Thoughts About the Holidays.

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On this American Thanksgiving, I’m not celebrating the traditional way. I roasted a turkey a few weeks ago. Besides, I don’t have a fireplace, can’t play tag football, and, there’s no dinner I must attend. I will, however, partake in pumpkin pie and dressing with cranberry sauce. Not able to chew just yet, easy food is appreciated. I have fun projects planned. 

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The season of donate, donate, and donate begins. Add that to the constant news about holiday sales, the joy of the holidays can be smothered under it all. Donating is good anytime of the year. Supporting businesses is always important. 

How do we create a balance that leaves us room to enjoy without guilt trips and worry our economy will collapse? 

Blend. Allow all the aspects, the parts of the season to be wrapped in joyful emotions. Let the oh-no-not-again feeling wait until January. Plan your happiness. Create new traditions and embrace the old ones. Attend  concert, a craft sale and or watch holiday movies.

November Winds

Chasing the Dust

The November Woods
Carlisle Massachusetts

Thanksgiving this week is a mind shaking event when I realize that Christmas is only 29 days and 10 hours away (as of this posting at about 2:25 PM EDT).  

Do we ever tire of noting how fast the months are flying by? Methinks not because I myself post about it so often. It is a community whine that must be maintained to round out how we share things with each other. An element of cozy it be.

So, what has been going on around here. Cataract removal healed, dental extractions healing, catching up with laundry, and decluttering is progressing well. Instagram provides entertainment as my YouTube video enthusiasm wanes.

And there's a rub. I notice that on social media it isn't easy for algorithms to catch the hint. You can have a good line up and then it changes to stuff you don't care much about. I care about feeling connected. That is a benefit of social media.

I'm there to laugh, enjoy seeing art and how life moves on for others. It matters not to me if the image is AI generated. It does matter when events are AI generated, and videos are staged to gain attention/numbers. 

When the humor is good, it is good. A favorite is the face-off between the cat holding the ball staring at the dog that wants to play with it. If you ever want to see a face that defines determination on the No Scale, then that cat rules.

On YouTube I'm into watching Christmas ornaments being made. I love crafting ornaments, especially from natural materials. The majority of videos are good tutorials. However, some of the things made are downright ugly. There is nothing cute about a toilet paper flower tree, IMHO. 

Most of my time is spent chasing dust. Last night as I looked across the room, I thought to myself, minimize! Removing things where dust can fall will decrease the surface areas dust can rest on. With holiday decorating this Friday, it will be easy to bag up and box up things. 

November Photograph

 Early Snow

Crafts

Sunlight on Vase

Hello to a bright sunny morning here in Vermont. 

In contrast, the sunshine obscures the vacuuming that I did yesterday by showing every grain of dust. That will be fixed when I wash the floors. 

Anyway…

This winter, I have the feeling that  crafts will be a go to entertainment. Lining up projects that push away cabin fever is a yearly fun activity. Reading is top on my list. Fiber crafts is right after painting and writing.

I bought a cool swing arm extension clamp on desk lamp from the thrift store. Add that to a small one bulb shop lamp, I’m set for lighting. 

I’m hoping my desk/craft table will be cleaned off soon. There’s been cause to pile stuff up there. I’m keen on painting again and making the felt holly garland I found on a link in the blog, Magpie’s Mumblings.

Are there craft projects you have lined up?

Mug Hunt Season

 Yesiree, it is time to browse around for a holiday and/ or winter mug. 

Over the years, I am proud to report that I have bought more mugs than I have broken. This year, I’m into chipping  instead of breaking it up. Three of my mega mugs, (for multiple marshmallows in hot chocolate [and for hot toddies]), have tiny chips.  I might be able to repair them using ceramic paint. 

By Pfaltzgraff, Holiday Cheer pattern was discontinued in 2007. I think that’s sad because it is a lovely and simple design. There are dishes to match. I was lucky to buy two mugs and a salad plate at a local thrift store. Perfect for munching off my holiday snack tray, a tradition with me since 1975. Wow! That’s will be 50 years this December. 

Tip: Fluid fabric paint. I used it over liquid sew to repair my black puffer coat. The repair shows but isn’t nasty looking.

Processing Before the Canvas

Mt Abe from Addison Vermont

At it again, I’m back to the easel soon with a changed attitude. A few weeks ago I had a cataract removal procedure done on one eye. Light changes, becomes brighter when cataracts are removed. Think filter gone.

No kidding, I grab my underwear out of the drawer, and thought they must have been mingled with something left in the washer (shared laundry room). I look, no, they are really mine. What a nice color.

What about my artwork? How will mixing colors work? 

I don’t know if my paintings will change beyond seeing clearer colors. 

At the Dead Creek visitor center lane, there is an area where you can see the mountains clear of trees in the foreground. I drove too far into those trees for the view I wanted. I have other pictures with the mountain view. The road image, I think it is meant to be a painting. 

Addison Route 17 
 

It’s About Attitude

Do you ever get tired of not feeling well, not free of aches and pains? m

Once, many years ago I had to take a strong pill that I usually always refuse or insist taking no more than 2-3 days. I’m not big on pills, never have been. For the day I took that medication, I was shocked that all my usual aches and pains were gone.

It was that one time I had the opportunity to feel the contrast between my daily 24/7 life versus feeling good. Like tinnitus since early childhood, I became used to aching because it is part of me. 

Humans are fascinating creatures in how we adapt to all sorts of things in life. 

In answer to the question, yes, I do get tired of not feeling well. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t do things well. Life is a lot about attitude.

Blogger YouTube Link Has Porn

Signed into my gmail account

Upper right dots open and select YouTube not only tells me I’m not signed in, the page is full of porn. 

There is one video of young girls cheerleading in a very inappropriate pose. I found no report button

Instead, you are given a Feedback page to submit. 

It is disgusting.

Thoughts About Holiday Decorations

 An idea drifted by this afternoon about how to make the holidays feel cheery-ish instead of sad. 

Decorations.

A themed holiday may be a distraction that creates a sense of control. The project can get one out and about purposely searching for things. Surrounded by one’s accomplishments can be uplifting.  

What if you aren’t into decorating because it reminds you of happier times? Themed holiday decor can replace old reminders with the new one of you making the effort to feeling good. 

First, decide on a style, traditional, one color, plaid, rustic, shiny, nature, steampunk, old West, modern, beaded fruit, candy canes, Santas, musical and so on. 

Second, set a budget and source materials

Lastly, have fun decorating!

November Photograph

 Foraging Squirrels

What Have You Noticed?

Out shopping recently, two things caught my attention. 

Old news update. The size of soup cans has become even smaller. They are hideously small. I’m not going to name brands. Product smaller volumes at the same price or higher is called shrinkflation. I believe if cans are made smaller, then more folks might start making soup from scratch. 

Christmas ornaments at the local Dollar General store this year don’t appear to be as plentiful and varied as last year. There’s plenty of gift wrap paper and gift bags though. I’m thinking importing cheaper ornaments from overseas might be the problem. 

I bought one can of soup and the last 4 bottle brush tree ornaments. As a kid, bottle brush trees fascinated me. 

What changes have you noticed lately?