new beginning...

I cannot believe this is the last day of 2015.  I, also, cannot believe I haven't been here in over a month.  I guess that art everyday and the NaBloPoMo challenges fell apart.  Well...

I've been meaning to get here for weeks and whenever I would sit to write, no words came, but when I was busy and couldn't get here, words flowed.  Doesn't it just figure...

I'm not going to do a retrospective, it hasn't been that great a year.  But I am going to share a few things I hope to have in 2016.

 I'd like to have more experimenting in the kitchen and creating healthier meals (yes, I know that is a picture of cookies and chocolate covered peanut butter crackers...)

I'd like more courage in creating art.  Playing with paint, texture, paper, clay...finding a rhythym and style of my own.

I'd like more time in the garden, more energy to play with plants and create a small oasis for myself.

 Yea, that is more kitchen treats...  ;-)

 And yes, I'm always wishing for snow...

 I'd like more beautiful sunrises and sunsets, more use of my camera, more yarn, more walking, more time with friends, more blog writing and more adventures.

I'd like courage to explore myself and all the things I want to do and/or learn.  (I'm taking a chance on myself and joining in with the Creative Everyday challenge.  My plan is to post once a week showing what creative things I did each day). 

I'm planning to sign up for 2016 Red Thread Retreat and am so looking forward to going.  

These are the things I'm hoping to find in 2016, but not everything.  Is there something you are focusing on for your 2016?  Do you have one thing or many that you want to work on?

I hope 2016 is a marvelously, magical year for each and every one of you!  Thank you for sticking with me and I look forward to visiting with you all in the new year (and getting caught up from what I've missed this month). 

love & blessings
~*~

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Saturday Sky

What does your Saturday Sky look like?

thanks for stopping by!
love & blessings
~*~

quiet...

It's been a pretty quiet day.  I took my walk and then went to the grocer.  I found a few of my favorite things....clementines and cherries.  mmmmm....

I picked up a couple of new teas to try.  I'm a bit of a sucker for holiday flavors.  Caramel Apple Dream and Candy Cane Lane.  I've already tried the Caramel Apple and it is pretty good and it smells wonderful. 

I just downloaded Elizabeth Gilbert's newest book from the library and will start it tomorrow.  For now I'm going to go play with my sketchpad and pens.  

What are you reading?

thanks for stopping by!
love & blessings
~*~

fire in the sky...

Sunsets are hard to see from my little home and even harder to capture on film, too many buildings.

But sometimes, the sky just lights up with an extra dose of beauty. 

I stood outside for a long time just watching the sky change and taking loads of photos.  These were my favorites, though.

I woke extra early this morning to pouring rain and decided I would skip my daily walk.  I piddled around the house, reading, painting and playing words with friends with my mum.  Shortly after lunch I realized that it had stopped raining for a while and decided I needed to get outside.  I ended up walking 2.26 miles.  I think that is my longest so far.

I never understand why it hurts more each time I go.  I would think the more I do it and the stronger I get, the easier it would be.  It's funny though, the pain I get when I walk, is an enjoyable kind of pain.  Does that make sense?  It's like I hurt, but I know that it is for a good reason.  Unfortunately, it doesn't take away the head pain and in fact makes them worse.  Somehow, I'm okay with that.

After I returned home and rested a little (to try to let that extra head pain subside) I went back into the studio.  I'd been working on the painting from yesterday and have started another.  I took your words to heart, but I just couldn't get past that peach snow.  So, I took it in another direction.  

I'll be honest, I'm not happy with it.  That is supposed to be a black bear snuggling a pillow in his cave.  Since I couldn't get the winter theme to work I decided to go with spring, and it would be time for him to wake.  I've already decided to move it to the "to be covered" pile.  :-)   

I don't mind.  Each painting helps me to learn and grow.  So, I'll keep making art (even if it is bad) and hopefully one day the good art will come more easily.  

thanks for stopping by!
love & blessings
~*~

keeping busy...

Today has been quiet.  I took a nice walk this morning on a new route.  This one keeps me mostly out of the traffic and is along a nice quiet road.  There is a large section of land that is like a rolling field.  I wish I could go out there and just lie in that field and watch the clouds roll by.  If I knew who owned it I might would ask permission to do just that.  Oh well...

I spent the rest of the day, bouncing between painting and knitting.  I took that canvas from earlier in the month and changed it up with new color.  As I added it, an image came to me and I knew what I wanted to paint.  It's not done, as I've run into a bit of a problem.

 The previous colors of the canvas (the orangey) is bleeding through turning the white to a very light peach-ish color.  I put about four coats of gesso on the canvas before I started adding the blue.  There is at least three layers of blue and then I started the actual image.  I'm not sure how to fix it so may have to start this on a clean canvas and then do something different with this one.  :-/

 

Scoreboard is coming along.  I'm a week behind, but this is our bye week, so I'll catch up before the next game on the 29th.

I'm starting to think about Thanksgiving plans.  I'm hosting again this year.  I've planned the meal and ordered the turkey, now I need to figure out the schedule for prep. I can't believe that it is only a week away.  Time is just streaming by, isn't it?

What have you been up to today?

thanks for stopping by!
love & blessings
~*~

knit day

Last night, the moon was so pretty just at dusk.  

Today was knitting day.  I finished the knitting part of my shrug.  Now I have to block and then seam the sides together.  Or, is it seam the sides then block?  I have no idea as I've never blocked anything.  Oh well, I'll figure it out.  

Now I can get caught up on my scoreboard and start a new project.

Any projects you are finishing up?

thanks for stopping by!
love & blessings
~*~

rambling, it's what i'm good at...

First of all, Thank you.

Thank you for your kind words and your concern and caring regarding my last post. It means so very much and I don't know that I have adequate words to tell you how it makes me feel.  So, Thank You.

The temperatures have dropped here and it has been so very cold.  I ran out of kindling for the fire so haven't had one and am reluctant to turn on the heat.  Yesterday I went to mum's to watch the football game and we went into the woods behind her place and collected a sack full of kindling.  Now I'm ready for another fire.  

I have done much of nothing the last several days.  Mostly re-reading books I've read many times.  A tiny bit of knitting. But mostly sleeping and trying to stay warm.

This morning, while watering the houseplants, I discovered that my "Christmas" cactus is blooming.  I had moved it into the studio a few weeks ago and don't remember seeing any blooms at all.  So pretty.

I've spent a little bit of time in the studio, but haven't made a lot of progress.  I'm not sure how I feel about yellow girl here.  I may end up scrapping it and starting over.  Or maybe just set it aside and start with a fresh slate.

Last week was a check-in appointment with my Neurologist.  He changed my meds again and told me if these didn't help I should contact a couple of other places to see if they had any trials going on that I could join.  The thought of doing that terrifies me.  I know that taking any med is basically an experiment because of how differently each person reacts.  But taking something that they don't even know what the side effects could be?  I think I'd rather live with the pain.  

I started the new meds last Wednesday.  No changes so far.  He did say there are a couple of new injection medications for issues like mine but they won't be on the market for another 1-2 years.  Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to see a doctor.

Enough about that.  

I'm going to log off now and play catch-up on my blog reading.  Then maybe some knitting.  I hope you are all well and having a good week.

thanks for stopping by!
love & blessings
~*~

sigh...

It is one of those days again.  A day when everything hurts, every bat of my eyelash, the breeze on my skin, every tiny little movement.  Most of the day has been spent just sitting or lying down, eyes closed, trying to breathe.  

I spent less than five minutes working on my painting that I showed from yesterday.  I just couldn't handle it.  My hands shake so badly, I'm afraid I'll mess it up.  

I hate days like this.  I hate being like this.  And I hate most of all being alone with it.  I don't have anyone to share this with so it ends up here.  Then I feel bad for being a whiner.  And round and round it goes.

I'm going to bed.  Maybe tomorrow when I wake up the pain will be bearable.  Maybe tomorrow when I wake up I'll have the energy to move.  Maybe tomorrow when I wake up I'll be strong enough to pretend that everything is alright.

thanks for stopping by!
love & blessings
~*~

the sun came out...

...today and the sky was bright and clear all day. A much needed sight around here.

This little guy came right up to my back door. 

I took these two feathered friend photos from inside the house.  There was a beautiful blue bird hanging out too, but he kept taking off just as I would get in position to take his picture.

I went to the farmer's market and pharmacy.  Along the way, I stopped at my old walking haunt and walked just over 1 and a quarter miles.  I hadn't walked since Sunday and it really hurt today.  But...I must keep going.  

I spent the rest of the day chasing the light and shadows the sun brought us and starting on a new painting.

This is as far as I got today.  I hope to get more done tomorrow.  Hope you all are having a great day.

How is the weather where you are?

I'd also like to say Thank You to all the men and women that are serving or have served in the armed forces.  I appreciate you!

thanks for stopping by!
love & blessings
~*~

aedm 10

 Today's sketch.

thanks for stopping by!
love & blessings
~*~

aedm 9

Just a little eye play today and trying to start over on that earlier canvas.  Not much else going on.  

thanks for stopping by!
love & blessings
~*~

day 8

It's silly, I know.  But this was all the energy I had left by the time I got home.  That and typing this up.  I'm beat, but my Steelers weren't.  We one by a field goal at the buzzer.  

I'll be back tomorrow.

thanks for stopping by!
love & blessings
~*~

ps...I'm sorry I haven't been good about commenting on the blogs of people visiting from AEDM.  I'll try to do better this week.  :-)

goals...

Goals are important.  Having them, striving for them, reaching them.  Goals are one of the most important things we can do.  To me, they are like dreams for ourselves that we plan, work and achieve.  

I've never been very good at goals.  I've set them and rarely reached them.  I don't know why that is, but there you have it.

Near the end of September, when I heard about Inktober, I set a goal for myself by joining up.  I also set a knitting goal with Scoreboard.  The latter is still in progress and will be until the end of my team's season.  I worked my way through Inktober and was quite proud of myself when I made it to the end of the month and had participated every day.  Since I enjoyed it so much I set a goal to participate in the Art Every Day Month during November as well as the NaBloPoMo.  So far, so good.

Another goal I set for myself, a while back was to work on my health.  I started walking and after a few days set a goal to be able to make it through a one mile walk.  When I reached that goal, I set a new one for 1.5 miles.  After a couple of weeks, I started to feel differently.  I could tell I was losing weight and I had more energy throughout the day.  I started weighing myself once a week and setting a 1lb loss every two weeks.  That is very reasonable, I think.  Every week, I walked as many days as I could.  Sometimes in the freezing cold, sometimes in the rain and sometimes both.  I walked in sunlight, in clouds, in fog.  

As I walked, I started to feel better, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally.  I started being proud of myself.  I started having more self-confidence.  The more I walked, the more I wanted to walk. 

The day after I hosted my Halloween party, I woke up sick.  I spent a week nursing a sore throat, coughing, achy and chilled.  I barely walked even one day that week and worked my way through several cupcakes and lots of Halloween candy.  I gained 3 lbs that week. The weird thing was, I didn't get down on myself.  I recognized it for what it was, and moved on.  That has never happened before.  

As soon as I could, I started walking again.  I walk almost every day and on the days I don't walk, I really miss it.  I made it to 1.75 miles in my walk, then moved up to 2 miles.  I set a goal for my weight, a big one and a little one.  Then I started working hard to reach that goal.  Even on a day when I didn't think I could get out of bed, I made it up and out to walk. 

Today, I woke up late and thought it would be a wasted day.  But it was Saturday, so I got on my scales and found that not only had I lost that extra 3 lbs, but an additional 1.5 lbs.  But most importantly, I'd reached my big goal.  In fact, I reached it faster than I thought I would.  I couldn't ask for better motivation.  I changed into my walking clothes and shoes and headed out for a walk.

It feels really good to reach a goal.  No matter what else happens, accomplishing something each day makes me feel good about myself and works to my biggest goal, to be happy.  So yeah, I'm tooting my own horn a little today.  I think that's a first, but you know what?  I deserve it.  I earned it.  So...Yay, Me!  :)

Anywho, here's today's aedm, a pencil sketch.  I really like the way she turned out. 

Just keep practicing, that is one of my goals.  

Do you set goals for yourself?  Do you do little or big goals?

thanks for stopping by!
love & blessings
~*~ 

making a day of it...

Today was mostly a day for art.  (Knitting is an art, right?) 

After my walk, I worked on painting the clay pieces.

Then I started working on a new mixed media piece.  I started with some torn scrapbook paper.

 

 Then used a makeup sponge to rub on some color using spray inks.

 I went over that with a light layer of gesso, then a couple more colors of spray inks.

As I've no idea what I'm doing, I then painted over it all with burnt umber and orange acrylic paints.  I added another light layer of a pale yellow and then walked away.  I have no idea where this is going, but then again, I rarely do.  :-)

I've spent the rest of the time knitting on my shrug.  I've about 10 inches left to knit and then can block and seam.   I'll have to research how to do both those things.  I already know what my next knitting project will be and have been fighting myself to not start it before I finish knitting the shrug.

 

Well, that was my day.  How was yours?  Any crafty projects going on?

thanks for stopping by!
love & blessings
~*~
 

aedm day 5

Spent the day with a friend, visiting and helping her with a project for her son's school.  I arrived home completely exhausted and having done none of my usual projects (although I did get in a short walk before heading out this morning).  

Tonight I played with pencil and colored pencils for my aedm.

That's all I've got for tonight.  I'm heading to bed to hopefully get a good nights sleep.  I'll be back tomorrow with more words and hopefully more art.

thanks for stopping by!
love & blessings
~*~
 

aedm day 4

Not much to say today. This was as much as I could do for aedm.  It's just a little sketch in pencil.  I'm not happy with it, but I know I have to keep working in order to get better.

Oh well, maybe tomorrow will be better.

thanks for stopping by!

love & blessings

~*~ 

 

babble...

I'll apologize in advance for the craziness of this post.  I have brain babble today.  Everything I see, think, and hear is confusing to me.  It happens sometimes when the headaches are at their worst.  

Words get jumbled, sounds get muddled.  It can last minutes or hours.  Once or twice it has lasted for a couple of days.  I'm hoping this bout will pass soon.  I just have to sit or go to sleep for a while.   

I blame the medications I had to take when I first started seeking treatment back in 2010.  I was on so many medications and they were changed so often that I developed more problems.  One of the worst is tremors in my hands.  Sometimes they shake so badly that  I can't hold anything.  Even at the best, there is a fine tremor in them that makes it hard when I'm painting or drawing small details. I get very frustrated, but I'm learning to keep trying.

For AEDM, I spent some time painting these clay pieces I made a few weeks ago.  I've still a little ways to go, but it was all I could do today.  

On this mornings walk, I followed the path I took yesterday.  There are two bridges on this route.  The first goes over the Deep River and the second over a swampy area that leaks off the river.  Yesterday when I crossed that first bridge, I felt a bit nauseous and jittery.  I turned back around and headed back at the end of that bridge and felt the same feelings as I crossed it.  I chalked it up to having not walked in a day or two and my footing being slick from the rain and fallen leaves.

Today I went back the same route and when I hit that first step on the bridge, the nausea and jittery feelings returned.  As soon as I stepped off the other end, the feelings went away.  I kept going and went on across the second bridge.  

Everything felt fine.  No jitters, no nausea.  I turned back to head home and as soon as my foot hit that first bridge, the feelings returned.  Once again, as soon as I stepped off the bridge, the feelings went away.  My intuition is telling me that someone drowned at that spot in the river.  I feel it was from a very long time ago.  Just to be sure, I did a cursory online search for drownings in Deep River, but found nothing.  I've learned over many years that I have to listen when my intuition speaks like that.  Oh my, that one bridge is going to give me trouble.  I may have to change my route again.  

thanks for stopping by!
love & blessings
~*~


ps...the photo is of the second bridge, not the trouble bridge.