Journal

It has been two weeks since I blogged and we are just really for the most part, staying home.  The unrest, the virus, and the unknown breaks my heart.  Baseball, which I love is finally being televised in some sort, and although they are doing their best to achieve some normalcy, the canned crowd noise just is not right.  I have been walking mornings with my neighbor. That along with my small journalling group, and my other neighbors and of course my daughter completes our socializing.  I have been on the phone to my dear friends back in the Rockies and like us, they are doing well.  Our family is also staying safe. 

Because we are staying home, there isn't much happening in my life to blog about, but I did finish a page for my "junk journal".  I have an "art journal" and a "memory journal".  These 3 and my sewing and gardening keep me busy and although the new normal is not necessarily to my liking, I am not complaining.  Saddened perhaps by some things with which I have no control, but blessed to have health, income, shelter and food.  We are able to laugh and stand upright.  The page above is continued documentation in the junk journal of our life since leaving Wyoming.  We got our two little rescue dogs in 2009 and they had been with us until a few months ago.  Roger had recurring bladder stones and Spencer's kidney's failed. Within a few weeks of each other we lost them and there is a void in our life.  

The Mr. is now starting to finish the deck boards now that the railing is done and it is looking so nice.  Tomorrow is our 6 mo dental check so we will have to venture out into the real world.
No news is good news but I will try to find something to put in the blog soon. 

"Masquerading as a normal person day after day is exhausting." ~
Anonymous

Summer

Finally, summer is here!  We have had such wonderful weather and the temperature has been so nice~~mostly in the 70's or high 60's and finally we are having 80 plus temps.  We are so spoiled.  I took the finished Quilt of Honor over to my neighbor on Sunday and had wanted to do something for him ever since we moved in. He was so touched and I was so glad to do it for him.  He entered the Viet Nam war in the Army the same year as the Mr. and was released the same year also.  But he and his wife own an accounting business and are still working.  They have been especially busy as the official tax deadline is upon us.  

Above the deck is coming along quite well and the Mr. as always is doing a beautiful job.  There is not a lot else to do so we are glad to have work.  Me....well I feel like even though we are in phase three, we are still staying home for the most part.  I have however another neighbor who has checked on me was able to come in to see the quilts I have finished and we walked together today.  So happy to spend some time with her as she is a quilter also.  And then there is my journalling group which is a small group, and we do practice with distance and masks, but the larger group has not yet been able to meet.  Socialization is so important and I am glad that I can pick up my phone and I can visit my daughter too. 

Mostly we are watching tv in the evenings and we are doing just fine.  Next week we are scheduled to have our new windows installed if all is on track.  They will be so nice.

As you can tell, not much is happening and I have little to write about so until next time.  Wash your hands. 

Art

 Finally, I have started to paint a little more for my art journal.  As I embark on the twilight years, I am using this time while the nation is being asked to "stay at home", to paint.  Because of the new cases of corona happening in most states again, our state has been issued an order by the Governor for all businesses to  refuse service to anyone not wearing a mask.  It allows me to spend more time reading and sewing and painting and I do not feel guilty if I just stay home now.  When you are obligated to go out, there are times when you may prefer to stay home, or just stay in bed a little longer.  Honestly, I am happy to have more "me" time.  So I paint or read or sew.  I found an old sheet music book years ago and I discovered the music to "The Butterfly" and it will be perfect for the background.  I first painted lots of colors on a sheet of paper, then drew the butterfly and painted the detail on it and cut it out. I haven't decided how I will address the background, but I will do that Friday when I can go to the shop.  That is the only thing which I have obligated for myself "schedule wise".

This little rose bush below is loaded with roses and the top branch has 13 buds on it which will open soon too.  It will be beautiful and it was a little rose in a pot that my daughter gave me last summer.  There is also a potato growing next to it.  Someone planted a potato there last year and I dug up one potato in the fall.  Must have missed one?

Be safe and wash your hands.

July

 The 2nd page of my art journal depicts another aspect of what is happening in our country as we approach the celebration of our country's Independence Day.  Covid ~19 and the racial unrest needs to be addressed.  I am only making notes for future reference...right or wrong.  

The Fourth of July when I was a child was a big day for our family.  There was a large parade in Greeley CO and my dad made sure that we always got to see it.  Then we would trek to my Aunt Dora's who was dad's older sister and she had hosted dinner every 4th as long as I can remember.  Other family gathered there too and then there were fireworks later that night where we watched from a hill in the family car.  My dad loved fireworks and we had sparklers and firecrackers and lots of fun.  This fourth will be quiet as most fireworks celebrations have been cancelled due to the pandemic.

Below you can see that the Mr. is staying busy getting the railing ready for the deck.  The posts have now been fitted and painted, but because today is cloudy and misty, what was planned for this installation has been put on hold.  

It is sad to see our nation in such a state now, but we are blessed to have our health and for us, life will go on.  2020 so far has been difficult for so many and I fear it is not over and we may not return to the normal as we know it. 

10 days

Ten days since I blogged so what does that mean?  Either have been really busy or ?.  Honestly, I feel like I cannot find time to write, but on the other hand, what have I done with my time?  I did get to go to meet with my other journal buddies on Friday and the lovely gal who runs the art and craft shop is so nice.  She had so much donated supplies!  In the hallway, she had tables with all sorts of items and books and fabric for $1.00 each.  But recently, I have been inspired to start painting again as I am attempting to communicate in my art journal what is happening with our country.  Referring to the Corona Virus and the BLM protests and the political crap (and I feel like that word describes it perfectly), there is much to relate for the future in a way to use art and text.  I am still working on the Quilt of Honor for my other neighbor and I am working in the back yard to make terraces for more plantings.  Right now it is mostly a blank canvas, but the Mr. is putting a railing on the existing back deck and all of these things take time.  When I do get in the mood to paint or quilt, I need to do it when the mood strikes me as the creative juices dictate how I spend my time.  Never have I felt the need to go to the computer to spend time.  It happens out of necessity, so FB and Blogging are far down the line. I am not a sitter. I need to be doing something.

Yesterday was the first time so far that we did yard sales.  Our state is in mandatory face mask wearing by order of the Governor and because we have done so well, we are in phase III of the recovery issue.  Our daughter went with us yesterday, but it also seemed that people are still social distancing as there weren't nearly as many sales as we had expected.  I did however get some stamps and a few other things for art journal supplies and the Mr. found a vise.  As we left on our adventure, the neighborhood Master Gardener was working on one of the common islands in our loop and she gave my gardener daughter some great information about a group she may join.  Also, she has lots of glass in the way of garden sculpture that she is willing to donate to me and invited me to come and see her garden which I have been told is spectacular.  Bonnie, I wish you were here by the way!

 Above is the page for my art journal that I painted and added several quotes regarding masks and it is nearly finished. This is a mixed media journal so there are layers of textures including the mask which is fabric and other items, even tea bag papers.  Below is an area I am working on when I find the time and mood.  Of course all of the new blocks will eventually weather and match, but so far the plants here were given to me by neighbors.

The second litter of baby squirrels are soon to be born and perhaps are already here so the mother
squirrels have been scarce but yesterday and this morning one of the females came begging for her peanuts.  Usually they just bury them for future use, but yesterday mamma squirrel sat and gobbled three in a row as I gave them to her.  She was hungry!

The sun is shining now after a morning of cloud covered sky and the area by the fence is a perfect place to read.  Recently I received a series of books from a friend in Saratoga WY and I find it difficult to tear myself away from them.  In addition to being sheltered (there is no wind here either), I love to listen to the many birds back there.

"Nature has been for me, for as long as I can remember, a source of solace, inspiration, adventure, and delight, a home, a teacher, a companion." ~ Lorraine Anderson

Quiet on the home front

 I have again had a lapse of posts as things have been very quiet.  I know there has been a lot on the news about the protests, but we are  staying home, staying busy here and our neighborhood carries on as usual.  Very quiet is our normal.  My backyard is my sanctuary and I have been watching a pair of wrens working to build a nest in the brown birdhouse above. They have worked on again off again, gathering moss and have built the mossy nest up to the opening.  I am confused about their activity as they will work together for a while in the afternoon and then perhaps in the evening but I will not see them for hours then.  They first were checking the purple house, in and out of both for a couple of days before choosing the lower one. 

 In another corner of the yard, where I have placed 3 lawn chairs is where I have been retreating to read.  Today was a beautiful sunny day and that area is totally shaded by the huge fir trees.  Actually, the canopy of branches does not allow the sun to shine through except for the blue patches of sky through the needles.  I sat and listened to so many birds.  We have identified several...the Juncos, finches, robins, woodpeckers and wrens and we do have crows.  I know that we have a few hummers, but there are so many blooms which they prefer that I haven't put out a feeder.  The squirrels and bunnies are plentiful this year and people say it is a bumper crop for them.  It is so much fun to watch the young squirrels play and chase each other.  I also keep watch for another possum.  Apparently they have been pretty scarce, but used to be quite a nuisance.

Below the Mr. is decked out to spray the moss.  He has nearly replanted all of the bare spots in our yard with grass, but there is some moss upon which he has declared war.  

In my little reading area, there is a carpet of moss which I really don't mind and it is green and doesn't need to be mowed.  I haven't seen a deer this week, but they too are pretty abundant.  

We have ordered new windows and they will be installed in about 4 weeks.  I haven't bothered to try to clean these as they are original to the house and are in poor condition. That should just about be the last upgrade for the house, and then we can do a little bit of work on the yard as it doesn't need much. 

Have a safe weekend and Happy Father's Day.

New Normal

 I finally got out to the shop last Friday.  Masks and sanitizer have become the new normal.  How long will this last?  I find it still difficult to have a conversation with someone and the social distancing has really put a damper on "MY NORMAL".  This little weathergram, which was made and given to me Friday by my motivator Kathy, helps to inspire me to paint.  The tulip on the front and the feather on the back as well as the message, were artfully done on brown paper bag.  I was instructed to hang it outdoors where the rain will fall on it.  There is no real damage from the wind and rain.  Amazing!  The message is "dance in the wind".  The wind rarely blows here and it has never blown anything like we had in Wyoming so far.  However it has blown a bit today and although I did not dance in the wind, I did walk in it.  The temperature was 63 degrees, wonderfully comfortable and the sun was shinning between the gentle sprinkles.  We also got to Hobby Lobby this morning with very few shoppers, I was able to get more art supplies.

I hung the weather gram from my ladder outside and it fluttered in the wind and rain.  If posts are less frequent, it is the new normal, staying home and going nowhere and having no social life.

"Nobody can be in good health if he does not have fresh air, sunshine and good water."  ~