So much for slowing down in February

A Foggy February Morning
7:45 AM EDT

Here’s the thing, posting every day in January set me up so that every morning I feel that I should be blogging something. 

So, here I am almost every day posting in February. It is a way of talking to folks. That’s weird considering an entire day can go by without me hearing my own voice unless I make a comment  about what’s on the television. 😎

Early this morning it was very foggy out. Warmer, sunny and windy, today also has a thick Spring vibe. After my yearly medical check in I made a few stops feeling good to be out and about. Most of my errands’ making is a drudge with me arriving home exhausted. Not today. If my bad knee was better, then I might go for a walk just to look at mud and windy trees.

Weather is a mood maker. Of course being told I’m not diabetic lifts my spirits. The weather, however, puts me at a hang gliding elevation only achievable on a thermal of Spring.

How is your day going? 

Inquiry, Waiting Birds & the Next Thing I Know

 Searching brings up the blogger I’ve been looking for. The problem is the blog is deleted from Blogger. If a name changes, then Blogger posts a page it has been removed without a link to the new blog address. Does anyone know where Kathy of the Hummingbird Woodland  Studio is? Email or comment, please. 

I feel so very old missing favorite blogs. 🥴🥺

Pushing back the sheers is often accompanied by the swoosh of birds I scare away. As I put out the bird seed, I hear more of them than I see waiting to fly back in. 

Waiting

As the day goes on, one project turns into another. Taking up rugs and stuff to vacuum, makes me want to escape out the door to do errands instead.  So, here I am blogging. 😂

To start, I was going to take out a sealed storage container to use for acrylic paint. Thinking which one will be good, I see the rug needs attention. Next thing I know, rug rolled up, another lifted away and things are covering the sofa. The vacuuming will be next. After that is done, I will get the container and paint. 

Watching versus Reading

After last night’s sleep out, I made sure to be awake tonight. As I type, it is 10:20 PM EDT, 16 February 2026. There is nothing on television I care to watch until after the eleven o’clock news. I do like to view some of the Olympics.  

Watching. 

 YouTube and Instagram has been interesting in two aspects. Daydreaming, hinging on things I see that interests me, varies more when watching Instagram than YouTube. The other is observing, how passing from one interest to another flows as I view both.   

A big picture emerges that I watch too much television. 

Reading. I never feel that way when I read books. I don’t recall ever in my life thinking or saying that I do too much reading. 

Yay for books!

My Bookshelf

 

Art on a Monday

With the TV off, I fell asleep for the entire evening. Waking after 11 PM, I was surprised it isn’t morning. I missed all the Sunday night PBS shows. What to do!?

Putter? Watch YouTube? Snack? All three are good. Near 2 AM, I want to change up and do the sketch on this week’s new painting from an old photograph. The funny thing is, I don’t remember where the photo is. 

Back tracking, ( a few times), I find the hard copy folder of printed out photographs it was with. I went through them 2 or 3 times making sure it isn’t stuck to another paper. I give up. 

Sitting there clearing my frustration out, I see a white piece of paper sticking out of my catchall basket on the bottom shelf of a side table. I pull it out.

TaDaaaah! It is the photo I’ve been looking for!

🥳😂

Lake Champlain

Photographs of people. I do not take or post identifying photos of individuals without their permission unless the person is a public figure or celebrity. Even then, if they are on their free time, it is highly likely I will not take a photo. 

I will post pictures of people when the subject is a crowd, a gathering, an event. Even then, I will edit features, change colors, blur numbers and such. 

My people photos are figure studies like the one posted above. 

Note, I also ask owners for permission to take pictures of their dog. 

About the scene. Space is the celebrity in the landscape. An 11 x 14 inch canvas is not the ideal size suited for the painting’s story. I have images of the area to use. The canvas will be the study for a larger artwork. 

18 February update
in progress

Missing Bloggers

Strange. There are bloggers over the years that disappear, slow down or just stop blogging. Years ago, I stopped cleaning out the dormant blogs I follow because of mishaps losing a blog or two. Some of the blogs I read moved to places that require a sign in to leave a comment. Add that to Gmail doesn’t save my emails anymore, a few favorite blogs are very difficult to find once lost. 

Senior years living on the lake, is one such blogger that despite many tries, search engines won’t give up showing me senior living facilities search results. 

So, if I read your blog and haven’t commented in a long time, say hello, please.

Thank you 

Moving Out From Under Shadows

Winter Shadows

 What will this week bring us in the news is becoming more predictable that something will shake our core. The issues are so big, it is easy to feel powerless. How we hold on is amazing. 

Ways that help me is to look at an issue from both sides. Considering both views without the emotional bias, can be very difficult. Being informed through multiple sources eases the difficulty. Instead of turning away from the news, lean into it, learn from it and support decisions with facts. 

An old subject like this is worth repeating. Decluttering emotions is as important as organizing stuff.

🌹🪻🌸🌺🌷🌻

In the beginning of a week, I think of what I want to do, how to organize the days ahead. My to do list is much longer than my done list. This week, instead of the olde list of many, a single theme will be interesting. 

I found a folder of photos I printed out to paint from going back to the early 2000s.  One of them inspires me to make this week ‘s theme, Art. Whether paint, pencil or using glue, daily creating is a must. The week feels brighter already. 

What theme do you like for your week?

Day 45 of Week 7 February 2026

 Happy Valentine’s Day to All Y’all!

❤️

********************

Every footstep absorbs a tiny vibration from inner Earth that Spring is near. A gauzy blush hovers over hearts ready to bloom as eager April flowers. 

The tea diffuser I ordered arrived. A small object brings this blogger a large thrill. No longer will I have to use a coffee maker in order to fill one cup. No more wasted coffee. No more messy clean up. 

Have a thrilling weekend!

Read about root crops

Sow a seed indoors

Watch an old movie

Tell a chair a silly story 

Draw a bicycle

Call an old friend

Count the corners in your kitchen

Learn to make a vodka sunrise

Stainless Steel Tea Diffuser

Winter Photography: The Outdoors & Indoors

 

Anyone checked for solar flares lately?

Tuna Sandwich Party

Thoughts, for me, have been as creatively scattered as the clutter in the waiting-to-be-put-away zone. I know that the Moon and solar flares can impact Earth’s magnetic fields. Animal behavior can be impacted as well, includes humans. The unusual vibe I feel, 

might be due to the many days of below freezing temperatures. Or perhaps the quality of the indoor air is at work jostling around my brain chemicals.

Right now. The quality of my life, (even with jolly good thinking going on), is mainly involved with the weather. There is frozen water crystals all over the ground. No matter where snow is, all of winter is inspiring to me. As the daylight hours increase, I begin to think of plants sprouting, sandals and flowering trees. Winter does that, brings us along into another season.

For now. There is snow. I want to look at it. I want to take pictures of it. I want to watch it falling. Snow brings water to Earth and in many ways, happiness to people. 

Bringing It In With Bright Ideas

Here I go again adjusting my life with bright ideas. This one is near the brightest. 

I decided that since I love Nature so much, watch hours of camping videos, I should bring that rustic aesthetic into my home/personal space. 

I began by ordering pinecone pattern sheets to use as the fabric for sofa cushion slipcovers. Then I ordered a rustic (gorgeous) mug. On my to do list is to make (learn how-to) bread. Yesterday I bought parsley and lettuce seeds to start my garden 2026 indoors. The major sorting stuff last week has my muscles in shape. Any day now I could be fit enough to chop a cord of wood. 😂

Pinecone sheets
from Black Forest Decor

Here’s how my bright ideas is progressing. Every time I’m typing and stop to think, my eyes close, and my head slowly lowers as my mouth pathetically hangs open. Is thinking not good for me!? 😱

Enter 2026 my life adjustment phase. 

Think Logistics.

What I ask myself, the bright idea catalyst: 

Are the things in my life able to do what they are meant to, when they are meant to be done? Am I choosing the best ways to support the quality of my life? What is the quality of my life? 

Methinks, the way we ask questions about ourselves, can give us a perspective we might have been ignoring or weren’t aware of. 

There is a gated path to finding the answers to those questions. The sign out front says:

Beware of the Rabbit Hole

Cold Enough For You?

  

There are some massive icicles hanging off  roofs lately. 

The cold temperatures make being indoors an entertainment challenge. 

On YouTube, there are channels that run videos of fireplaces and rooms with fireplaces that run for hours.I find it comforting when I sit in my recliner, to have videos like that on my television providing a homey background ambiance. Music is also soothing. Radio talk shows and podcasts are another entertainment source. 

This week is a slow blog week for me as I tend to the bag of shredding last week’s sorting created. Also on my to do list are sewing, craft projects, painting, culling books to get out the door, and maybe making some Valentine’s cards.