A Break Until the New Year

I am taking off the holidays. After the first of the new year, I will do my blog once a month. That way I can do other things too!

Getting Things Done, and I'm Stopping My Blog

While I was on vacation, I got an email from my solar power company  that my usage was not being registered on the system.  I said I was on vacation and when I'd be back.  They called Monday and they guided me through everything I needed to do.  They called on Tuesday and said it didn't work and she gave me different directions. Then they called me Wednesday to let me know it has been booted to a higher level person.   Someone will come in 3 weeks to see if they can reset it. 

I have a friend, Annemarie, whom I haven't seen in several months.  She called sharing her plan to move out of state to be near her son, his wife and a new granddaughter.  She is a psychologist who is burned out doing what she does.  She has put her home up for sale and has had two offers, but not to her liking.  She has already purchased a fixer upper where she is moving.   I had been so impressed with what she had done with her home here which was also a fixer upper, that I think she can do wonders with her new home.  So she is scared.  I think that is understandable, but she does have a plan and is willing to live off less.  Besides, she could come back and get another job here if it doesn't work out.   I have made very big moves not having a complete plan, and it has worked out.  I agree with making a move when you aren't liking what is going on.   She'll survive it and probably do very well!

Barbara, the one I went with on our road trip called to see whether I wanted to accompany her to buy winter plants for each of our vegetable gardens.  It was inexpensive. We split on a couple of the six packs and planned to return later this week to check out other plants that were brought in.  Another day, we went to see Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.  It was okay.  I preferred the book by far.

Barbara tallied the money spent on our trip which came out fairly even. We settled up and I was impressed at how close we were. 

We had our Red Hat dinner Wednesday night at Uricchio's.   Their food is quite good. There were six of us, much smaller group than usual.  Shelley could not be there. I think it is Shelley who has gotten us into taking pictures again.   I just plain forgot.  Our leader Evelyn works in a hospital, as supervisor of the pharmacy next door to the Emergency Room.    The staff were trying to save an officer shot in the face.   So staff were also dealing with a traumatic death at the hospital where she works.  We had been hearing about it since it happened on the news. I wasn't even thinking about Evelyn being there, since it was in Lancaster, but that is where she works.  Evelyn said there were about two hundred officers lining the hallway in which his body would be transported out.  It was very emotional for her, the staff and of course all the officers.  It's a long drive for Evelyn to come to our meetings, but she was particularly drained with this.  She will be retiring in early January.   

When I went for chemotherapy, my nurse said the coloring books and colored pencils are a real hit.  She said a young mother comes with her three year old and while the three year old is using her coloring book, mom is using hers. I really am glad it is helping people.  

Janet and I got together after not seeing her for three weeks. I picked up some owl themed items on my trip which I gave to her.  She gave me a cute box of Belgium chocolates made into little pumpkins. We shared a plate of chicken wings when I felt one of the veneers on a front tooth come off.   It wasn't painful.  I called the dentist and got in the next morning. Since it was close to the next dental appointment, I had a full visit.  After X-rays and checking my teeth, he found I had a cavity under the veneer next to where it had fallen off. So I had a temporary crown put on it and the veneer glued back. That was a costly visit! It is sensitive, because it is not completely sealed.  I look forward to the permanent one in two weeks. 

On the same day, I got my organic vegetables and fruits from Hopeful Harvest, plus wines from Fermentations and a box from Blue Apron which had three dinners for two.  One of my sisters is using it and had recommended it to me.  I went to Kaiser to pick up my prescriptions.  They had a sign up to get your flu shot, so I took care of that too.  When I finished that, I started fading fast.  I tried to keep going, but it wasn't in the cards. I crawled in bed to read before sleep overtook me. 

Shelley's a wonderful grandmother.  Bentley is getting lots of love!

Shelley with Grandson Bentley

I told you how Daisy empties my drawers. She did it while I was gone and she continues to do it.  It does not make sense to put it back in the drawer just to have her remove it again!

Daisy Can Do This All Day Long!

I found this on Facebook.  It was touching to me and I thought others might identify with it. Christopher Walken shares what it is like to lose a loved one:

Christopher Walken Shares What It is Like to Lose a Loved One

I am stopping my blog. I don't know if I will pick it back up or not. I'm fine, it is just that I would like to do other things.  I hope you are well and I wish you the best.   Rachel

Family Has A Lot Going On!

I listened to this book called Mars by Ben Boba, who actually worked for NASA. It is the  story of an international crew that went to Mars. They end up having a crisis, but they were more supportive of each other after it.  The story is a little old, because they talked about floppy discs, but it does not take away from the story.   

My niece Kerri posted this cartoon on Facebook which fit the sentiment i have been sharing about colored pencils and stress. I love it!

My daughters Shelley and Jennifer went to see their Uncle Brian (my husband's brother). He told them about working with a friend of his on a pit crew for car racing , loving the experience. We are hoping to get together at Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Perhaps Jeff and his wife Stephanie will join us. I also hope they bring their daughters Cassadie and Meagan.

Jennifer, Brian and Shelley

I let Shelley take my car and she got this great picture of my grandson Kevin.

Kevin Enjoying the Ride

We are anticipating the arrival of Alyssa's son any day now.  I'm sure Alyssa's ready too!

A sweet picture of my granddaughter Crystal and great granddaughter Nylah.

Nylah with her mother Crystal

I took the picture of the hearts from last week and added designs throughout the picture. All the colors used are Tertiary. Primary colors are yellow, blue and red, secondary colors come from these and tertiary colors come from mixing secondary.   I did some blending.  The hearts were burnished to give them some shine. 

My brother sent me an email saying he was heading to Eastern Europe. I think he is going on his own. Paul and I took a tour.  Ben took classes in Polish and Swedish, so perhaps he can do it without being on a tour.  He left yesterday. I look forward to hearing about it. 

Yesterday was my daughter Ronda's birthday. She is 46 now.  Her family took her out to eat.  They got some beautiful pictures of her with her daughter Kathryn. So lovely!

My Granddaughter Kathryn and My Daughter Ronda

A good week!  I hope yours was goods and the next one better!  I'll see you next Sunday!       Rachel

Learning More about Using Colored Pencils

There were 5 students in Carol Bradshaw's class.  A couple of them got very creative in how they did their flip-flops. So Carol said we can do more with our pictures such as filling in the white space with designs. It was fun seeing what others had done. This week we are doing a picture of hearts. She stated we could add more, put in a design, but this time with tertiary colors. These are colors using secondary and primary. So these are going to be softer colors. She told us which colors we could buy rather than mixing them. I went to Michael's and Aaron Brothers, but I was only able to get two of the colors.  So what I will have to do is mix them directly on the color wheel and on the hearts picture.   I sent an email to Carol about not getting the colors she asked us to get.  She will not be here this next week and said she would pick them up at another art store when visiting her daughter in Nevada.

When I did the color wheel, I used three colors to do the whole thing.  I did not use a blender.  Of course, the colors would have been truer if I just used one pencil which was already blended.  With the picture of hearts,  I had several of the tertiary  colors I needed (it is all done in tertiary colors).  I did use a blending pencil and a blending marker on some of it.  My plan is to do a design around the hearts.  I am also working on laying at the colors down on a color chart that I can refer to later with it in light, medium and dark.  That one is a work in progress.  I have to say that doing this is relaxing.  It really helps me deal with stress.

Color Wheel Using Individual Colors and Layering

A way to practice drawing flat color with tertiary colors

I met Janet at Mexcali's.  I had found a coloring book with owls in it last week and gave it to Janet. Janet loves owls and collects them, so I thought she would enjoy it. I just bought a 12 pack of colored pencils so she could get started.  Then, because our teacher Carol has told us of other tools to use, I went through what I had and was able to give her duplicates of most of what I had.  She had not started coloring yet, but I hold out high hopes for her doing it and enjoying it. 

I'm sure there are other sites that do this, but I found Memoryglass.com and their Facebook site. I have a girlfriend who said she wanted something on a necklace. She said it would be giving a little piece of me to her.  Here they put human or pet ashes in art and jewelry.  I also like the idea of pet ashes going here.

Memory glass.com

A wonderful saying I found on Facebook. I don't know who to give credit to, but it is true.  

Here are a couple of pictures of two of my great-grandchildren, Conner who is two and Nylah about 9 months old.

Conner, age 2, Meagan's and Billy's son

Nylah is about 9 months.  She just woke up!

Well, that is it for the week.  I hope your week went well and that next week will be good too!  See you next Sunday!            Rachel

Vicki came back! More People are Coloring.

Labor Day was very pleasant. It was in the mid-eighties (which is unusually low for this time of year).  The food, company and weather were perfect.  Nylah is growing like a weed! She has a good disposition, so sweet!  My grandsons, Devin, Kevin and Christopher "are taller than me!  Heather's boyfriend Jake along with my grandson Christopher and Kevin fixed my hammock so it was more comfortable to use.  Alyssa will have her baby (a boy) on the 26, (at least that is the date they have told her).  The family is excited to welcome a new one in less than a month!   Nylah's father,  Lorence polished up the barbecue.  It was also my granddaughter's Kayla's sixteenth birthday which we celebrated with brownies, ice cream and whipped cream.  We had a lot going on.  Didn't get Devin in pictures.  He ran off when picture taking was going on.

Shelley and Kayla

Heather and her Boyfriend Jake

Christopher and his Cousin Heather

Great- Granddaughter Nylah, So Cute

Shelley and Kevin

Two Sisters, Jennifer and Shelley

Jennifer, Shelley with Me

Shelley and Kevin on My New Hammock

Sisters Crystal and Kayla

Alyssa who is Due toward the End of
September with her Cousin Crystal

I Think This is the First Picture of Just Kevin and Me

We had our first class using colored pencils.  There were six students.  Linda and I sat next to each other and Linda kept saying, "I'm going to love this class!"   Well I agree with her. We worked on how to make an even, flat layer of color.  We looked at varying the intensity of color by pressure. Of course, I have used pressure to make it darker, but she also talked about putting layer upon layer to make it darker.  It is hard to do the basics when you are anxious to be further along. But I do need to work on this.

The Secondary Colors, Green, Purple and Orange are
Actually Blending the Primary Colors to Make Them.
I have not done this before.  The idea is to make
it look like it was painted.  I'm a little sloppy and I need
to get a good brush to get the crumbs off my work.

We've started on a color wheel, with the
inside point the lightest and working outward
to make it darker.  I didn't blend it.

Shelley and I went to our Red Hat dinner held at Cafe Med. This a great group of women.   We were all so happy to see Vicki.  Her husband had died 5 months ago (it doesn't seem that long ago!).  Several of us have lost husbands, so I think that was a draw for me, but I like all of them.

Shelley is talking to Vicki

Evelyn, Judie and Jo

At head of the table is Vicki, I'm on her left, then Evelyn,
Judie,  Jo, Stephanie, Pamela, Chrysta and Shelley

Stephanie, Pamela and Chrysta

Barbara let me know that the Sierra Club was sponsoring a film that was shown at The Maya called Blue Gold; World Water Wars.  A very worthwhile movie that talked about corporations trying to buy all the water in the world.  Some people have fought back and won.  Much more needs to be done.   I joined Barbara along with her friend Chris.   Two of her friends, Doris and Cindy, we saw right after the movie.  They had gone with us when we went to the Tejon Ranch Conservancy earlier this year.  This synopsis came from Wikipedia on the movie we saw:

Blue Gold: World Water Wars examines environmental and political implications of the planet's dwindling water supply, and posits that wars in the future will be fought over water.^[4]The film also highlights some success stories of water activists around the world. 

At Chemo, I saw how they set up the coloring books and colored pencils. It was placed in a nice basket by the coffee. There have been several people who have used them. I'm happy about it, because it is a good stress reliever.  Some people have already decided to buy their own to do at home.

My Donation being put to Good Use

I met my friend Janet at Mexicali's.  I had gone to one of the art stores to replenish some of what I need.  I saw a coloring book of owls and this store had a sale of up to 60%.  Janet loves owls, so I bought the book and a set of 12 color pencils to get her started.  She does get stressed sometimes and I think this could help.

So that is it for the week.  It was a good week.  I hope your week went well and I will see you next Sunday.                         Rachel

Seeing Friends in Visalia! Great Time as Always!

I had an echocardiogram. Most of the tests I have had are invasive, requiring radioactive material be put in my blood. This just required gel on a pad that she moved around to look at my heart. What I found out while I was there is that I don't have a bicuspid valve. It is a normal tricuspid.  I think it was over 30 years ago that a cardiologist did tests and told me it was bicuspid.  I could actually see the valve and I told Lori, the Sonographer that It looked tricuspid to me and she affirmed that I was correct. I have to wait for a doctor to read it and, if something else needs to be done or all is okay that Dr. Tun will inform me.  This test was done to see if my heart is leaking because my refraction rate is 80% and normal is 60%  Dr. Tun has never seen anyone with the results I have had.  Hopefully, all is okay.  We will see.

Hart Park has an area that peacocks like to hang out.  I went looking for peacock feathers for my teacher Carol Bradshaw. We have been working on peacocks for two weeks now. Well, it was easier said than done. There were several cars there when I arrived around 11 am. So people could have already picked up feathers. I did go to the opposite side of where people were and I found a couple of feathers.  Then I saw two within the gate where the peacocks tend to stay. It was too far to reach. I used the umbrella handle but I seemed to be pushing it further. Then I started looking for a long thin branch to reach it. I eventually did get two more feathers.  It turned into a bigger deal than I expected. I do have some peacock feathers from a stay at Martha's home, but I didn't find the bag I put it in.   

Peacock in Hart Park.  I don't think anyone lives in this house which has a gate around it.
That is where the Peacocks like to hang out.

Linda has joined us in class. Carol noted things I didn't get in the drawing of the peacock, so below is another stab at it. Carol also asked us to find a picture of a lizard to draw.  Below also is a picture taken from the feathers I collected, that Carol laid out and that I took the picture.  She said the focus of these recent drawings - peacock, lizard and snake are on patterns. I am not done with the peacock, but I will get it done tomorrow

Three Peacock Feathers.

Peacock - Still being worked on

Last summer I had lots of plumbing work done. It is not finished. My shower and bath are leaking and it has become ridiculous. So I had the same guy Trevor for part of the work then. Shower is fixed but the bathtub needs a lot more done. We settled on $650 for all of it.   Ugh!   But I really don't have a choice. I'm not doing work to make it prettier (though I would like to). I am focused on keeping it whole. If you wait too long, problems can get worse and you put out a lot more money at one time.   I am relieved though to have the repairs I had done completed.  He thinks it is time to replace the galvanized pipes in the house, but he did give me a guesstimate of $7,500 to replace those in the house. Way too overwhelming!  I don't have that sort of money. 

I gave a form to my doctor to get a handicap placard for parking. I do fine for most parking, but big events with hug parking lots are very difficult for me to handle because of the distance to get in. My doctor signed this and I will mail it to the Department of Motor Vehicles.   I have stalled on this a long time, but I really don't want to lessen my activities as much as I can. 

I told my friend Janet when we were at Mexicali’s about the results of the echocardiogram.  She was an nuclear medicine technician.  She said that the work when I had it done then, like at least 30 years ago is like comparing caveman times to now.  Pictures are much clear now.  I’m glad I have friends in the know to check with.

To top off the week, I met with friends I worked with in Corcoran. There were seven of us- Marc, Lynette and her husband Simon,  Bill and his wife Jana, Jody and me. We met at The Vintage Press which was delicious.  

Some of us talked about another restaurant called Craw Daddy's. When Paul and I lived in Visalia, we went there several times. It had just been built and opened.  Simon had heard a lot of ads on it recently.  We were wondering if it was a new owner and wondered if they had changed the menu some. Anyway, we thought it might be worth checking it out.   I did speak with Lynette after this and we are going to see if the restaurants in Visalia have been reviewed and perhaps go by that.  

We stayed at the Marriott which is being remodeled. Lynette and Simon were on the seventh floor (it has eight floors).  Jody and I each had a room on the second floor. There was nothing obviously changed on the second floor, but I did see my friends' room on the seventh floor. I liked it.  It had what looked like a very dark wood-slatted floor,  a sophisticated sofa, special lighting in the mirror, wide screen oversized television, and a wonderful large picture of the sequoias. The entire hotel is being redecorated.   I like to stay at that hotel when I visit, however,  prices are getting a lot higher and depending on if I can get a deal or not,  i would stay there less frequently.  There are less expensive hotels in the area and I could stay there.  

 Bill looked good as did Jana. Jana is more of a Facebook friend, but I have met her at several gatherings. Of course Lynette and Simon looked great. Simon gave me a jar of canned lemons he brined.  He asked "Do you like Middle Eastern food?"  I do, but I had to order a couple of books so I could make some dishes. I'm really hoping there is a big section on vegetables. I've been to Turkey twice and I fell in love with the vegetables!  If we had it like that in the United States, I would easily eat all my veggies.  Marc looked very good. I believe that he really enjoys not working (like me).   I have not had a problem of thinking I had nothing to do. His life runs a little slower (as mine does). And he really takes his time having his coffee in the morning, then walking his dog (in the foothills of Sequoia) before driving to Visalia to work out at the gym.  I think it is over two years ago since I have seen Jody.  I can’t be sure, but it was great seeing her.  It is such a long drive for her to come and she can hit very heavy traffic, so she left for home early in the morning. We will look at getting together in the Fall.  I realized after I got home that I had not taken any pictures!  And, I don't think anyone else did either!  

Below is from another blog about a funeral procession on its way to the cemetery.  We need to think beyond ourselves when other people are hurting.  This is worth reading. 

https://pastorcindym.wordpress.com/2016/07/11/stopping-traffic/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email

So that was a loaded week.  I got lots of sleep in-between events, so I did okay.  I really hope your week went well and I will see you next Sunday.                   Rachel

Returning Home

Well, finishing up last weeks blog was sure difficult doing it away from home.  I'm not sure why it was so difficult, because I felt like I should be able to do exactly what I do at home. Hopefully I can work this out.  I feel I'm limited in travel if I can't work that out. 

I gave the picture I drew of Piper, their Cocateil, to Debbie and Jacquie. They felt the face reflected Piper's personality. I'm glad they liked it.

Barbara took off to do ancestry research at Fort Ross. After I finished my blog, Jacquie, Debbie and I went to three wineries.  Coppola Winery was the nicest because they also sold a lot items you might associate with entertaining with wine. It was a great museum of the movies Francis Coppola wrote, produced and directed. That was fun. The grounds were beautiful. They also had a pool that people were able to use. I didn't check this out because I was not interested in using it.   Actually, all the grounds of the wineries (the other two were Clos du Bois and Trentadue) were beautiful and the wine tasting was nice. The wines were not wines that you could buy at home. It is interesting that now they charge for wine tasting between $5 and $15 to taste four wines. I remember when wine tasting was free. 

On the way home, Barbara and I stopped in Santa Nella for their split pea soup. I have fond memories of it as did Barbara.  Well I will never again push to go there. I thought the soup was terrible. Barbara felt it tasted like canned soup. So I have that out of my system!  Ugh!

I had my Red Hat group this week. We met at Sorella's which is a nice Italian restaurant. I had the Fettuccine and Clams. It was delicious. Each of us had something different. All of us liked what we had. It is further from my home than the other restaurants. Perhaps that is why I haven't been there in a long time. I will have to include it as one of the restaurants I frequent.  

One very important benefit from our Red Hat group is that we share life issues we deal with to get emotional support. The fact is we all have issues, a lot of them similar. We can share what we have done or what we think we might have done in that situation. The other role, is just a listening ear. Most of our experiences with the men in our lives is their desire to fix our problems, though much of what we deal with may not be fixable. Just being able to talk is a great value to us. It lets some of the frustration and steam dissipate. My group wants my daughter Shelley to join. She is not 50 years old, so she would be a princess until that time.  I would love that. We are looking at some social events occurring in our community.  Our group would like to go as girlfriends.  They look like fun outings.

We had no art class this week. I did draw another owl different than what I've shared. I've thought about using colored pencil to finish it. I had such a hard time separating the contact paper for my walking owl.  I used it to cover the owl so I could do a flat background. This owl is actually at twilight. The sky has a lavender look to it because of the time. What I would like to do is put the lavender over the owl after I've painted it. What I don't want to happen is ruin the look of the owl, that going over in the lavender could smudge the color underneath. I just want a graded color over the owl to show the owl belongs there.  The other thing I want to accomplish is redo the parrot drawing with very thin lines for the feathers.  I received the Rigger brushes I ordered yesterday. So hopefully the right tool helps. 

I have slept a lot this week. I had not gone to a Chinese restaurant, so I think I can rule out the use of MSG. One friend left a message saying"I know you are out having a ball, so I won't call you on your cell phone."  Actually, if either phone rang (which one did), I would sleep through both. 

Here is where I'm at on my art work. They are works in progress obviously.  I'll do more on them tomorrow before class.

I thought of finishing this with color pencil

I put contact paper on the owl to be able to do a flat wash over it.

My friend Janet and I went to the Red Pepper. They have good Mexican food with style. Very relaxing time together. 

This morning I went out with my granddaughter Kayla for her birthday. She turned 15 yesterday. We went to Anita's, but they no longer do a Sunday Branch. You can ask for the lunch or breakfast. We had breakfast. Kayla had a  a green chili breakfast burrito and I had chilaquiles.  Then we split a banana chimichanga with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. Anyway,  I missed the buffet breakfast, but the food was tasty and was actually too big.  I love their Menudo and I'll get that next time. 

I am feeling very tired again. I'll lie down to rest and my pattern is to fall asleep, wake up late evening and back to sleep until tomorrow morning. 

That's it for the this week. I hope your week went well and that this next week goes well.  See you next Sunday.               Rachel 

Making Lots of Memories, Living Before Dying

So in the Central Valley of California we are really dealing with major drought conditions.  A town I used to live in, Visalia, is down to watering one time a week and anyone who doesn't follow this will be fined. I think all the measures being taken are not enough. It appears we will run out of water.   So will this become a ghost valley like how we describe a ghost town?  My friend Martha had a real scare.  She lives in the country outside of Visalia.  They thought their well was dry, but they found out the pump needed repairing.  They are down to 30 feet of water in their well.  That sounds scary to me too.  They are hoping it lasts another year until they are scheduled for their well to be dug much deeper.  60 minutes had a very good report about the effects of the drought on the Central Valley this last Sunday (It was a repeat)s.  See the episode on using up the underground water by clicking on Link below. 

 Link

Last Sunday my son Jeff, his wife Stephanie and their youngest daughter Meghan came to visit. We had some of the family here to join us.  But since Kevin's birthday party was the day before, some had already scheduled the following day with other activities.  We barbecued chicken and with what each chipped in to fill out the meal, we had a huge meal. Stephanie shared with us her experiences of catering for groups of students making movies. This has been so successful, her name is being bandied about for future catering jobs. Of course, the whole family has been very aware of her excellent cooking talents. So it wasn't a surprise to us that this would happen. We are all very pleased her talents are being recognized.  They sold their home and are currently in a rental which they describe as bigger than their last home. They are looking to get a home at the beach.            Jeff started working at a start up company as a CPA which has huge potential.  So,  Jeff said though a lot has happened, it has been very positive. They will have an open house at their new home to celebrate their oldest daughter's graduation (Cassadie) from the University of  Oregon at the end of the month. 

It was a good day. I was telling Jeff how exhausted I felt these days for no obvious reason and he told me he had been feeling this way and was recently diagnosed with diabetes.   I had seen my oncologist that week and told him I was fine. At that moment I was and I couldn't remember what I was planning to bring up. (Write it down next time!)  It was about the exhaustion.  Stephanie and I didn't get in the pictures, but here are the others. 

Jeff Jerdin and Shelley Schmitt, Brother and Sister

Meghan Jerdin, Crystal Kline, Alyssa Estes, Kayla and Devin Kline, my Grandchildren

This week was my husband Paul's birthday. If he were still here, he would have been 74 years old. I really miss him as does the rest of the family. It is definitely not the same without him. 

My Red Hat dinner was the day of Paul's birthday. It was at a Thai restaurant I have not been to. It is called the Blue Elephant Thai Restaurant. The perfect place to eat since Paul and I were married in Thailand while on vacation.  The food was good, as was the company. But I was feeling nauseous and just all around, not well and left early.  

This week was also Shelley's birthday, Paul's oldest daughter, my step-daughter. We went to dinner at Mama Roomba's a fabulous Caribbean restaurant on First Friday, a monthly event in downtown Bakersfield, with the local art galleries open in the evening along with street crafts and musicians all around the area.   This area continues to improve and has been a draw to people as they hear about this event. It makes for a pleasant evening out. To get into most restaurants downtown at the time of this event, make a reservation because they are fill up fast, usually with those who made reservations.

Shelley and I standing at the entrance to Wall Street, an Alley with
Guthrie's Alley Cat in the Background

Shelley and I Standing in Front of Colorful Street Art

And then last night Shelley and I had a wonderful evening at one of the garden nurseries, Robby's Nursery. That place is so lovely. I could spend hours there!  It is gorgeous!  So this event had a chef who made several dishes using fresh herbs talking as he was cooking.  A couple of great hints we picked up is spray the fruit, meat or vegetable lightly with a no-stick spray before putting it on the grill.  It won't shoot back flames and you make sure the food is covered and less likely to stick.  The other great hint is similar.  Grill the veggies dry, then cover with the marinade to not burn the food on the grill.  Amazing that herbs you don't think of putting in drinks (like lemonade) add a nice touch, like oregano. There were also two women who were sisters who made the appetizers. They ended up sitting with us. Very nice people. They used to own Skateland, but recently sold it. The food was outstanding and wine was also served. It was also a wine tasting event. This was $25 per person and required reservations.   Shelley found out about it on Facebook.  Best deal for the money!  We were lucky with the weather which was in the mid-eighties. How fortunate for us!  It is heading to over a hundred degrees this week.

Shelley and I wearing Shades Before the Sun Went Down

Shelley and I with Two New Friends

I am in the Art group on Google+.  I admired the work of a photographer, Mike Dunbar. It really is artistic, especially his still life photos. I can't help but speak up about how impressed I am. He finally recommended a book by Joe McNally, The Moment It Clicks. So I ordered it on line through Amazon.  It took a while to get here. So one day he sent a message about how were Joe and I getting along. I was so confused and asked "Who's Joe?"  He replied Joe McNally!"  Then I remembered and said I'd send him a message when he came. So when it did come and I informed him, he responded, "I hope you'll be happy together."  Ha, ha!  That would look like a love interest!  Maybe, but in photography!

I saw one of my doctors this week. She is an Endocrinologist.  I forgot to tell my Oncologist about being totally exhausted. I told him I was fine.  I was fine right at that moment. So I tell her and she has ordered some blood work. I haven't been tested for diabetes since 2008. My friend Janet said low blood pressure could cause this. I take a water pill which has a side effect of keeping the body from spilling calcium when you pee. I have not had high blood pressure. So I sent a note about that to her.   I eventually got a follow up note from another physician that yes, low blood pressure can cause exhaustion, so I'm scheduled to discuss this with another physician in two weeks.

The other doctor I saw was the pain doctor for a follow-up visit after the cortisone injections in my back.  Since I have always tended to push myself in moving, doing things and taking care of business, these injections I believed helped me a lot.  I really don't want to slow down and I am hoping I can continue to be like this.  He told me that all people with back pain would benefit in knowing two things that would make a big difference in recovering and moving on or being more handicapped.  They are, don't bend and don't lift heavy items.  I know, I know, I cannot totally abide by this.  I don't have people readily available to do these tasks that require these movements.  I do set several things aside and wait until I see them if I can.

I worked further on my drawing of an Iris.  I think I may be done with it.

Iris in Graphite

Here is my picture of an Oriental Poppy I did in watercolor.

Oriental Poppy in Watercolor

I'm working on a rose, however, I was not getting the idea of the petals.  I spoke with my teacher on the phone today and she emailed me pictures to use as guides.  Fascinating.  One page of them has each petal in a different color which makes it easier to distinguish between each petal so much better. I will post it next week.  We need to have the drawn version done this week.  We will be painting from what we drew.

Here is a clear list on how to help someone who is grieving.  I think you will find it helpful. 

http://thegrieftoolbox.com/artwork/how-do-you-help-someone-grief

So this woman is going through her battle with cancer too and she wants to educate others on what people say that does not help. It is short and worth watching.  These were issues for me too.

https://www.facebook.com/holley.kitchen/videos/10153490757561869/

And here is my great-grandson Conner who looks much cleaner as he learns how to use a spoon when eating.

Conner Working on Eating with a Spoon

A very full week.  I have a few things going on this next week, including an overnight camping trip that my granddaughter Kayla.  Her friend Brianna will be joining us.  I think that will be particularly great!  I am making memories here.  I love it and I hope those who are involved with me in enjoying these gatherings get a kick out of it.  Have a wonderful week and I will see you next Sunday.

Rachel