a hint of the possibility of fall, two more, object #9

The flowering senna across the street at Pam’s house. It definitely has not minded the dry weather. I think I’ve watered it only a couple of times all summer.

Monday and Tuesday have been so refreshing and this morning also. In the 70s when I got up Monday, in the 60s when I got up Tuesday, highs in the 80s, blue sky days with no humidity, AC is off and doors are open until it starts to warm up with highs back in the 90s. 

I made gumbo last night because I wanted to use up the last of the okra I bought from the guy at the Easy Lube that sells it from his garden, also I like to have fish at least once a week so I put catfish and shrimp in it. I’m not great at gumbo but this was probably the best so far, not that it was great, so I guess I’m getting better. And no I do not make my own roux, I use instant, just add water. Friday I plan on stuffed shells. 

I took advantage of the cooler weather this morning and pulled up all the zinnias. It’s been so dry I couldn’t keep them watered and just quit trying last week and besides they were at the end of their ability to produce flowers anyway.

Two more cards. I’m starting to wind down on this project though I think I still have a few more in me and then I want to start on a new colored pencil drawing for a friend.

I have no desire to comment on the continuing fuckery of this administration today.

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My Life In 100 Objects - #9

Objects really. Favorite items of clothing. I wear them until they are rags and still wear them until every time I do family members are all ‘I can’t believe you are wearing that ragged thing’. The previous favorite was a lightweight green long sleeved pullover shirt that I bought on the marked down several times rack for $1.99. It was surprisingly warm for its weight and also the first long sleeved shirt I would pull out when the weather finally turned cool enough. I wore that thing until the front was almost in shreds and only reluctantly threw it away. My current favorite item is a purple plaid flannel shirt with western style yokes front and back and pearl snaps. 

It had a big tear in the front that I mended years ago and now the elbow on the right sleeve is torn out and a spot on the left sleeve has opened up to a small hole, destined to get bigger and bigger. It’s gotten to the point where I probably won’t wear it out in public anymore but I’ll definitely still wear it in the house and in the yard.

 

more art cards and Object #8

I suppose I’m due for a post since it’s been a week. What have I been doing all week? Just the usual; yoga class, SHARE, dinner on my two nights, errands around town. The AC is out on the car again so it’s been hot going anywhere. 

I got the two little watercolors framed. The small frames were just too tight, too crowded. 

The larger frames I had bought I discarded because the opening in the mats were smaller than the paintings. So I changed my mind again and used them after all, cutting the mats to make a larger opening. I took the zucchini painting to Hesed House on Friday but had to have a new mat for the pomegranate cut at the frame shop here because I cut the one that came with the frame too big. So here’s how the pomegranate looks in its new frame (the zucchini flower/fruit looks similar, just in a rectangular frame). Much better.

And I’ve done 3 more of the watercolor note cards and am almost finished with a fourth so I guess that’s what I’ve been doing this week.

Speaking of note cards, I got my first check from the Market at Hesed House. They sold three packs of the note cards of my colored pencil drawings. They also sold one of the framed prints but I guess it will be on next month’s check. 

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My Life In 100 Objects - #8

The staghorn fern.

After my father retired he acquired a small staghorn fern and turned his interest to some plants, gardening, but not gardening like flower beds and all that, just certain plants. Roses, the staghorn fern, plumerias. The staghorn multiplied and multiplied and multiplied until it was a huge ball, so heavy it could not be moved and he had a structure that he hung it on. After he died my sister acquired it. At some point she cut it up, gave away parts of it, kept some, and gave me one of the individual ferns. I had an old wire hanging basket, got one of those coconut fiber liners and put the fern in the basket and hung it under the magnolia tree, bringing it in every winter. That was, I don’t even remember, eight years ago? Maybe. Maybe more, maybe less. It was finally too heavy for me to lift and carry in and out last fall so now my grandson moves it in and out for me. 

I did not have a good relationship with either of my parents for different reasons. There were several years in my 20s when I refused to get a phone for the simple reason that then they couldn’t contact me. This isn’t the place to go into the history of my relationships with with my parents but my father had a stroke when I was in my early 30s and it changed his personality. He was forced to retire and he sort of disappeared into himself. When he emerged again about a decade later we began to have a more cordial relationship. Anyway, having this stag horn is a small connection to the short time when we weren’t always at odds. Few things make me think of him but this is one, every time I walk past it.

still hot but changes in progress, annoyed Cat, more cards, and maybe a ray of hope

I’m happy to report my reaction to the second shingles shot was minimal. I woke up about 4 AM the next morning feeling achy and a little chill. Not having chills but I turned the fan down from high to medium, took some ibuprofen and I’m fine today (Saturday) though I do have a red and sore area on my arm in the vicinity of the injection site. The All Knowing Oracle tells me this is a common reaction.

Things are happening that denote the start of the changing season even if our highs are still in the 90s albeit the low 90s. Of course the ‘real feel’ temp is always over 10 degrees hotter. The tallow trees have been dropping leaves for a couple of weeks now, 

I noticed last week that the snow-on-the-prairie was blooming with it’s tiny flowers and white leaves, bloom plumes are emerging from the clumps of pampas grass, 

the beauty berries are purple, foliage all around is looking tired, and it’s dark by 8:30. Yesterday (Sunday) and today, a bit less hot staying in the high 80s but will zoom up high 90s this week before dropping back to low 90s. Still, it’s September and the summer did not seem to drag on. I don’t think we had an actual temp in the triple digits this summer.

Cat always wants out in the morning and back in by noon or earlier and then spends the rest of the day inside. This morning (Saturday) I let her out as usual and as usual when I venture out after breakfast and emerge from the garage she runs up to me from the deck in the front where she spends her outdoor time and I let her in. This morning I didn’t pause waiting for her but went straight to the backyard looking things over when I heard her meow at me from the driveway. Instead of going and letting her in right away I continued my meander around the yard and when I was over by the zinnias she came running towards me and let out this long indignant howl and when I looked at her she ran back to the garage. Hey bitch get your butt over here and let me in.

I’ve done three more cards but I’m starting to get carried away. The azalea took way too long and is too big, well it’s not too big just too big for the purpose of these cards which is why it took so long plus I kept making adjustments to the colors (not to mention I painted the wrong side of the card). The point of these cards is to minimize my time investment, small fairly simple designs, two hours or less. The black eyed susans took a little over an hour so I’ve decided to keep the azalea, send it to one of my friends. I’ve done seven so far. If I do at least two a week I’ll have them all done for the little expanded market day. It’s more likely I’ll only get 15 or 20 done by then.

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There’s been some question the past few days about whether or not Trump had died or was whisked away to the mini hospital in the basement of the White House, if he had had a stroke or heart failure because he had not been seen for about five days. Being the media hog that he is who loves nothing more than to talk about himself to the press and air his grievances while claiming to be the best at everything this is highly unusual. Finally a pictured appeared Sunday of Trump leaving the White House for one of his golf clubs, of course since that’s all he does except for when they hand him more EOs to sign or he’s indulging in one of his cabinet ass kissing sessions. Looked pretty bad as he ignored the press. No telling what’s going on and the White House certainly won’t tell us the truth but if he is getting more incapacitated people are starting to speculate on what a JD Vance take over would be like. Some people think it will be worse because Vance is smarter than Trump and I thought so too at one point. Now, though, I’m thinking maybe the whole MAGA movement might unravel quickly. MAGA is a cult of personality, without Trump, there is no cult. Vance may be smarter but he is also unlikeable, has no people skills, no charisma, has basically been side-lined since the election; he may be a willing puppet but I don’t see him inheriting Trump’s following. I think maybe that while Trump’s core refuses to blame Trump for the deteriorating conditions in this country they will have no problem blaming Vance. And with Trump gone, so will be his hold on congressional republicans, at least the more moderate ones, and we might start seeing some push back from them. One would hope anyway. It’s one ray and I think I’ll hold onto that for now.

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A few random photos:  I noticed this spiral of green lacewing eggs,

Another praying mantis, this one on my sister’s Mexican bird of paradise (pride of Barbados),

which is still in full bloom. She has a different variety than mine. Her's comes out later and fuller, blooms earlier than mine and blooms longer. Mine is already done blooming.

general life and three more

Tuesday’s sky.

We did finally get some rain Tuesday, about an inch and a half, but need more. And speaking of rain, my pecan crop is going to be a disaster this year. All that rain we had earlier in the summer caused the developing pecans, of which there were many, to get some kind of mildew or fungal disease because they never got a chance to dry out. Some are worse than others like these. I asked my retired farmer friend what that meant for the pecans. He said it meant they were rotten inside. Sigh.

As mentioned the blank watercolor note cards came and I’ve been having fun using the watercolor pencils and crayons. I have a vast trove of drawings of flowers, plants, birds and other critters from my decades of etched glass and pate de verre. I’m wanting to limit my time investment in these little paintings so I’m using things I’ve already drawn. Just have to transfer the drawing to the card, color them in and add a little water. I did two more Wednesday and another on Thursday after I got home from SHARE. 

We got our second shingles shot today. My PCP explained why the first shot is a breeze and the second shot knocks you on your butt for a day. The first shot you have no antibodies and it creates about 75% protection. The second shot, now you have antibodies and they are doing their job which is why people get side effects. After the second shot we get about 95% protection from shingles so be prepared to feel bad for a day.

So that was on the agenda for today but yesterday, when I went over to feed the cats I got the long handled nippers out and did some pruning on the trees and grape vines in the back because Joe was coming Monday to mow over there and that shit was hanging down almost to the ground. And while I was at it I cut some of the low branches off one of the catalpa trees that were hanging on the little front porch of the house and then some of the long rose canes from the arbor and left all that on the ground to deal with later. Paisleigh and her dad were over at the shop and so she trailed around behind me to help telling me many times “because I’m good at that”. Yes you are, I told her, you’re good at many things. And then I discovered that my readers had fallen out of my pocket at some point and although I searched around every area I worked I did not find them. Poot.

This morning Joe called me at 8 AM to say he could come on Sunday as he was going to be out of town on Monday (oh, yeah, holiday). I told him just anytime today or tomorrow at his convenience so he’s coming today because, he reminded me, it’s supposed to rain this afternoon and maybe even the next two or three days. Perhaps this morning so after I fed the cat, fed the dog, fed the birds, took my pills I had to get over there and pick up all the stuff from yesterday and lug it to the burn pile and wind up the hose so he could mow. Getting hot and sweaty first thing is not how I like to start my day. 

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And because Trump is a resentful needy little grievance baby, he has revoked Kamala Harris’ continued Secret Service protection today, the day before her (best selling) book tour starts, protection afforded to all past Vice Presidents. I have nothing to say about the shooting in Minnesota. Once again nothing but thoughts and prayers from republicans even though those kids were praying when they got shot and their god did nothing. But you know, for republicans it’s never the guns but mental health while they cut funding for mental health and continue to let disturbed individuals buy all the fucking guns they want. This is a sick country led by the sickest of individuals. No citizen needs an AR-15 for protection. They aren’t good for that. Their only purpose is to kill as many people as possible as fast as possible.
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I hate to end on this so here’s a picture of flowers on the white orchid tree/shrub in front of Pam’s house.

a few accomplishments

Wednesday night when we were heading to bed, our 2 year old (we think, can’t remember exactly when we bought it but not that long ago) TV would not switch back to TV from streaming and then wouldn’t turn off. Buttons on the remote either didn’t work or got squirrelly. Replacing the batteries had no effect. Marc managed to turn it off by pushing actual buttons on the TV. It did not self heal Thursday or by Friday morning. Friday we were going to drive to the electronics store but rain was threatened all day and we didn’t want to get caught on the highway in the rain. So Walmart it was. We have a small TV, 32”, the biggest that will fit in the cabinet/shelving unit. We have a small living room and art on the walls and don’t want to have to rearrange the wall, move the art, to accommodate a big screen. Also we don’t want a TV to dominate the room. All the TVs at Walmart are big. We did find a 32” Walmart brand smart ROKU (we have a fire stick) set tucked in a foyer like area to the employee break room/bathroom? for cheap. Yeah, no and we left but not before we looked at the printers which I need one of but also did not buy one of those.

At home Marc looked at TVs on Amazon and bought one and Saturday I searched for the best inkjet printers for home in a price range I was willing to pay and compared several and bought one, also on Amazon. I know, evil empire but that’s our choice out here, one evil empire or another unless we want to take a road trip to the outskirts of the city. Don’t judge us. The new TV and printer both arrived Sunday and while Marc got the TV hooked up and functioning we put off hooking up the printer until today. Figured one frustrating tech job a day was enough. Turned out getting the printer hooked up was pretty much a breeze, the instructions were clear and easy to follow. 

In other accomplishments, my blank watercolor note cards came today and I’m going to do a series of quick little paintings with watercolor pencils and scribble sticks planning on a loose not fussy style. The point is to not spend a lot of time on them. Hesed House is planning to do an expanded market day with not just their vendors in the store but inviting other local artists to set up a booth or table so I want to have more stuff. It’s going to be the weekend before Thanksgiving. Here’s the first one, the card is 4" x 6" folded, the other woodland violet I had drawn. This one was done with the watercolor pencils.

I finally got the two watercolors, the pomegranate and zucchini, framed. I bought the concrete adhesive and glued the two halves of the birdbath pedestal together. 

A little front blew in Friday and Saturday was less horrible, only got into the high 80s with a pleasant little breeze, and I decided I would get the trimmer out and go around all the flowerbeds but by the time I got out there my enthusiasm had waned so I went around cutting down all the stubborn hackberry and pecan tree sprouts (eventually they will die) and did some weeding so I didn’t entirely waste the good day. And then early evening we got a visit from our daughter Sarah and great granddaughter Paisleigh. They had been out shopping and Paisleigh showed off her new sparkly shoes.

I had my 6 month primary care visit today and didn’t forget this time. No significant changes, I’m holding steady.

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Trump is continuing his power grab today, issued an EO for national guard units in each state to be ready to "assist Federal, State, and local law enforcement in quelling civil disturbances.”, in other words any gathering protesting Trump and his policies. He won’t tolerate another No King’s Day, peaceful or not, laying the foundation for turning our Armed Forces against the American people saying “A lot of people are saying, ‘Maybe we’d like a dictator,’”.

No DonOld, no one is saying that but you.

more art stuff, apparently I've been discovered, and cats and interlopers

Went outside about two of clock yesterday and could hear the distinctive call of a kite so I walked out from under the big oak where I could get a view of the sky and maybe see the kite. It was there chasing after one of our resident red shouldered hawks. They circled around lazily, the hawk didn’t seem concerned but the kite was definitely following behind calling out and then they finally flew off out of sight. Didn’t have my phone with me but probably wouldn’t have been able to get a picture anyway. I imagine the kite was protecting a nest.

I solved the question of what to do next by getting out the water color pencils that came with a larger art materials set, a birthday gift from my sister in law, and the scribble sticks (water soluble pigments) that my friend Delores sent me that she wasn’t using. I just dabbled with them to see what they did at first and then did two little drawings. This one with the pencils

and this one with the scribble sticks.

Not sure what I’m going to do with them but a friend ordered some blank watercolor note cards that she did little paintings on so I think I’ll order some and play with the pencils and sticks before I think about whether or not I want to try a serious painting with them.

We’re getting a little rain right now and the dog is her usual neurotic mess. I told her to calm down, it was just a little rain, no lightning, no thunder. No sooner were the words out of my mouth than thunder rolled through. Thanks, powers that be.

I had quite a surprise today. I average about 250 - 300 page views per post some get more than that, some less. The last 6 posts bar the very last one averaged 273. When I checked my blog dashboard after I got home from SHARE this afternoon the last post had 695 (and counting) page views! The only thing I can figure is the ‘weird aging’ in the title somehow aligned with a search topic cause I’m pretty sure ’art stuff’ and ‘flowers’ are fairly benign. Most by far were referrals from google but there were several hundred from domains I have no idea what they are.  Almost 700 page views is a lot but it doesn’t come close to the number I got when I published my post of “S is for…sex” when I was going the alphabet posts. Anyway, that one got me flagged as porn for awhile because the illustrating picture is a very graphic representation (in my defense it’s a picture of a Hindu sculpture on a temple and so qualifies as art imo) and I got thousands of hits mostly from the middle east and eastern Europe.

I have noticed recently that when I go over to feed the kitties the dishes are all knocked over, like are you guys having a party or what?  Lovey and Twin,

Handsome Boy.

Robin sent me a short video yesterday. She went out and startled three little juvenile raccoons polishing off the rest of the cat food that hadn’t got eaten. She shot a video of them escaping over the fence into the neighbor’s yard. 

Latest count of views for the last post…759. I wish I knew what caused this.