Happy, Little, Time Waster

 

Watch me make 5 fun things for art journaling in less than 5 minutes

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. We had a nice Valentine's Day dinner at home. Himself gave me a beautiful steak to cook and he made his awesome mashed potatoes and a salad.

2. I got a lovely text message from a former student.

3. I had a check up at the dentist, look, Ma, no cavities or other problems

4. A 40° day felt like a warm Spring day so Teague and I went out for ice cream.

5. I love my Tuesday afternoon online calligraphy class. It's a nice group of women and we had such a fun class.

How was your week?

TBT Reprints from CJ's Whine and Cheeze

 In 2003, Ma had a stroke. Dad was her full time caregiver until he he had a car accident that totaled the car. So in 2006, I became their chauffeur among other jobs.

At the time, to deal with the stress of running two households and working, I kept a blog entitled CJ's Whine and Cheeze. Egged on by some friends who enjoyed the first read through, you'll see your part when it comes by. 

July 18, 2007

New World Order

Since Ma and Dad first were married 64 years ago, Ma managed the purse strings, and Dad got an allowance. Instead of working as a team, both of them have this silly “my money – your money” concept. Their system generally worked fine until about 20 years ago when Ma became addicted to the phony lotteries and scam artists, and she whizzed through their savings. She blithely writes checks without having the funds to cover them. The bank happily slaps her with finance charges though they are generous in charging only $5 per bounced check instead of the $35 per check most banks charge their customers. The finance charges add up to a tidy sum per month.

A city girl, born and bred, Ma hated the town they moved to. She wants to move. She wants to move back to East Boston and into an apartment for $100 per room. She wants her rent to be $300 or $400 per month, utilities included!

She wants to teach Dad a lesson so she issued him an ultimatum. She will no longer pay for "anything". So, Dad took her up on her challenge. He went to their bank, had his social security check removed from the direct deposit to Ma’s checking account. He went to another bank, opened up his own account and authorized his social security check to be direct deposited into the account. Yes, you can say it. It’s about #%@#@ time!

I was concerned initially he might not be able to handle the expenses, especially the property taxes which are paid quarterly.

He said he would be able to manage. "I'll do alright as long as I can hold her off."

"Her" I assumed was Ma. "What do you mean?"

"The other day she asked me to write out a check so she could send it to one of the scammers."

Altogether now, 

"What happened?"

"I told her 'No!'"

I think Dad's enjoying himself. Long live the King!

The Empty Page Journal

 

I'm taking a 6 month journal workshop called The Empty Page with Lindsay Ostram. It's an approach to get over the fear of staring at a blank page and not knowing what to do. In a live video class, Lindsay steps us through projects with suggestions for tools and how to make your own journal fodder.

Above is the February homework page. Lindsay sent her artwork to be traced, colored with water colors, and doodled.

On the opposite page is a companion piece, a work in progress. "Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; They are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." - Marcel Proust

T Stands for Love Has Wings

On Valentine's Day I woke up to a large package in my shade of blue from Himself. First, a cup of tea.

Fragile — it must be Italian! from “A Christmas Story”

Inside, not a sexy, leg lamp, but an adorable pig planter and the pig has wings!

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Monet and Me

would like to show the February journal made from paper bags. This is the project I chose to do for the Creative Hand Lettering and Doodling with Lindsay group on Facebook. Lindsay had suggested decorating a small box, but I didn't have anything that would work

The title page is the group project page folded into an origami heart with pockets. Inside the pocket, an origami cat.

Lindsay's suggestion for the first page. Washi tape, watercolor hearts, and faux calligraphy

For most of the pages, I decided to go my own way. So celebrating Ground Hog Day. The nasty groundhog saw his shadow meaning we get 6 more weeks of Winter, and the groundhog goes back into his hole. In this case, the groundhog gets tucked in the flap provided by the bottom of the paper bag.

This idea was a combination of Lindsay using the John Lennon quote, "All you need is love" and a heart doodle that was done in the Monday Doodling for Stress Reduction class. To all you need is love, I added and chocolate along with a Love and Kiss stamp from an envelope I kept.

Lindsay did a tag with Start each day with a grateful heart, tucked inside a belly band on a card. I used a piece of origami paper for the background.

Lindsay had talked about the candy hearts with saying we used to get as kids. I punched out a bunch of small hearts, colored them with Tombow markers, and wrote the little setiments.

Another hybrid piece. Lindsay painted flowers and cut them out. I think she mentioned hearts and flowers, too. I colored a heart using the bottom of the bag as a tuck space for the flower. The sentiment was something someone had written in a photo album my mother had when she graduated from high school. "Hearts and flower go together, True friends part never."

I saw a meme that had and image of a heart which said normal person's heart

and my heart was a cat in the shape of a heart. Perfect image to go with soul. I was Ink's heart and he was my soul. It will be 10 years this year since he passed away. I still miss him.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

 

There's still a good 8 to 10 inch snowpack on the ground. Instability clouds left a dusting on the ground Thursday when I went to visit Teague. Temperatures got just over the freezing mark so there has been a little melting going on. The video title is  Is this what winter is doing to you?

Only 126 days until the Summer Solstice.

How does your garden grow?

Happy, Little, Time Waster

 

I just heard about Internet Archive.  You can watch movies, television, listen to music and borrow books all for free. You just have to create an account.

I was hoping to find a translation and critique of the Arthurian romance, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, by J. R.R. Tolkien and I did. Except the book was listed as Borrow Unavailable Bummah! But what does it mean, Borrow Unavailable? Are there so many Medieval Lit scholars out there clamoring to read a book translated somewhere in the 1930s or 1940s and published in 1975 after Tolkien's death?

"Summary

More than 500,000 books have been taken out of lending as a result of Hachette v. Internet Archive, the publishers’ lawsuit against our library, including more than 1,300 banned and challenged books.

Books that are shown as “Borrow Unavailable” mean they cannot be borrowed by our patrons, including books you may have previously read or consulted. .."

Bummah. The lawsuit is under appeal, but that may take a long time to settle the dispute.

Meanwhile there are lots of other books, movies, and television series you can read or watch.

The Archive has the complete series of The Time Tunnel, a 1960s sci-fi series from producer, Irwin Allen (Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)

So while there may be books you can't borrow because of the pending lawsuit, there are tons of other things that can happily waste your time.

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1.  I started the Feb. homework for the Empty Page journal class

2. "A" came early to clear the snow from driveway and walk

3. A report from the dermatologist: nothing to worry about

4. The Tuesday night into Wednesday snowstorm turned out to be a nothing. We only got 1 inch of snow from the storm and no sleet/ice

5. Teague baked gingerbread with whipped topping for afternoon snack.

How was your week?

TBT Reprints from CJ's Whine and Cheeze

 In 2003, Ma had a stroke. Dad was her full time caregiver until he he had a car accident that totaled the car. So in 2006, I became their chauffeur among other jobs.

At the time, to deal with the stress of running two households and working, I kept a blog entitled CJ's Whine and Cheeze. Egged on by some friends who enjoyed the first read through, you'll see your part when it comes by. 

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

The Laying On of Hands

Long ago, in my former life, I was a computer programmer/consultant. Back in those days, the computer systems were the size of a Buick automobile, and programmers were treated like gods. I'd go to a client and personnel would part like the Red Sea as I walked through the office.  I would lay my hands on the machine and bring crashed programs back to life. Heady stuff along with the satisfaction of solving a problem, usually human error.

A year or so ago, we gave Dad a computer. I thought it would open up a new world for him, as well as keep him out of Ma's hair. I signed him up with America On Hold. Assured him I'd pay the bill so Ma wouldn't see anything. I'm not overly fond of AOH, but it is the easiest portal to use. I spent lots of visits with Dad going through the basics of turning the machine on and off, how to get his mail. Dad spent many hours trying percussive maintenance on the machine. h I constantly heard complaints. "They don't give me my email," as if there are little people inside the machine who like to aggravate the user. "I've never seen that screen before," in reference to the Windows logo that comes up when la machine is turned on.

DSL became available in their area through the phone company and for less money than I was paying for AOH. A lot of his complaints had to do with not being able to get online. I thought high speed would be the answer as he'd always be online. I cancelled AOH and signed him up for DSL. DSL would be better. He could surf and the phone would still be available in case of an emergency. The dial up always worried me as I thought what if there is an emergency and in their panic he forgot the phone was still connected to the computer. Yes, DSL would be better.

The phone company sent me an entire kit to make the connections, the modem, splitter for the phone. I only had one phone that proved to be a problem as it still had the four prong jack instead of the modern module system. It was an easy enough problem to solve. Since the room isn't in use, I unplugged the phone. There's a bit of residual static on the line. This from an old phone in the basement that was hard wired into the phone line. Not an approved telephone company procedure. However, it doesn't seem to interfere with the computer.

So, I got him up and running and still hear the same complaints. "They" are really out to get him.

Dad called this morning and as I thought he had given up on the computer was surprised when he said, "I turned it on, but nothing happens. It's been like this for three days."

Now, the Young One had played on the computer during the Ave Maria festivities. She didn't have any problems getting online to YouTube.

"What do you mean "nothing happens"? I asked instantly going into consultant mode.

"The screen is blank. I can hear the sound when I turn it on, but don't see anything."

"Is the computer on now?"

"No."

"Okay, turn it on and tell me what you see."

A few seconds later, I could hear the CPU drives engage and the happy chime of the Windows logo.

"There? Did you hear that? Now nothing."

"Nothing? Did you see the Windows logo on the screen?"

"No."

I started ticking off possible problems, the video card was blown, or a problem with the monitor, and I decided to go for the obvious. "Did you turn on the monitor?"

"What's that?"

"The television screen in front of you. Did you turn that on?"

"No. I never had to do that before."

I've always had to turn on his monitor, but I didn't want to get into an argument. "Ok, try turning on the mon...the television screen in front of you."

"How do I do that?"

I tried to picture his monitor. "There should be a button on the front of it."

"Oh, I see it."

"Push it."

"Oh! There it is!

Nineteen years away from the industry, and I still haven't lost my touch. I just might have to wear two cowboy hats because my head is so big. 

Sausage Apple Breakfast Casserole

 

Last week, I mentioned I had made a Sausage and Apple Strata. I was asked for the recipe. Regular readers will know that I am a half-assed cook.

What's a strata you ask? It's a layered egg casserole. You can put pretty much anything you like in it.

This is the recipe I used as my template for the number of eggs, bread cubes, sausage, and apples, what temperature to bake it and how long.

Sausage Apple Breakfast Casserole 

The recipe called for Dubliner cheese. I've never heard of it, and I don't really like cheese. If I had to use cheese for this recipe, I would have used a mild cheddar, but you use what you like. I left the cheese out.

The recipe called for bulk sage sausage. I had frozen breakfast sausage links. I cooked the links according to the package directions and then cut them into small pieces.

The recipe called for Sourdough or French bread. Didn't have any. Bread in a strata should be a bit stale. I toasted about 6 bread slices and cubed that.

The recipe called for fresh rosemary. You guessed it in the cheap seats. Nada. I left it out.

We're pretty much non-adventurous eaters here. Salt and pepper is fancy enough spices for us.

The casserole was made for a Sunday brunch and I heard no complaints from the diners.

T Stands for A Puzzle

 

Can you guess what it is?

Scroll ⬇️to find out

It's An Elegant Polka Dot Tea Set

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Monet and Me

and me made a book for the February project for the Creative Hand-lettering and Doodling with Lindsay group on Facebook. Lindsay suggested that people decorate a small box, but I didn't have an empty small box to use.

Instead, I decided to make a small book from folded paper lunch bags. A chipboard spine and covers were added to give the book a little more stability. The book is very cute and chunky measuring about 5 inches square. The bottoms of the lunch bags make handy tuck spots and the bag openings make pockets. 

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Snowing across the Tundra

Birds flocking to the feeder like we run out for bread and milk before a storm

The female cardinal stopped by for seeds on the ground. Hi, Ma!

The red-headed woodpecker chased the other birds from the feeder

The condition of the roads was pretty bad

This storm started out with weather forecasters on Friday saying my area would get a coating to an inch of snow. Saturday morning totals were upped to 2 to 4 inches with some areas getting 6 inches of snow. A lull in the storm the measurement was just shy of 3 inches of snow.

The road not looking great

When all was said and done, a total of 4.75 inches of snow. Not that I wanted to see any snow, but this was the anniversary of The Blizzard of '78, the benchmark of storms in New England. With that storm I was still living at home with my parents. Our area got 30+ inches of snow and paralyzed the state for a week.

"A" came early in the morning to clear the driveway, cars, and walk.

It's wicked cold and a good day to stay in and hibernate.

How does your garden grow?

Happy, Little, Time Waster

 

Late Summer Day at Ogunquit Beach

It's snowing today and I need me some Summah!

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. The Nephew-in-Law installed new shower light/fan.

2. I made brunch with a sausage and apple strata. The Eldest and I had mimosas, too

3. I finished the January junk journal!

4. The Eldest was cuddling Calli and asked her, "Who is my fluffy, little princess?" Calli meowed back Me

5. Teague picked me up after my doctor's appointment, and we went out to breakfast.

How was your week?

TBT Reprint from CJ's Whine and Cheeze

In 2003, Ma had a stroke. Dad was her full time caregiver until he he had a car accident that totaled the car. So in 2006, I became their chauffeur among other jobs.

At the time, to deal with the stress of running two households and working, I kept a blog entitled CJ's Whine and Cheeze. Egged on by some friends who enjoyed the first read through, you'll see your part when it comes by. 

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Close Cover Before Striking

I had to take Dad to an appointment at the V.A. to have his medication evaluated for a discount benefit.

Ma was industriously going through all her old junk mail sorting things to burn in the fireplace. I told her she shouldn't be burning anything in the fireplace. Ordinarily, I'd think a match would do wonders for the place, but it reeks of smoke. She won't open a door or window for ventilation because she complains of the cold, even when temperatures soar into the 90s.

She said she had to burn sweepstakes papers. She's convinced the mail carriers went through her trash. Someone won $10,000 earmarked for Ma, and to add insult to injury, they called Ma to tell her about it. 

Dad and I headed off down the road. When we got back, there was such a noxious, toxic smell. I told Ma she shouldn't burn anything. She said it was her house and she could do what she wanted.

Talking to Dad later, I asked him if he knew what she was tossing in the fireplace.

"She throws everything in there. She burns the Styrofoam plates we use and the liners from the meat."

Rolling Eyes

I have tried to tell her that Styrofoam is toxic, but my warnings fall on deaf ears. One can only hope that the neighbors will call the EPA to complain about the factory next door. I'm sure the chimney stack isn't the requisite height. In the mean time, might be worth it to invest in a gas mask.

More from the Junk Journal

Warning: Image Heavy

Pages 17 was a weekend day so there was no prompt. Penguins with a snowman built by the Young One when she was 5 years old and photocopied. "Are we having fun?"

The prompt for day 23 was sketchy, but I swapped that for day 18. I sketched the polar bear from a sticker and cut out the letter for No. As in replying to the penguins and snowman on the first page. Are we having fun? No

The prompt for the 19th was Clips and layers. An envelope from Finnbadger provided the backdrop. The large penguin was a thank you note from the grandniece and grandnephew. The envelope wrap holds a penguin sticker and is clipped to the penguin card.

On January 20, Lindsay showed us how to make a simple pop-up. The Eldest had sent me a clips of Harvey, the mailman, from the cartoon, Hey, Arnold. This was my inspiration.

The prompt for the 21st was Negative Space. Lindsay used packing tape to adhere some flowers. I used snowflake embellishments. With the packing tape, the snowflakes can be seen from both sides.

The January 22  prompt was Colors. White is a color. Snowflakes are Winter dandelions.

I swapped the prompt Sketchy on the 23rd. The 18th was a weekend day so my own composition. I had the pretty birch tree paper and a cardinal that I wanted to use. Cardinals make me think of my parents and a female cardinal had recently visited the bird feeder. Mr. Google provided me with a cardinal quote. "My cardinal song is a call to you, To tell you that I miss you, too." - Elle Bee

Maps was the January 26 prompt. I track a polar bear named Bobbie though the app, Fahlo. Bobbie is an old broad like me. According to her bio on the postcard, she's 22 years old and has raised 6 cubs.

The map is an image of her tracking signals.

The theme for the 27th was pockets. "Where does a polar bear keep his paws when they are cold?"

"In his pawkets" 🤣I just slay me.

A Christmas card with black-capped chickadees (the state bird of Massachusetts) and the remnants from the birch tree paper, provided this gem. The prompt was supposed to be stamps, but I swapped that for the 31 which was a Sunday and didn't have a prompt.

One chickadee asks, "What's the best thing about Winter?"

The other chickadee replies, "When it's over."

Fabric was the prompt for January 29. I don't really sew and didn't have any fabric. I did find some felt from craft stuff the Young One left behind when she moved. I fabricated a little penguin with googly eyes.

"I am wicked cold, but being very brave." I saw the saying on a tee-shirt. The wording on the tee-shirt was I am very cold, but I substituted "wicked" a quintessential Boston expression.

On Friday, a notecard arrived from Nan. Perfect timing because everything she sent was perfect for the January 30 prompt of Mixed Up Media and Mediums. Nan hand lettered and watercolored the card. She used the cute little girl dressed in red stamp. On the back of the envelope she had used washi tape which I used to adhere the card like a flap so I could still read her note.

She also included some painted and decorated snowflakes which I turned into a tag. The envelope made the perfect pocket.

I used the stamp prompt from the 28th for the 31st. I had a polar bear stamp. I stamped him 2 times and cut them both out. Pasted one down and then used mounting tape to make him "3D". As of the last day of January there are only 140 days left until the Summer Solstice.