Ludovico Einaudi - The Water Diviner
Beautiful piece
It snowed here in Vermont an inch or so last night. Chilly, overcast and slushy day
Music time
Selecting a Holiday Theme
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| Blueberries |
My holiday cards will be in the mail shortly after I decide what this year's motif will be. Leaning towards clean, fresh and healthy, blueberries touch my heart for a fun card design.
I mean, how many Christmas or holiday cards do you see where blueberries are the star of the show?
Berries, pinecones, branches and acorns are my favorite elements for motif design. Remember the dinner plate design I want to create?
William-Sonoma has a similar (pricey) dinnerware design. I just love.
Woodland Berry Dinner Plate
Black Friday deal Walmart
Reminds me of my childhood
I make a list of things and styles I like. I draw a few sketchs. Then, I chose a font to hang on the most appealing images. Finally, I decide on the one to develop.
I prefer to use a graph paper pad to sketch designs because sizing the card is easier with grids to count out. I then use scraps of watercolor paper to make test cards that are good for changing things around if need be.
Do you select a holiday theme each year?
Living With Anxiety
This is my version based on my experiences living with depression since, I believe, I was a very young child. Mother took me to doctors who couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. I was always tired, missed lots of school, just not quite a spry kid. I was called lazy.
Anxiety. A very bad emotional and physical feeling that all at once everybody in the world hates me, and wishes me ill.
Dreads. A very bad sense that something horrific is going to happen to me ranging from from mild to severe.
Panic attack. Sheer terror in its most concentrated sense.
Anxiety attack. At its worse, a feeling like I am dieing.
The difference between a panic attack and anxiety attack for me is that with an anxiety attack, I feel like I am dieing; and with a panic attack, I know I am dieing or might be dead, but nobody told me.
PTSD is the salad made from all of the above.
I manage my symptoms based on my decades of experience. Mostly, I avoid being too active in situations that involve a lot of people, too many appointments in a short time frame, and, being careful of what I eat. When I drive, I rarely use the radio and never wear cologne because they might trigger an anxiety surge. Days, sometimes weeks before an event or appointment, I begin to prepare by having a bland diet, relaxing, and going over in my mind the event. It is an adjustment struggle knowing folks aren't going to bite me, but I know they have teeth.
If things are going smoothly, then I have less physical discomfort. When PTSD flares up out of nowhere, then I back track to the source. From there, I can managed the symptoms. In the beginning, I had no idea why I would have episodes of screaming and/or crying. Nobody I knew, including a therapist I saw back then (1980s), knew what was going on.
My life fell apart and landed in a worse place than the one I left. Decades later, I know more now than I did before is a great healing support.
There is a lot of good information out there about managing mental health issues. Read, research, and know your rights.
In the Days of Try To Do
There hasn't been much movement around here other than pushing depression out of the way. It has been a rough few weeks. Changing daily patterns builds an obstacle course for me to navigate. It works if the path is adjusted well, much like playing a video game for the first time when the rules haven't sunk in yet. Anyway, I'm glad to say that I have more energy, feel much less pressed by feelings of dread, and overall, determination rules.
As with all heavy episodes of depression, there's a ton of catch up to do. Number one, aside from laundry and dusting, is to paint. A bonus of not doing much is that my appetite is low on caring about food in real life.
I wrote a blog post about anxiety and panic attacks. I deleted it because it feels too personal. At the time, it was a bridge to better. I might rewrite such a post because the information is important to share. A few days later, better has no fork in the road to frustrate me with making decisions.
I had my first seasonal pumpkin coffee (McD). A big thanks anyway to last year's covid booster that took away my sense of taste. I did, however, taste a massive amount of sugar. I didn't finish the coffee.
I know I love foods, but the hands on in the kitchen is not frequent. So I put a strict limit on take out. Sunday's omelet, I sauted so many vegetables, I could hardly see the egg. The baked chicken sausage (baked, not greasy) from Hannaford's is good enough to put on my regular shopping list.
It is strange that on blogging time, life feels and looks normal, no depression, no anxiety, no dreads. At my worst, I can manage a short photo post.
I don't know what I will do today other than try to do. For now, I have to do errands. I can't make biscuits without flour.
How is your November going?
Have You Lost a Pen Without Moving From Your Chair?
I hand write every day without fail. I journal, make lists, scribble down ideas, write down tidbits of information and such. I use pens regularly. My pens have their own pen-stations, near my favorite chair, on my desk, and in my purse. The drawing pens are in a case, in a bin drawer or near my chair stash (photo).
I buy handwriting pens in packs. I also seem to lose pens in packs. You'd think that when I stand up, there's pens falling all over the place, but there isn't. Have I found pens in the laundry? Yes, but not as often as I lose them.
Could it be like many other products sold in America, that pens are running out sooner because they are filled with less ink so you buy more? Or am I writing more? Maybe I'm just not a tidy pen person.
Reflection Monday November 2023
What do you do when something comes at you out of nowhere?
It feels to me that we are sometimes like old cans on a fence, about to know a rock from a slingshot.
I was looking back at this first Monday of the month feature that began in December 2013, ten years ago next month. I read a post, in draft now, that I wrote on 11 September 2013. An excerpt:
It is important to know what is about you, know those moments that are yours, how they are yours and why they are yours. Ownership isn't always easy to determine if we are not seeing what is there or not knowing. Intuition can guide us only so far. Even the best at it can miss a cue.
Those words fit into what is going on in the World today, and so do these:
I pray that people in power know where they stand...I pray they listen to all sides...
Please, think hard on what you believe, what you understand, and what you are willing to support.
Comments are off
The Thrill of Simple Things
As you can see in the photo background, I'm culling books. For book lovers, culling can feel like losing a family pet. Boxing up titles doesn't work well because after a while, there are too many boxes in the closet. It is best to just get the job done. Whine all you want, that's not only acceptable, it is normal when preparing books on their journey out the door. What you don't see is those books have been there going on 3 days as I recover from knowing they will soon be in a donation bag.
Meanwhile, I am thrilled with my new-to-me bar stool for my easel area.
Not much progress at all for the New Haven River painting. There's been life road bumps in the recent weeks for me to deal with. I expect in the next few days for remarkable change on the canvas to post about.
P.S.
Side note here. Small order on on Walmart website. Better for me to pick up at the store than go to store to find they are out of stock. At checkout online, the total cost is too high. Did I make a mistake and add more than 1? No. My order process is correct.
The problem is Walmart add $6.99 to my order because my total order is being below their $35.00 minimum order amount. It is highly unlikely I will ever order online from Walmart no matter what my items total is.
Mug Season
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| 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!
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
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| 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).
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| 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.
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!
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