Summer Winding Down

So, recently, it was my mom's 80th birthday.  We had a party for her.  Luckily, the weather was nice so people could be inside or outside depending on their preference.  We got her roses.

Been really tired today.  Did some laundry.  Our dryer broke, so my brother strung up a line in the garage.  I'm drying my stuff on the shower rod in my bathroom.  I watched Season 3:  Disc 1 of Project Runway this afternoon, the first two episodes.  Looks like there are a lot of egos this particular season. 

I started journaling in a journal, with colored pens, photos and collage.  I'm doing regular journaling, plus using prompts from two journaling books.  My practices are 1. to note the weather and temperature every day, plus any nature observations and 2. to draw a Tarot card daily and write it down plus the interpretation and if it relates to my life that day.  So far I love doing this journal!  It's my creative outlet for the moment, since I can't seem to buckle down to do crafts and writing right now.

Grad School news:  we are getting a new school catalog at the end of August and there will be some new programs and degrees.  I'm thinking I might switch programs, if allowed.  We'll see!  I'm not starting up again until Fall Semester, not sure the date that starts yet.

Critics

We (me and my family) are talking about restaurant reviews on Yelp and memorable meals, both good and bad.  We are talking about stores now.  My brother has had a few drinks and is very talkative.  This is unusual, not the talkative, but the drinks.  He drinks beer once in awhile, but that's it. 

Mom is trying to read now.  Good luck with that, Mom!

I fixed the barbeque chicken for dinner tonight.  It turned out good.  We had baked beans, coleslaw and stuffing.

I've been doing a 5 day "boot camp" for writers on Facebook.  It's really exciting, but I didn't write tonight.  Too much going on around the house.  Too much talking.  I guess I'd like a Friday night off, even if I'm not going out or anything.

My friend, J., decided not to go to the county fair with me tomorrow.  That's OK by me.  I'm a little disappointed.  I just wanted to get out of town for awhile.  She's just going to come over to visit.  I'll show her the new fabric I got in the mail and what I'm doing with embroidering my white summer jacket.  I won't finish it this summer, that's OK, just started it.

I have a headache tonight, plus I was very gassy all day, to the point of being uncomfortable.  Just burping and farting, not fit for human consumption.  :)  So, not the greatest day.  My friend K. has a cold and got food poisoning.  She sent me an email, but didn't reply to my reply.  I hope she's OK.

All for now.  AW

Early August

I had a party last week, but the guests of honor couldn't make it, M. had a sciatica attack, and E. took her to the ER.  J. and her boyfriend, W., showed up though.  I made chicken tacos for dinner and we had chips for an appetizer and pineapple cake for dessert.  It went well.

Then, the other day, we went over to the next lot for hamburgers, hot dogs, cake and pie with J. and S. our Canadian sometime-neighbors.  They bring their motor home down a few times a year to O.S.  That also went very well.

I haven't been doing much crafting lately, although I have been writing some.  I ordered 6 yards of batik (3 different ones) from Marshall Dry Goods.  I would like to make a couple skirts from my two favorite ones.  Here's one of the fabrics:

I've been making soup out of a soup cookbook;  this is my 10% project.  I'm making 10% of the recipes which works out to be about 18 recipes.  I only have four or five left to make.  I'll probably have to buy the ingredients for the next soup recipe.  Here is the cookbook I'm working from:

August is traditionally my play month, so I'm hoping to have fun this month.  We'll see!  I have writing goals this month, so there's going to be work involved too.

All for now!  AW

End of July

It feels like summer is winding down, in the low 60s here.  Wait!  There's a whole nother month of summer.  August is usually my play month.  This August I plan to write some flash fiction, even though I feel not up to the task.  I need more self-confidence, which I can only get by doing...

Here's the bib I finished for Little S.~

Here is the scarf I'm making for his mother...

Not a lot going on.  Well, that's not strictly true.  Change is afoot in my life, hopefully for the better, like The Wheel card.  I'm also thinking of doing something with my Rune poems, which I've finished, but have yet to compile into a book.  This is major, as I've been pretending I didn't have that project on the shelf.  Not to mention my other personal writing projects. 

All for now!  AW

Summertime

I made a little progress this week, made a bib for K.'s baby boy.  Will post a photo later.  Here is the apron I made with the flower embroidery, wore it tonight to fry eggs.

Here is my progress on the cross-stitch.  I've been avoiding doing it because I'm on one of the harder parts.  I made a few mistakes, but I'm plowing on.

Me and my brother, C., went to town today and went shopping.  It went pretty well.  I got supplies for a dinner party I'm hosting and doing the cooking for mid-week.  M. and E. and J. and her boyfriend are coming over.  I love using initials!  It's so funny to me.  Or at least I hope they are.  They've had us over twice so far.  It's our turn.  Mom has no say in this because she is not helping with the groceries although she is donating a bottle of wine. 

I'm pretty happy today.  My friend, J., is in Seattle with her son today.  They are going to the waterfront and the Aquarium.  I'm kind of jealous actually.  I haven't been to Seattle since last Spring and that was just the airport, Sea-Tac, which hardly counts. 

I'm going to start a crochet project tomorrow.  The starting is the hardest part, especially with crochet.  I'm making a scarf for my friend, K.  It's going to be red yarn and darker red yarn, 2 separate strands, crocheted together.  The green one I made turned out beautifully, so did the purple one.  I have to make sure the colors are a little different; it's harder to crochet when the 2 colors are really close together.

I might start a sewing project this week, napkins.  I'm not real sure what I'm doing this week, so I'll have to see.

All for now ~ AW

Halfway through 2013

I quit blogging last year except for the group blog (grog), the Poetic Muselings blog: http://poetic-muselings.net/

I'm ready to start up again.  This is "writing therapy" and is mostly for me.  If you get something out of it, feel free to comment. 

So, what have I been doing?  Very little for graduate school.  I took a leave of absence this Spring/Summer because my family was going through a v. rocky time.  I plan to start up again in the Fall.  As you may or may not know I'm doing a "creative"  Interfaith Studies program.  I think K. is calling it Interreligious now, but I tell most people it's Comparative Religion because that's what they "get." 

I've been doing lots of crafting, taking photos, embroidering, crocheting, etc.  I took up sewing in January, bought a sewing machine, and I do love it, although I'm still nervous about sewing.  I made a skirt and two aprons so far.  Wowzers!

I did a poetry challenge in September and April.  I think I even tried in November but didn't make it all the way through on writing a poem a day.  Other than that my writing has kind of fizzled. I am doing Morning Pages almost every day, though usually not in the morning.  :)

I will be posting more often.

All for now ~ AW