Merry Christmas!

 

          Christmas will come and go before we visit again, so I just want to wish you all a happy, healthy, merry, and blessed Christmas!

          It’s only this week that I finished a gift for my friend and patron, California Susan. That’s what Mike and I call her. California Susan, just like that. Instantly Mike knows who I’m talking about better than if I just say Susan.

          “What did you make for her?” I know you wanna know.

          I made a stained-glass bird suncatcher.

          Those flowers! I had so much fun making those flowers that I made a ton of them! Then I only ended up using three on this piece.

          I want you to look at this picture, study it for a moment. Can you see that some of the flowers on the right are much more translucent?

          “Yeah! I can! Why is that?” you ask.

          The ones on the left I painted with acrylic paints, then I wondered what they would look like if I used watercolor paint. And that’s the difference. I think the way watercolor spreads and blends gives them a really interesting look and I used two of them on California Susan’s gift.

          Then I wondered what they would look like if I used ink instead of paint. I got out my jars of ink and dipped one in red, one in blue, and one in purple, getting ink all over my fingers in the process. The ink didn’t dry as well as the other mediums and not worth the trouble and mess.

Although I like the look of the watercolor flowers, it wouldn’t give me a vibrant red, so the third flower on the bird suncatcher was the one dipped in red ink.

Whether watercolor or ink, the final details were done in acrylic.

I kept my bead usage down to a minimum and called it done.

California Susan loves Paris, so for her Christmas card I painted the Eifel Tower. Since she has a history of framing whatever I send her, I made it more of a frameable size and less of a greeting card size.

Neither gift is perfect. And to me, the imperfections stick out like a sore thumb. But to try and fix them would make a bigger mess than just leaving them alone.

“We are our own worst critic,” my Miss Rosie tells me.

I painted this with a tutorial. Other people in the same group post their paintings. I scroll down and some of them are truly...

Not good.

Lots of other adjectives come to mind but who am I to criticize?

“Beautiful!” someone comments.

“Good job!”

“Lovely.”

All of the comments are positive — and I understand the desire to be supportive. Also, negative comments on these pages aren’t usually allowed. The group rules say we must be kind to each other.

It gives me pause.

If I post something and it’s not good, are they going to tell me it is?

I think they would! Therefore, I have no faith in their judgements.

I do have faith in my family. If they criticize my work, it’s to be helpful, not hurtful. I sent it to my closest family members and told them to, “Be honest. A lie never did anyone any good.”

“I think it’s perfect just the way it is — no lie,” my oldest and much adored sister replied.

I will cast my doubts aside and pack it off to California next week.

>>>*<<<

Mike and I went out several days in a row this week! On Tuesday we went to Tunkhannock because the wild birds were almost out of black oil sunflower seeds. I love watching the birds, so getting more bird seed is a must!

The day started with the sunlight streaking through the distant trees. And because my camera reads low light as yellow, no hanky-panky went on while I was editing the photo.

Leaving the driveway, the sun was peeking around the trees. 

The moon was still in the sky.

          I zoomed in on it.

         The light was so interesting on this morning. 

        Crossing the Susquehanna. 

Train art.

It was still foggy in places. 

Several poles in front of this place had plastic bags of stuff tied to them. “I bet it’s hats and scarves for anyone who needs them,” I said. I know that there are places that do that, although most of the time it’s in big cities with a larger homeless population.

I saw at least four hawks that day, one of them dead beside the road.

“You could pull over and I could pick him up,” I said.

“That’s illegal.”

I knew he’d say that. 

          One of the stops we made was the Aldi store. In their Special Buys aisle, I found a watermelon hydrating face gel. I’d only bought one and when I used it that night, I really liked it.

          “Can we go to Aldi in Wysox tomorrow?” I asked Mike.

          “We were just at Aldi’s!” he paused and thought about it for a minute. He’s not one to deny me. “What for?”

          And I told him about the special buy on the face gel and that I wanted to get another one before they ran out. “And if we go to Wysox this time, I can go to my store.” The thrift store. I like to pop in there every once in a while, and see if I can find any new-to-me Sunday go-to-meeting dresses, or art supplies, or workout DVDs.

          “Can we take the other road?” I asked. “See something new? Get pictures for my letter blog?”

          Mike doesn’t like the twisty, winding, road but once again, he didn’t deny.      

 

          We made several stops that day. At the thrift store I found a workout video that appears to be mostly a hand weight routine. It’s called Hammer and Chisel. He’s Hammer, she’s Chisel. Lifting weights as we age is a good thing. Lifting weights keeps your muscles strong. Muscles burn more calories than fat. Strong muscles protect your back and joints from injury. Lifting weights also makes your bones stronger. Go figure!

          Ideally, I’d like to do a weight routine once or twice a week. I fall far short of that, especially with the cookie season — err, holiday season here.

          But onward! We’re past Thanksgiving. Let’s just get through Christmas, exercising as much self-control as we can muster, and set our sights on the new year! That’s what I’m going to do!

          At the Aldi store I found one little lone watermelon face gel.

          We stopped at a couple of other places, too. Getting out of the car I spot a dollar bill, blown up against a pile of leaves at the far end of the parking lot. As I reached to pick it up, I saw two zeros behind the one. I’d found a one-hundred-dollar bill! It was crispy, like it’d been rained on and wind-dried and been sitting there for a while. There were stores all around and there’s no telling from whence it came or when it was lost. I figure it’s mine now. I’m not sure how I’ll spend it or even if I’ll spend it.

          It was a lucky day for me.

          Later that day, Mike refilled his pill box and saw he was low on one of his medications. The company that mails his meds is good about sending them on time so Mike went looking for his refill. He didn’t have one. He went to the computer. Checking the website, he saw they had mailed it on November 19^th. More than a month ago. Mike checked the tracking ticket and it was not delivered. He called the company and they arranged for him to get a thirty-day emergency supply. That meant, for the third day in a row, we were going out.

          The pharmacy we use is in Tunkhannock. “We can stop back at that Aldi and you can see if they have anymore of that stuff you want,” Mike said.

          I saw a hawk on a wire next to the road.

          The dead hawk was gone. “Someone picked up my hawk!” I said when we passed the spot where it had been killed.

          “Maybe a critter drug it off into the woods,” Mike said.

          I took a picture of a bunch of other birds sitting on the wires. They don’t look like doves to me. I think they’re Starlings.

          Speaking of Starlings!

          My one or two Starlings that I had coming to my feeder have spread the word! I had at least six of them at the feeder Saturday morning and they were squabbling over the food.

          I was able to score two jars of the hydrating watermelon face gel at the Aldi in Tunkhannock, the last two they had.

          The pharmacy had not yet received Mike’s prescription. Our trip was a bust on that front. But we did get a really good pizza! We called our favorite pizza place in Meshoppen and ordered a pizza to pick up and take home with us. Olivia is one of the waitresses there. I may have talked about her before. While I was paying for the pizza, Olivia reached under the counter and slapped a card on top of my pizza box.

          “This is for you,” she said.

          I would’ve bet my bottom dollar that it was a Christmas card. “Thank you!”

          I opened it when I got home and it was a Christmas card. A custom-made card with pictures of her beautiful baby on it. 

          I called back up to the pizza place and told Olivia how much I loved her card and that I wanted her address so I could send her one. That afternoon I scrolled through the file I’d made with Christmas card ideas in it and decided to paint this one for her.

          It was fun.

          We hadn’t been home very long when I got a notification on my phone that Mike’s prescription was ready.

          “Peg, I was thinking. If they send my pills, I don’t have to pay a co-pay like I do if we pick them up from the pharmacy.”

          We called back to the company and the conversation was almost identical as the first time. “According to our records, we will send out a refill February 12^th. We know how important your medication is to you. We will call you in an emergency supply,” the gal said.

          “No. You already did that. You don’t understand. You sent out the pills on November 19^th. If Mike had gotten those pills, we wouldn’t need any more until February! They got lost. We never got them!”

          Something finally clicked and she left us on hold while she investigated. When she came back she said they would re-send them. I guess their tracking doesn’t show delivery either.

>>>*<<<

The last time we took Raini to have her nails clipped, Raini fought.

“I couldn’t get one dewclaw,” Bri confessed, “but it doesn’t look too bad.”

Raini was due for a nail clipping again and I dreaded it. I just know she’s going to give Brianna a hard time. I wish she was like other Blue Heelers. Some of them dig enough that their owners never have to have their nails clipped.

“I saw some people hang their dogs up to cut their nails,” I told Mike.

In my head I was trying to figure out a way for us to do that. A towel? How can I hang her up? A rope? How do I attach it to the towel so she won’t fall out? I never did get the logistics worked out.

Mike got on Amazon and found they make a sling for just this purpose. I didn’t know you could buy one. Two days later we were hanging Raini on the weight machine and shortening her nails. I didn’t say cutting her nails because I don’t cut them. I use a grinder.

If Raini can get her paws against something she’ll struggle. I’ll wait a minute until she calms down. With the sling I’m able to trim her nails myself. Well, not all by myself. Mike has to help me hang her up. She’s not happy about it but when it's done, I give her a treat.

>>>*<<<

We woke up to snow on Saturday morning! Five inches on my snowboard and it was still coming down.

Mike went out to clear the driveways and paths, but it was so cold he had to come in and warm up several times.  

  

Raini likes me to throw the ball for her when I go out to fill the bird feeders in the morning. There was no way I was throwing the ball out in the snow for her. I could just see the mess she would make on my kitchen floor. Instead, I sat on the floor in the dining room and tossed the ball into the living room for her.

Even Bondi gets in on the play. At least as much as she's able. Whereas Raini will bring the ball back to you and drop it, Bondi likes to bring it back to you and snatch it away as soon as you reach for it. Sometimes she’ll let me pick it up and toss it for her but not often. Keep-away is by far her favorite game.

Finally, I face many challenges in putting out my weekly letter blog. One of them is Raini, always begging for a butt scratch. The other is Tiger. He’ll sit in front of my screen until I give him a treat or scratch.

          “I’m busy,” I told Tiger. “And you’ve had enough treats!” He ate most of three-ounce pack in one day!

          Mike came out to the kitchen. “Take your cat,” I told him. Instead, he took my picture.

          Let’s call this one done!