Cough, cough, groan.... I am sick!!!

Yup, I am sick!!!

Sick with...

And the manifestations of such an illness are bizarre indeed!

 I take many photos of ice ...

and snow....

(on the mountains)

 (on the back deck)

 (on the trees)

(at the mailbox)

I take photos of the birds at our feeder...

 (when they are impatient)

(when they are patient)

and 

(when they are just plain skittish)

I enter contests on blogs...

Some I win....

 I won this book on Teri's blog!

I won this lovely haul on The Printed Fabric Bee!

 most I don't :-(

I make messes....

and look for vacuums to clean up said messes...

and I do clean...

ad nauseum!!

 I buy art...

from Natalya

and 

this beautiful piece by Karen Rips 

that I purchased from the The 100

to benefit the American Cancer Society

I hide a lot 

in my sewing room and studio...

doing what you might do in a sewing room and studio...

thread painting...

quilting....

making patterns...

making more patterns...

art journaling...

and occasionally 

sewing my bathrobe into my stitching...

I am predisposed to wearing my bathrobe over my clothing in the winter...

and I whine about the weather!

a lot!!!!!

I am still looking for a cure!

A creature of habit?????

Lately, I have been reading (actually listening to) The Power of Habit 

which I came across somewhere on the internet while browsing aimlessly (a bad habit!!! lol) ...

I started thinking about the many habits and/or routines that I have...

and also the ones I want to institute or change....

For the past many years, 

I have endeavored to get up early (like before the 'birds-get-up early') to exercise.

Most people think I am crazy but apparently, there are a number of other people

that exhibit the same behavior because I see them at the gym!

T

Firstly, I have never been one to sleep late

and secondly, if I am done by 6:30-7:00 AM, 

I have my entire day ahead of me!

This is most often followed by a shower and breakfast 

(often made up of my favorite smoothies from this book) 

and then the next couple of hours (give or take)

are devoted to hitting the books with this fella....

Of course, habits and routines may be changed out of necessity

and then...????

Now that Nature Boy is gainfully employed at a downtown eatery

during the day, 

our school day starts early

(like right 'after-my-shower early')

and I have a lot more free time to play during the middle of the day...

(okay, occasionally I could clean ... naw!!!!!)

So I should be churning out all sorts of magnificent pieces of art....

(I did get my art challenge 'writing' and weekly prompt "words with friends" done for 

Documented Life 2015)

and

all the stitching I did on a new project is now unstitched...

(grrrrr... I was just not happy with it!)

but I have not created anything new and earth shattering yet

and all this free time seems to pass quickly 

without too much accomplished.

I am beginning to believe that it takes a looooong time to get 

the "productive habit" ingrained!

Some times,

I actually create daily reminders to start a new habit...

that ding and/or flash on my phone screen

(and I may or may not ignore it)...

or I use apps as an attempt to change a habit...

but I can habitually keep trying, right?

(or just ramble on about it...)

The Hills are Alive with the Sound of..... Mixed Media!

I am a huge fan of The Sound of Music!

And since I live in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains,

you might be able to hear me making a huge mess as I dabble in mixed media!

Now just in case you were worried...

after recently returning from the dead

followed by my temporary freezing to death, 

I am happy to report that I am very much alive!!!

Last year, starting about a month late, 

I joined the Documented Life Project (DLP)

in which I used a Moleskine weekly planner

to attempt as best as I could to furnish evidence or documents

(or just play with mixed media)

that I was indeed living!

(all year long!)

So.... 

in order to once again verify/substantiate/confirm

that I am indeed living (still!),

I am participating in the DLP 2015!

Most of the participants are using 

Dyan Reaveley's Dylusion Journal

and so am I!

This is the cover of my journal...

Inside the cover, 

I taped down two photos...

one of the display of pastels at an art store

and

one of my studio...

Our first challenge was to use book paper 

and our journal prompt was to be our own goal keeper...

  

I listed my goals under the tags.

My 2015 word is Breathe (that should help to sustain my life, right?)

 essentially.... to let go.

Our second challenge was gesso 

Who can live without it?!.... not I!
(Though not really essential to life!)

and our journal prompt was the quote below...

These pages used a variety of mixed media supplies 

including (but not limited to)

gesso, book pages, tissue paper, stencils, spray ink, markers galore, rubber stamps, stamp pad, watercolors, acrylic paints, pencils and washi tape.

The essentials of mixed media that seem to sustain my artful life these days!

Have a great weekend!

How to stay sane in the long, cold, and snowy winters of upstate NY

For some reason, 

when my ancestors arrived in Canada and the USA

in the early 1900s

 (my maternal grandfather on the far right,

 from a town in Russia, now in Belarus)

they chose to live in climates similar to the ones they grew up in...

(my paternal grandmother on the far right, born in NYC, 

her parents from a city which is now in Belarus)

And for some reason, 

Mr. U and I chose to perpetuate that absurd decision!!!

Yes, it is still winter in upstate NY ...

much to my chagrin....

It is getting very old!

It has been long, cold, and snowy!

Mr. U tells me that he thinks that our last cold snap is about to be over for the season.

I hope he is right.

Not being much of cold weather gal,

I have been hunkering down inside

(anything to maintain my sanity!)

Luckily, there are a lot of birds in upstate NY

who enjoy being here in the cold

(what is up with that?!)

and so I watch them on Nature Boy's homemade bird feeder

right by our kitchen table

and I take lots of photos. 

There is even a lunchroom bully!

and lately,

some non-birds!!

When I am not sitting at the kitchen table...

I am at the gym before the sun rises

(so my muscles don't atrophy from being inside so much)

....spending endless hours on the telephone

with our newest health insurance plan

trying to secure much-needed diabetic supplies for Sugarbaby...

(my recommendation: write a letter about your dissatisfaction to the CEO,

that seems to get things going... with a direct line to their executive office

that I can now use anytime I have problems! but I suspect those have now been ironed out!)

knitting!!!

socks for me!

socks for Mr. U!

and a wrap for me!

trying to stay caught up with Life Book 2014...

but for kicks, 

and always in search of the ultimate journal/diary project...

(and in an effort to make yet another huge mess in my studio)

I added another project!!!

The Documented Life...

which I need to catch up on!

I have also been sewing

but that project is ...

sorry!

So like those hibernating bears...

I will emerge when Spring comes!