to paint. But I was asked to do a show at our local art center and one of the conditions was that I had to use paintings that had never been displayed there. And I didn't have very many of those! So we agreed that it would be a 3 person show and I set about to get some paintings done. Even then I procrastinated and didn't start on them for a long, long time. I finished the last painting the night before I needed to deliver them to the center! And now I'm energized again to paint. I'll have to go through my old posts to make sure I haven't already shared some of them with you but until then I hope you enjoy my painting shown above, "Resting", a 16x20 watercolor done on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed watercolor paper.
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Temporarily Closed for Renovation
Monday, June 30, 2014
Addiction and Going Back to Kindergarten
But believe it or not, I do have other interests. Today I visited Paper Trail Art Center where the owner gave me a tour of their facility. It's all about the paper arts, which I love. It's a great place and a great resource, especially for book artists in the general Atlanta area. They have a book shear! Something that will cut through my bookboard without killing my hands! The only problem is that they are a loooooonnnnnnggg way from where I live. The Atlanta metro area is huge and I'm on one side, the west side, and they are on the other side, the east side. But they have an "Adult Kindergarten" on Friday evenings where you can come and just play and I'm going to try to attend a few of those. I used to make a lot of books and just recently have gotten back into making star books and going back to kindergarten sounds like fun!
Joy Journal: Being inside, eating jerk chicken, while it poured down rain.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Obsession
Saturday, January 25, 2014
A Classy Situation
And I've also been asked to teach a bookmaking class at Creative Journey Studios, but that won't be until either July or September. Not sure which yet so both dates are reserved on my calendar. Now this class I am very confident about. The class isn't hard and the results are something really unique - a star book. And there is a lot preparation involved in this class, but I've taught it before so I'm confident about it.
Heading up to frozen Tennessee Monday, could sure use a break in this COLD weather.
Sunday, January 05, 2014
Almost Frozen
Jo and I went to a free art workshop/presentation at Sam Flax in Atlanta yesterday presented by Golden paints. The presentation was ok, and they gave us a free package of assorted Golden acrylic paints, but I thought I would die before it was over!! Yesterday the outside temp never got above freezing. And the temp inside Sam Flax was pretty close to that, too!! Their heating system was broken and the blowers were stuck in the "on" position. So it was blowing cold air directy on us. I've never wished more for a hat and gloves - I had the coat and definitely had it on and buttoned up. Jo was comfortable!! Everyone else was bundled up like Eskimos in Alaska. We decided to immediately go to Starbucks and get something warm in my body!! I need to check the package of paints I got and see if they have thawed out yet!!
Friday, January 03, 2014
New Year's Cup of Words
Thursday, January 02, 2014
Energy
My backyard on this gloomy, grey day.
Winter is so NOT my favorite time of year. Grey, gloomy, often rainy. Just generally depressing. And let's not forget cold. I'm not a big fan of cold either. I do think I have a touch of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Just a touch, not enough to cause me to dip into depression but enough that I'm aware of it. And today is one of those rainy, gloomy, grey days. Fortunately, it's not that cold. But it's not the best way to start the new year.
And speaking of the new year, I've decided that my word this year is ENERGY. I want to infuse a little more (and sometimes a lot more) energy into my life. I've gotten lazy. Some of it has to do with the knee issues I've been having (and continue to have!) but most of it is just pure laziness. It's become much too easy to put off doing things, even things I really enjoy doing. So this year I'm going to work on upping my energy level. I'm starting tomorrow. (JOKE!) I started yesterday and am going to continue all year. But I'm still going to sleep late. That's a retirement luxury I refuse to give up.