Day 301 of Week 43 in October 2023

Another Vermont field in Autumn.

Scrolling through pictures, the date or where the image is captured is no longer with the details

Snow Geese. I didn't go to the Dead Creek Wildlife Area to see the geese. This season I've not been to the ususal places I visit yearly.

The foliage around town is about the stage of  the maple. There is something about the golden leaves and dark branches that feels classy. At this lower elevation, there is a foliage vibe of a comfy knit throw around my shoulders that I don't sense when I'm in the mountains at peak foliage. Maybe being close to home is what generates that atmosphere of warmth.

I've been up into the wee hours watching videos. That means rising later in the morning for a shorter day. My YouTube watching days are settling like a pond with an old log surfacing enough for turtles to sun themselves. I know why the latest surge of depression. The goal is to push through it by putting aside daydreams, and working on the reality at hand. The canvas in the other room.

Sun Shining on the Floor Is Not Good For Fallen Gray Hair

 Disclaimer...I am attempting to be humorous about aging.

Any day now I will not be surprised to read about a study that seeing gray hair on the floor when the sunsines through the window means you have a ten percent chance of passing away early in the morning. 

It feels like every time I am happy with something or notice something about the stages of aging I am going through, there's a blankety-blank blank study that indicates it  may cause a stroke, heart attack or takes ten years off my life. It is getting so the older I become, the less likely all that will matter. I may not have ten years to deduct. 

I need my greasy crisp food! I can't go without a crunch for long. Celery and carrots don't count. I want the flavor of grease and spices in my food sometimes. And another thing, fruit sorbet will never replace coffee ice cream! 

After getting the new covid booster shot the other day, today is the first time I can use my right arm without discomfort. Last night I was feeling poorly. Today I feel fine. I don't know what happened. Sleep maybe?

I should be at the canvas painting today. Sorry it is taking me so long to get really started on the fall series. This is Friday. For me it feels like Tuesday.

Have a Crunchy Comfy Weekend!

Sing anything you feel like singing

Cook apple pancakes

Draw a map of your ideal town

Tell a brick a funny story

Make a fun mask

Mark up a tee shirt with weather symbols

Consider going to church

Pray for Peace

Blogging Changes

How well we communicate with each other is always important. In this wider global cyber space, words can become scrambled in cultural differences. What can't be tossed around, at least shouldn't be, is respect for each other. As blog land groups coalesce into a tribe of like minded people, the experience can be weird to explain to non-bloggers how you can feel friendship with a person you have never met face to face. I believe people miss out on a good part of planet Earth society by not reading blogs authored by regular people living sort of regular lives. 

Regular lives. Thinking back to my early computer days. Downloading terrified me. I didn't grasp photo sizes and computer memory. Happily one day I decide to download a photograph of a nebula. My system froze because the size of the photograph was essentially bigger than my computer's memory storage. I mean the photo was huge. 

A few years later, I began blogging. I decided early on that I only need to learn enough to do what I want to do, type, send, copy, paste, read email, send email, stuff like that. The journey has been interesting. Now I'm dealing with voice recognition applications. I do not use Siri. I tried it a couple of times. Not diggin' it. If hear my system talk to me, then I shut it off. 

However, I am now experimenting with my computer's recording feature. 

The first audio blog post is back in the Draft folder. I had a surge of shyness. 

What do you think of recording your blog posts?

Audio of this blog post

 

P,S,

Day 2 of covid booster shot, not feelimg so great. Iced injection site as arm is really tender. I tend to be wimpish when feeling yucky. Craving Hagen Das coffee ice cream. :)

The Why Photograph

A Squished Pinecone*

Do you feel sorry for everything that shows trace vulnerability? 
Think berry picking. Passing up or tossing the ones that are damaged in some way. Do you think about how a person can relate to not being the perfect one on the branch? 

What's this all about? Well, it is like this. On a slow autumn afternoon, as I lightly recover enough energy to accomplish more than I have been, I look once again to old pictures for a get-a-better-attitude boost (shove actually). There has been a lot of thinking going on here.

I posted a poem born out of this mood of mine on my poetry blog, Coffee Frappes & Seashells, A Pervading. The line that sticks with me is...flitters like a dry leaf, clinging to a dead tree.Those words describe how I feel. The mood is the result of pressing myself to figure out how to turn old habits towards the horizons in life that I face, (largely facing the sunset.)

Take a simple thing like a squished pinecone on the driveway to analyze why I stop to take a photograph. Why blares in my brain. Am I just an eccentric artist? I could be. After all, I am a septuagenarian. That comes with a ten year free to be anomalous me license. 

Over thinking can be entertaining.

How are your autumn afternoons going?

*Taken circa 2004

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

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

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.