This & That on Friday the 13th

Gabriela is the fanciest font in the 4 added over a year ago. I am unable to add more fonts from that Blogspot feature. 

Comfortaa is the font I now regularly use because I believe it is easiest to read that has some style.

If anyone knows how to shut off the text program so it stops filling in words on its own while I am typing, then please let me know. 

This week had been weird for me. Not feeling well and other distractions have interrupted my creating art that I will post for the November challenge.

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Outside, I notice birdseed has been thinned out. I haven’t seen many birds. This afternoon a squirrel has been out there for hours. The seed is thinning out as well. Normally, a squirrel visit is brief, grab, bury, chomp a few, then leave. That squirrel doesn’t go with the program. 

I think when squirrel nests show up in trees that have been empty for years, it means that the local squirrel population is higher than usual. I’m guessing food sources are stretching thin as well. 

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I decided that the antique washstand I bought last year is in such shabby condition and not of high value, that painting and changing the hardware is a good idea. 

So, today I went to the thrift store to buy drawer pulls. The ones I wanted have been there for weeks, probably longer. The other day somebody bought them all. 😩  My bad not buying a package when I had the chance.

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There’s plenty of housework to do now that injuries are healing so well. A delicate hand wash is on my list. A new-to-me knit hat with a pom pom top needs a rinse. For some reason, this year a pom pom feels right. 

On that fun note, the thrift store bin of winter scarves, hats and gloves is full. I look for mittens mostly. 

I’m considering making a warm up muffler to use while my vehicle heats up. (Old car). You can roll a thick knitted scarf into a muffler shape and sew up the outer edges. A lap-size piece of fleece by the door to take out with me also helps. 

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Thrilled I be! My order of 6 Staedtler pigment liners ( drawing pens) with waterproof ink arrived. They will last me close to a year depending on the amount of drawings I do. Each pen is a different size.

Waterproof ink drawing pens are a must for me because I paint with watercolors. 

November is being November

There is snow in the forecast. In the higher elevations, the peaks will be a festive snowy color before a snowflake lands on the ground here in the Champlain Valley. 

When I know where my boots, gloves and winter coats are, I consider myself cold weather ready. My mind has accepted autumn foliage  is 90% done. 

The calendar notes this is the 1st day the heat came on this season. The last day of wearing sandals was early October. I turned the air conditioner off late September. The mid term elections are over. The state of things feels like a stick season vacation. 

Thoughts in November are big on cinnamon. 

That brings me to spice cabinet reorganizing. I remember when spice racks were the in thing for kitchens. One year I dumped all the expired spices on potpourri.  

What spice speaks November to you?

Day 317 Week 46 November 2026

There are 48 days, 1.6 weeks left in 2026. Christmas is 42 days away.

Yet, somehow it feels to me that there’s plenty of time before the holidays. It’s not even Thanksgiving. 

Watching videos, we can reverse the action. Live in life or on screen, there is no going back. For TV, we can record the action.

Have a forward moving weekend!

Make a New England Boiled Dinner

Organized the coat closet

Read about foot care

Recite aloud a favorite poem

Draw a large tree branch

Count the fruit you had this week

Try a new to you tea

Pray for peace

Bake a walnut cake

Gone By

Have you seen that special photograph?

You know the one, where you turn the page feeling your spirits lift at the beauty you see.

You think right away, you’d like to be there, visit, house hunt for a similar location. There may be days when you daydream about what your place will look like. You may search the area online, look at vacation packages or plan  a road trip. 

If you went there, then how did you feel?

After sessions of daydreaming, I believe, our minds are so familiar feeling our positive energy, that reality has to scramble to adjust. 

In relationships with people, it may be more difficult to grasp reality. Locations, I feel, are easier to see for what they really are. When the crush is broken, it stays in Humpty Dumpty land strewn across your memories in pieces you keep, and others you let compost.

I grew up with the scent of pine, meadows and the fresh water of Walden Pond and the Water Basin, (Cambridge Reservoir). It makes sense that my special photographs is of a fresh water lake in autumn seen from the window of a rustic a-frame. I have searched for the photo with zero results. 

It’s all in my mind now, a good place to be. 

What now?

As the autumn foliage colors are fading fast, my thoughts are on what now. The Oh! of something to do, look forward too, mark on the calendar, is fading as well. Energy, (not high most days anyway), is also dipping. 

Tis now the season of craft fairs, holiday bazaars, concerts, and, baking!  A local thrift store has their tree up already. There’s always a unique ornament or two to find there. 

I, however, am a Thanksgiving person unwilling to cut autumn short by jumping into winter holidays. Let’s face it, tree goes up and the snowflakes fall. 

Ornament hunting has become a tradition of mine. Seeing what is out there helps me decide whether to go traditional or choose a theme. Themes are fun. Traditional is easy. 

Several years ago, tin ornaments were at the local Dollar General store. I bought a few. Every year since, I have shopped for them. So far, none have been found. 

I have left over aluminum flashing from an art class early 2000. The problem is the outer aluminum edges are sharp. If I make my own ornaments, then I will have to find a way to hammer the edges smooth. I’m guessing folding over the edges will be a lot work.

There’s always an answer for what now. 

Store bought ornament