Mug Season

Terrazza Mug by Park Designs

 Tis the season for a nice big mug for hot chocolate and marshmallows any time, soup for lunch, and a help me live again hot coffee morning. 

Yesterday's find at the thrift store is a thrilling one for me. A big mug like the one in the photo isn't easy to see on the shelf unless you frequent the shop a few times a week.

My other favorite place to shop for mugs is TJ Maxx. Their selection varies, but the prices, in the many years I've been shopping for mugs there, are reasonable. An average price (local Vermont store) is $5.00 US dollars. Shopping for stoneware mugs online can be over $50.00 US dollars with an average of thirtyish US dollars, not including the shipping costs.

Stoneware is my prefered mug. I believe, the higher kiln firing temperature makes a stronger mug. Not all mugs are labeled as to what they are made from. Shopping online, however, the mug description should always state the material, stoneware, earthenware, ceramic and such. 

Buying in person, I always lightly touch the rim and check for any dings. If the glaze doesn't completely cover the surface or is chipped to any degree, then I don't buy it. 

The ideal place to shop in person is a local potter's studio or retail shop. Shop local if possible. 

I only buy mugs that are pleasing to me. A company logo on a mug, unless it is a cool name, can be gently removed with hot water, soap, and very gentle light scratch off. Test the bottom to make sure the glaze doesn't come off. 

Enjoy your mug shopping!

Bennington Potters' Tankard Mug

I love that mug! A belly shape mug is a favorite because it keeps the beverage warmer longer. The Bennington Potter's Tankard Mug has a similar small opening with larger mug area. There is just something about the sturdy design that makes the Tankard Mug 12 ounce my favorite.

Not a sponsored post

Tis the Season to Shop Coffee Mugs
This blog's link post 12 September 2023

The September post is about linking to online nice mugs.

Blogging: How To Create Columns Using Theme Customization

 

1362 x 855 3.33 MB

In Customize a theme:

I tile vertically and adjust the width of the main blog to fit. When I click on Don't Tile, the columns remain. It takes some tweaking to get it just right.

The photograph on the right is the one I used to creat a Merge photo in order to have part of the image on both sides because sometimes, the size of the photograph will show where the merging lines are between frames. 

Try it on a practice blog template first. Write down each feature you try, (unlike me).

Merged photo (flipped) 4.55 MB
2000 x 796, 4 merged photos

Frost, Sleet & a Bit of Snow

Last night the ambient temperature dipped. 

In the morning, there was a thin layer of frost to clean off the car windows before I left for the out and about errands, get windshield wipers and a vehicle inspection. Nearer noon, I had to prepare for an hour's drive to pick up a lovely desk chair found on Craigslist.

Side note...windshield wipers are expensive!

Yesterday and last night I had to relax as well as be careful what I ate. I need to make sure nothing is going to give me issues with cramps and such because that triggers an anxiety attack. Anxiety will trigger cramps. I also don't wear any cologne or turn on the car radio lest they also trigger an anxiety surge. I don't take anti anxiety medication if I am driving. I suffer through it. That is why I prepare so carefully days before.

On the road home, I feel good. Rest a short while before leaving again, check the map again,  pack up and off I go. The weather forecast is a possible wintery mix. It was sleeting lightly when I got in the car.

The scenery is outstanding, open fields, cattle, cows, rolls of hay, bare branches, green grasses, old houses, newer houses. I'm happy and amazed how much of Vermont is undeveloped. About 20 minutes into the ride, the sleet stops. Clear skies, good dry road. And more road. Near Orwell, asphalt is being put down on the northbound lane. There were 2 stop stations when I went through. Made it a little late, but got the chair and head back home. Fair Haven is a cute town.

On the trip back, the asphalt area is one stop, and mere minutes waiting.  

Why did it feel like such a long drive there, and a really short drive home?
I have no clue.

As I enter Addison, Vermont, I see a huge cloud over and below Snake Mountain like a white fluffy blanket. It was gorgeous. No photographs because there was no safe turn off.

I stop at the grocery store to get something for dinner.  I get out of the car and it is light snowing. Salmon or beef? I got both. I can make stew tomorrow. Looking for tarter sauce because I like dill with fish, I found none. Instead I got dill relish.

It is nearly 4 PM EDT. I'm exhausted.

How was your day?

Well, Now That Halloween Is Over...

 

As it goes via the Retail world in America,

herded from one holiday to another,

we are officially in the retail Christmas Season!

Happy Holidays!

On the Scary Side, Sort of

😎Happy Halloween!👻 

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A Week Versatile, Hello November

This week is black bean chili time, the first bowl of the cold weather season. 

Adding broth and more vegetables (spinach, zucchini) to the chili, then it will become chili soup. 

The spot of green in the photo catches my attention. 

This will be a picture for a composite to paint from. 

Learning how to paint open water is a dream of mine.

 Welcome November!

November is the month my poetry heart loves most, moody, mysterious, windy and a cold that rushes right through the soul.

I will not be posting an audio version of my reciting Poe's poem, "The Raven." I did a couple tries, and trust me, they are horrible, and deleted. I just couldn't get Vincent Price out of my mind. He does the best Poe voice ever. Instead, I will post a reading from a myth or something I write based on a true story.

On the 2nd holiday vibe Monday, I almost forgot I'm going with that attitude. I had such a lazy time of it last week, there is catch up to do. I'm feeling better, (shots done for the year), depression lifting enough for me to sneak out from under it, and allergies no longer bringing me sinus discomfort. This week has a versatile agenda on the home front. Being busy will be a change from October's quietness.

How is the view of your November?

P.S. In the good news slot, I think I've found a good bar stool for my easel area. I like to stand when I paint. A stool gives me a place to rest and think. Chairs are too low.

P.P.S
Tip: Using Google Voice, you can call yourself to find your cell phone.

Pondering the Profound

Profound ~  adj. ~ Intellectual depth and insight

Merriam-Webster.com

In the early years on X (formerly known as Twitter), I tweeted that I wanted to post something profound. Nothing to say, comfort online yet to blend into my psyche, I didn't want to come across as a dullard. I have yet in over ten years plus to tweet something I believe is profound.

For autumn 2023 I planned to search out a photograph that encapsulates my ideal representation of the season. I felt for sure a colorful leaf would be in the frame. Alas, another issue took over causing me to stay home, no foliage excursion of note. 

After looking at the numerous autumn photographs in my folders, I realize there is no one photograph that respresents autumn to me. 

What about making up something profound? If I could, then what will I focus on? Nature? Life? The cosmos? Let me think for a moment...

Ah!

What would fill the garganua space left if all states in America suddenly reduced their lottery games to one drawing a week for only two games?

That isn't as profound as it is scary.

I have laundry to do.

 

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