Slow Sunday

Autumn wrapped the gifts for the boys in NY so I could get them in the mail tomorrow morning, but I had neglected to buy gift cards.   I thought I might stop to buy some on my way home from the gym, but once I was headed toward home the car wouldn't turn into the shopping center!   So I made my own name tags!   The wreath turned out the best and the Christmas tree looks like a Charlie Brown model.   I don't like to admit it but it was the last tag I did and I didn't spend much time on it.

Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Every time I do any kind of project involving art indicates to me I need to buy something for the next time.  In this case I have a red and green fine-point sharpie, plus a black ink pen, but I think I need a full set of colors in fine point.  I used my watercolor pencils for the tree ornaments and they don't look as good as if I had used sharpies.   I will buy some "real" name tags next time I'm in a store.

I found a Priority Mail box and the gifts fit perfectly when cushioned with a little bit of bubble wrap.  The box is sealed, addressed, and ready to go.  

I could have easily (well, not that easily) walked two miles today but had a problem with the machine.  There is a dinky safety button that is supposedly held by magnet in a certain spot.  The button has a long cord - I guess if you had a problem you could just yank the cord and the machine would stop, but I had no problem and for some reason it stopped abruptly.  That reset the machine so I had to start all over again and add the numbers, as well as keep those numbers in my mind as I don't bring anything to write with.  I gave up at 1.51 miles and will try for 2 tomorrow.  I was really on a roll and who knows where I would have stopped!

Can't think of anything else except things to gripe about, and I'm in too good a mood to want to gripe!  I'll wish everyone a good week ahead, and say goodnight!

 

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!

 

Heat Wave!

I just came back from Costco and thought the weather seemed much milder today.  I checked the weather on my computer,  and it registers 57  and going up to a tropical 59 today, with tropical rain, of course.    (At 4:30 pm it is 63F)  I've put everything away and now need to eat my lunch (which I will call dinner) and then get myself up for going to the gym.  My steps after walking around Costco shows me that trip alone took me about 500 steps, and I did the short route through the store!

On the way back from the gym I noticed the beautiful sky - dark clouds, a few white puffy clouds here and there, and gorgeous blue sky where it is visible.  It makes my heart happy!    I FEEL GOOD!

I did the painting of the berries and took a couple of photos, which show the paint is still wet!  I'm not happy with the berries - I've seen blackberries with a few red little shapes, but not as many different colors as I've put in them.  I just kept on going figuring I can go back later and touch them up.  Also I don't know what is with the lines in the yellow background.  You can't see them when looking at the canvas.  They say "the camera never lies", and maybe that's true.  I wish I knew what it is trying to tell me though.

These little paintings have been a good exercise for me as I can see little mistakes in technique that I make with every one of them.  Now to get rid of those errors in future paintings.   As I have mentioned before, I can take a critical view about what I post.  I am still a newbie and if there are more experienced folks who can see what I'm doing incorrectly, please let me know.  And even if you think you don't know a thing about art, you know what you think looks ok and what doesn't.

I don't know which one to show, so I hope you don't mind if I post both of them.  One is taken a little bit closer to the subject, and it's a very slight difference.  Click to enlarge.

 I have to laugh at myself sometimes.  I mentioned that the paint in the photos looks like it's still wet, and I was thinking I should wait until it dries before I post them.  Duh, I would need to retake them because they aren't going to get any more dry in these photos!

I plan to keep on sketching when I have a few spare moments and the mood strikes me, and I also want to play around with some small sponges I bought for applying paint, as well as some round brushes that I'd like to see if I can use to get a "Bob Ross effect" on trees.

Weekend!  Don't shop til you drop!  I will probably stay away from the stores as I always try to do on weekends.

No fair!

I went to the dentist this morning to have the stitches removed from last week's extractions, and mentioned again the tooth in front of the molars was still bothering me.  So he suggested he take it out this morning so I could begin healing and be able to get a partial denture sooner.  That was fine with me because I knew it was going to give me more and more trouble.  The big PITA is that I had finally figured out how and what I should be eating, but here I am back to square one.  The alternative was to have a root canal and crown, and at my age I'm not willing to pay for that treatment (plus I can't really afford it).  If I thought I had a few extra years to go over my life expectancy  I might think about it, but the time and expense of all that work made me decide to just have it taken out and get the partial denture once the healing has taken place.

To make matters worse I only ate a banana before going to the dentist this morning and I am ravenous right now.  Maybe a milk shake later on, but probably nothing substantial for me today.  

(Shortly after posting this, I had tomato soup, a little cup of applesauce, and some ice cream.   At least I don't feel quite as hungry now).

The good news (so far) is that the pedometer seems to be working.  Everything is tight, so it isn't easy to open the case to check the number of steps, or to get the device clipped to my waistband.  I hate it that these things are entirely made of plastic, which I'm afraid will crack if I apply too much pressure.   I had hoped to walk at the gym today, but think I will just take it easy and try to stay as warm as I can.  It is a chilly, rainy day, and I don't feel like going anywhere.

I'm bored!  I did some sketching - the panther and elephant, and the elephant surprised me turning out as well as it did.  I feel like doing some painting and am ready to begin a little arrangement of blackberries.  I have the coffee table covered and everything out that I need to work with, but just can't get my act together and get started.   It's too cold in the room where my art table is, and I really prefer painting on it rather than leaning over the coffee table.

I'm just rambling again so I'll quit.  Many thanks to all who helped me out with the pedometer, and have a good day.





 

Why Me?

Has something happened to my brain that I can't read instructions any more?  I'm getting old, but I'm still an intelligent woman and don't understand why simple instructions are so difficult.  I'm speaking of the pedometer (I knew I should have waited for one of my kids to do it).   The instructions go into great detail on how to affix this little device to your waistband - "How to wear the clicker".  I know how to clip something to my waistband and this is overkill.  But then it says, "...Put it on and reset it just before you start walking."  Sound easy enough?  I can't figure out how to open the damn thing up so I can reset it.

I doubt these pictures will be very clear as to the what the device is really like, but here goes.  Click on the photos to enlarge.

Much better today

I woke up feeling really good, and ravenous as I usually am in the morning.  This morning was a treat with cream of wheat and maple syrup & cinnamon!

I just ate lunch and tried a marinated salmon filet.  It is much more firm than the cod and I think for a while I will stick to the cod.  The salmon sure tasted delicious though, as well as the mashed potatoes.


When I was young and lived at home we made a huge stew pot full of mashed potatoes every day.  I had 5 younger brothers and their appetites were ravenous, especially when they hit teen age.   I recall how wonderful it was to get our first electric hand mixer which we used to whip the potatos.  Now that I'm older I've gone back to the old potato masher, and I actually like the little potato lumps it leaves!  That masher is going to get a real workout while I'm limited to what I can eat.  The mashed potatoes seem to taste better and better every day, and I hope I don't get tired of them.

I put a second coat of gesso on my canvasses and they will be ready to use from tomorrow on.   I did two coats and hope it prevents the light spots where the paint doesn't properly cover the canvas.  Maybe I should just use more paint!

I am feeling so much better today and bless my chiropractor.  He made some adjustments in the area of my lymph nodes, and I know nothing about why it works but it sure did.   My jaw is still very sore to the touch, making it difficult to even rinse that side of my face much less wash it!

I recently ordered a pedometer which arrived yesterday.  I haven't even looked at the directions and I will have to have one of my kids read them and set it up for me initially.  I bought one that specifically counts steps and doesn't do anything else - no calories burned or other useless (to me) data.  I sure hope it works because I'd like to track how many steps I take daily and hope I can get motivated to do some additional walking.    It's hard to find something that doesn't sync to all your other devices - I have no other devices to sync to - and I don't want to know how many calories I'm burning up.   If I wasn't basically a lazy woman I'd keep count of the calories I take in, but it's too much trouble to look everything up, write it down, and then forget where I put my notes the next time I eat something!

It is so amazing how the world is such a beautiful place when you are feeling good!   The one thing I will always be missing from my life is a black lab!

A Rough Night!

I didn't have such a good night because of severe indigestion.  In one of those light bulb moments I realized I've been ingesting too many fats, which I need for the calories but also need to monitor.  So while I can still enjoy ice cream, sour cream on potatoes, and the like, I just can't have them all at once!  I have always used whole milk and definitely will not change that.  I never have been a milk drinker, but now I get it in the form of shakes and in my cereal, etc., and non or lo-fat milk is like water to me.   I'll just do without before I'll go that route.  And no, I don't drink almond milk or (god forbid) coconut milk.

At lunch today I baked a cod filet that I seasoned perfectly and cooked for just the right amount of time.  It tasted wonderful, and maybe when the stitches are out I'll try a salmon filet.  Salmon seems to me to be a much firmer fish, and the cod was just right.  I did have mashed potatoes but skipped the butter (but not the cheese).  I just need to experiment with what my limits are, and I definitely want to cut back on some of the carbs and sugar.  I could open the door, go out onto the porch, and just scream!  That would do me absolutely no good so I'm trying to look at my situation in the best light I can.  There are many people who are much worse off than I am.

I came home from the chiropractor and opened a package of small canvases, and put a coat of gesso on each one.  I think the bottle of gesso recommends two coats, 24 hrs apart, so I will do it again tomorrow and have them ready when the mood strikes.  At least the artistic endeavors give me something to look forward to, and I can spend a little or a lot of time on them. 

I had considered making an appointment at the local UCD Med clinic to have blood work done (it's been two years).  I'm curious as to where everything stands, although that could open up a whole set of issues that I don't want to deal with.  For one thing I would have to select a doctor because the one I had been seeing left the practice, which is fine with me as I had intended to look for a different doctor.  The one I thought I might try was a homeopathic doctor but either I have the wrong name or he has left the practice as well.  Maybe I don't really want or need to have blood work done.   No matter what the results would be I'm not going to change my lifestyle.   My previous statement is sort of funny to me because I realize I have no lifestyle!   

By the way, with all my questionable eating habits lately, I got on the scale this morning and found I topped 120!  (120.1 to be exact).   

I think I need a nap right now since my sleep was erratic last night.  I hope it improves.