Rainy week ahead

It's raining pretty steadily and will rain all week according to the forecast.  I hope this puts "paid" to the drought, although the early spring rains and snow melt will no doubt be the determining factor.

I went to the farmers market this morning, figuring that the ones who showed up in this weather deserved to be patronized.  There weren't many stalls set up, but I did buy some kale and a couple of lemons.  I will try to chop the kale as finely as I can and cook it in broth.   I'm really feeling the lack of green vegetables in my diet and miss the taste - they are probably my favorite foods.

On to the gym after I left the market.  I had planned to walk a bit extra but my right leg is bothering me so I only did 1.3 miles.  About two nights ago I got up out of my chair and turned to the right to walk over by the couch and coffee table where I had some art supplies .  I have no idea what happened but I fell and have a long thin bruise near my knee (a line about 2-1/2" long).   It took me a few seconds before I could even think about getting up, and eventually I forced myself to do it.   It was later that I figured out the aches and pains in my leg are due to the fall, and not to walking at the gym.  My right upper leg really hurts when I do something to use the thigh muscles.
  
I think anyone near my age lives with the fear of falling.  So far the spills I've taken haven't done any real or permanent damage, but if I live long enough it's only a matter of time.  I really try to watch what I'm doing and be extra careful, but it's impossible to predict when I'm going to fall.  I never really understand why in the first place - I didn't trip over anything, except possibly my own two feet!  Now that's embarrassing!

I put a little shadow under the blackberries and tried to add a few highlights but decided I'd better quit before I ruined the entire thing.  I believe that's what I miss about not having a really good art teacher from the beginning.  I'm getting a little better at some things, but shadows and highlights really have me bamboozled.   (Applying make-up was always the same way - eye shadow and highlights drove me crazy!)   I tried to watch a Youtube video showing how to highlight cherries, and thought I might derive some help from that.  It would have been ok if I had been painting cherries.  The artist talked about adding certain mediums to the paint, and I have never gotten that far.  I'm beginning to blend certain colors pretty well just from trial and error, but adding other mediums to the paint is something I'd need better instruction on than from a Youtube video.

I haven't figured out a way to sign my paintings.  Gypsy97, or gypsy97 was my first choice but it doesn't work well for me - too difficult to do those letters with a brush.   Even plain "Gypsy" just doesn't look well on the small canvasses; I don't want to use my name (too long) or even my first name,  So far the last two I've painted are unsigned.  Suggestions?   Bob Ross often commented on his easy-to-paint last name, and he did his signature with a flourish!