Quiet Day – Little Drama – Waiting For Whatever

Posted on by Sandy Webster

With covid 19 we seem to all be in a state of waiting. Now I have even forgotten what for.

Lee is busy picking up tiny bits off the floor to put in the trash. He has vacuumed the porch and is still in cleaning mode. Now he is waving the leaf blower around the driveway. He is so happy to have a noisy machine to operate.

I am waiting for the store to call with the delivery time of the new dryer to go with the new washing machine put in several weeks ago.

We did our usual walk on the trail this morning. Some new things seen along the way.

This toad stool makes me realize why we have to be reminded not to eat some of them. But it does look delicious.

And this lovely happy deer profile.

And what looks like two companions walking through the trees.

Here are the last four days of drawings a day.

The branch would not fit

on just one page and needed

acorn company.

 

Here’s the conclusion.

I need to draw several

more close up pine cones.

 

 

 

A bigger pine cone

and a very big oak leaf

filling these pages.

 

I am beginning

to see the pine cone’s makeup –

where all the parts are.

 

Today is the one day of the week when we order a take out dinner. I pick it up at 4 o”clock. Bring it home and then we have a drink before I heat it up. There were three lovely things on the menu this week, so I added a butternut/apple soup to the Chicken Oscar and steak and egg chef salad. We will have enough for two nights.

Sometimes during the day we will turn on a British mysteries. Our daughter bought us a system where we can do that once it could connect to the wifi extender. Now we are in the middle of Grantchester. I like the actors…the Brits are always good at the amount of angst required for a good drama.

But my favorite parts of these period pieces, the 50’s, is the attention to detail in the sets. The most dreadful wallpapers, chipped china, fragile crowded furniture, and those really horrid lamp shades. You can always tell where the bad guy or woman is living just by those lampshades. They are covered with dust..in fact the whole room looks like smoke or dust filling the air. And the most ornate are edged with fringe. The place where evil happens quite often has the lampshade slightly off kilter. The rooms are darker. Whereas the wealthy and therefore presumed innocent people live in well lit large homes with equally ugly lampshades perfectly straight. Only the Brits can pull this off with such perfection.  Most of the characters smoke and can make it look like they really are enjoying it….I remember that look.

And the costumes, hair and makeup! Even the wealthy look like a shampoo might be in order. And those ruby red lips. That lipstick is literally caked on, and when they talk it is like watching two bright red worms racing along together. Speaking of racing, the cars are wonderful. Where do they get so many vintage vehicles? I got so excited to see the bus come through their little town….it was beautiful!

Lee is now inside. The man called and told me the dryer will be here between 1:30 and 3:30 this afternoon. Right before we go out to pick up dinner.

So it is getting on lunch time. We might watch another episode of Grantchester before they come.

Our cats seem to prefer their boxes cut down a little so they can rest their heads on the edge.

Til later.

Back On Track – Well Sort Of

Posted on by Sandy Webster

Walking the trail each morning is a good thing. Here are some scenes from there these past few days.

Bambi, his mom and Thumper having breakfast.

And this morning Thumper with another companion.

And those drawings a day with haiku.

A found wildflower

growing near the storage shed

perfect for drawing.

 

I think it must have

hurt the crow to lose this part

that keeps him aloft.

 

Feathers collected

over the last few daily

walks along the trail.

 

One feather, one leaf

and forty-five short minutes,

they are now captured.

 

I returned to the studio and looked over the mess at the pieces I started last year. Remember Sandy, Printmaker?

I just plain quit on the overly complex Sandy, Traveler. But yesterday it caught my eye and some ideas started formulating. So even though I have not moved it to a work space, I did start some adjusting. And started liking it again. Not just the memories of places traveled but the layering of different mediums to take it further.  It was a good idea to come back.

These two are waiting for me to get the traveler finished so they, too, get a chance at my attention and intentions.

Sandy, Writer and Sandy, Homemaker.

When I finally finish all four I think they should be placed in individual large cloches. I did find a company that carries the large size that would be needed….19″ inside height and 12″ inside diameter.

Then when I get older I will have them lined up on a shelf across from my chair or bed and be able to say, “I used to be….”

And the shelf below them will hold all my travel journals and sketchbooks. And within reach will be, earth pigment watercolors, papers, brushes, pens, pencils, erasers and books and pads with blank pages.  And some cloth and thread and needles. This sets the priorities for clearing things out.

And if I actually am in the final chapter of a really good book, I might as well make the most of it.

Today it is a look on the bright side.

With a keen awareness that some days are just going to be like this.

Til later.

 

A Holiday Weekend – For Who?

Posted on by Sandy Webster

Lee and Sadie are getting naps. It is Labor Day.  I am trying to hurry this along before Lee wakes up. Earlier today he wanted to go home again. He seems a bit more lost and does not know what to do with himself. I had him sample the goulash and had him dry the pots and pans….then we had lunch. When I went back to reading our book, he dropped off.  Now he is asleep on his porch swing.

Here are the last six days of drawings.

What causes the feathers

to fall from the bird’s body

and settle in our path?

 

This trail collection

was spotted and gathered up

to draw on this page.

 

It is difficult

drawing white trumpet shaped blooms.

Where are the edges?

 

A freshly fallen

pine cone spreading it’s petals

to release it’s seed.

 

Some of these feathers

from Rufus sided Towhee

one from mourning dove.

 

Giant goldenrod

growing along the driveway

are very golden.

 

There was some time to work on the fairy book.

And the acorn brothers collecting frogs.

And this below some root…an opening for hanging laundry.

All for as I need to get this posted….be back in a couple of days.

Tuesdays!

Posted on by Sandy Webster

I was just saying to the caregiver that we are living in a time when every day is Tuesday. Nothing big happens. There is not much in the mailbox. One day just rolls into the next. And almost all of them are less than exciting, less than memorable. There used to be a difference between say, a Sunday, and a Tuesday. Sunday we started with breakfast out and found fun things to do after we got home. Now there is no difference than if it was Tuesday….no breakfast out and little to no mail.

I read memes on facebook that it is up to me to make the most of my day. It is an attitude thing. Well, in all honesty, it is not an attitude thing! A smile on my face is not going to make Trump supporters grow some intelligence. A smile on my face is not going to make me get all the chores done that Lee can no longer do. A smile on my face is not going to make someone call and say, “Can I do something for you?” A smile just is not enough.

So I am reading stories, books to Lee. Both of us can get lost in someone else’s life for as many hours as it takes to get through the book. I just finished reading Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale. She tells a good story. Interesting characters, lots of ways to change your voice when you read it aloud…and you can temporarily become anyone of them. Reading aloud is magic. I feel myself becoming my mother. She was so good at taking us away with the classics she read to us. Not those silly Disneyfied Golden Books but big hardbound books with loads and loads of words that chased each other across the pages. Only rarely was there a full colored illustration that more or less fitted into what you had imagined.

I wish I had more time than my blog to write words that I know are just waiting for me to find the time to push from my fingers. Stories are just backing up in the shoe box I keep in my head to store the good stuff. It is full of 3 x 5 cards with pale blue lines full of names and “what ifs”. Sometimes I pop the lid just before going to sleep to put another card in there.

Anyway, there are two more new hardbound books on the table and another one on the way. Lee and I will get lost together in something that makes our endless Tuesdays more worthwhile. When I catch him napping while I read, I wake him and tell him we are getting to the good part and he leans forward and waits. We just need to have books with lots of good parts….easily done. Amazon! “Amazon” is like “abra cadabra” used to be. And there it is in the mailbox….plenty of new .3mm pencil leads, new shoes, fish food, cat litter, new shirts, whatever is truly needed at the time with the luxury of being able to send it back…..but we rarely do. You just have to be honest about how much you really need to have brought to you via the magic of Amazon.

Speaking of magic….isn’t this an inviting image? I altered it just a touch to a vivid warm I think they call it on my IPhone. But it does conjure up something that begs description….a story.

I reminds me in a way of the Eucalyptus trees in Australia that I never get enough of. Someone over there asked me why I found them so irresistible. And I said, “Just look at them! Not one wants to be ignored! They present themselves for your approval! How in the world can you possibly ignore that?” Something about this one seems to be giving me an invitation to come close and listen to what it has to say.

I also found a Howler Fairy in the crape myrtles.

And the last four days of drawings.

The lotus season

has left the tiniest pods

slumped by their own weight.

 

These oak tree leavings

were found along the trail path

this early morning.

I love this feather

that was wet, a bit tattered,

and just left behind.

 

Small messy feathers

and remains of a pine cone

trying to be one.

 

I need to go through drawers, closets, cupboards and throw things away. But I am afraid I might need another responsible adult with me to do it. So much of what we have is no longer needed. And there seems no way to give it away. So much needs sorted. So much are things I don’t even want to look at let alone make decisions about.

I think it would be a good idea to have my kids arrive like they did at Christmas….but not until when things are safe again….say, April next year….after vaccinations. They could lay claim to the things they wanted and we would be left with only what we could see easily. No unwanted bits and pieces hiding away waiting to be important again. I get hard put to remember why they were important in the first place. I should have  been as unsentimental as my mother. She could give something away to the first person who said it was nice or interesting or lovely. She should come back from her place in the beyond and give me a hand here. Wherever she is, she is reading to someone and likely too busy enjoying herself to give me a hand….Somewhere I can hear her saying, “You made the mess, you clean it up.”

Well, yes mom, I am going to get to that. Soon.

Til later.