I. Yesterday, I made myself a pot of echinacea, turmeric and ginger tea and settled in to do the thing.
II. What thing, you ask? I peeled all the seals off this monstrosity of a Jelly Gouache collection.
Y’all, I am not lying when I tell you that this took an hour and I was *covered* in gouache and my hands were cramped into arthritic little claws of omgdoom by the time I was done. But! It was so worth it!
Today, I’m going to organize them so the blues live with the blues and the pinks live with the pinks and the greens live with the greens etc. Yes, I am a Libra with Libra rising and a Cap moon. *Giggles*.
III. A lot of today is going to be spent doing something I call “Sandboxing”. Sandboxing is putting together all the content for a lesson in a behind-the-scenes spot on my class website that no one ever sees since it’s where I beta test things and make sure they’re all spiffy before you lot file in to enjoy the content. I enjoy this part of my work because I get to see everything I’ve created, curated or collected coming together into one cohesive offering, and that makes me ridiculously happy.
It’s definitely work, but it’s fun work. Kind of like icing the cake.
IV. As soon as I’m sufficiently caffeinated, I’ll be launching into that bit of action for the day, but I wanted to get my ten things done and dusted since I’m enjoying the way they give some structure to my day. It makes me a bit nostalgic, since way back in the day when I first started blogging, I literally poured myself out of bed and into my blog every morning without fail. This was back when Xanga was a thing (and also Livejournal) and the whole world kept an “online diary”. Remember? I loved that. I loved reading my “blog roll” with my coffee and leaving comments and “eprops”. It was like having a little village to wake up to every day where we’d all visit the neighbours “over the fence”.
V. I keep wishing blogging would make a comeback but I get that our collective attention spans just aren’t up to it anymore. No matter. I’mma blog anyway, and like those of us who are opting out of fast food and fast fashion, maybe some of us will opt out of fast socials – or at least, incorporate some slow socials into our routines.
VI. This morning I discovered that a stencil I was coveting is available on The Crafter’s Workshop AND that TCW ships direct to Canada.
Swoon!
My bank account isn’t happy with me at the moment, but my heart is all aflutter over the anticipated arrival of a bunch of new stencils, which I neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed. Honest. I also needed the two books of wallpaper samples I bought from Etsy. I SWEAR!
VII. I’m paying a lot of attention to the little things that will bring me a sense of the good life even while Omicron burns through Ontario, and because I believe that art is magic, I made a spread that included some of those things.
All this stamping took FOREVER but like most things that require me to get still and focused for a little bit, it was well worth it.
I have some whipped cream coming in my grocery order today, by the way. Because, of course.
What would you put on your list?
VIII. My kitchen is an absolute disaster and there are a bunch of flat-packed furniture things lying about in boxes waiting to be built. I still haven’t put together the little table I keep going on about, and when that’s done I have two cabinets & two cube bookshelves to build AND a teal accent cabinet that I’ve been meaning to put together since 2019. Yup. Still in the box.
I *will* get to it at some point, but I think I’ll keep the list “work-focused” for this weekend since it is month-end, and getting distracted by things like building flat-packed furniture is not going to help me get month-end done. Just please pray for me that I don’t trip over boxes and break my neck before I finally get them all sorted.
IX. Renee sent me this, and I *cackled*.
X. Since my eyes went all borked and I can no longer enjoy reading actual books, I am thinking about decluttering my bookshelves and that makes my heart ache a little bit BUT I am going to make a list of all the ones I want to read again or use for research and get them as e-books. I will get these cataracts sorted eventually, but in the meantime, the only way I can enjoy reading is if I can adjust the font size to something my borked eyes can handle. I like the look of shelves full of books, but I don’t like dusting them and I’m asthmatic and they never leave their homes in the shelves anymore anyway, so…
…I’ve always had this battle between having a cluttered collection of bookshelves and witchy knick-knacks and craving a temple tidy environment that’s easy to keep clean, and I’m leaning hard toward the latter these days because my space is soooooooo tiny…
…but I *love* every little thing I display on those bookshelves, and I love love love my books – so much so that some of them have traveled with me for decades from country to country to city to city to house to house…
…can you tell this is a bit of a conundrum for me?
Maybe I need a storage unit so I can go visit my books when I get to missing them.
Hoookay. That’s enough of a brain dump for me for now.
Sending Caturday Vibes and love.
P.S. Day 64.
I absolutely love your blogs 🥰 I hope you have a fabulous day filled with all the things you want it to ❤️
I absolutely love your blogs 🥰 I hope you have a fab day filled with all the things you want it to ❤️
Many years ago I decided I hated dusting all the books on my bookshelves that I rarely reread and so I donated them all, and there really wasn’t a horrible lot of them. I kept some and every now and then I would buy a book or two and so I have a small little collection, but mostly I borrow from the library or I get ebooks. And like you, my shelves have a few books now with all the little things that I have collected over the years and seeing them brings me so much joy. Occasionally I will swap something old out for something new, same with my tea cup/mug collection. I have a small stash in a storage container under my bed and I have now come to the point that when I find a new one that I just have to have, I will need to pass along one of the old ones to someone else, and I am fine with that. I too have a tiny little space and I am learning to let go of the stuff and take lots of photos. And know that whatever I decide to pass on; donate to someone else, it will find a good home and bring them their own joy.
I have been missing blogs too and enjoy reading the ones I find that keep up and I keep meaning to start my own again. I love your ten things. I have let some social media go because it was just too much and stressed me so much and I feel better for it. Thanks for doing what you do, I have been enjoying reading your words.
I think I’m ready for a big purge. *sigh*
I had literally hundreds of books when our house burned. End of book collection… I have bought a few but I use the library a LOT. When you are “involuntarily purged” all you can do is say “oh, well” and go on living!
I think I could deal with it more easily if it were a forced purge because there’d be no need for waffling about which ones to keep and which ones to get rid of. I think that’s the part that stops me in my tracks. Sure, there are some books in my shelves that I have no real attachment to, but most of them remind me of something, someone, somewhen. They’re such nostalgic little things, aren’t they?
My dad is 98 but didn’t want to give up his books. We got him one of those standing quilter’s magnifiers with built in light. Life is worth living again. :-)
I have wondered about getting one of those for doodling etc.
The love your stuff but want space conundrum oy
It’s such a thiiiiiiiiing. I think if I had a car and could just dump a load of purged stuff every couple of weeks at the thrift, it would easier.
Well I’m sure it’s not just me that is very happy you continue to update your blog. I’m much happier with slow social media with morning coffee xo
I love the thought of my peeps having a slow roll into the day with coffee and my words. Like neighbors chatting over the fence, indeed. <3
I love reading blogs. There’s just something about them that is so satisfying, and even when there’s photos, there is still lots left to my imagination and my interpretation, and I love that. Maybe I should start blogging again a bit more regularly myself. The intention is always in the back of my mind, but the follow-through is pretty much non-existent. I love reading yours because you are so real. I feel like you could walk in my door and sit down and I would feel comfortable straight away without any of that awful anxiety I usually have about new people.
I love the idea of walking in someone’s door and having them feel comfortable because they know me through my writing. I think that might be every writer’s dream.