Week 15, Day 101 of April 2023

Pals Hanging Out In the Sunshine

Near mid April 2023, the temperature outdoors is on the rise. Planters wait to be filled. Sandals are at the ready. Summer plans are scribbled down via spring's enthusiasm for possibilities.

Are you a planner? Do you make lists, pack up brochures, surf the Internet for information? Plan your wardrobe? 

In my old spiral notebooks, (before removing the wire to add to a lampshade form), I can read a few years worth of summer fun ideas. Revising them is bittersweet because too many plans sadly, didn't happen. The pandemic created too many pauses in my daydreams.

This, I believe, will be the first post pandemic summer starting on 21 June 2023. Masks, hand washing and such will still be part of our lives, but on a less urgent level. Taking precautions is wise living.

Now there are other viruses, bacteria, diseases, bugs and so on to be very cautious about. Oy vey!

Thoughts In January 2023

Mowed Tall Grass & Weeds

There's no stopping time moving on as we are well into January 2023. Today is Hot Tea Day. A good cuppa with some thoughts about how the future is looking feels good in comparison to the blush of hopefulness on New Year's Day. 

Grief takes over life like time, no stopping it. The days absorb sorrow as our hearts adjust. Feeling on an more even keel,  after thinking so much on where I am in life, my own mortality, some areas feel clearer. 

I'm old. 

A foreshortened future is like doing spring cleaning in November. Option adjustments aside, the drag of wondering how long I have can be put on a shelf. 

Creative pursuits are uplifting.

During cleaning, I found one of those inexpensive canvases I bought last month unopened. In December I was painting. At a point, my focus went into a slump. I put the canvas on the easel...cleaning more...need place for a drawing that fell off the easel top...painter's tape fatigue...place it in front of canvas...and sketch on the plastic an idea for an astract from the drawing glued to the canvas surface. 

As a kid, we had picnics in tall grassy fields that left flatten spaces like deer beds. The mowed down tall grasses and weeds remind me that our life is in the same environment. Looking back at 2023 day one...Weather changes. We change. 

Life is as abstract as it is real. 

Reassurance, Comfort, Mugs & Finger Weaving

As we age, as with all materials, there are changes, much like erosion on the landscape, that happens to us physically . Skin in particular, age spots and conditions I don't like the sound (or sight) of, takes the brunt of it at the visual level.

Well, dry patches of skin, my doctor explained the condition. I however, requested a dermatology referral because paranoid, I needed reassurance.

After the dermatology appointment, I was giddy with relief my spots aren't cancerous. The dermatologist and intern made sure I understand why, the signs of skin cancer  and the great importance of sunscreen. 

Being scared is normal. Skin cancer is nothing to be timid about. If you need answers, then get them. Don't put it off being screened. 

Use Sunscreen!

Mother taught me after a tense medical appointment, one is deserving of a treat. I thought, a nice deli something or other pasta hipster edgy salad will be nice.  In Charlotte, Vermont, The Brick Store was out of what I hade in mind. Instead, I bought the curry chicken salad. The cashier told me it is good. I say! It is wonderful! 

A menu change, adding a new to you food is a taste vacation.

🦒🐿🐼🦆🦌

At a store check out, I saw the cutest foot tall stuffed giraff. In my delicate state grieving,  I felt maybe?  I didn't buy it. 

First, budget wise, it is not a good choice. 

Second, fuzzy things are not allergy friendly. 

Last, I'd rather have a deer that I made.

Do you feel too old for a 

stuffed comfort animal?

🦌

Setting future goals can take a brain breath out of feeling blue. The hope focus I posted about as the alternative to resolutions, is progressing well. A lot of researching ideas opens up new directions. 

Back to an old subject...

Instead of buying my annual winter mug, after searching online, designing my own is a good idea. Practical? Not at this time. The solutions are:

~ Find a make your own ceramic store

~ Ceramic paint a plain mug

~ Find a potter to make my design

Bonuses:

👍 Creative engaging the mind

👍 Getting out of the home

👍 Meeting new people

Lake Champlain in January

Explore your horizons

Researching online, I often find more ideas than the things I'm looking for. In retail, a customer request for an item, by the time we stocked it, the customer lost interest. Matching demand with trends is a skill.

Will what you like today last?

Are you a trend follower?

Raise of hands, who went for the white painted wood trend?

Do you feel without a trendy bold geomtric, your decor is a failure?

Current want to: Learn to finger weave cotton rope. Seen on  flaxandtwine dot com

Question pondering lately...

Love the beach so much? Hm? 

Then why is the only place I have seashells on display is in the bathroom? 

🐚