Holiday Gift Ideas

Unhitching the pumpkin vibe, and attaching pinecones to your October mind set is a good idea because the starting line for the holidays is behind us. I will post a few gift idea lists now and then.

Personalized Hometown Ceramic Ornament 

Like the signs posted as you enter a town. 

Adorable attached to a gift basket. Love these!

Macaroon Glass Ornaments package of 4
Have a Francophile on your gift list?

Marachino Red Cafe Retro Butter Bell Crock
Put a splash of red on the table.

Knitted Mug Design Made to Order
Classy mug with knit designs on a 4-6 week turn around. Order early

24 inch Sleigh Shovel at Home Depot
I also see using the shovel to haul in a grocery bag.

Vermont Shepherd (Verano) 1/8 Wheel Wedge
Made in Vermont from 100% sheep's milk. 

Think of a summer field gracing your winter cheese board

Speedball Block Printing Starter Kit
Encourage creativity and fun

Mixologie Tiny Try Me Kit
Make your signature scent

Not a sponsored post

A New Pumpkin, Monday & Biscuits

The new profile pumpkin is larger with a tilt in a richer orange hue. The previous  pumpkin is centered more. The background is darkest teal. It took a few changes to soften the background color. It still shows as black. 

I learned that when you from the start, type your text in the HTML view, the position of the text will be tricky to position. Start typing the post in the Compose view for easier text placement.

My first Monday with the end of a long weekend vibe, starts out well. I got up and dressed without whining about it. As the first meal of the day, brunch is prefered because it combines two meal times, and gives me a chance to unfold. Funny, since a kid, getting up in the morning has felt to me like unfolding a popup greeting card. Anyway, no errands are planned in honor of the faux holiday Monday spirit.

Achievement. What will I do when my week really begins? Right away I know I will be painting, (probably today). Puttering, laundry, writing, and a small goal. Biscuits. I've wanted to learn how to make good biscuits for years. It is such a simple recipe. Yet, each try has been blah. I'll give it another go, and post how it goes on Friday.

What are Your goals this week? Small or large.

BEST OF STELLA LEAF JUMPS VOLUME 1

A nice break from the turmoil in the world

The New Haven River: The Start

Back on track with the painting series, the canvas in the photo is as far as I've gotten thus far. I have one more photo hunt to do for a good view of the right bank. The image is a composite of three photographs. 

Center

Left bank

Key is the large blue boulder on the right that is in all 3  photographs.

The sunshine,source of light will be across the top of the orange foliage.

More photographs are needed for reference. At present, I'm plotting the composition. How far I will get in each painting session isn't set in stone. This year, I'm flowing with the paint energy because my confidence in the composition is stronger this year than last year. I won't be section painting. However,  I will be spending more time painting the water..

Left and right bank

Pumpkin' Chunkin', Recipes, Alpaca Socks & Canvas

The Pumpkin Chunkin' Festival in Stowe, Vermont was 1 October. Watch your calendars for 2024.

2023 Pumpkin Chunkin'Events

More festivals in America

Consider creating you own family or local pumpkin event.

 

15 Savory Pumpkin Recipes for Fall from The Peasant's Daughter

Start the season with a bunch of pumpkin recipes added to your recipe files. I'm intrigued by the ingredients of cranberries, rice and pumpkin. What kind of cassarole would they make? Will mushrooms throw off the flavors? Lots to think about when cooking season begins.

Weather is a factor in what I select for dinner. The colder it gets, the hardier the meals I want like beef stew, seriously sharp homemade macaroni and cheese, sauerbraten, and turkey with tons of stuffing and cranberry sauce.

The same goes for clothes. I want socks, comfy ones that I can wear with boots and shoes. Alpaca is the wool I am going for because it doesn't have the lanolin that sheeps's wool has, an allergen issue.

My online search for alpaca winter socks lands me at the link below for Warrior Alpaca socks, made in America and Peru.

Warrior Alpaca Socks

38 X 32 inches

Reusing an old canvas by placing gesso over the painting.

It needs a few more gesso layers.

Have an adventurous weekend!

Read about permit requirements on Federal lands

Archaeology sites by state 

Have apple pie and ice cream

Sing to your television

Dance outdoors

Browse spiffy winter scarves online

Make a mug cozy

Scent your space with cinnamon

Shop for a pinetree mug

Day 293 of Week 42 October 2023, Thoughts About Moxie

Live Study in Pastel 2001

This week has been slow. Overwhelming by the new painting to start?. I expect the first post tonight because I am anxious to set up the canvas. Time got away from me.

I saved about 90% of my live study drawings from both drawing courses, 101 and intermediate. They are reference for confidence when I'm feeling depressed about everything. The reminder that I am not without some talent is like the voice of a best friend we always listen to. 

The night before handing in my final project, a portfolio of drawings, I was up into the wee hours of the morning, running on empty, sheer will to finish the way I want them. After the grading, I went through my drawings. To my surprise, I  didn't remember making the wavy line on her right arm. It was a disturbing shock.

After a while, the memory began creeping back as how I felt running on empty. Empty is when you are beyond too tired, without sleep for well over 24 hours. You can physically and mentally feel the empty as a clear uncluttered thought plane. Whatever you have, your moxie is there in its raw form.

Each time I begin a painting, I remember that thought plane. It helps me push away cluttering ideas, grand ideas, unrealistic ideas that can obscure what I want to achieve. There are several factors than can impact on a person's ability to make decisions. As we age, our sharpness can diminish. Decisions are uncomfortable when they don't flow easily. Memories that hold us up are nice to have. 

I might frame the pastel. 

Coffee Frappes & Seashells: The Poetic Apples, A Conversation With ...

Coffee Frappes & Seashells: The Poetic Apples, A Conversation With a Semi-stra...: 

In season, I try to make good use of the atmosphere of autumn to write and think of ideas, harvest words and images that are heavy with the ...

A favorite post on Coffee Frappes & Seashells poetry blog

click on the title to read

 

P.S.

Magnetic storms. It is a good idea to be aware of how solar eruption's  impact on Earth, their level, and when they are expected. The present magnetic storm will be a K-index 5 and last for 2 days. Search the Internet for more information and/or visit the NOAA link below.

Geomagnetic 3 Day Forecast, Space Weather Prediction Center, NOAA

Scrolling & Thinking At the Same Time

The Why? photograph

Maybe for an example of light?

The It is a miracle

Wow! I still have that mug!

Two years plus and I have yet to break the mug.

Using a free create a logo website

I will draw my own logo, upload, and then have cards made. Cards are good to exchange with folks you meet along the way. 

The puff of golden yellow is interesting.

Noted to try a watercolor

Taken years ago, the cat thought he was hiding. 

A perfect Halloween picture for editing to create greeting cards.

Scrolling through my Blogger photo folders is a trip down memory lane. I notice that several of the pictures are like the first one posted here, the Why? photograph. If you have pictures no longer in your system folders, then you can post it on your blog for a save as download. I'm happy to see the mug because it isn't broken. Such a simple pleasure. And more fun is the Salty Pumpkin Studio logo I created on a website where you can create you own logo using their graphics. Later, you can purchase cards and other products. That website is similar to the link below for logo.com.

LOGO.com

Logos are fun to create. There is so many styles, colors, fonts to chose from, it can feel overwhelming. Selecting about 5 to live with and tweak is an easier way to create the one you really like.

A Sleep Pattern

Apple Leaf on silver tray
About ten years ago I was fascinated by a leaf 
attached to an apple I bought. I took several photos 
on various surfaces in different light.

There is no telling what might fascinate a person. There are more photographs like that in my Blogger folder. I 'm awake with the time to scroll through them. 

There are days, sometimes many, when I will not want to sleep at night. The definition of insomnia doesn't quite fit. I've experienced trouble getting to sleep and/or staying asleep. This is different. During bouts of want to stay awake, after 3  or 4 AM, I usually turn off the light (or not), and fall asleep just like that, snooze city. 

I've read many headlines, (and a few paragraphs in), that getting enough sleep is very important to one's health. I haven't been a 6 hour  or more sleeper since I was a teenager. A 3 to 5 hour night is the rule. If I'm really tired or have been very active that day, I might reach 6 hours. If I make it to 7 hours, then I wake up feeling like aliens kidnapped me. Seriously.

What do I do?

Internet. YouTube videos. Scroll through photo folders. Paint. Think. Write. Read. Watch PBS streaming. Play Wordle after midnight. (This week, I had Wordle on 2 to make my life time total 3, maybe 4 times.) After 3 AM  I do online jigsaw puzzles.  

I go through marathons of shows on YouTube for archaeology, history, furniture, building, travel, collecting, art, and hygge. 

It is now 1:31 AM EDT. I finished watching the news on YouTube. Wordle today I got in 5 tries. I checked the weather and recent earthquakes. Now I am typing this blog post.

And I'm hungry. But no a yawn to be had.

How are your sleep patterns?

Fan blowing on a tee shirt
I wanted pictures to sketch from showing
how a tee shirt looks when it moves.
It was for a painting. 

 P.S.

Leaving comments on other blogs has a glitch. When using Chrome, the pop up says comment failed, try again later.

On the Edge browser, I have no problem leaving comments.

Also when using Chrome, Clicking on the profile pumpkin, the  pop up doesn't load for me to select an option. I have to go into Gmail, and then the pumpkin icon pop up shows the options. 

Glitches like that can be glitches or somebody fooling around with your website, your blog, your account. Based on my experience, the browser, the website will never tell you if somebody hacked your account unless major news outlets have the story of a major browser breach.

In other words, if you comment at places that are controversial, then glitches might be a consequence.

 

Blogger Glitch, Food & Going Museum

Blogger glitch*

Signed out of blog

Clicked sign in and page goes to the last page I viewed when I was signed into my blog. I can post as if signed in. No other tabs were open. 

I had to erase the browser History to sign back in. Also, the comment box pop up box is where you can delete a comment when that is the comment style you chose. Click Post a Comment for the pop up box to see the delete icon.

* A pop up box was found on my screen when I closed the browser. That may be why the connection wasn't broken when I signed out.

Provolone cheese

Salami

Lettuce

Tomato

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Feta cheese

Looks good. Messy hassle to eat

Better to dice up the tomato and roll it all inside the cheese

Going Museum.

Many museums are closed on Mondays.

After a long weekend, Monday being the holiday, I got to thinking, again. Why not go museum by having Mondays as a holiday year round? The most anxious day of the week can the most relaxing day of the week by just mentally feeling Mondays with a holiday attitude. Turn a negative into a positive.

Foliage, Riprap & Poetry

Looking northeast to Green Mountains
from the meadow
at Robert Frost Interpretative Trail
14 October 2023

Along Rt 125 Ripton, Vermont
14 October 2023

Ripton, Vermont 14 October 2023

Rt 125 RipRap roadside repairs
after July 2023 heavy flooding 

Riprap

There is a lot of roadside repairs being done on Route 125 going up from East Middlebury to Ripton, Vermont. There was heavy flooding last July 2023. One section is one lane with lights to manage traffic.

The peak foliage, I believe, was the Indigenous Peoples' Day long weekend. My photographs here were taken the weekend after. This illustrates how short a window there can be to see the best colors in certain areas. There are places that are just turning. For the most part, the higher elevations are past peak. Again, my opinion. Check your local foliage reports.

One Lane Light Rt 125 Ripton, Vermont

I always remember the name riprap from the title of Gary Snyder's first book of poetry, "Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems, 1965."