January Birthdays and Shedding Some Light

January has come and gone and in addition to paperwork I'm trying to dig through, we've had a couple of "snow events" that have added to my challenge of being alone.  I have secured a landscaping company to do the heavy plowing but they only come if more than 3" has fallen.  Otherwise, it's the broom and the shovel being pushed by yours truly.  No, I am not doing any lifting - just sweeping and pushing enough to get back and forth from the house to the garage to get the car out, and if it's light enough, pushing a path down the hill to the mailbox and up the hill on the other side of the driveway for the garbage and recycling cans.  Anyway, enough about the weather.  We have two family birthdays in January - Ryan's and Rachel's and I have gone the easy route with very simple cards.  

Ryan is a Cowboys fan and I used some background paper I recently picked up at $Tree for the background, added a glittered star and Happy Birthday in silver as those are the Cowboys colors.  Maverick and I put together a card for his dad when I was there at Christmas but I forgot to take a picture of it.  We had picked out a piece of scrapbook paper with footballs on it at Hobby Lobby and he had me cut out the footballs and he decorated the card with them.  He really enjoys doing art projects and I'm glad that Rachel is not squeamish about him making an artistic mess.

Rachel's card was made using some extra die cuts that I had from a card I made for a friend a few months ago.  I found these little star nail jewels in my stash which already had adhesive on the back and added them to the card to sparkle it up.  I did have plans in my head to do more elaborate cards for both of them, but my creative mojo is at an all-time low right now.  There were several artistic challenges that I wanted to do in January, but the life challenges that I've had lately have been draining me so I've put the art on hold temporarily.

One of those challenges seems like it should be pretty easy - replacing lightbulbs - but trust me, it was not.  This is our light fixture in our dining area where I spend most of my time as I have full view of the kitchen, living room (and television), and the stairway to the second floor as well as the hallway and bathroom.  I also get the view of the backyard through the sliding glass doors from here.  During the day, because I don't have any elaborate window treatments, the sun provides me with great light but once the sun goes down, the light has to come on.  We had been ordering lightbulbs online the last couple of years because they no longer carry halogen lightbulbs in the stores and have gone to LEDs.  Well, that phasing out has reached all the online sources also by now and I probably could get halogen bulbs for this fixture if I wanted to pay $20 or more for each bulb which I didn't want to do.  So it was time to switch to LED lights.

Finding the right intensity of the LED's was the issue - there are 5 different "levels" of intensity and all I really wanted was something that would give me the same effect as what I had.  I went to Home Depot and after checking out the plant section first as we would always do, I asked a salesperson where the lightbulbs were thinking that he'd tell me the aisle number and I would just go and take a look at what they had.  But instead of telling me the aisle number he said "follow me" which I now was obliged to do as he took off with me following with my cart.  Then, instead of leaving me on my own, he started to explain the display, clicking the switches as the lights showed the different intensities.  I decided to go with the one in the middle thinking that that would be best and he asked me how many I needed.  I told him that my light fixture needed 5 bulbs whereby he informed me that they came in a box of 4.  I said okay, I guess I'll need two boxes then.  And his comeback was - but you'll have 3 extra.  As this gentleman appeared older than me and said this with a deadpan face, I held back a snarky comment about being able to do math and told him that I had no intention of only replacing the two that were out and wanted the fixture to have all of the same kind, so I guess I'll just have some extra,  He proceeded to further tell me that I should know that the new LED lights last a long time and I told them that I was sure I would be able to find a use for them in another lamp in the future.  Then I made the mistake of asking him where something else was and after looking it up on his phone said "follow me".  

He got distracted in that aisle by a couple who were looking for something and I thought I was free, but I wasn't fast enough and he was back to my cart in a flash as I pointed out to him that I had found what I needed.  At this point he asked me if I knew how to use it - it was a siphon hose that I was getting to use on the pool cover.  I said yes, I had seen my husband use it many times and knew how to use it whereby he proceeded to read the directions out loud to me before he put it back in my cart.  Then I had to ask one more question - where do I get a key made here?.  He told me that there was a kiosk near the check-outs where you could do it yourself but suggested that I ask the cashiers to do it for me.  

I went over to the kiosk and there was another couple there making a key so I turned to go find the next thing on my list and nearly ran the sales guy over with my cart.  He decided to follow me this time as I looked for a cheap solar light which they didn't have.  I thanked him for his assistance and went back towards the check out.  Since the key kiosk was free, I pulled up along side it, read the directions and proceeded to make my key only to turn around when Paul (it was at this point that I noticed he had his name written in Sharpy on his orange HD apron) the saleguy said - I guess you decided to do it yourself.  I wanted to say yes, just because I don't know where things are doesn't mean that I don't know how to use them.  I ran a school for crying out loud - I can do math, I can learn by observation, and I sure can read directions, but instead mumbled something about it being easy and that I had to go.

It wasn't until I got home that I noticed that the filaments in the clear bulbs that I needed for this particular fixture were not clear or white, but yellow and was not pleased with that at all so I new I was going to have to return them.  I tried ordering some from Amazon that said they had white filaments, but the ones that came had the same yellow.  After looking it up on the Home Depot website, I found that they did have bulbs with white filaments that came 2 to a box which were a little more expensive per bulb but I'd only need 3 boxes and have one extra which was less than the 4 to a box - see I can do math.  The only problem was that I did not want to go back and encounter that salesguy again so I made sure not to go back on the same day of the week in hopes of not running into him.  

The return went without a hitch and I found the right bulbs and actually bought them in two different intensities so that I could try them and see which was best knowing that I would have to return the ones that I didn't like.  It took me three weeks to make that return - I just could not bring myself to go in there but I did.  

Since then, I have another light (one of three) out over the sink and when Rachel and the boys were here last weekend one of four blew out in the kitchen fan/light.  I think there are spares for them in the cabinet but since there's plenty of light right now and I want to take a lightbulb break for now.

But as I'm writing about light, I thought I'd share some sunlight phenomena of late like the way the sun lit up the head of this angel I have hanging on my gypsyrod.

And the beautiful rainbow halo around the sun I noticed after getting out of PT one day.

And as if this post wasn't long enough - I had another light experience this week.  I haven't been able to get to sleep very well at night which keeps me up even later than my normal late night and it was just about 2 a.m. when I went into the upstairs bathroom and took a look outside.  When I looked over at the garage I could see that there was a light on which was very strange.  I had put the car away in the early afternoon and I know that I didn't put any lights on other than the light that automatically goes on when you open the garage door and closes several minutes later and it was daylight then so I didn't see any light on after that and hadn't really looked at the garage since then.  So immediately I thought that either I left the door to the car slightly ajar or the headlights on (I do put the headlights on when I pull in because they help me to know how far to pull in when I can no longer see the light line on what's in front of the car).  In my mind I knew though that the car would let me know if the headlights were on, so it was more likely to be that I may have brushed the button for the inside light when I was getting out.  

Not wanting to run down the battery in any case,  I went back downstairs and got my coat on and went outside to investigate.  But when I got in the garage I could see that it was neither the headlights or the car light.  I had to sit in the car for a few minutes and wait for the automatic light to shut off so I could see what was on.  When both of the bay lights went out I could see that the light was coming from the storage attic above.  

Now, I didn't even know how to turn that light on so it became a great puzzlement to me.  But at 2 in the morning, I was not about to do any more investigating.  I went out yesterday and pulled the car out and checked the windows to make sure they were locked and the sliding barn door to Thad's workshop was locked so no one could get in.  Rachel said that "Dad must have been working up there last night" when I asked her if she'd been in there when she was here last weekend (although I would have noticed the light on before that I'm sure).  So then I went looking for light switches and found two switches near where we keep the recycling cans.  One was for the attic and I couldn't tell what the other one was for, but the attic switch was up so I think that I must have inadvertently brushed up against it when I was putting the recycling in early that day.  I'm so glad that I did not call the police to tell them that I thought someone was hiding in my garage.  

The title of this post references January and it is now February 23 when I am finally finishing writing and posting.  Today is supposed to start the 100 Day Project and I am still deciding on what I want to do so I may be starting a couple days behind but my intention is to actually do and try to find my artistic mojo again.  

Happy New Year with a 2024 Memory

I’ve seen a lot of people posting pictures of their most memorable moments from 2024 and for the most part, we had a lot of them spending time with our grandchildren, visiting our son and his family in their new home in Tennessee, our Table 7 get togethers, and more until a different kind of memory took over.  But this picture represents a moment in time that I never want to forget.  It was the second day of the Lighthouse Challenge and we were at the Twin Towers in Atlantic Highlands where we finished up our two-day adventure together before returning home.  This is the last picture that I took that day.  Looking up to the north tower, the sun was making it impossible to get a good photo.  There is still some glare in this picture, but what you don’t see is what transpired.  There were people milling about all around us taking their own pictures and I stepped towards my husband who stood a good 5 inches taller than I so I could, admittedly, use him as a sun shield.  He laughed as he got even closer to me and said “I know what you’re doing” , put his arms around me drawing me still closer and then our eyes met and right then, in front of whoever was there, kissed me.  Two senior citizens sharing a lovely impromptu intimate moment….if it were a Hallmark movie you could cue the music, though I’m sure it went unnoticed by most.  I want to remember that embrace that I will never have again.  That playful kiss. That laughter.  That shared loving experience.  I want it to, I need it to replace the haunting memory I have of less than two days later when my touch no longer got a response. Someday I hope to remember it without the tears.  Make the most of the time you have with the ones you love.  Remember those somewhat fleeting moments that brought you love and joy.  Those are the ones that far outweigh the negative ones of your time together.

Thank you to everyone who has reached out in the comments and by other means - these last few months have been very overwhelming to me but I plan on getting back to blogging more regularly. I wish everyone a very Happy New Year in which to make many memories and fill your hearts with love.

Merry Christmas

 

May you feel the loving presence of your Angels this Christmas.

The Hardest Thing I've Had to Share

I don't quite know how to start..........I hadn't yet posted about the 25th Anniversary Lighthouse Challenge we completed because we were planning to be away for a few days visiting friends that had moved last summer to their new home in Pennsylvania.  I had worked ahead a couple days on the birds of Birdtober and we had just finished a project that we were going to take with us as the whimsical part of a housewarming gift.  Most of our things were ready to go in the car the next morning, but during the night, HWNSNBP - Thad, my husband and love of my life had a heart attack and passed away.  I won't go into the details of the emergency call and everything that happened here early that morning.  It was distressing and heartbreaking and I still haven't accepted it.  There were so many plans that he/we had for the future.  He was only 70 and none of us, family, friends, coworkers have been anything less than shocked.  He was unselfish in the love and caring he gave all of us, thinking of others always before himself.  He was my best friend, lover, confidant, care giver, and jokingly my box man, pool boy, and gardener.  There was very little that he wouldn't do for me if anything.  I miss the kiss in the morning when I came down the stairs and him saying "I'll be waiting for you" when he went up at night.  And so much more.

The kids came up right away and helped with as much as they could before they had to go home.  Telling the oldest grandsons was the hardest for them - they loved their dad and papa immensely and knew he loved them.  They helped to plan a pizza party celebration of his life at a favorite restaurant with our very closest friends and family members - something he would have loved.  Many came back to the house afterwards and shared stories that made us all both laugh and cry.  And all of them reminded us of how much he was loved and will be missed.

I'm muddling my way through paperwork and getting all those loose ends tied up.  It's been quite mind-numbing, especially since I also have to take care of settling my mother's affairs - she passed away three days after Thad did.  She was 93 and had had a stroke several months ago.  She died peacefully at home where she lived with my brothers who had been attending to her since she came home from rehab.  

My children check in with me regularly and my friends have been so supportive and are helping me with a lot.   I am lucky to have such a great network surrounding me right now as I begin to navigate through this hole in my life.  

On Tuesday morning - one week after he had passed - I had to get up early so that my son and I could go to the Social Security office to attend to the survivor benefits.  Normally I'm not up and dressed that early unless I have somewhere to go.  I happened to be standing by the kitchen sink quickly having something to eat before we left and looked out into the back yard.  One of the things on our "bucket list" of living here was to see an eagle in our yard.  That morning I did.

He flew from a tree in our yard to the neighbor's and stayed there long enough for me to get my good camera with the zoom to take pictures.  It was the white tail and head that caught my attention. Do you believe in signs?  I think this was a gift from him.  My grandsons will remember him when they see a cardinal - the red bird they said to me.  Those that knew him will remember the time he spent volunteering at The Raptor Trust and the way he lit up when he told people about the bluebirds nesting in our yard.  They, the bluebirds,  have been tapping on the windows looking for him.

I have no more words right now - I just want one more hug and to be able to tell him again that I love him.

Obituary

This was the last project we worked on together - I decided to keep it.

Jingle Belles - One More Pink Christmas

Well, I made it back with my second card for the Jingle Belles Pink Christmas challenge.  I have some die cut stitched flowers that I thought resembled poinsettias.  They have tiny seed beads stitched in for their centers.  There is some pale pink ivy trailing up the side of the screen.  While I was looking for a sentiment to add, I also came across this dove die from The Greetery that I hadn't used yet. 

 

A closer look at the stitching and centers.

It was a little precarious adding the stitching to these flowers and leaves.  Where the petals attach to the center it is not very sturdy and I had to be really careful not to tear the petal from the center.  The floss appears white in the photo but it is the same shade of pink as the die cut ivy.  There are three shades of pink cardstock used for the main elements which is why I opted for a white background.  I had so much pink paper out I decided to use it for a birthday card I'll be posting after I get the card to the birthday girl.  I enjoy all of the lovely fall colors but it is nice to have that pink in October too.

Please click here to visit the Jingle Belles and see all the beautiful pink cards.  You won't be disappointed.  

Birdtober 2024 - Days 1-14

Last year was the first time that I took part in Birdtober and I really enjoyed it.  I used a 4x4" sketchbook and felt that it was a bit restrictive so I opted for a larger book this time - an 8x8".  It is made for watercolors, but almost immediately I felt that the paper was a bit too toothy for my liking.  That could be because I use watercolor pencils which I first apply dry and then go over with an aquapen to activate and blend them so I may need a little more practice getting that saturation point correct.  

There were actually two prompt lists to choose from this time - a North American list and an International list.  I chose the North American list.  

Day 1 - Blue Jay

Day 2 - American Robin

Day 3 - Eastern Bluebird

Day 4 - Belted Kingfisher

Day 5 - Northern Mockingbird

Day 6 - Red-Winged Blackbird

Day 7 - Northern Cardinal

Day 8 - Great Blue Heron

I didn't think there was enough contrast, so this happened and I'm still not sure if I like it.

Day 9 - Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

Day 10 - Black-Crested Titmouse

Day 11 - Barn Swallow

Day 12 - House Finch

Day 13 - Carolina Wren

Day 14 - American Crow

I am using a combination of Generals and Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils.  The backgrounds on the bluejay, robin, and heron are regular watercolors.  And I was able to use my own photos as reference for the bluebird, cardinal, heron, and kinglet.  

There's a feature on iphones that I may have mentioned before that lets you identify things like plants/flowers, animals, and I think it will even identify works of art.  I am always looking to see if what I've drawn will be correctly identified and it's a small victory when it does.  I've even been know to have a celebratory fist pump when that happens.

The 21 Day 100Day Project

By popular demand, the facilitator of The100Day Project put out a fall challenge that was only 21 days long which started mid-September.  I wanted to keep it simple so I went with the kraft stickers again.  This time I added them to a page in a large sketchbook that I have.  This took a little time measuring and placing the stickers accurately, but I was glad to be able to fit 3 rows of 7 stickers in each to be able to keep it all together.  I used two gel pens and each day added some lines to a sticker.  Where the lines of the same color intersected I rounded them with the ink.  

A closer look at the first week.

And this is what it looked like when I initially finished it.  

I decided afterwards to take it a step further and used a black gel pen between the stickers to connect the lines, also rounding the intersecting point.  Those black lines connect blue to blue and pink to pink.  

I've still got a lot of these stickers left so I'll be looking for more was to use them in the future.  This was a nice little project to do while having breakfast on those days - quick and easy.

Jingle Belles - Pink Christmas (For the Cure!)

Maybe it's the dropping temperatures, or the leaves changing, or, more likely, HWNSNBP's worrisome prodding that I won't have enough Christmas cards made that sent me up to the stamp cave to make sure that I got going on the latest, and one of my favorite Jingle Belles challenges.  It's October, or Pinktober to some, and that usually means that the cards are going to be predominantly pink.  Lauren and Steph have a tradition of making a $2 (apiece!) per card donation to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and this year they are continuing that tradition.  

I recently got some dies that I thought might work well with the pastel pink colors for Christmas.  There is a bit of simplicity to this card, but I thought the bunny was so sweet and I know exactly who is going to get this card.  My PT has a pet house bunny so I think she will appreciate this. 

We've had a couple of frost warnings the last few days and the daytime temps have dropped enough for HWNSNBP to turn the heat on should we need it if the house becomes too cold.  He's starting the yard clean-up and has deposited several loads of leaves at the edge of the street so they can come and vacuum them up.  They usually do that several times right up until the end of November which is a good thing because we do not have a shortage of leaves.....ever.  Yesterday, since the lower stems and leaves of the tall zinnias were all brown, I asked him to pick the last of the blooms and he brought those in along with some of the last of the dahlias.  They greeted me on the kitchen counter this morning and I can see them in the sunlight from where I sit to use the computer.

I've got another card almost finished for the JB challenge - it needs a sentiment to complete it and I will be able to share it soon.  In the meantime, should you want to check out the entries so far just click here.  You will not only see what the challenge participants have done so far but you will definitely be treated to the always gorgeous work of Lauren and Steph.  And if you're a card maker, there's another 8 days left to come up with a pink Christmas card.  I know you can do it!

Northern Lights - Bucket List √

These pictures were taken from the back porch of the condo in Barnegat on Thursday 10/10 around 10:18 p.m.  I had seen people posting pictures of the Northern Lights on Tuesday and Wednesday night both from Barnegat and Branchburg but they seemed to be fleeting and not many caught them.  I even went outside on Wednesday night in Branchburg, but nothing was visible with the naked eye. 

With the prediction of visibility being more certain on Thursday night, tips were posted on how to view them with your cell phone camera - the settings to use to get the longer exposure and basically making sure that you were in night mode so the camera could pick up the low level light that the eye cannot see.

We had arrived at the condo on Thursday night to prepare for the kids to visit on the weekend (since cancelled) so I knew I was going ot have an unobstructed view from the back of the condo that faces north.  I waited til a little past sundown but apparently too long because at that time they were very faint.  I had all but given up but saw someone post on FB to "go outside now - they're back" and the post was only 2 mins. old so I had to try again and this time the results were great.

Back in the 60's (the 1960's not my 60's) we were visiting relatives on a Sunday night and when it came time to leave, my uncle walked us out the door and I remember that that was the first time that I had heard of the aurora borealis - the northern lights because he happened to look at the sky and he said that he saw them then.  I'm sure I looked at the sky but I don't remember seeing them - I would have been around 10 at the time.  But I did remember what they were called and as I grew older, after seeing pictures in books and on the internet, always wanted to have that experience of seeing them in real life.  Well, thanks to my iphone I have been able to √ that off my bucket list.  

Sketchbook Work - September 2024+

I don't have a regular sketchbook practice but every once and awhile I get on a roll.  These are some of the things that I worked on in September and I think a few of them were actually earlier than that but I'm just catching up now.  

This first is a tangle I had seen called Skalla by Theresa Fessler CZT.  In the true Zentangle method you are not supposed to use an eraser, but an eraser was very necessary when I did this.  Also, you are encouraged to do it in ink from the beginning but I did this in pencil first.  The basic tangle/shapes were done in Micron and then I added the glitter marker.   It's much prettier in real life.

Some things come up in my Pinterest feed and I usually just pin them to the specific category I have set up.  This time I decided to grab an index card and give this a try.

The same creator did something like this also which I chose to try in my sketchbook.

This tangle in the middle is called Stikz by Preeti Gupta which I did on another index card.  The framing is ad libbed similar to what I had seen her do.

I did it again in a smaller sketch pad I had at the condo one night and added my "maze" around it.

I got these owl stickers at the $Tree and kept forgetting to give them to GS2 and they were getting a little beat up in my travel art bag, so before they started flying off their page on their own I made a little owl mandala using some of them.

This was one of those neurographic art pages where you make the "scribbles" and then, using your ink pen, round the corners of the shapes.  I then went in with the glitter markers and filled in some of the spaces leaving a small portion of the white paper as a frame.  

It was a choice not to fill in everything hopefully adding to the design.

This was from the Sanntangle FB group page.  It's Tile #477.   It just looked very Halloweeny to me so i had to do it.  I had a 4" square of bristol paper that was perfect for it.  

The next 4 index cards where done on the fly.

This mandala was inspired by, believe it or not, a crocheted doily that I had seen somewhere online.  It is completely hand-drawn and colored using my own choices.  I have another one started but I'm also doing a couple of other challenges this month and haven't been able to quite complete that one yet.

I've been able to keep up with the Birdtober challenge (post coming soon) but I am behind on Inktober tangles.  Hopefully I'll get to catching up with that in the next couple of days - I finally found the paper for it that I wanted to use and will tell that story when I post the tangles.