Sunday, October 25, 2026

Sunday...

    Today I volunteered again at the art gallery in town.  The show in which I entered will go until the second week in November, then they will have a photography show for amateurs and professionals.  I don't think I'm going to enter that one.  It has been a while since I've taken gallery worthy photos, and the photos I have on some of my wall galleries will need to be reprinted and properly framed in case they sell during the show.  Maybe next year....

     I was busy last week, more than usual, but with a lot of good things happening.  Unfortunately, I haven't gotten a job offer, yet.

    Some of the week was filled with the mundane ... food pantry, picking up prescriptions.  An awareness fair for domestic violence.  There was also another job interview, and Thursday's weatherization inspection that was both disheartening and hopeful.

    Disheartening in that the house was even worse than I was aware, and if I'd had an inspector as good as this guy was at his job, I likely wouldn't have bought the house because the bank wouldn't have loaned on it.  It's also disheartening because the "flippers" are a prominent lawyer in town's husband and son and you would think that they would have done a better job with that reputation expectation.  But oh well.  Maybe they fall under the shyster lawyer reputation instead.  Also frustrating is the fact that the natural gas heater I just had installed will have to come out because it is unvented, and the state has a restriction against doing work in houses with them as a sole heat source.  It just means that once they get the work done, the mini splits should work more efficiently to keep the house warm.

    Hopeful because the work to be done, once approved by the state Energy Conversation & Housing Rehab committee, will include a higher grade of attic insulation (currently R-13, should be at least R-38, but because I'm in climate zone 4, R-49 to R-60 is recommended) and basement insulation (also R-13, should be at least R-19).  They will also address air leaks throughout the house, and (knock on wood) repair the mini splits so that I can utilize them in the summer for air conditioning.  Currently they freeze up because the hoses were installed incorrectly.    The blower door air leak test was also very enlightening.  For a house this size, under 900 sq. ft., I should have no more than 600-850 CFM50 [CFM=Cubic Feet per Minute in a blower door test]. I had three times that amount, 2850 CFM50, which meant that 2850 CFM of air was leaking out of the house during the test.  I've been essentially heating the outside more than the inside.

    I started to contribute to Words on Wednesday this week but was at a loss for words.  Grief over Charlie hit hard again after a photo popped up in my gallery memories of his gotcha day.  Lavendar chamomile tea for the win.

    I've also gotten back into my Intuit classes for tax prep level 1.  Keeps my brain busy on something positive and not so much on the unhappy or worrisome stuff.  

    Stay paws-ative out there ... 💜 Ci

Saturday, October 24, 2026

More October Whimsey ...

▢ Something with more confidence than evidence...

▢ A creature choosing comfort over dignity.

▢ Something outdoors that would make an excellent tiny chair.

☑ A tree being unnecessarily dramatic....

Not necessarily dramatic, but
as fall colors go, these are my favorites.

☑ A pumpkin with questionable intentions....


▢ Footprints belonging to someone I did not see.

⬚ Soup, obviously.

Monday, October 19, 2026

Monday ...

    Sunday got away from me by the time I got home from volunteering at the art gallery.  It was cold, crowded, and I had to park two blocks away.  The 55th annual Fall Foliage Festival was being held in town.

    I entered this weaving into the gallery's fall festival show and took second place.

    Last week was moderately busy, with a visit to the food pantry, and discovering that there was also a pet food pantry in town.  A seminar on Medicare.  

    Early this morning another food pantry box.  This week will be busier than last.  Blood tests, prescriptions pickup on Tuesday, a job interview on Wednesday (since the end of July, I've applied for 53 jobs, and have three interviews I'm waiting to hear back on).  Thursday, finally after almost two years of waiting, I have an energy audit of the house to get some assistance with insulation.

    The weather has turned cold with last night's low in the low 30s.  I'm grateful I got the gas heater installed, and all my plants in a few weeks ago.  Waiting in line for an hour this morning, temps in the 40s, was miserable, but I'm grateful for the opportunity.

                    Stay warm out there...💛 ... Ci

 


Saturday, October 17, 2026

October's Whimsy Hunt (so far) ...

First, one last watercolor ...  

(click to enlarge)

Now to the whimsey hunt...

▢ Something with more confidence than evidence...

☑ A stick, probably enchanted....  

An enchanted dowsing branch, dropped while a
magical small creature ran home in the rain.

☑ Something caught mid- bad idea....

This boy ~ Oliver ~ is obsessed with the 
small Schleich tortoise in my jade plant.

What, ma?  I wasn't dropping
gravel on the floor.

▢ A creature choosing comfort over dignity.

▢ Something outdoors that would make an excellent tiny chair.

▢ A tree being unnecessarily dramatic.

▢ A pumpkin with questionable intentions.

☑ One tiny October mystery.... no photo with this one because I'd have to plead the 5th later, but I saw random Roses of Sharon apparently growing wild on my walk.  Where did they come from?

    I have marked my calendar to "rehome" some of them in the spring to my backyard near my lilac sapling and the forsythia bushes.  Shhhhhhh...

▢ Footprints belonging to someone I did not see.

☑ Something that appears to be hiding, but poorly.... This is a spotted lanternfly ~ an invasive bug ~ that while it poses no danger to humans or animals, it does cause significant harm to plant life, agriculture, and local ecosystems.  I'd never seen a live one, just the warnings for them.  It probably wishes it had hidden better because it is now squished.

Not exactly hiding but might have thought
my door frame was a tree.

☑ The sun clearly showing off....

After nearly 24 hours of rain, a tiny rainbow.

☑ A puddle reflecting something more interesting than itself....

Perhaps a portal to a
forest in another parallel dimension?
⬚ Soup, obviously.