It has been raining all day long, and I managed to find two old umbrellas before I went out. One of them is already in the trash because it doesn't stay up. I almost found it amusing that I could barely remember how to raise and lower an umbrella, but it's been a long time. Normally I don't mind getting wet but I had just washed and styled my hair, which got a little damp anyway.
I bought gas at Costco for $2.339/gal. Shell at the corner of my street is still $2.709, and I think Exxon across the street is something like $2.859. As I was at the outside edge of the overhead canopy, I couldn't avoid the rain there either.
The lines weren't long in Costco and I didn't spend much time there just picked up a few necessities. I hope the rain holds off in the morning because I'd like to go back to the Market for a few vegetables. The trouble with most stores selling produce these days is that they bag the products in way greater amounts than I need.
I made a huge pot of soup this afternoon. I had picked up a recipe at the chiropractor's office for minestrone, and while I don't usually care for true Italian minestrone I figured I would just make it up to suit me. (It isn't so much that I don't care for Italian food, but since losing my gallbladder I find it very difficult to eat without suffering for it later. It turned out to be truly delicious and I just went back for my second bowl! I hope I can find room in the freezer for a few small containers of soup, although I'm not sure how well it will freeze. (It really isn't minestrone at all, but I did use some Italian seasonings!)
I took two photos of the unfinished lemon painting but it's too messed up to post - I'll try to clean it up tomorrow so that at least the lemons will look a bit better. I've sketched a bunch of bananas and plan to do them at home. If it looks decent enough I may take it to class with me. I also did a quick estimate from Bob Ross' website to see how much it would cost me to try oils. For just the the paints, brushes, easel (a cheap one isn't all that cheap), and a few basic small (but necessary items) I'm looking at about $400-$500. While I haven't done a major comparison, I think the cost of paints on his site isn't any more than buying them at Michael's or online sources. Included in my estimate are things such as items for brush cleaning, paint thinner, etc. With acrylics you can just use plain water but the oils require other ways of cleaning and thinning. In the meantime I'm going to try to adapt some of Ross' brushstrokes in acrylic for special effects that I like. If that could make me happy and save me a few hundred in the process, I'd be very satisfied.
Big Mistake! After warming up nicely from the soup I topped it off a bit later with some ice cream. I have a long sleeve shirt, lightweight jacket, and sweat pants on, and I'm freezing! I'm going to wrap up in a blanket. I'd crawl into bed but have to wait until the soup cools off enough to put it into containers and into the fridge.
Have a great weekend, and I hope to be back tomorrow.
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Soup sounds yummy, oils sound expensive. LOL at you and the umbrella. Don't think many folks in the rest of the country could forget how to use one.
ReplyDeleteMy estimate was to buy everything at once. Overall I know I've spent several hundred dollars on all the supplies I have but I'm too chicken to add it up! When you get a few things at a time it isn't so bad, just as with the oils. The cleaners & thinners make me wonder what I would do with them when I want to dispose of them. With acrylics water is used to clean the brushes, thin the paint, etc. I use a plastic disposable cup to hold the water, but I'd need containers suitable for paint thinners & such, and since I don't normally keep those kinds of things around I'd just buy them. It all adds up.
DeleteI think you are right to worry about the clean up with oils. I have friends who are painters in oil and clean up is messy and you can't or at least shouldn't just pour it down the sink drain. Can you delete my duplicate comment since if I do it will just say I deleted it but if you do it will be like it was never there.
ReplyDeleteThat is something new - I used to delete duplicate comments and it left a msg "Deleted by blog author" or something like that. Thanks for letting me know.
DeleteAnother thing about oils is the question of whether some ingredients, either in the paints themselves, or the thinners, can be carcinogenic. They don't use turpentine any more or things like that, but a "paint thinner". I don't know that they are still a problem, but I'll go slow on changing over, if I decide to do so. It's probably more of a problem with a younger person, to worry about their life getting cut short. By the time it affected me I would probably be gone from something else!