Session two of a pile of crap

I, too, have been watching videos and reading about Cosmic Smash booking.  The homework from yesterday's session took between 3 and 4 hours between last evening and this morning.  Session two today left me almost speechless, with disbelief.  I think I get the concept.  We all have barriers to releasing our creativity.  We have to recognize a barrier, and find some way of dealing with it, before we can relax and become our most creative self.  Overall, I would rather relax with a glass of wine.

I know that may sound judgmental, but I think I know that my barriers are my deep felt need to adhere to the standards of womanly and wifely performance, that was drummed into me when I was young.  Those would be that pleasure and creativity only comes after all of the work is done.  And we know that in those days woman's work was never done.  Then there was the added expectation that we could hold down a good job and still meet the expectations of household standards etc. I like to feel as though I fought my way through all of that and still came out with a feeling competency in my creative work.  Also, I was always blessed with a husband who didn't inherit unachievable standards from his mother.  ( Don't think that there weren't any battles there)

I do have high personal standards in my creative work.  I know this.  I believe that my biggest barrier is procrastination.  Often, I would rather read a book.

I guess what I'm saying is "I'm alright, Jack".  I don't need to put relaxing essential oils on my fabric or paper or canvas. Nor do I need all sorts of relaxation exercises before I start.  I will laugh at my experience the last couple of days, and carry on with what gives me pleasure, in my studio and my life.

He He

 Wow, I looked up your "cosmic smashbook" and watched a video and read an article and all i can say is better you than me Pati haha! I will be so looking forward to seeing your results. And happy that you are trying new and adventurous endeavours. It actually seems to fit into some of your current work. I think I like it...Good luck. 

Rainy Day

Yesterday we saw something that I don't remember seeing in years--a rainy day--and more is promised for tonight.  I got to try out my new umbrella--the one I bought two years ago and finally got to use. No-one anywhere, in the city, was complaining about the rain.  I even had to sit inside at Starbucks.  David has taken to delivering me there as he sets out on his errands, and then picking me up.  It means less time sitting there, but I get my coffee and get an outing.

Yesterday, my husband decided to take me out for supper, and wanted to go somewhere new, and a bit up-scale from our usual burger joint.  There had been an article about restaurants out in Dugald and Oakbank, in the small community newspaper, and he had decided to try them.  We looked them up on line and picked one, made plans and decided to check for directions, only to discover that it was closed on Mondays.  So we ended up at The Olive Garden.  They were limiting the number of customers by keeping the door locked and only letting people in in accordance to capacity limits.  Everyone was wearing masks, even most of the customers.  They were offering tastings of free wine, and I tried one, and then ordered a glass.  It was a  Prosecco, and I've often read about that type, especially in books about women's relationships.  I won't buy it again, but am glad I tried it out.  We spent time looking over the menu and ended up both ordering their regular Soup, Salad, and Breadsticks.  It was enough for both of us, and there was no mention of dessert, even though one of their specialty desserts is something I dream about.

Today was more "same old, same old".  Reading, puttering in the studio, and coffee.  At the meeting in Selkirk on Sunday, I was persuaded to enter the All Members' Show in September.  That meant I have to produce something in a hurry, but the task is well in hand.  I also signed up for a "Creativity Challenge" on line.  There is to be a one hour session with a leader every  day over a week, for an hour, and home work.  I participated in the first one today, and plan to continue--if I can get the homework done.  So that is something to look forward to.  The leaders are all trained in a process called "Cosmic Smashbook", a term I had never heard before, but many of the students (from all over the world) had, so I plan to do a little research into that, before tomorrow's lesson. Oh My!  I'm certainly ambitious today.

But now I hear that the bar's open.  Time to go.

More rain..

 Wish I could share some of this wetness with you folks. It is raining now again and I had the dogs out so had to hustle in real quick. Last evening we had another severe thunderstorm with lots of rain and very heavy at times. We are in a heat spell with humidex very high so very muggy. The power went out twice last night but fortunately not for long each time. We went to Huntsville this morning for a Specialist appt for Harry and a little shop but once again treated ourselves to a Kawartha Ice Cream - this time I tried Orange/Pineapple. On the way home i was suddenly suffering from cramps and only barely made it into the house. Too soon after the ice cream from my way of thinking so now I am assessing what i ate over last 24 hours and cannot figure it out. So I plan to lay low for the rest of the afternoon. Maybe I can finish my Gamache novel that I have on the go. 

Hope all is well there and that you are not suffering from the heat yet? take care...keep in touch. 👵

It seems comforting nowadays...

...to be in the house, not necessarily housebound, but to choose to be in the house or yard. At least I often feel this way and I think it is a direct result of the months(years) of isolation and restrictions, and obviously my own desire to be here. Even to go shopping now i dread the trip. i go into the grocery store now but still not any of the other stores that Harry will frequent such as Dollarama or Canadian Tire or Bulk Barn. 

I really enjoyed the last few postings from you folks, and love your tomatoes Pati. You said it...nothing better than a tomato sandwich and in my case added cut up, fresh from the garden, cucumbers as well. I have no pictures but you have prompted me to get out there and see if I can take some and then actually try to post. How about you, too, Cathy?

I finally made an appointment to see the Dentist as it has been a very long time. It is a new Dentist as the previous one, the one I was seeing at the time, has since retired. They were booking the Hygenist appt well into the end of Sept so I opted to see the Dentist directly since i do have some issues. i can always book that other one when I go to see the Dentist next week. And I still have the appt with the Eye Specialist to assess me for cataract Sx - that appt is at the end of Sept.

Time now for me to put the "house to bed" I was going to watch another episode of Time Team but I think i shall forgo that for tonight. it is hot and humid these past few days and I think it is wearing me out. Plus i still do not sleep at night and cannot assess why. I force myself to stay in bed but lately have given in and I am up around 4:30 or so. So by this time and after a full days work, no wonder I am laggy but sleep will still elude me. Poor me...

Good for me to read your messages and to write a few words myself. I feel connected.... take care.

Housebound

This has generally been a week in the house.  Not only has it been hot and muggy outside, but with the Olympics, tv has been more interesting than usual.  We hear about "lazy crazy days of summer", and right now we've been living it.  Catch-as-catch-can meals, for the most part.  No trips to the grocery store ( that may change today).  And more naps than usual.  But yesterday was dull, windy, and cloudy, even a bit of rain in the evening, but no cooler.  Today looks like more of the same. For so much of the year we yearn for summer, and when it comes, hide in the house.  And that just speaks to  life in Manitoba.  But--I do try to spend some time outside every day, and even have a line in my BuJo to record the event daily.  So much nicer now that the Aphid season appears to have ended.  Lots of tiny bugs have appeared though, to challenge my sitting tolerance.

Haven't done well on my lottery tickets for the past couple of weeks.  I was getting lots of $2, and "free play", but nothing for about 3 weeks.  Hope springs eternal though, and I keep buying them.  So much easier when you can do it on line.

We both slept in this morning, and now I see that David has brought the waffle iron up from the basement.  I guess we're about to make brunch. The waffle iron is very old, and still in its original box.  We paid $49.95 for it.  We're both wondering how long we've owned it, as I know we would have to pay at least $125 to replace it.  We're both thinking it may have followed us from the house on McMeans.  That suggest that it may be almost 40 years old.  But, since we only use it 2-3 times a year, there is really no need to think about replacing it.

David has brought in his first tomatoes--pitifully small things that they are.  But they will likely produce a sandwich for each of us, and there is absolutely nothing to match a tomato sandwich made with warm fresh tomatoes.

But David is lurking around the kitchen.  Time to make waffles!

It's been awhile

 But I'm still here.  Not a lot of activity.  Friday I had an appointment out in Selkirk, and then we headed to the local casino.  Mainly as we had been told that we would be able to get our refund on concert tickets, but also to look around and check what changes had been made.  Again, there was no way to get the concert tickets, as the system was still down.   And yes, there have been a lot of changes, but not nearly as many as there had been out in South Beach.  Many of our favourite machines were there, but in different places.  There is a quiet corner of the gaming floor, that we used to go mainly for a break from the noise, but there were a couple of machines there that we liked.  Well, the machines there, now, were some of our very favourite, including one that I had been very worried would have disappeared, as it is a very old machine.

So we decided to make it the birthday and anniversary outing we had long planned, and have a meal and a drink.   It was an excellent way to spend the day, and an outing we had discussed and looked forward to for several months.

But, we really haven't done much since.  It's been hot, and we've been staying indoors.  I'm much more sensitive to the heat than David, who had been cold since he started taking blood thinners.  Yesterday, we wondered if that heat might be causing my sloth, and David turned the a/c down 3 degrees.  I slept well last night and have been in much better shape ever since, actually getting back down into the studio today, and starting three distinctly different pieces.  I'm working slowly, and that suits me fine.

Otherwise we've seen no-one, and I haven't even talked to Gail for awhile, as she is participating in the market in association with the Icelandic Festival for the whole holiday weekend.  We've been watching the Olympics, and enjoying discussing the results and performances, as though we were experts in the topic.

And I can hear the tv calling me now, after a weird supper, but a satisfying one.