Oh the Tree Pollen Blues

Red Yarrow
May 2024

Much has been slow around here, me especially. Tree pollen is heavy. Thus, my allergies are raging. Over the counter medicine wipes me out. I only take it at night when I will not be going anywhere. Still, it has me dragging when I wake up. Last night I fell asleep, actually watching television. 

Up at 3 AM, I puttered to start the day early. Waiting for the kitchen floor to dry, I dozed off. When I awoke a few hours later, I thought it was the afternoon, not 7:30 AM!

Anyway, light thunderstorms passed right over here last night. The TV antenna lost the signal a few times. I'm fully awake now catching up on blogging, plants, and housework.

For no reason that I've figured out, I'm in a slump. Pulling out of it has been a two week process. I've slowed down being online except for Twitter/X. Watching YouTube videos doesn't even interest me. When this happens, it feels like having an emotional cold, nothing but blah and meh days. I can laugh, feel bad, feel good, get things done, but it all takes deliberate effort with long stretches of nothing but sitting in a chair thinking.

The sunshine this week helps lift my spirits. Changing my routine also places me on a better pathway to moving more, feeling better, and eating better. 

How is your week going?

Honeysuckle, a Make-over & the Daisies

Honeysuckle

The honeysuckle seeded itself inside another shrub the birds like to frequent. It is much better looking than the ninebark shrub that's there. Pruned, they look good together. The ninebark shrub tends to have a fungus that is unsightly. The honeysuckle is always healthy.

Planter make-over

 Caution: large thin plastic planter can split

 Once the rocks for weight and drainage, and soil, are added, carefully placing it on a hard surface will help prevent it from splitting. 

I will not buy another large planter that is thin plastic. 

The planter (photo) is being made over with spray paint and pieces of tape. Several applications of various colors will be applied.The finish will be a few layers of glossy clear coat.

Over 10 years ago, there was a patch of daisies I had to  move/transplant because of my allergies. Seeing them return is a surprise. This year, they will be transplanted to a larger area. The prices of plants this year is so expensive, it is good to have wild flowers growing free.

Tulips, Daffodils & a Row Boat

Yellow Tulip 2024

 

This year only one yellow tulip bloomed. The daffodils are 2nd year in a row not flowering. They have been fed. Are in a good location. And, planted fairly recently. From the same package of bulbs, the daffodils out back are also not flowering. I read online they are called blind daffodils. My take is to replant them in a different location for spring 2025. 

Otter Creek

 Along Otter Creek near the falls, in the spring the water can go right up above the parking lot at the boat launch. In the photo, the grass is the bank between the driveway and the creek right beside the boat launch access. The bank is about, from water's normal edge, 3 feet high (give or take). If you park parallel to the bank, then it can feel like you are in a boat.

Reminds me of a boat joke* that I'm not sure is correct to tell given that woke atmosphere nowadays. Anyway, I was a blond when it was told to me. I was not offended. It is a cute joke. Tell me what you think:

A woman photographer is on a back country road in July when the corn is knee high. She sees strange movement out in the middle of a huge cornfield. So she pulls into the tractor turn off area. She gets out and looks. 
There is a woman in a row boat, rowing like there's no tomorrow! The photographer yells over to the woman.
"Hey you! It's women like you that give blonds a bad name. And if I could swim, I'd come out there and kick your butt!"

I think you can substitute a man or any group, and it would still be funny.

* Sorry if I've posted this before

Relaxing in a Treehouse with Heavy Rain and Crackling Fireplace | Sleep,...

What's Been Going On

Black bean chili is on the stove. A spicey meal with nachos and melted cheese is in order here.

It has been a slowish borderline-ish meh week for me.

There has been some wonderful weather. Sitting outdoors, I have to be cautious not to fall asleep. What a struggle it can be to not allow the wind and sunshine to lull you into dozing off.

I have much catching up to do with blog reading and commenting. The bright sun out today ecourages me to garden some between being online. There are also boxes to fill with things to mail and donate. Puttering has produced a lovely variety of tasks that won't go away with me in a chair daydreaming or watching YouTube videos. 

How is your week going?

Prayers for everyone in the path of bad weather

All life is an experiment. 
The more experiments you make the better.

Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson 1841~ 1844

Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803 ~ 1882

Reflection Monday May 2024

Lilacs in Spring

Is there a time in any process, 

that you pay more attention to?

Does your baby, puppy, kitten

awwwness,

spread out through your life?

Or

Are you an awww snob?

Thinking About What Intrigues

First Sketch ~ The Party
from a personal photograph

Many years ago I saw the above image in real life when I was taking pictures (with permission) at a birthday party I attended. The majority, being elderly, added a somber vibe to the gathering. There aren't that many 80th birthdays to attend in life. I imagine there was a lot of reflection going on about our own longevity. I was near my sixties at the time. It feels like hundred years ago. All the party goers in the sketch are now deceased. 

Uploading the images, that one particular photo (above) reminds me of Cezanne's, The Card Players (below). To my surprise, after putting watercolor to the sketch, I see my colors are similar to Cezanne's painting.  The memory holds well in my artist's brain.

The Card Players
1890 ~ 1892 Oil on canvas
Paul Cezanne 1839 ~ 1906

What is it that captures my heart in Cezanne's painting is how he puts to canvas the concentration composure of the men playing cards. Deep in thought they are. At the birthday party, those folks are deep in thought as well. It intrigues me that the card game is similar to living to a ripe old age. How we win at a game or life, chances are chances. The cake is consumed. The cards are dealt.

Eventually I will do an acrylic painting from my photograph. I imagine it will be large as there is more off frame that I might add, if  it supports the concentration focus.

If I remember right, then I've done pencil sketches from other pictures of the room. I chose the small section of that table because it best represents what I feel from Cezanne's painting. I don't experience that many connections with my image choices reminding me of an old master's artwork. What will my painting be isn't the highlight. Feeling the connection with an artwork, no matter the artist or era, is the best part.

Day 117 of Week 17 April 2024

Route 17 Addison, Vermont
April 2024

It is a beautiful day here in Vermont. At lunch time, it was out and about for a short walk and picture taking. Hearing honking, I saw a goose flying in the distance off to the right out of frame. 

Using my iphone 13, pictures do not turn out well, even with editing. Serendipity excursions means that I don't always have a better camera with me.

Have a Camera Ready Weekend!

Play catch with a love one

Draw a row boat

Browse tents online

Read about flowering quince

Make pickled beets

Sing to your socks

Design your own camp shirt

Tell a daffodil a silly story

Poetry Thursday: William Wordsworth

Book Inscription 1881

One hundred and forty-three years ago, a man gave his wife a Christmas gift of the book, The Poetical Works of Wordsworth. The pale pencil lines he made to insure his script would be straight are barely visible. There are also light pencil marks in the table of contents marking some poems. To my surprise, the poem I chose to quote below, is one of them. Eerie.

From The Oak and the Broom, a Pastoral, VIII, 

O the Same Flower, last stanza, page 146:

Bright Flower! for by that name at last,

When all my reveries are past,

I call thee, and to that cleave fast,

        Sweet silent creature!

That breath'st with me in sun and air,

Do thou, as thou art wont, repair

My heart with gladness, and a share

        Of thy meek nature!

1805

William Wordsworth

Pastoral in poetry
William Wordsworth

A Little Birdie Knick Knack Makeover

There is no telling what might strike one's fancy sometimes.

For me, last fall for the holidays, the little resin something birds with scarves and other  decorations were being sold (around $7.00 US).

The bird in the photo had a dark green scarf. It fell off the shelf and broke its tail, and a piece out of its side (under the end of the scarf far left). 

I used glue to stuff and smooth over paper towels in the hole as the piece wasn't found. When it dries, I will use an emory board to smooth it out before painting.

The feet were gray metal. I used acrylic paint to fancy up the scarf. The beak has also been painted. The eye has a spot of blue.

I don't put out a lot knick knacks. But that little bird just makes me smile, so out it goes right where I can see it. The body is a bit smaller than a real robin. A substantail bird, the height of the legs, I feel, makes it stand out more. Dusting my mother's knick knack too almost an hour there were so many.

Do you have a favorite knick knack?

Adventures in Social Media

Cedar Waxwings

 

Browsing along, laughs galore, interesting questions, fun in general on X aka Twitter, I got to thinking again about Life.

Science supports that human remains are best preserved where the climate conditions are ideal for such preservation to take place. Archaelogical evidence tells us the area had human activity. 

There is no scientific evidence to date that I know of that defines where human life began. In Africa then migrated to Asia or in Asia migrated to Africa, the big deal over where we began can might lead us to understand the conditions of our scientific birth. 

Interesting thought: What if all that will be left is what there is today? Social Media can cause a person to ponder such questions.