Dreams and Snow - One is Inescapable, the Other Is Unachievable

Once again I'm dreaming of a new set of cookware. Every year the set of titanium cookware I've been dreaming about goes on MAJOR sale, but it's still VERY expensive, and I simply don't have the extra cash to buy it. As usual, I've chosen the set that I want, and as usual, I'll dream about it for a few days and then shelve the dream again for another year. I know it's healthier to use titanium for my cookware than my the old stainless steel with Teflon coating (micro-plastics are NOT healthy, and Teflon coatings are micro-plastics in your food). But, to get the full set I want in titanium would be close to $1000 and I just don't have the money right now. But a girl in the kitchen can dream, right? 

When we get a solid snowfall, it's a PITA to get our very long 
driveway shoveled. I'm just grateful that the storm hit over 
Saturday night because I had the tine to deal with shoveling on 
Sunday without trying to get everything done in 30 minutes to 
get to the gym on time. 

My next door neighbor was a total sweetheart yesterday, he snow blowed the bottom third of my driveway for me before he headed to church. He texted me that he snow blew the street part of my driveway so we wouldn't get stuck if we were coming or going. I texted him back, thanking him VERY much for the kindness since it still took me over an hour to get the driveway shoveled. 

It's a lot faster and a lot easier to snow blow the snow away 
than to shovel it. However, our snowblower is quite large 
and intimidating, and just getting it out of the garage is a 
task. I just looked at it carefully and decided I would skip 
it and shovel instead. A lot more work and a lot harder on 
my body, but the shovel is very understandable. 

Shoveled? You might be thinking what about the huge snow blower that we have in the garage? Well, although DH has taught me how to start it several times, I'm totally intimidated by that machine, I can't even get it out of the corner of the garage to start it up. No ... it's me and my little green shovel tackling the driveway, and we had 6" minimum of snow all the way down. A LOT of snow to move. It took me more than an hour to get it cleared, and I was thankful every step of it that Chris had been kind and taking the time to help me out. 

I strained the upper part of my thigh 
while shoveling yesterday and it hurts! 
It's better today than it was yesterday, but 
it's still complaining. *sigh* I sometimes 
really hate getting old. LOL

But, with all of the shoveling, I strained my thigh muscles in my right leg and they're hurting right now. I still have to shovel out the front of the shop. Hopefully Kevin, a local Native guy who show blows for my next door neighbor (and always makes it just that little bit more to get a coming and going pass for me at no charge) was doing his thing yesterday. If so, I'll only have to cut in a walkway from my door to the street so that customers can access the sidewalk without having to walk in the street. I hope I'm up to doing that. I'm hurting today from yesterday's exertions. 

So, on that note, I'm wrapping this up, drinking a nice cup of tea, having breakfast, and heading out to the shop. I don't want to try and shovel rushed - I'm not really able to be "Speedy Gonzalez" today. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Today It's Rainy - Where Would You Live?

Of course, no snow as yesterday's post discussed, doesn't mean we're out of the woods yet. No snow transferred to rain, which started heavy last night shortly after 9:00 pm and continued throughout the night. It wasn't super heavy all night, but it was raining. On ground that is still semi-frozen. That can also lead to flooding since the soil is frozen and can't let as much water soak in as would happen with warmer temperatures. I was worried about our house for a bit there, but it looks like we managed to pass through another possible crises safely. The combination of frozen ground and a hard rain has led to my basement flooding several times in the past. 

We're getting some heavy rain. Since our land is still 
partially frozen, a lot of that rain will flow into our 
rivers and on downstream, adding to the flooding possibilities 
for places south of us. 

So, I'm a bit relieved. I checked the weather app on my phone and the rain is supposed to let up at around 5:00 am for a bit, before starting again. I'm not really much of a fan of rain. Grey skies just don't do it for me at all. In that respect, I live in the wrong part of the nation. Back in Colorado and New Mexico, I would get almost 300 days a year of sunshine.  But, although I don't always have rain, our increased humidity up here in the Frozen Northlands, guarantees I have more cloudy days than I was used to while growing up. I'm a BIG fan of blue skies. It's the only thing that would possibly pull me away from living up here. But, I really like being up here in general, so I'll probably stick around - LOL. 

If you could live anywhere in the world, where 
would you choose to live? Would you stay in 
your nation or be elsewhere? How about your 
continent? Stay there or move East or West? 
North or South? Let me know in the comments 
section. 

If you could choose anywhere to live, however. Based on the actual area - landmass, weather, temperature and topography, where would you live? Let's ignore the people this time - people can be a PITA anywhere. Let's just focus on the actual physical conditions surrounding you if you lived there. Where would you choose to live? 

I wouldn't mind returning to Colorado's Front Range 
area if I could live anywhere. Of course there are 
things I wouldn't like about it, and the area has changed 
a lot since I was a kid in Colorado, but I do miss my 
mountains. Still, I have a feeling I would miss my 
lakes and rivers if I moved back to the West. 

I actually think I'd live in the southern portion of the Front Range in Colorado. I'd love to be back in my home state - it's a beautiful place to live, and that general area is perfect with the plains stretching out to the east, the desert to the south, the mountains to the west. It's close to the area where Seth lives - so I guess he's lucky - he lives in a perfect part of the nation. 

I probably wouldn't live in Minnesota unless I could eliminate the issues with clearing out our snowfalls easily. Of course I can hire someone to clear the driveway - there are many people who hire out to do that. But they won't come unless it's a certain amount of snow, and they're not clearing down to the concrete - only close to the concrete. There's always some clean-up shoveling that needs to be done, and the snowplow scree is a complete PITA for everyone. But on the plus side, we have water - lots of it. That, in a time of more and more scarcity, speaks highly for staying up here. 

For such a small area, Britain has had a HUGE impact 
on the world at large - both good and bad. I don't think 
I'd want to live there, but it would be lovely to return 
to the British Isles for a long visit. 

I don't think I'd want to live in another country, although I do like a lot of aspects of the greater British area. I've never been to Europe, so really can't say on that one, although the Mediterranean coast looks lovely. But, to be honest, I think there are beautiful places to live in almost any nation, and that it would come down to weather conditions more than anything else. Weather and heat - those would make or break the deal for most of us. 

So, where would you live if you could live anywhere in the world? Comment and let me know. In the meanwhile, I'll bundle up for rain and wish all of you a wonderful Thursday. Slava Ukraini. 

Hello 2022 - It's Time to Think of Goals For This Year and My Future

Hello Beautiful People - Happy New Year. I had a lovely three days off, checked the computer every now and again, but really just kicked back, watched a lot of football, read a lot of novels, played a lot of games on my phone, and cooked a large piece of meat for New Year's Day dinner. All in all, it was a lovely holiday - still filled with a bit of back and forth between DH and me, but I'm quite used to those choppy waters. 

Isn't this a lovely photo? It's by Michael Frizzel and 
entitled "Choppy Waters". I suspect this is what a lot 
of my life over this coming year will look like. The key 
will be getting through the choppy waters into the 
calm that lies past them. 

Today I'm back to my normal schedule - out to the pool, then home for breakfast, and then on to the shop for a "normal" day of work. But today also starts a new year - the last year of the shop. I can't wait to close the doors for the final time, but I know there will be a lot of arguments and tension in my future and I don't handle stress now as well as I used to. 

I cooked a two-bone standing rib roast for dinner on 
New Year's Day and it turned out perfect. I think I'm 
quite happy with my new oven. I'll be eating my portion 
for a week. I think DH is almost completely finished 
with his half. 

So I'm happy, but a little bit worried at the same time. We're gong to have a lot of stuff left over after we shut our doors, and I'm gong to have to figure out a way to store it and to sell it - online more than likely, auction if I possibly can because it would make things quite a bit easier. We'll have artwork, storytellers, pottery, kachinas, pottery and Navajo weavings, all of which really need new homes, most of which probably won't sell when we're closing the store down. All of these categories sold well until about 2012, when beads became our major sales item and Indian-made goods fell back. I love the artwork, but it's going to be a true PITA to get rid of. 

We watched the Winter Classic Hockey game on TV, 
grateful that we weren't in the stands for this one. The 
temperature was VILE - negative 5.7 degrees F at 
face-off. The teams wore their Old Style jerseys for 
the game, which were quite nice, but the Wild were 
missing three key players due to illness, and we didn't 
play well. Congratulations, St Louis. It was a great 
game to watch from the warm room in my house. LOL

But, I don't have to do it today or tomorrow, I have to do it over the next six months. That at least gives me a little bit of time to work things through, step by step. We also have a lot of Native American jewelry, which isn't an easy sell, but far from impossible. There's always a market for turquoise and silver jewelry. And we have a lot of original and limited edition print artwork, much harder to sell but it's got to find new homes. DH warned me we're going to fight a lot over this year, but if I can just make it to the end of the year, I'm hoping 2023 will be exceptional, and that I can actually take a vacation or two. Something I've dreamed about for years and years. 

I want to go to see the pyramids and temples of Egypt. I'd 
like to do that before I can't walk well, and can't enjoy 
the happiness of a lifetime's dream fulfilled. I'm hopeful 
that I can arrange this for 2023. It's a goal. I've also got a 
family reunion in NYC in 2023, so I'd like to make a 
nice long trip of it and see some friends I have on the 
East Coast at the same time. Again, we'll see what 
happens, but it's a good goal. 

So there are my New Year's goals. What are yours? I'm still planning to eat properly, exercise six days a week (I was lazy and didn't exercise over the New Year's weekend, but I'm back at the pool today), and I'll try to keep my stress minimal , although that will be difficult to do. I've been working towards these goals for a long time, so I'm just continuing the journey. What are your goals? What are you anticipating to get joy from over the coming year? Share with me, and have an excellent Monday as we start January. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Schedule Shifts and Dreaming Big

 I was texting with a Canadian friend last night, and she asked for a phone conversation today. So, I did a quick schedule shift in my mind and agreed to an early morning call. It should be fun, but I did have to move things around to accommodate it. Not a problem, at all, because friends ALWAYS come first, but I skipped my exercise today to give myself a little extra time. I'm glad I did, emails were more time-consuming than I had expected. 

It's rarely a problem to shift schedules for a friend. I generally 
am on the treadmill six days a week. Skipping one day isn't 
a deal breaker and will let me have the time to spend with 
a long-distance friend. 

Voodoo's technician will be at the shop between 10-Noon to replace a board and look at the stylus, which hasn't been charging properly. When I bought the laptop, I also purchased a few years of premium support for it. I'm quite happy I did that. This is the first "trial by fire" and who knows what else may come up in the future? I'm considering it a wise decision. 

I absolutely LOVE my Yoga 9i by 
Lenovo. Voodoo is turning into a really 
good work-horse and I'm using it at the 
shop every day. I do need the stylus to 
work correctly, though. So that's the primary 
reason for today's service call. 

We're of course, still in the middle of a heat wave, but at least the shop has A/C, so it's comfortable to be at work. We've got fans for home, and they work fine. The heat will break within a couple of days and then we'll be back into more normal patterns, but I'm sure the drain on the power grid is at least as heavy as sub-zero days in the winter. It's always an experience to live up here in the Frozen Northlands, but it's a beautiful state and I wouldn't enjoy living anywhere else. 

Although I was thinking about even farther north, DH 
said he'd prefer somewhere on the Whitefish chain of 
lakes, about 2 toe 2-1/2 hours north of the cities. I'm 
totally on board with that. There are some really nice 
lakes in that chain - beautiful area of the state. 

DH and I were talking about a place on a lake - a summer cabin/cottage which wouldn't be too large, but which also could be shared with the nieces and nephews and their kids, so it would get more use than just from us. I'd be totally in with that. I think it would be a tremendous amount of fun to have a lake house and a boat. Maybe a dock, and fishing poles. I've always wanted to fish. It would allow us to get out of the Cities more often too, which would be wonderful. Dreams - they're always a good thing to have. 

It would be a nice thing, to have a lake house. It may 
well be one of those things we'll talk about but never 
do, but who knows? In a year or so, we'll have time 
to have vacations and take a few days here and there 
away from our city house. 

So, wrapping up for another day. Please stay comfortable - whatever climate is appropriate for you right now, and please, be kind and stay safe. I'll be back tomorrow for my Wednesday "Day Off". 

Dreams - A Kitchen of Dreams to be Exact

I received several comments on yesterday's post along the order of "I have a kitchen with a lot of counter space, but the counters are cluttered - so I really don't have space at all. Who lives with clean counters, anyway?" Well, my Mom did. In her condo (the final house where my parents lived before their deaths), the kitchen was relatively small, but well laid out. Entering from the south, you faced the stainless steel sink with above-counter and below counter cabinets on each side. 

 
I like this kitchen a lot. I'm not necessarily 
fond of the white on white approach, but it's 
pretty well laid out and has a lot of cabinet 
and counter space in a smaller area. I could 
do without the center island, if necessary, but 
it's a pretty nice design. 

To the right was the refrigerator, a small stand of drawers the stove with a built-in microwave above it, and the upper cabinets progressed from the fridge, over the microwave, and joined in with the northern wall's cabinetry. 

Obviously there's more to this kitchen, we're missing 
the refrigerator completely, and it's probably to 
the left. But, I like the warmer cabinets, I like 
the recessed lighting, and the sink and stove are 
convenient to each other. I'm not sure if there's a 
dishwasher, but since I haven't used one for more 
than 25 years, that wouldn't matter to me. 

To the west was another bank of free-standing cabinetry above and below with a counter top, stopping to allow passage to the dining area on the other side of the kitchen area. Mom had them install an industrial glass cutting board to the left of the sink on the Northern wall, and there was overhead lighting above the sink as well, with smaller cabinets in that short area. It was well organized, and Mom kept it absolutely immaculate. 

I like this kitchen. It's small, but with the associated 
eating area, it gains some counter space and a more 
friendly feel. Again, white cabinets, but there are a 
lot of them and I need lots of cabinets. I like the overhead 
lighting above the eating bench also. 

My own kitchen is actually similar in a lot of respects. I have the banks of cabinets, upper and lower. I have the open area where the sink is. If I get another microwave I'll probably have it mounted over the stove which would clear a bit more of the counters. I would welcome that. But the main difference between Mom's kitchen and mine is that final section - the counter top that is the pass-through to the dining section. Mom kept hers almost completely clear of stuff. I can barely squeeze an orange into the space I have open on mine. 

I've lived in places with Gallery kitchens before, and 
they can be a nightmare. But I really like this one - the 
layout is good, and those cabinets and drawers 
are spectacular. I think I could be quiet comfortable 
in a kitchen like this if there was sufficient electrical 
outlets available. 

That's pretty much due to DH who keeps a lot of paperwork there. We also have a small TV because he's addicted to having a TV on in every room, and at the end, there are his piles of loaves of bread and various buns for his meals. On the kitchen side we have the toaster, his ground coffee bags, his fruit for the week, my fruit and veggies waiting to ripen bowl, and a pile of papers that he really needs to go through before I lose patience and shred the lot. 

My ideal kitchen would come close to this one - warm 
woods, stainless steel, some natural light, and good 
interior lighting with lots of cabinet space. I doubt I'll 
ever have a dream kitchen, but sometimes it's good 
to dream a bit. 

My kitchen would look awesome if that pass-through was cleared, but I don't ever see that happening. He's having fits because I'm now "sharing" the kitchen with him, and his mood is down the toilet again because I won't (refuse to) eat what he was planning for our Sunday dinner (refined sugars are an absolute NO). He had agreed he wouldn't be picky about Sundays until after WildFit ended, but now he's breaking that promise. I'm NOT happy about that. But I'm sticking to what works for me and he'll just have to deal. 

Have an excellent day. I hope you enjoy some of the lovely kitchens I've shown above. We can dream, right? LOL As always, please be kind, stay safe and wear your mask. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Finishing the "Me"me and What I Did On My "Day Off"

I want to finish this "Me"me and have only a few more questions, so here I go. 

What do you like to do with friends?

It's probably terrible to admit, but I don't really have a lot of in-person friends. When I was younger and worked in offices with lots of people around, I had a lot of friends. But I'm much older now, and self-employed, so my physical circle of friends is quite limited. I do have a lot of cyber friends, and they are quite dear to me, but I can't invite them over for coffee or meet them for lunch. I prefer to spend my time on my own, but do go to see films with Chickie on occasion (obviously NOT since COVID, but hopefully once again sometime in the future). I'm no longer the life of the party, but my life is pretty good. 

What's your dream job?

I never really envisioned myself working in my own retail business, but I've been doing that since the mid-1980's. I would love to work in the art field, though - museum curator, even in a museum gift shop (although that wouldn't be as fun as actually working with the artwork). But, looking back over my life, I really can't complain too much. 

At what job would you be terrible?

Although I do very well behind the scenes in hospitals and have worked in hospitals in the past, I could never be directly in patient care in the health care industry. I don't do well with sharp and pointed instruments, pain, and sickness. I fully admit that I'd make a poor apprentice in Elrond's House of Healing. 

I want to see Abu Simbel in person. I want to wander 
through the Valley of the Kings, and marvel at the 
pillars at Karnak Temple. I want to walk up the 
steps to Hatshepsut's Temple and marvel at the 
Great Pyramids. I hope to someday stand in Egype 
 and close my eyes against the grit of sand spurred
up by a stray breeze. 

What's something you say you'll do, but never will?

I suspect traveling the way I always wanted to - long stays in a variety of countries and cities around the world. I'd still love to do it, but with the world as it is today and my age, it's highly unlikely. I still want to go to Egypt, that's at the top of my bucket list, and I'd love to ride a horse into Petra (shades of Indiana Jones), it brings a smile to my face just to think about it. There are other places I would love to visit for good memories or for a visit of extreme heartbreak (Auschwitz comes to mind for that one since my family was killed there), but my Hubby is very much a stay-at-home guy, so it's likely that any travel I do will be minimal, and mostly domestic. 

I've been in love with Egypt since I was a small child. It 
was my love of Egypt that pulled me into Anthropology/
Archaeology as a college major and a profession in the 
first place. To see the monuments in person would be 
the culmination of a life-long dream. 

How would you describe your style?

Boring - long-sleeved t-shirts in warmer weather, turtlenecks with pullover sweaters in colder times. Leggings or long skirts, also climate dependent. Sorrel snow boots in winter, pull-on flats in summer, and hats - lots of hats. Yeah - boring. I adore fashion, but I'm no fashion-plate. 

The Temple of Hatshepsut is stunning, placed against 
the Egyptian cliffs. The architecture is superb, something 
even Frank Lloyd Wright would love. 

What are your hobbies?

OMG, almost too many to list. Beading, of course. Fiber arts - weaving, knitting and spinning. Metal working - soldering, etching, enameling, making jewelry and assemblages. Then there are my boxes - that's where I allow my multi-media side to really play. I love combining things into new things, so I remake boxes and give them new lives and purpose. Eventually I'll set up an Etsy store for my creations, after I've retired and can actually work on projects for more than three hours a week. I write too, but I suspect mine will be a novel that never actually sees print. 

This is the knit side of the sweater. I made 
one error in the ribbing, and I bound off 
the shoulders incorrectly (but I won't lose 
stitches, so that's OK). It's far from perfect, 
but I'm having a lot of fun. 

So ... that's the end of the "Me"me. I have a couple of pictures to share of what I did on my "day off" this week. As you may know (unless you've been under a rock for the past month), I have a knitting machine that I've been trying to get comfortable with. On Wednesday I cleared the few things out from in front of Sewing Cabinet #3 and pulled out one wing of the table that I have in that area, setting my machine up on top of it. I started knitting a specific project and got a LOT done in my three hours of time. 

This is the pearl side of the sweater. When 
working with a knitting machine, it's this 
side that is facing you. I do know how to 
hand knit, but I wouldn't have gotten farther 
than a few rows in three hours. Here I 
managed the entire back of the sweater - 
almost 100 rows of actual sweater, not 
counting the bottom "waste yarn" or top 
shaping yarns that only hold things 
together. 

I've been working on a beginning project - a size 2 sweater for my nephew's baby who was born in May. It looked like a reasonable project to tackle and I'm learning a lot by doing it. I did the back of the sweater on Wednesday, and I'll tackle the front of the sweater next week. It's not perfect, but I wouldn't expect perfection in a first effort. I'm gaining confidence with the equipment, though, and knitting this much in only three hours is amazing to me. I'm having a BUNCH of fun! 

So, as always, I plan on being back tomorrow. Please be kind, stay safe and wear your mask. I'll be back tomorrow. 

I Need An Escape - How About A Tiny Treehouse?

Some mornings are harder to get up for than others. Today was such a day, I actually slept until my alarm awakened me at 4:00 am, usually I wake up anywhere from 30-60 minutes before and just get up. I guess the temperature was perfect, and maybe my dreams were good - I have no idea on that. But, at least I got a solid 6+ hours of sleep, so that was good. 

I'm populating today's blog with a Kickstarter 
campaign I want to support and think that you 
might also enjoy. Tiny-Treehouses.com is their 
website and they have wonderful, detailed 
mini treehouses to hang or to add to your 
houseplants. Take a look at the few I've 
put in today's blog, and visit their website 
to see the range. There are some wonderful 
structures. 

I pushed through and got my full 2 miles on the treadmill - once again NOT my favorite exercise. I'd much rather be in the pool, but I don't think that's going to happen until next year. I just don't see myself being brave and going into the midst of other people fearlessly for a while yet. So, I trudged my way through my fast walk. Thank goodness for audio books - I'd die of boredom on the treadmill without my favorite books to listen to. 

There are some wonderful structures that they have 
in production - I just chose a few to share with 
all of you. Little structures like this can help the 
imagination run wild, offering up alternatives 
and giving safe spaces when needed. And these 
are clever. Beautifully designed. 

Settling down at my computer, I handled my email, checked my mail orders, and generally did what I had to do before settling down to write my blog ... and realized that I really had nothing to say today that wasn't negative or horribly boring or ick. Since I refuse to post ick (we have enough of that in our daily lives these days), today's blog will be short. But that's OK. Not every day has to be a winner. 

In their photos, they also have a few shots when the 
roofs are removed, showing the detailed interiors, 
not just the wonderful exteriors. I'm in love with 
these small structures. Take a look and let your 
own imaginations run wild for a little bit. 

I guess I'm just a bit depressed about the world I'm finding myself living in. I'm watching my nation and the world around me heading towards disaster. I'm seeing human rights so hard-fought for in the past within a knife's edge of being thrown into the trash, and I'm looking at a lot of angry and isolated people striking out an anyone because they feel powerless. All I can do is try to effect positive thoughts and actions within the small circle of people I interact with. And that's all you can do too. So please, today, try to brighten someone's day. We all need it. Have an excellent Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow. 

Le Tour and Fibre Arts - Dreams All Around

Today is Day 7 of Le Tour de France, and it's a hilly up and down until the final 40Km which are more-or-less flat. We're heading into the Pyrenees for two days, so this is the wind-up for some serious peaks to come. The Race has prohibited spectator vehicles from the stages in the hopes of cutting down on the crowds in these days of Pandemic, but the crowds are still there - hiking far up the mountains. The Pyrenees are always crazy with clogged narrow passages and presses of spectators from all sides, so I'll be very curious to see how many spectators will climb the peaks in the days to come. It might be a nightmare, it's impossible to say for sure. 

There's an impressive Cat 1 peak right in the middle of today's stage,
but the ending is custom made for the sprinters. Sagan lost the
Green Jersey yesterday, and he may push to get it back today. 

If you're like me and adore the mountain stages of Le Tour, here are the days you want to be watching: 

Saturday and Sunday, September 4 & 5 - the Pyrenees
Friday, September 13th - the Massif Central (probably misspelled, sorry!) 
Sunday, September 15th - the beginning of the Alps
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, September 16-18 deep in the Alps

Of course, all of these dates depend on testing and virus results. The first rest day is on Monday, and the first tests of the riders and their support teams in that day. Not all teams may make it through to the end, and the race itself may not make it. But a lot depends on what happens in the Pyrenees and what the test results show. Everyone is being careful, but it may not be enough. 

One of the things I've been looking at are Inkle Loom
patterns. I have an Inkle loom that I've never used, in
my sewing storage cabinet. I also have a couple of
Charkha looms for spinning cotton. I had some cotton
fiber in my Big Fiber Bag, and I remember taking an
intensive workshop with Stephanie Gaustead a few
decades ago in cotton spinning. I enjoyed it, and it's
very portable. Fun. 

I'm having fun reading articles on spinning from years of past issues of "Spin Off" magazine. I'm getting my money's worth from my digital subscription. My evenings have been spent with You Tube videos of fiber equipment or usage, and I'm relearning things I knew more than twenty years ago. I haven't allowed myself to grab a spindle and some wool yet, but I will. It's only a matter of time. I'm super excited to get back into fabric and fiber arts once again. It'll be a return to my roots, so to speak. Once I have my life to myself again, and don't have to go work every day, I can really explore fiber arts once again. I know I'll be able to work something out where I can use my various skills and bring them together into a cohesive whole. Why not? I have a ton of stuff, now I have to start using it. 

Have a wonderful Friday. We're cool here right now, so it would have been a wonderful few days at the State Fair with my BFF, Sharon. I miss it so much, but I'm not idle - I'm doing things, just not catching up with life in Colorado. Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow. 

Do You Dream With Music?

It's a bit of a droopy day today. I'm hoping that's just me, not the streets, because droopy in the winter equals icy roads for driving and walking. So, I'm just hoping that I'm feeling that way because I'm cold, not because the exterior holds special tricks up its' sleeve. 

I'm hoping it's not a drippy day. Those days, while fine in the summer,
lead to serious driving and walking issues in the winters. 

Do you dream with a soundtrack? I asked a friend that a few weeks ago with the intention of bringing the question to my blog readers, then got swamped by other topics and deadlines. So, I'm asking it now because it still interests me. 

How do you dream? Do you dream in color? In black and white? Do you
wander strange landscapes or destroyed cities? Everyone is different, so
why shouldn't your dreams be different too? 

I know some people dream in color and others in black and white, I also know that some people don't remember or recall their dreams with any clarity, whereas I have some dreams that never leave me - scenes that I'll probably remember until the day I die. But back to music and soundtracks. Aside from conversations, which probably all of us have in dreams now and again, how about recognizable soundtracks. Do you dream with music? 

Ozzy Osbourne is legend. He hasn't released new music in a decade,
but was talked back into the studio by Andrew Watt, who plays
guitar as well as produces the new album. The video is here if
you're interested. Just click and watch. 

The song that brought this topic to my mind was one of Ozzy Osbourne's latest singles from his upcoming new album, a song called "Under the Graveyard" which was released in November from the album which will be released next month. It's catchy, and hell ... it's Ozzy. I've heard another pre-release from the album too, and it's also stellar. He's got great musicians backing him up - Andrew Watt on guitar and doing the production work, Duff McKagan from Guns and Roses on bass, and Chad Smith from Red Hot Chili Peppers on drums. Have you heard the song? You might want to click the link above and take a listen. It's great. 

Apparently I'm not the only one asking the question. National
Public Radio's Robin Hilton asked that question of the week
in 2013. *sigh* I'm behind the times yet again - LOL. 

Anyway, I was dreaming and realized that underneath the pictures, characters and actions was the driving beat of Ozzy's song punctuating through. Most of the time my soundtracks are just that - rhythm and notes that accompany, not dominate. Ozzy's song made me realize my dreams have unexpected angles - music and a beat. It was a fun realization. Although I've had other songs and symphonic pieces feature in dreams before, I had never had one claw it's way from background to primary before. I'm absolutely going to add that album to my Spotify when it's released. 

I was thrilled when Tool finally released their long-promised new
album, and also very happy to see it was available on Spotify. I
loaded it up and immediately lost myself in almost 1-1/2 hours of
new Tool. So happy! 

And speaking of Spotify, I finally had the chance to lose myself in the latest Tool album - finally released after more than thirteen years of fudging, broken promises and delays. Was "Fear Inoculum" worth the wait? Oh yeah! Absolutely! It's classic Tool - an unexpected journey led by an able musical guide. I'll be listening to that album again and again. 

On that note (not really intended as a pun, but it works, doesn't it?), I'm calling this a done deal. Have a great Tuesday, everyone, and remember to be kind. It's so easy to strike out in anger in these tense days. Please spread some joy and calm and kind to others as a balm against the sharp knives. I'll be back tomorrow for a VERY busy day off. 

A Celebration of a Milestone

It's odd to feel older, because age is basically just a number and within the exact truth, a birthday is actually celebrating the achievement of living until the end of a year. You don't get to celebrate your year-one birthday at birth, it's only celebrated at the culmination of year one and the beginning of year two. Continuing with that rationale, celebrating your 50th is actually celebrating the completion of your 50th, and so on, and so on. Today I'm celebrating one of those "milestone" years, and I'm not all that happy about it. 

True milestone birthdays actually don't come around that often. You
celebrate your first, of course, and the start of your teenage years.
Often you celebrate age 18 and 21 because you have increased
legal rights. Thirty is a celebration milestone, an age of
responsibility. That is followed by ages 50 and 65. Everything
after that, 80, 90 and 100 seem incremental and
rather incidental. 

Celebrating birthdays has always been hot/cold for me. I enjoy the freebies - a free cupcake from a favorite baker which I'll take advantage of today, the free bagel with cream cheese that I had yesterday, and the nice dinners that DH usually makes to celebrate. But, it also means I'm a year older, my body is wearing out sooner (although the gym and I are trying to forestall that for as long as possible) and deadlines that we have are getting closer and closer. 

I want to travel to Egypt. It's been a goal of mine since I was
eight years old. My cousin has been to Europe several times,
even lived there for a school year. My goal has always
been the desert sands and stone monuments of Egypt. 

Our goal is retirement - a career shift, in essence. I want to have a life away from being at the shop 5-6 days a week, and I want to be able to work on my own art or crafts or writing in the mornings and spend the rest of the day with DH. We want to travel, something we haven't been able to do together for decades (the last vacation we were able to take together was in 1994), and basically we want a life. 

Since I'll be in that part of the world, it would be stunning to
drop by Petra, Jordan at the same time. Of course, I want a
really extensive tour of Egypt, so there may be no time, but
wouldn't Petra be marvelous? 

Since I plan on living until age 85 (longer would be a bonus, but I will be sorely disappointed with a lesser amount of years), I will have some time to play, but energy is harder to come by when you're older, and extensive traveling will become more and more difficult. The several trips abroad I had been hoping for a decade ago are settling into one or two. Even though there are many places in the world that I want to see in person, I am a realist. It's more than doubtful that I will actually get to most of them. 

I also would love to travel through Portugal via river
cruise. We both love Portuguese wines, and it would
be a good chance to kick back and relax for a while. 

But that's OK because today I'm celebrating the day and the possibilities that this upcoming year holds for me. It will be a year of extreme changes, and I'm focused at achieving those changes and moving along with life as it is offered to me. At least, that's the goal. Have a wonderful weekend and I'll be back on Monday. Enjoy the day!