Sunday catch-up

  It was a busy week work-wise - compounded by the nationwide issues with cellular/internet issues, and a cyber breach that both impacted our systems and made things slow and frustrating.  I was glad to have taken Friday off!

 

  I had an early-morning-what-was-I-thinking dental appointment.  Afterward, I worked on catching up with my Wonder Habit work.  Unfortunately, my Artist Way morning pages have been very neglected, as well as the weekly tasks.  I think that once I am more comfortable with my work during the week, and a bit less stressed about it, I will be able to pick both items back up.

  Following that, Charlie and I headed to Roanoke, VA where I did some shopping at Aldi's before Bipan's flight arrived.  He was returning from a visit to see his family in India.

  A little out of focus because he refused to hold still for the photo, I got him this adorable varsity-style jacket at Aldi's.  I've now put a tweed cap and a pair of glasses on his Amazon wish list!

  While we were waiting for the flight to land, I parked in the Sam's Club lot so I wouldn't have to pay for airport parking.  A car pulled up and parked next to us that had some interesting window shades ...

  Needless to say, Charlie was not a fan of the raccoon with sunglasses on doing a high "party" sign with both paws.  He was ready to rip his little sunglasses off and go to town on the raccoon.  Thankfully, we left a few minutes later when Bipan messaged that he had arrived.

  Saturday the weather turned cold, rainy, and basically a stay-in-bed-and-sleep day, but Bipan needed things at Walmart so off we went.

  Since Charlie behaved on the last two visits, I brought him in with me so that he wouldn't be cold.  He is sitting on his Shih Tzu pillow from the car.

   I found a silicone mold to make him some treats when we have a kitchen again.  I've been picking up items here and there to replace what I will lose after the roommates are done abusing them.  Some things I've gotten at Aldi's or Walmart or have been putting on my wish lists.

  Just before I took this picture of Charlie in the cart, a "Karen" passed me and told me I was stupid for bringing a dog out in this weather.  I was too stunned to respond, which was probably a good thing because my inner octopus might have said something that would probably have escalated into a war of words that I would have regretted.   It just amazed me because people just feel so "entitled" to pass judgment on others in society now.

  I brought Charlie with us because there wasn't anyone left at home, and his separation anxiety kicks in when he is home alone.  I brought him in with me because the weather was bad and the car would have been too cold for him, even if I did just do a quick run-in.   When I got my few things, we went back out to the car to wait for Bipan to finish, and I was running the car and letting it warm up for the ride home.

  While we were sitting there, I heard a thud and felt the car shake.  We were the victim of a bump and run!  I looked around to see if someone had hit us, but only saw a car driving away and with the windows fogged up from the cold and rain, couldn't tell what kind of car it was.  Charlie got knocked off the back seat onto the floor, and I thought maybe what I had heard was him hitting the door.  It wasn't until I got home and was getting my bag out of the back seat that I saw the damage.  Not worth the effort of an insurance claim, and so frustrating!!

    So that was my week, and weekend so far.  Better days are ahead!  Hope your weekend is relaxing and beautiful!    💚   Ci 

The Wonder Habit ~ 3-5/100

The Wonder Habit 2024 : 2/100 Daydream

 

The Wonder Habit 2024 : 1/100 Forest

I am not the artist my mother was.  At least not free-hand, although, I'm not sure I ever saw anything that she did free-hand.  Her watercolor paintings were all sketched from photos.  My strengths are in words, and letting words paint the pictures.

The "pine trees" above were my 3rd attempt with a shimmer watercolor paint over colored pencils.  They actually look more like the ones found at Dollar Tree during the holidays.  However, theirs are more tapered and look like trees and not a pipe cleaner on steroids as mine do.

My first two attempts were with watercolors only, and I think I was heading in the right direction with the bottom one, but just got sloppy with the spray bottle, and they might have actually turned out better had I used a brush to wet the paper and maybe some salt on it when it was wet to get some interesting texture and effects.  

The top one just looks like something that Treebeard [<link] may have painted in his anger management therapy.

But the purpose of 100 Days of Wonder is not to be perfect.

It is to explore with wonder the world around us, and how we see the world.

I'm only slightly hopeful that my watercolor skills will improve over the next 99 days.

Slightly, slightly hopeful.

The Gallery #2

 Today begins the 100 Days of Wonder project.

Our first prompt is "forest" so I thought I would include some old photos from the Michigan Upper Peninsula when I worked for the Forest Service.

This is how I imagine my Heaven would look.
Trooper waiting expectantly for me to arrive.

This was from a small bridge near where I lived,
and one of my favorite winter photos.

This is a photo I've been looking for for many years.
I knew I still had it somewhere, but it was not in any of my current archives.
I'm not sure why Trooper looks so small among the trees.
He really wasn't that far away from me, and the trees were not that large.
I think it maybe shows how small he felt at the time.  It was our first winter in the UP.
His first time seeing evergreen trees and snow.

This is one of my favorites.  The first fall in the UP.
I'd seen the colors of fall leaves before, but never against the white birch trees.

There weren't many others from the UP that I saved when I downloaded those archive photos.  But some may appear in future galleries.  It's not an indication of how I feel about that time in my life.  As a whole, my time in the UP was simply amazing.  The people were unforgettable.  The skilled craftspeople are incredibly talented. The scenery was breathtaking.  There are places I would like to go back to visit someday.

Black River Harbor  [<link] was the most amazing place to search for rocks and geodes, and just to sit and listen to the waves on Lake Superior.

The drive to and from Eagle River, Eagle Harbor, and Copper Harbor.

It is definitely, however, somewhere that you want to be adequately prepared for a road trip or camping.  The gas stations can be few and far between.  Cell service can be spotty.  If you run out of gas somewhere, it can be hours, or even days, before another car comes by depending on where you get stranded.  In the winter months, you want to be sure to have a winter emergency bag in your car that could help you stay warm or dig your vehicle out of a drift.  Winter in the UP is no joke.

This image is from the Pure Michigan Pinterest page

The Gallery #1

    On Sundays, a blogger friend of mine [Sue @ Elephant's Child] usually posts photos that have not seen the light of blog days.  She has MS and is stepping back from blogging at the moment, but her last Sunday post of photos was her 665th.   Roughly 12 years, give or take a year.  I couldn't even imagine that at first, but then realized if I counted my previous blogs (REALLY regret deleting them now) I have probably been blogging far longer than that.

    So I thought I would see if I could salvage any of the photos from those earlier blogs and start posting some of them here on Sundays.

I think this is from Mexico Beach, FL in the early 2000s

Trooper & Me at East Bay by our home in Panama City, FL.
It would have been probably in 2009.

Me & Mom.  2007.

My first Christmas at Ft. Hood, TX.  2010.

Trying to be a horse whisperer at Ft. Hood.
Maybe 2011?

How I feel at this moment after viewing all of these pictures.
Like I've been shot through the heart. 
I was not prepared for some of them.
People, pets, places, and things lost over the years.
And people I'd rather not still have photos of.
I need to figure out how to delete some of those old photos and narrow down the ones I want to keep. 
This, by the way, was actually one of my practice targets before I left California in 2000.

Addendum to the 3rd ...

        I just realized that I shared a photo last post on 3 Feb of the creek after it had receded, but never showed what it was like when I watched to see if it was going to flood on 28 January.

    Between the snow that melted, and the rain over the weekend the creek was almost at a flood stage.  Some roads were underwater in different parts of the county, and given the past history of this creek flooding I was a bit concerned.

    But all we could do was watch, wait, and pray for the best.

    Sometimes, that's all life is.
 

8 Feb 24

Lucy & Me

    It's only Wednesday but feels like it has been a year of a week already.  

Last weekend's
art date

    On Monday I went to see my doctor for a physical, and apparently, I'm overdue for all the "fun stuff."  PAP.  Colonoscopy.  Mammogram.  So it is all getting scheduled now.  Staying healthy is a pain!

    Charlie seems to be walking and running better.  Occasionally his right hind leg will go wonky on him, but he's probably around 12 years old, and wonky can come with age.

Charlie and one of 
his BFFs across the street
before his haircut

    I was finally able to get him in for a haircut so he would feel better.  I think when it gets to a certain length it gets itchy on him.  Brushing helps sometimes, but he is very sensitive when I get to his hind legs.

    Two days of jumping in live on my new job and it has been crazy.  I joked that I wouldn't be supervising people, just supervising chaos.  I should have kept my mouth shut!

 

  Tomorrow I am driving Bipin to the airport.  He is going home to see family and then coming back.  He hasn't decided yet where he will go when his program here finishes.

    Oh, to be 24 again and have a world of choices before me...  

   I have signed up for another art date in March, so that will be two busy weekends.  I'm excited for it.  Creating something ... art or words ... is the perfect stress release for me.  I'll need it.  This new position has a lot of stress already, but it's good.  Productive.  Something that can sometimes make a difference.

    With that said, I should get to bed.  Tomorrow will be a long day that starts early with about a four-hour round-trip drive.

    Sleep well ... 💚 Ci

3 February 24

    Happy February!

    Oh.My.Gosh.  This week of training has been mind-boggling. 🙀 New systems.  New processes.  But it has also been very satisfying.  I love my new job!  Love getting to wear my Nancy Drew hat and dig into issues and see results.  It is a lot of stress, but also a lot of reward when I get to tell a provider good news.

 

  The creek behind the house has receded, much to the joy of the Mallard ducks, and many of the residents who remember the 2016 flood.  I'm not sure when it was done, but the city apparently came down the alley and cleared out a lot of the over-and-under-growth.  I hope that in the process it didn't kill any of the non-feathered wildlife that was there, such as the muskrat that I'd seen last summer or the possum.

    Today I was able to finally do an "Artist Date" for myself and went to Wren's Nest for a painting project.  As always it was a lot of fun, and I'm always so grateful to Jane and the others who come out to "play."  This one will be a gift for my cousins, Fred and Silvia.

    Jane and I talked about some other projects she has planned and coming up, so hopefully I can do those in the coming months.  Including another acrylic painting, watercolor painting, and maybe some dried flower decoupage ornaments. 

    Next month, I will be doing a mixed-media project with Wendy Reagor at Wren's Nest.  I love her art, and am really excited about doing this project!

    I'm continuing to search for a forever home since my time in this one will be coming to an end this summer.  

    Wishing you a relaxing, self-care rest of the weekend ... 💚 Ci