Month: July 2024

Some say it will take a couple of months to come back from pneumonia. Others remind me it may not return to the degree it was before. All I know is I get tired just doing nothing. I have a week or two left of physical therapy here at home. There are new exercises based on balance.  I miss walking around the neighborhood and stopping in for a glass of wine and a visit. So here I am with a glass of red and my blog for a chat.

I worry that if I don’t keep drawing and painting in my sketchbooks, I might lose that as well. So I have kept at it and try not to notice if the new pages are a bit slack compared to earlier ones.

Nineteen more single pages before this one sixth of the book is filled. I think bugs will be fun to do in the opposite-opening one sixth.  I must have had such high ambitions for myself when Gian Frontini showed me this binding. He used much heavier paper in his sample. I must say my ambitions for myself have floundered some.

I was at a consistent 10,000 steps per day and now am struggling to get in 2,000. I told myself that next week I will raise that daily goal to 3,000. Seems unlikely to reach that this afternoon….maybe the week after.

One of the toughest balance exercises is holding onto the counter, standing on one foot, letting go and counting to five. Doing five reps of that on each foot. the left leg up is quite cooperative…the right is not getting the message. Good thing it is done with the counter in arm’s reach.

With all the sorting and storing of things I thought it was necessary to haul to here, I did come up with a new drawing for the Philosophical Considerations Book.

Wish I knew then what I know now. So much tagged along that is not the least bit interesting and doesn’t even bother to call my name. Once I finish taking a good hard look, I will decide whether to find new homes or just toss out.

I hope to make it to the first poetry meeting in a couple of months this coming Thursday. Maybe this week I can get some new writing done. I don’t want the writing tarnished with tiredness and fighting off the desire to just take a nap.

Still working on my latest short story. I don’t write sci-fi or fantasy. I don’t have the brain for it. But I was wondering about a character in a story that might be having difficulty adjusting to new surroundings, and just suppose while standing in front of a window near sunset, the shadow of a tree came through and was closely aligned with her shadow…both inside the house. What if out of curiosity she adjusted her shadow to slip within the tree’s shadow? What if she stayed there until released by the morning sun coming in the window behind her?

Now if you find that a bit odd, imagine me trying to explain it to the mayor while we were having coffee the other day by using my coffee mug and IPhone to set the stage. He smiled and said something like, “Interesting.”

I think that is what I miss most…having someone to talk about art with and story possibilities with. I miss my tribe. The students who eagerly stepped aboard knowing they were in the safest place to explore all the passions not easily shared. I miss them terribly.

I look at all the workshops offered online and wonder if those students have found expression there. I think not. Mostly it is advertised as finding your own voice, but in reality, I suspect most of the work is similar…using the same tools and materials and marks. And all the while the makers wondering how it will look published or on a buyer’s wall. What really makes one student’s work different from the next?

Years ago I had a student at a local folk school who expressed her personal travels and stories by cutting her finger just a little each evening to mark her personal journey on a map that covered an entire wall by the time we got to “show and tell” at the end of the week. I and her fellow students loved how she took this opportunity to put into a visual form all that she had felt…not so much those who wanted to see product, a table full of product. Do you think we will ever see enough of “product”

BUT, I do keep in mind what the dearest of friends told me many years ago, “Sandy, some of us just want to make stuff.” And so they should.

Til later….

While Patrick was here we enjoyed not only Marla’s gift of Four Pillars from the Australia distillery but Chemist from here in North Carolina. The tonic has made all the difference. Not to mention the cucumber…so thank you to the Aussies who put me on the right track.

I am enjoying one right now after an afternoon nap.

Here is my garage now on the side I will have the things I think I might need. Still some tossing to do but I did say goodbye to my drill press and old Dyson vacuum, shelves, working stool from the studio, and garage refrigerator. Now all off to Patrick’s and Amy’s.

It was a fast four days and very productive. Of course I thought I would just go into the garage and finish it off on Monday. Here it is Saturday and not the energy for it yet. Maybe this next week.

It took a bit over two weeks for my taste to return. The thing that jump-started my taste and smell was the dozen eggs a friend brought me. Totally thick and orange yolks! The kind we are served constantly in Australia. So rich and delicious! I only have two left. When Patrick went to the store to get more, he found they were priced close to $10 per dozen and settled for some free range eggs at about half that price. I see it as six very good meals per dozen eggs. And am using the other ones he picked out for cooking.

I had a taste for bonetsy, an eastern European cheese dish that an older sister’s mother-in-law taught us as kids to make from scratch. It started with a day of making phyllo dough by hand and then capturing air and butter in the pockets filled with a cheese filling. The kitchen was a mess of butter going everywhere.

When talking to Amy on the family call last week, she said she had my adapted recipe. It seems I sent her a book of favorite recipes when she went off to college. Smart mother! Clever daughter to hang on to it. By then we could buy phyllo in frozen sheets, so it was much easier.

After making several with just the cheese mixture of cottage, feta and parmesan with egg, I made more adding in cut up ham and spinach. Both have been a quick and easy meal when not eating eggs.

The same elderly mother-in-law, Mom Slodinski, taught us how to make her version of perogis, a homemade noodle-type dough that held two large pitted sweet black cherries before being sealed tight and boiled. Then dried and fried in butter (of course) before being slathered in sour cream.  Anyway I have put some of the bonetsy in the freezer for later.

Now all I can think of is how much I would love a taco salad! It will be one of the first things I order to bring home when I start driving again. For now I am lucky to get to the corner to spend time listening to the guys. I only made it once this past week and it took all the energy I had. But I am getting better!

My physical therapist said I could probably stop with his visits to put me through my paces after this week. I do every exercise on the sheet to strengthen knees and legs and then hit a balloon back and forth with him making sure I can keep my balance. I could go back to the gym next week but likely only to do a shortened time on the bike. He said my body will tell me when to stop. Now I am taking a couple of naps a day and at least eight to ten hours of sleep each night.

The cats never leave my side.

Neighbors still checking on me and offering help. I am very lucky to live here.

So that is all the news…wish it was more exciting. I have not been drawing or writing which feels sad, but I will get back to it soon.

Til later….

Home for two days and then back to hospital with bad abdominal pain. A hematoma-type lump due to blood thinner medication.  Pneumonia cleared up but now a slow subsiding of the small lump in lower stomach. I am so grateful for a doctor who will stay with me and remind me that, “this will pass”. In the meantime my neighbor/doctor brought me a heating pad and other things she thought might help. Her husband is from the home care office giving assistance and exercises to build back up my strength. And Patrick has arrived to fix meals, drinks and rework the garage.

First up, Turmeric Old Fashioned.

Lots of fireworks across the street the weekend after the fourth.

Patrick hung the neighbor’s gift of windchimes and the weather stick I found among packed bits from old studio. I never hung it before because I doubted its claim to fame. Now after seeing it change from the upward swing (dry weather) to a tilt downward (dampness), I am thoroughly enjoying this weather predictor.

Patrick is busy in the garage now.

More storage cabinets will be here tomorrow at the latest. For now, I rally enough to just say, “throw it!” He will be taking lots of things home with him. Marla will get a slew of paint brushes, etc.

The cats are with me whenever I go to lay down and catch my breath, also called napping.

they are so sympathetic.

And today, Marla’s gift of Australian gin arrived. Patrick will head to the store to find Fevertree Tonic and cucumber to complete the drink as advised by Aussie gin drinkers.

That is about it for now. I need a nap and another go at my exercises.

I miss seeing the guys each morning but do not have the strength to make it in….maybe next week.

Til later….