I Saw The Moon...

 

Last night when I closed the shade I saw the moon peeking through the tree across the street so I went out (in my socks) to take its picture.  I do love taking pictures of the moon.


 

We bought a too big bag of marshmallows so I had to make more Rice Krispie Treats.  Had to.  I took some to share with the others, along with my picnic salad, to hear the concert at the Botanical Garden.  Everyone loves Rice Krispie Treats.




Today the food ads arrive in the newspaper.  In the ALDI ad there are always a few fruits and veggies on special.  This week the fruits were worth the trip--clementines and Rainier cherries.  Oh, those cherries are so good.  I had to put them away or I'd have eaten them all at one sitting.  I'll probably have to go get more before next Wednesday when the specials change.





After my session with T-the-trainer, I came home, had lunch, and sat on the couch knitting on the second Afterthought heel.  Picking up the stitches is so much easier the second time and, having staggered through knitting the first heel, this one is so much easier and quicker I got almost halfway through in a couple hours.  



 
I don't know about you, but I am really anti-plastic bags.  They are everywhere and I suspect that they won't degrade for a jillion years, that they'll be lurking in the ocean and in landfills until the grandchildren of our grandchildren are adults.  I saw an ad on Instragram a couple weeks ago for a set of three sizes of mesh drawstring bags for using and reusing.  I ordered them and they came.  I think they'll do just fine.

11 July--Barbara Malcolm, Horizon. 

Renee’s confidence that my status as a rank beginner would be an advantage made me feel a little better.

First Jake insisted that we put away all our brushes except for the three round brushes and three flat ones he had specified on the materials list.  He said we could leave our "trick" brushes, as he called them with a sneer, home for the duration of the class.  All six of us swept the offending brushes back into our boxes and baskets as embarrassed as if we’d been caught with pornography.

As for paints, Jake demanded we use only Cadmium Red Medium, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, Thalo Blue, Cadmium Yellow Lemon, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna, and Raw Umber.  He told us we should throw out any others we owned; real artists didn’t need many colors, he said.  But for tonight he insisted even those were too much.  We were to choose any red, blue, and yellow and put all the rest away.

Then he had us tape a big piece of 140 lb. cold press paper to our boards and make sure we had a container for fresh water and one for dirty water.  There was a flurry of activity as people searched for the right weight and finish paper and scrounged for a second water container.

"Now we will make colors," Jake announced.  And he proceeded to spend the entire night showing us how to blend all sorts of colors and how to manipulate them to do what we wanted.

             He spent a long time at my side, teaching me how to hold my brush, how not to be so tense, and how to trust myself that whatever I put on the paper tonight was right.  I could see that Jake was going to help me move forward with my art but that it was going to be a long battle.  My head hoped that Jake won the battle but I was afraid my heart would fight him every step of the way.

I didn't manage to get out in the backyard to mow today but I'll do it tomorrow.  Maybe.  On the weekend for sure.  I did stop at Home Depot on the way home from the concert to pick up a Y-connector for the front spigot, a new hose, and sprayer so that I can clean the mower (which had begun to stink up the garage with rotting grass clippings) and water the flowerpots.  I get to have a picnic with my small assistants again tomorrow.  Woohoo!
--Barbara