A HAPPY DAY ...CONTINUED

For some reason the post above wouldn't let me blog so I am continuing the post here. I remember this day so well. I had signed up for a painting class at Chautauqua Lake. I drove myself the hour to the Lake and parked at Bemus Point. I sat watching the boats motor by while waiting for class to begine.  we set up on the patio of the Italian Fisherman restaurant. There were about six of us and the instructor. Whe led us step by step to paint water lilies with acrylics. I was pleased with how it turned out. I felt like a real artist that day. 

A HAPPY DAY

What am I doing?

Time to reflect...

What am I reading?

      When I was shopping at Target I came across a book about creativity. The Creative Act, A way of being. It has been very enlightening. It talks about how to be aware of all the things beyond yourself that you can harness to express your feelings. And how to not be self critical. It came at a good time for me since I am my worst critic. It is an overcast day and a good day to sit with a book.

What am I eating?

    Today was the day I my new dentures and since I have had implants this will be a great thing for me. Last July 8 I had my lower teeth extracted and began the process of having implants put in. There was a long period of healing from the extractions and an even longer time for the implant surgery to heal. Added to that was the process of making the apparatus. So finally it is in and I am adjusting to feeling something strange in my mouth. 

 

What am I watching?

    I just completed watching the Guilded Age on HBO. It was a delightful period piece which depicted the life of the upper class in New York City and all their complicated problems. 

 

What am I wearing?

    Every summer I buy some new tops and today it is an empire loose top of blue and green. I am wearing it with  blue crop pants. I have large blue earrings and a green and blue bracelet. My new criteria for buying clothes now is comfort. 

 

What am I doing?

    I am straightening up the house in anticipation of my son, his wife and her parents who are stopping by here on Friday on their way to their cottage in Canada. 

What brings me joy today?

    Just being able to read and relax is making me content today. I went to join my friends at coffee

this morning as I do every day, then a trip to the grocery store. This is an old picture from my archives.  

SUMMERTIME MEMORIES

There’s a certain sweetness to summertime memories—the way they live like old film reels, slightly faded at the edges but glowing with warmth.

 

 I miss my electric bike. To me it represented freedom and youth. When I rode it was as if I was twelve years old again. The wind would blow through my hair as I pedaled along quickly and I was exhilarated. I would load my heavy bike into the back of my van and drive to a riding location. My favorite ride was along the Allegany River on a walking path behind St. Bonaventure University. There is not way to describe how at in my seventies I felt competent to navigate that powerful bike. But somehow in a few years it became dangerous for me. My balance wasn't as good as it once was. It was heavy to lift. And I became afraid of falling and breaking a hip. It was a sad day when I decided (with my son's advice) to give it up. I mourned the loss for a long time. I began to feel old when I turned 80. The season of freedom was disappearing in many ways. Now I had to be careful when I walked not to trip and to be sure to lift my feet higher. I tired more easily and needed to sit down and rest more often. Even shopping, one of my favorite activities had to be limited. Now I am moving into a new stage of my life.

 “Suddenly being her age seemed great. She didn't have to look perfect. Hooray And think of all the senior discounts she had to look forward to not to mention Social Security Medicare and Medicaid. So what if she was afraid of getting old Big whoopdedoowho wasn't She wasn't alone everybody her age was in the same boat. She was going to relax and just let herself get older. Who cared if she wore twoinch heels instead of 3andahalf inch heels her feet hurt and not only that she was going to have a piec eof cake once in a while and she wasn't going to go anywhere she didn't feel like going anymore either. Bring on the Depends And the bunion pads and the Metamucil. And if she liked pretty music and old movies so what She wasn't hurting anyone.

Hazel had always said "If you're still breathing you're ahead of the game." And she'd been right. Life itself was something to look forward to and so for whatever time she had left she was going to enjoy every minute wrinkles and all. What a concept”
― Fannie Flagg, I Still Dream About You

It’s always fun when I visit my son Chris and his wife Wendy but it was extra special this week when my son Ryan and his family from Tennessee came up too. 

We love spending time together and played games, sat around the pool, went to a movie and ate at Olive Garden

Spring time

Springtime is finally arrived. It isn’t a glorious?

It was just right for a walk on the University of Pittsburgh Trail. It’s so good to see the leaves are coming out on the bushes. And the blossoms on the trees.

I love getting out spring decorations. The painting in the background is a gift for my sister Diane.

Reese is enjoying the nice weather.

Painting

Even though I don’t feel well and just got out of the hospital I painted to cheer me up. 

Resuming

Isn’t this amazing. My oldest grandson Dan and his wife Gretchen are having so many adventures worldwide. This time on a glacier in Argentina. I am so happy that they have chosen to live life to the fullest. Dan has gone from a shy teenager to hang gliding, hiking, and traveling all over the world. 

I love to travel but being from a very small town it was not part of my early life. Each summer we would travel from Pennsylvania to Georgia to visit relatives. We took our kids to various out of state amusement parks. I never traveled much until my Danish friend asked me to go to see her relatives. After that I went to France and Germany with my sister and Provence With my friend. There is nothing I like better than seeing new things and having adventures. 

My oldest son Chris is a homebody but through work he has traveled to Switzerland five times, Germany and China. But he would have rather stayed right at home. 

Do you like to travel?  What’s the most interesting place you’ve been?

What am I doing?

What am I reading?..Liz Cheney’s new book Oath and Honor. 

It’s a gripping firsthand account from inside the halls of Congress as Donald Trump and his enabler’s betrayed the American people and the Constitution. The quote that had the most impact on me…. A free society that abandons the truth that abandons the rule of law cannot remain free.

What am I watching?    Various things on streaming..apple….Criminal Record. Prime…Press

YouTube..landscape artist of the year

What am I eating?  Made an apple tart the other day. 

What am I listening to?  While riding in the car I always listen to podcasts. This morning it was happier with Gretchen Rubin and her sister. I always try to get a little nugget of information. This morning it was there’s no good time to start a habit except now.

What am I wearing? Today since it’s so cold out I’m wearing my jeans with a sweatshirt. I was bundled up with a coat and a hat and gloves this morning as I went to coffee.

What am I looking forward to?  At the end of February I’m going to Lancaster to see a musical play about Simon and Garfunkel’s life.

What would I like to do more of? I’d like to get outside to walk. The weather’s below freezing so I don’t believe I will at the moment

What is the daily ritual that I do? Every morning I read one page from the Artist’s soul by Linda Coons. And every morning I read one essay by Sara Ban Breathnach in romancing the ordinary a year of simple splendor.

Where would I like to go? I’ve been longing to go to a bed and breakfast in a little quaint town.

Intentions

Reese is all cuddled up on this cold winter day on a warm blanket stretched out on my legs. I’ve already broken one of my intentions for 2024. I didn’t make resolutions instead I wrote out 24 intentions for the following year. they are just ideas of things that I would like to do in the coming months. I find now that I’m a little older that my ambition wanes. I am so much more content to not do anything and I am to become a go-getter. I just want to do things that please me.

One of the things I intended to do in 2024 is start blogging again. My blog is only a journal. I enjoys looking back and seeing things that went on in the past years. Especially when I made them into a print book.

     2023 was a disastrous year for me. Especially January. It was on 3 January years ago and I lost my best friend suddenly. Now with my husband gone celebrating our anniversary on 22 January will be completely different. And I am going to celebrate. I was lucky enough to have him so many years. 28 January was when he passed away. My life completely changed after that. I became the only person in the house after being a caretaker for a number of years. I had never lived alone so it was a difficult adjustment. I am looking forward to 2024 Been a much better year.

I also was in the emergency room three times in the autumn. Once from breathing in Raid another time I took a bad fall and cut my forehead open and had ten stitches. And the last time was for heart palpitations. 

Well….this happened

On Friday I decided to wash an 8 x 6’ rug outside. That went very well and when it was dry I rolled it up and carried it inside. I’ve been having trouble with my left hip with bursitis. I had a Cortizone shot in both hips but it wasn’t time to get another one yet. As I was carrying the rug in somehow I lost my balance and my left leg wasn’t strong enough to hold me up and I tipped forward and I tipped forward. unfortunately my whole body weight tipped me right into the sharp corner of my China closet. As soon as my head hit the corner I knew it was going to be bad and when I reached up and had blood who’s out my fingers I knew.  But when I looked in the mirror and saw the 5 inch cut from my forehead top to between my eyes which was deep and wide I knew it was really bad. I put ice and pressed on it as I called my friend Joan who came and picked me up and took me to the emergency room. Four hours later I came home after having a CAT scan and 10 stitches and 10 stitchesBut when I looked in the mirror and saw the 5 inch cut from my forehead top to between my eyes which was deep and wide I knew it was really bad. I put ice and pressed on it as I called my friend Joan who came and picked me up and took me to the emergency room. Four hours later I came home after having a CAT scan and 10 stitches.I’m going to have a very large scar right in the middle of my forehead. And my eyes are almost swollen shut. I look like a bad raccoon. I guess since I have 79 I need to learn my limitations.

Amazing

How lucky am I? This is Rose, my mother in law who celebrated her 101st birthday on Sunday. She is in amazing health and has a mind that is so sharp. She still plays cards daily with her family and lives at home under the care of her daughter. We are so fortunate to have her. 

Fall,beautiful fall

September is here and with it comes cold, crisp mornings where the air is so refreshing. As I drive by the location where West Branch school used to stand I see the young wannabe Josh Allens practicing their throws and hits. Now that its cooler people are out walking with their children or dogs along the trails. The leaves on the tops of some trees have felt the change and are showing a different color of leaf. 

  September has always been an exciting new adventure for me when I was teaching. I entered the classroom after a long summer break to the smell of newness.  Everything was fresh and clean. As I opened the supplies I ordered in the spring it was like Christmas as I anticipated how I would use these new materials. I prepared lesson in anticipation of a brand new class. It may be one of the few jobs where every year is a new start. I was the kind of teacher who never did things the same way year after year. I loved putting up the bulletin boards welcoming the students into the classroom.

      It’s a little different now. I retired from elementary teaching in 2006 and it is in the far distance of my memory. Put I still walk down the school supply isle in Walmart just to look at the notebooks and pens and markers. 

      Here are some pictures of my 2003 fall decorations.

Sunshine

This is what it’s like to have such a thoughtful sister-in-law. She knows I’m going through a rough patch and she gave me a box of goodies to cheer me up. They were all wrapped in yellow Tissue paper and all follow the yellow theme. She’s a very clever girl and I’m so appreciative. It came on a day when I was really having quite a bad time. Thank you charlotte. 

Like a flower

I feel like these flowers. There is a big beautiful sunflower reaching for the sun. This is the me that wants to shine, the happy me for the world to see.  The crumbled sunflower is the me inside who is full of hurt that I won’t recognize. Withdrawn and sad.  The dying roses represent my lost love who will never hold me in his arms again. Never talk to me and tell me words I want to hear. Grief is real and is expressed in a lot of ways. 

And so it begins

And so it begins. My life without him. We met when I was 16. We were high school sweethearts, then fiancés.  We dated during the four years he was in the Navy while I was going to college. We married right out of college and spent 57 wonderful years with each other. And it ended. When you live that many years with somebody he is part of your soul. He is there in the morning and he is there to say good night to every night. There will be a hole in my heart that could never be filled again. He struggled so to breathe and his life was taken away from him piece by piece. Till he had nothing left. I don’t know what my life will be from now on but I know I will miss him terribly.

Family pictures

It has been a while since I have posted pictures of the family. When Ryan and Jenny visited they got dressed up to go to a wedding and we took a few photos.

I’m back….

If you are reading this you will be very surprised to see that I am back blogging. After a hiatus of quite a long time I think it’s about the time for me to put down some of the things that I have been doing. And I’d like to get some pictures on the blog. So look what happened in the meantime. The above picture is Wendy, her mother Linda, and me with our fingernails painted blue in honor of van Gogh starry night. I went down to Wendy’s and we went near Philadelphia for a van gogh immersion Experience. First we walked through many rooms which contained replicas of his paintings and posters with information about his life. Then at the end we walked into a huge cavernous room which was completely empty except for beanbag chairs, benches, and beach chairs. We were encouraged to make ourselves comfortableAnd sit and enjoy all of the images which were projected onto the walls and ceilings and floors. All while listening to beautiful classical music.

This is a picture of Wendy and the beach chair. All over the walls were the most beautiful colors and shapes and impressions of his work. We sat mesmerized for over half an hour.

Here I am sitting in a chair by a replica of van Goghs bed. He painted three pictures of the rooming house bedroom that he stayed in in France. It was marvelous to actually step into the picture.

Chris took us out to dinner at the Olive Garden in the evening.

It was a beautiful day which started off with lunch at Sissy’s house. She fixed the most delicious quiche, a salad, fruit, and zucchini. The day was wonderful.

Cottage house winery

Tonight Don and I tried a new restaurant in Smethport which is about a half hour from our house called the Cottage House Winery. It was recommended to me by a friend in my art class.

We were quite surprised by the interior. When we first walked in we saw a replica General Store which featured a large coffee grinder. The store also had an old fashioned post office. The products sold were a variety of food, soup mixes, jellies, and candles. 

Next was a full sized stagecoach, a beautiful model T, and some rocks and a waterfall.

There were so many interesting things to look at. In one corner there was a fireplace with a comfy chair, pelts on the wall, and a collection of traps 

The menu was limited but the steaks we had were flavorful. Don took a piece of peanut butter pie home to enjoy later. It was an enjoyable evening out.