My heater would not turn on Monday night. It was the first night I attempted to turn on the heat. The next morning I called to get it fixed. I could hear it attempting to run, but it would not light. I called the repair company and they came that evening My fingers were really cold. I was fine when I was in bed. It was tough moving out from under the covers. I realize that for those people in real cold weather, they would think it was a joke. But when it has been so much warmer, like low in the 80's, the 50's seem very chilly! So when he came, he said the sensor wire was crimped and stuck in the metal cover, so it wasn't getting the message to light. I was so glad there was no charge for fixing it because they did the last repair. All I see is my money floating out the window. I get so anxious!
I showed Carol, my teacher, my art work. She feels I'm coming along quite well on my drawing. She had thoughts to improve each picture which wouldn't require too much. This week we started drawing deer. I printed pictures I thought would be good practice. I worked on all the animal pictures I did. When I met with my friend Janet, I gave her the two pictures I did of her dog Poopy. She plans to have them framed. I look forward to seeing them on her wall. The picture I did of Barbara's dog Patti I will have framed because the size is not standard and I know what needs to be done to get it framed correctly. I am pleased with what I did with my cat Pepper. I'll pass by Carol, but I think it might be ready for framing. No class this week, but I'm working on contour drawings of deer.
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| My Cat Pepper |
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| Contour Drawing of a Deer |
It rained much of Monday and some on Tuesday. While in class, a news item came on my iPhone that two boulders the size of cars and another much bigger came down closing the mountain road to Lake Isabella. There was also a mudslide. I wasn't thinking to offer my home if she got stuck here since she lives by Lake Isabella. I called a little later and left a message of my offer. She didn't get the message until she got home. She took an alternate route which adds quite a bit of time. She will pack an emergency bag just in case she gets stuck and will stay at my home if this occurs.
I ordered a used book through Amazon.com that Janet loaned me called The Watercolor Cat. Art by Peggy Chun and story by Shelly Mecum. Beautiful art! This woman had ALS and switched hands when her right hand stopped working, then used her mouth when her hands stopped working. Then, when that stopped working, she used a computer program that followed her eye movement. So this used book I got, was signed by the artist (who lived in Hawaii) the writer and a paw print by her cat Boo. In addition to that, it says, "Aloha Rachel, By all means Paint". This was given to a woman's granddaughter Rachel as noted on the back of the book cover, but I was amazed by this. I showed Janet this who thought it was beyond amazing.
My daughter Shelley and I went to the Red Hat Dinner at PF Changs. The food was delicious. The previous time we were there, it wasn't consistently good. I'm glad we gave it another try. I always enjoy getting together with them and I'm glad Shelley goes. I'm trying to get my friend Janet to go. I'm sure she would like the our gatherings and the women in it. Shelley took a group shot and since she was not in the picture, we did a selfie outside. Since there were lights at ground level, I look odd because the cast shadow makes it look like I have cat eyes.
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| Shelley and Me |
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| Me with Evelyn, Jo, Vicki, Pamela and Marti Shelley is taking the picture |
My friend Barbara invited me to a Sierra Club meeting which was held in the hall of the St. George Greek Orthodox Church on Truxtun. They had great food and a silent auction. After these, there was a presentation on how the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District is failing in protecting the health of the citizens of this valley, and in particular, the southern part of our valley which includes Bakersfield, Arvin, Lamont, Shafter, Wasco Delano, Taft and Buttonwillow. The oil companies have no useful standards that they are held to. Particulate matter and ozone levels are so high that the average age at death is four years less than the rest of the United States and we have the most polluted air in all of the United States. At one time that was Los Angeles. But no longer. We are now the winner in that category. The Kern County Board of Supervisors give the oil companies here a pass. It is better not to look than to find information and be forced in some way to deal with it. They hold the people to do much higher standards than the industry which is here. We agree that we all need to play a role in this, but this must also include industry which does the bulk of polluting our valley.
Here are the most recent pictures of my great-grandsons Conner and Kason. They are handsome boys who are growing like Weeds!
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| Conner |
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| Kason |
My niece Kerri Buttler shared this with me. We all, including me, could learn something from this. I'm aware of it for my issues, but not always for other people. We all could benefit from a reminder on what is empathy.
So that is it for the week. I continue to feel good. So, I will continue to do the things I want to do. I'm so fortunate. I hope you have a wonderful week. I'll see you next Sunday. Rachel
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