Day 328 of Week 47 of November 2023

 

Maple Leaves & Rain
December 2018

Should we think of ourselves in terms of cyber years? Think dog years where in comparison one dog year is 7 human years. The last 5 years for me have gone by as if in one year. In cyber years, if I add up the about 20 years years I've been online, I'm in barely in my fifties.

It's no wonder that the new 70 is the 60s. In other words, could it be that the longer we are on the Internet, the slower we are aging? 

The new fad for shorts (videos on YouTube, Tik Tok) feels like the new neighborhood of sitting on porch in the afternoon to catch up on everyone's news, and talk about what is going on around town and the World, a dash of community via cyber space.

Have a refreshing weekend!

Do a tea tasting with new flavors

Learn to crochet

Draw your own vehicle design

Have an egg salad sandwich & chocolate milk

Talk a walk with friends

Read about Chronoception

Build a cardboard bird house ornament

Pray for Peace

When Things Change

3 Quart Cassarole

All I see in the photo is the dinning table I have yet to finish sanding. During the deepest part of a depression episode, there will be reminders scattered about that pile up unnoticed until energy rises. Pressing my mind to think positive, the shiny new cassarole creates a smile on my face.

Here's the story. While shopping, everything I put in my basket, I put back. Nothing entertained my Spirit of Shop well enough. I was feeling a bit down about it as I wondered how did it happen. I am a good shopper, on the cheap side, but quality first. 

I realized working on goals, setting a budget, and down sizing stuff plays into what style of shopper I am. There's no fun in a good buy if I don't need it. I don't donate things to make space for more things. I donate to let out the waist of the things I already have. 

All in all, I am grateful I no longer shop aimlessly. Change can be good. I now have a perfect size pan for soups is a bonus.

What style shopper are you?

Funny Surprise: Look What Happens

On side table

next to your favorite chair, 

empty take out coffee cup

use as mini wastebasket 

for torn up address pieces of junk mail

From your chair,

Toss the now full take out wastebasket cup 

into a real wastebasket

about 4 feet away.

The cup will go in the wastebasket,

but all the papers will not.

They will fly out as soon as you toss 

the cup towards the wastebasket.

A wheee

Fun surprise

Brushing By Progress

Depression is starting to lighten for me. First time I've picked up a brush in almost 2 weeks. 

Its only a watercolor study, no major details. 

I like the green pumpkin, but not in that setting for a painting.

The background is different than the photo I took.

The sunlight needs work, lots of work. I think I'll change the sunlight on the pumpkin so it doesn't look like it is cut open. 

Winter Cozy Porch Ambience with Beautiful Relaxing Music and Falling Sno...

A favorite video to relax by fills my monitor as I sit and write or just think. This YouTube video on the Enchanting Ember channel doesn't loop images in a way that you easily fall into the rhythm of the pattern. The music is also pleasant without being sappy. There are many others on that channel and other channels to chose from. Enjoy!

Thoughts About the Holidays

Upstate New York Adirondack Mountains
November 2017

 Photographs are part of our history, images  for moments we will never experience again. We can have similar, not exact. There is no camera that can record the future. 

Speaking of the future...

I read a CNN (11/09/2023) article by Kristen Rogers, about a UK study published in BMC Medicine that indicates people that don't have connections with their family and friends have a 39% chance of dying earlier than folks that do interact with their family and friends. 

It boggles my mind how we ever survived without all the information about what to eat, how to exercise, find friends, survive divorce and so on. I imagine most every subject that can be a study, is a study somewhere from a high school final paper to a PhD dissertation. Oh, and then to be established in one's field, one must be published...more conclusions about what is bad for us or going to shorten our lives.

As for any time of the year, following our doctor's instructions goes above any holiday frollicking, including drinking and food.

As a single parent back in the day, I had a family rule that during the holiday season, December into January, there are to be no arguments. It bit me a few times, but I survived.

With that in mind, holidays are a time to relax, go with the flow, find enjoyment in things, the people we shmooze, spend time with. If being unconnected to friends and family, then maybe you can find other ways to connect.

• Bird Seed (to watch birds)
• Mail homemade cards
• Church
• Christmas Carol Concerts
• Volunteer at a local animal shelter or food shelf
• Book a vacation
• Watch holiday feel good movies (stop if you have nightmares about Santa's sleigh going missing)
• Join an exercise group where nobody knows  your name until you tell them
• Take ballroom dance lessons
• Blog

Veterans Day 2023

 God Bless America

and All Veterans 

Day 314 of Week 45 November 2023

There are 51 days left before 2023 ends and 2024 begins.

Suggestions to consider:

• Gather up the best photos, and, blog memories for each month of 2023 for a blog post this December
• Write down thoughts about what has been the best and worse times for you in the last year
• Add something good to do for yourself in 2024, something new, unusual, fun, and enriching
• Select a sports team to follow in 2024. The amount of crowd exposure, even via TV can be spirit lifting. Connections can be healthy.
• Schedule all your medical exams, shots, and such
• Find a black-eyed pea recipe for New Year's Day dinner, a Southern tradition for good luck in the new year
  
• Commit to learning at least one new thing in 2024, a language, weaving, painting, wood carving, etcetera
• Memorize a poem
• Write down your favorite 100 words to compare to a new list every 6 months
• Start a sketch pad whether you believe you can draw or not

Waldemar Tells The Story Of The Rococo | Before Bedtime (Full Series) | ...

This series of art documentaries is outstanding! I highly recommend the viewing.
Note, the video runs for 2:59:39 hours.

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

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

Old World Glass Ornament Basket of Blueberries

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?