changeling67 | Reading

I got a call back from the nursing home around noon and they gave me a time to be there etc. I sat with 2 people - helping them see their bingo cards. The lady reminded me of my mom. Had some of the same gestures and the same kind of easy going attitude mom had after she had dementia. Puzzled by what's going on but still in a good mood. Trying her best to figure it all out. The other person was a guy who I have known about all my life but never met. He became paralyzed on his left side when he was building this house that we live in now. Fell off the roof and hit his head. This would have been around the time I was 5 or 6 years old. He actually had quite a successful life after that mainly using just his right arm and with a limp. Started his own woodworking cabinet business. Dave had been into his shop and knew him, had told me his story years ago. He was relating to me how recently he was holding (I think it was) a great, great grandbaby and how wonderful it was. I find these old folks impressive. They are still hanging in there - playing bingo, joking around with each other, doing the best they can with what they got.

These are pictures that I started with the splotchy paint and then Jordan and Roswell drew the lines later. Jordan's Fish (wow!) and Roswell's Bubbles.

On Sunday Jules (he's tall) helped me hang the white curtain on the south side of the porch (it shields the porch from the summer afternoon sun) and put up a new string of rainbow flags.

Saw a weird thing when Dave and I were walking the dogs to the creek this evening. Just in one spot of the trail to the creek the grass had tiny drops of water on the very tips. They were shining with the evening sun backlighting them. But it was only in one spot of grass about 5' by 20'. Nowhere else. Very tiny drops. The water had to have oozed out of the tips somehow. Anyway, it was a pretty effect.

ONE:

and TWO:

Have a blessed one!

Current Mood: sick
Current Location: home
Current Music: soundtrack

Panel of 12.

I was up at 3 am. Couldn't sleep. Did the dishes. Ate breakfast (hard boiled egg and lime corn chips). Finished drawing on a couple pictures. I like doing these simple little squares. Trying out some new patterns. When the sun came up I did chores and then went back to bed. Now I'm up again.

I'm having poor communication with the SugarCreek nursing home about volunteering there. It's very up in the air. I'm not sure if they are actually interested in me being there or are they just so chill that there is no orientation and maybe I'm just supposed to show up whenever I want? I don't know what's going on. I'll have to call later today to find out but I had hoped they would have contacted me before this. I put in the application 12 days ago.

More abstract patterns.

Painted a lot of little quick pictures today. I did these 3 early in the morning before I went hiking with Candy. I'm enjoying the way watercolor (gouache) moves around on actual cotton watercolor paper.

This afternoon - more, but in the style of little panels now.

Candy and I hiked up on Black Gum Hill at Two Mile this morning. I imagined it might be breezy up there and not so hot. It was still hot but not unbearable. After lunch Dave and I drove to Clarion to the courthouse so we could sign some clean and green papers with his partner and his partner's wife. I was so tired that I yawned the whole time. Came home from that, took a quick nap and then a short walk down back with the dogs. There was thunder in the distance so I came in and painted. It's raining presently.

ONE:

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amdTWO:

have a great one!

Current Mood: hopeful
Current Location: home
Current Music: Popcorn In Bed

Trying a new variant. I'm dividing the 5" by 7" watercolor paper into smaller squares for these.

Last night I asked Jules, Roswell, Jordan and Candy to try doodling on some as a preview for me of what it'll be like at the BHU on Wednesday and they were game. Though Jordan and Ros took theirs home to finish. They needed to leave early so Roswell could go home and take his meds. Jordan even asked for a couple extra because she liked doing it so much. Yay.

Jules' "Weird Landscape" and Candy's "Me and Bill".

Hiking today. Need to get going...

once upon a time I released an episode sooo many were waiting for, and I kept getting notifcations for like clicks because no one could say anything and have it reach me so I opted for a response to that with this image and expressing "Am I bad? Ohhhhhh Yeah!" ;) I just wanted to post the picture because I still find it hilarious!

Current Mood: geeky
Current Location: Memory Lane
Current Music: soundtrack

found a new theme! and

TWO:

Current Mood: hopeful
Current Location: Memory Lane
Current Music: soundtrack

Elizabeth Von Arnim "The Enchanted April" (Penguin Modern Classics)

In this story, set in 1922, Mrs. Lottie Wilkins and Mrs. Rose Arbuthnot become disenchanted with their husbands. Acting as feminists for their time, they plan to spend the month of April away from men at a castle named San Salvatore on the Italian Riviera. They advertise and then invite Lady Caroline “Scrap” Dester and Mrs. Fisher to share expenses. They aren’t there long when the beauty of San Salvatore so overcomes Lottie Wilkins that she decides to invite her husband to join them.

Mellersh Wilkins, Lottie’s husband, arrives and immediately sees that meeting the people who are sharing the castle with his wife can be good for his business as an attorney. He is thrilled about this enterprising opportunity, and Lottie perceives that Mellersh appreciates her more than he had been, and her marriage becomes more fulfilling. Lottie, described as blessedly impetuous, tries to convince Mrs. Arbuthnot to invite her husband. However, Mrs. Fisher and Lady Caroline, who are not using the getaway to escape husbands, are less than enthralled with the anticipation of having more men among them.

Each woman’s unique reason for being at San Salvatore is part of this classic novel. Each didn't fully understand her unhappiness. But, each becomes enchanted with the grounds of their vacation rental and begins to view her life situation a little differently. The story intrigued me; I thought about how much has changed for women over the last 100 years and how much hasn’t. We are still debating whether the men in their lives should define women.

Additionally, societal’s expectations and views of women have changed, but perhaps not as significantly as many would believe. Elizabeth von Arnim encourages us to examine the completeness and complexities of women’s lives even in these modern times. She also teases us to wonder whether the four women were truly rejuvenated and refreshed by their enchanted Aril or whether they just accepted their lives or “settled” for what life offered.

Michael Wilcox "Outlines : Benjamin Britten" (Absolute Press)

Mr Wilcox bases his entire rational of Britten's operas upon the man's homosexuality and "liking for young boys" (a charge brought, as far as I can tell, by only one biographer of Britten).

Naturally, one's sexual orientation is going to influence any creative output, and Michael Wilcox does have some interesting insights into Britten's operas but, to concentrate upon only one issue does limit the scope. Mr Wilcox sites the fact that, in one opera, God is played by a male singer as proof of his theory: in the 1950's, and early 1960's, to suggest anything other than God being male would have been greeted with complete derision.

The fact that Britten liked to be surrounded by youngsters is again sited as proof that he was a closet paedophile. This may be so, but surely, without much more proof, this is simply the sign of a kindly man who, because of his sexual proclivities, is not going to become a father. I am not expert enough to judge which reading is the truth; I am concerned by a modern attitude of throwing mud at someone with no evidence and then, even if the judgement is proven to be flawed, the person is left with a certain taint of guilt.

I find it hard to understand Mr Wilcox's admiration of Britten, he does not paint a picture of a nice or a particularly proficient musician and, if the work is supposed to "out" Britten and, by so doing, enhance the position of homosexuals in society, then it is a massive failure. The casual acceptance that homosexuality and paedophilia go hand in hand, is, I would have thought, grossly offensive to the majority of homosexuals.

Not a book that I would recommend anyone to rush to add to their library

Yesterday afternoon we took the dogs for a walk down back and afterwards I set up for painting on the picnic table by the creek. Something about seeing that rainbow of a paintbox always makes me happy.

IMG_20250705_191433157[1].jpg

3 backgrounds using the *very wet* cardstock method.

I'm Giving It All I Got. Finished yesterday.

Going shopping with Jules this morning, then finishing the house cleaning. Sunday dinner later. It's 70F right now (6 am) and it's supposed to go up to 90F later. Dave's going to clean up the back porch and then I'm going to hang the summertime sunblock curtain up on the south side. I have a new string of rainbow flags that I want to hang. It'll probably be too hot to sit out there for the cookout but it'll look nice anyway.

The fairy light string that I have hanging around the edges of the ceiling in my room have developed a flicker so I had to unplug them this morning. They've been up there and on constantly since 2013. I'm sad to see them go.

Dalmatians are known for working for firefighters for their role as firefighting apparatus escorts and firehouse mascots. Since Dalmatians and horses are very compatible, the dogs were easily trained to run in front of the carriages to help clear a path and quickly guide the horses and firefighters to the fires.[38] Dalmatians would also alert the drivers of any upcoming dangers during carriage rides

hopefully this will be easy to find when I need it...

Current Mood: sick
Current Location: Memory Lane
Current Music: soundtrack

Card stock. Tried something different this morning. Sprayed it down good and had it saturated with water before I put any paint to it. I scribbled with watercolor pencils on a couple and then painted with gouache. Then I sprayed them with water again. Very wet stuff going on. Tomorrow when I get the watercolor paper that I ordered I can start to use that instead of this cardstock. That will be a whole new adventure of learning. I don't think I have ever spent so many days painting so loosely. It's very addictive because it's so easy and quick and it's not meant to look like anything. Backgrounds. How easy can you get?

Today is my cleaning day of the week - vacuuming and sweeping. And I want to boil potatoes ahead of time for tomorrow's potato salad and bake a frozen pie too. Onward to that...

ONE:

and TWO:

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Have a good one! (theme was a bookie one...)

Current Mood: sick
Current Location: Memory Lane
Current Music: soundtrack

They Have Stars Upon Thars.

A quiet day here. I sat outside this afternoon (perfect summer weather) in the adirondack chair beside the young chickens and drew on this picture. A little chipmunk was running around finding sunflower seeds that the big chickens had overlooked. Chloe sent me a photo of two eggs that her chickens had laid this morning - a smallish egg and a normal sized egg. Her chickens are the same age as my young chickens but hers somehow seem to be a bit more mature. Maybe it's the extra love and attention that she gives them. I don't really fuss over my chickens. She's out there holding them, petting them and carrying hers around. I haven't done that. Maybe that extra love helped hers mature faster?

Three more - on cardstock. I think I should stop painting on cardstock and wait till Sunday when I'll get actual watercolor paper to paint on. It's hard to stop though.

ONE:

and TWO:

Happy I day, take care...

Current Mood: sick
Current Location: home
Current Music: soundtrack

This morning's batch. These are on cardstock with gouache paint.

I tried this one with gouache on cold pressed watercolor paper and it has a lot more interesting stuff going on in the wet areas. It almost looks like it could be "done" but I'm still going to use a pen on it and make details and patterns. I like how the paint had a chance to spread and move around on the watercolor paper. Card stock is too absorbent. I might have to get more watercolor paper and switch over to using it for all the more millions of QuickPaint cards I'm planning to do.

I'm kind of anxious about leading an activity. Since Chloe does Paint and Sip kind of stuff all the time I called and asked her if she had any tips in leading a group art project. One thing she said I thought was very helpful: If you see someone struggling or stuck then ask them how they feel about their piece and talk about that.

The weather has changed. Cool nights now. Sunny dry days. The humidity has gone down. It is wonderful right now.

They found out that Roswell had anaplasmosis. It's carried by ticks like lyme is. The same antibiotic is used to treat it.

Hi I am very tired.

Give a listen to Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff's entire last few weeks, which has been about the alter-globalization movement, but especially to this week's episodes, "Bread and Puppet: The Dawn of Giant Protest Puppets." (Part I | Part II). This is one of my special interests, stemming from how I used to teach at a puppetry camp, and I've actually been lucky enough to visit Bread and Puppet in Vermont on a road trip, albeit not quite lucky enough to see one of their shows. I am always in favour of more theatricality in activism and these episodes trace the evolution of one particular brand of theatricality that I'm especially a fan of.

I bet you will be surprised to learn that the personal stories of the two founders of the theatre are also especially interesting. Also, since Jamie Loftus is the guest, there is a tragic hot dog connection.

I went to another new store. It’s odd in that there are 3 different hardware stores situated next door to each other. This one specializes in animal feed; I wasn’t there for that but for garden soil. I couldn’t figure out their system. It seemed to involve getting a ticket and going somewhere around the corner to pick up the package. But there were no instructions or floor workers to ask. So I went back to reliable Jerry’s where I knew where things lived. The weird thing about Jerry’s is that they stop stocking bedding plants by the end of June. One big sale and then empty shelves.

It’s been hot here off and on; the heat index is always about 10 degrees higher than the temperature. So, hot.

Agents of Shield is a lot to take as a binge. The writers are working through a lot of trust issues that they probably should see somebody about. Every story involves betrayal. Can’t trust nobody. Also, aliens are interesting; nazis are not. Kyle Maclachlan is having the time of his life actIng out as Crazy Dad. Bust that furniture!

I just read actor Kenneth Colley died. I was a fan of his since I saw him in Pennies from Heaven on tv in the 70s. Always a welcome sight in any tv show or movie.

I am deep into painting lots of 8" by 5" cards with quick and simple color splotches on them for "reverse coloring". Here's the latest batch that I painted this morning on the picnic table by the creek.

This reverse coloring thing is something that I've been doing all along, but now it has a new name. I just called it doodling over a background.

I painted these last night.

Here's one of the ones that I painted yesterday afternoon. I finished it (doodled on it) this morning with plain old black ball point pen.

Rossy is supposed to get out of the hospital today.

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Page generated Jul. 9th, 2025 05:10 am

Sub Rosa

"All this talk of blood and slaying has put me off my tea"

Reading

tuesday later

8 July 2025 Tuesday

tuesday

monday later

7 July 2025 Monday

monday

(no subject)

6 July 2025 Sunday (wishing for Sundae)

Book 26 - Elizabeth Von Arnim "The Enchanted April"

Book 25 - Michael Wilcox "Outlines : Benjamin Britten"

sunday

(extra) Dalmatians, so I don't forget...

saturday

5 July 2025 Saturday

friday later

4 July 2025 Friday

friday

podcast friday

(no subject)

thursday

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February 2021

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