that was an exercise in magical thinking

Well, fuck, so much for hope that this year will somehow be better. Trump ordered an unprovoked attack on Venezuela in the wee hours this morning bombing Caracas, Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira targeting military installations, capturing and kidnapping President Maduro and his wife who have been “extracted” from their country and indicted in New York for narco-terrorism, conspiracy, and possession of machine guns among other charges. Possession of machine guns? In his own country? Make no mistake, this is not and never has been about drugs. It has always been about Venezuela’s oil reserves and Trump’s desire to start a war of his own despite his boasting of how many wars he has ended and his desire for a Nobel Peace Prize. This man, who ran on being the ‘peace’ president, has bombed seven countries and he hasn’t even been in office for a full year yet, needing to show his buddies Putin and Netanyahu that he is a strongman too. It’s not as if we need Venezuela’s oil, we’re not running out, power grids around the nation are not failing for lack of oil. This is simply greed and his bottomless need to be the biggest baddest bully, it’s about control and bringing other countries to heel, like China who gets a lot of oil from Venezuela. The Cult is already championing Trump’s removal of a repressive dictator, that the Venezuelan people are dancing in the street, as if Trump is liberating the country. The claim falls flat considering Trump supports and admires every other repressive dictator in the world for their complete control and power. Wait until the Venezuelans figure out that they will have no say in who will govern their country, that their lives will not improve, that Trump will appoint someone who will rape their country of its resources and funnel the money back to the US. Venezuela did not get their country back or their freedom, they have become a colony of the US.

And so much for the hope that the military will not carry out illegal orders and make no mistake, this was an illegal act. There is no proof that drugs are being smuggled in from Venezuela, in fact drug deaths are declining in this country, Venezuela has not attacked us, our nation is not under pressure from lack of oil, and Congress did not meet and hold a vote to endorse this military aggression against another country, doubtless they were even informed in advance. Will the Republican Congress finally act now to rein in Trump’s egregious illegal power grabs? Absolutely not. 

Unfortunately, this is not the first time this country has engaged in regime change in Latin America and other parts of the world and the results have always been dismal. It never leads to improvement for the people, not when we set up a puppet government or when we actively govern because freedom is never the motivation. It’s always greed for a country’s resources.

----------

And because all that isn’t bad enough my kitchen sink is almost completely stopped up. This is a chronic and recurrent problem. Whoever built this house did a crappy job of plumbing from the kitchen sink to the septic system. When we first bought this place and it stopped up almost immediately, the plumber replaced the 45˚ turn under the house with the curved sweep it should have been which has helped but there is some other issue somewhere between the sink and the septic tank. We have to have it completely reamed out every few years, using a powerful unclogging agent in between times but eventually that stops working and we have to call the plumber again. The only real solution is to have the piping completely replaced. Anyway, the plumber is supposed to come today.

I finished the grid page in my art journal. Now trying to decide what to do next, another page or may start a new painting.

But before that I’m going to pick up pecans one more time here and across the street to sell and there are still so many up in the trees. It’s so warm out there, currently 70˚ and in the 80s the next few days, another week of spring/summer when we should be having highs in the 50s and 60s. 

hope springs eternal

Mimosas, brunch, naps, streaming.

A new year but first let me say I am well and thank you for all your concern. It was just a cold, two miserable nights and days, third day tolerable, now completely well so the immune system kicked butt.

Yes, hope springs eternal. Surely (hahahahahaha) this year will be better than the year of destruction that was ’25. I needn’t list the horrors, the cruelty, the greed, the graft, the stupidity, the decimation of the government, the loss of our allies, the attacks on our constitution, the tromping of our civil rights, the illegal acts of war, etc etc etc, perpetrated by the puppet masters Musk and Miller while Trump tarts up the White House, tears down the East Wing, puts his name and picture on beloved institutions that he doesn’t deserve, and whines constantly about how mistreated he is. Surely this soulless empty shell of a man with a bottomless pit of need without one iota of compassion or empathy or love whose only motivation is revenge against any and all who oppose him cannot last another year. Since the republicans in control of Congress are spineless thank all the gods that be for the courts, the only thing standing between our democracy and the full on authoritarianism of that fascist nazi Stephen Miller, the guy really in charge. Trump is just the figurehead like the Wizard in OZ only the man behind the curtain is not Trump.

There are some glimmers of hope; the courts for one, but also Trump is losing support as his policies negatively affect the people that voted for him. Trump signs are disappearing from yards, polls show that even among republicans support for him and his policies is waning, some republican congresspeople are starting to show a little defiance, and even better, Democrats are winning all the special elections even in red states. Of course that only makes him more dangerous, doubling down on revenge politics as illustrated by his recent veto of a bipartisan bill to provide clean drinking water to rural Colorado (as well as a bill that provided for water flow to the Miccosukee Tribe in Florida that was part of the opposition the building of Alligator Alcatraz) that passed both houses of Congress unanimously because Rep. Boebert, who co-sponsored the bill, voted to release the Epstein files. And then there is his deteriorating health and mental state that is getting harder and harder to disguise, his participation in the rape of young girls as revealed by the continued release of the Epstein files despite attempts to excise his name. Surely (again hahahahahaha) all this will hasten his departure. But then enter AI and the gullibility of his core cult who will never abandon him.

So yeah, last year sucked.

Well, I didn’t intend to go off on Trump and the devastation of his administration of unqualified, cruel, and hateful sycophants but here we are. How much worse can it get (don’t answer that).

It wasn’t bad on a personal level. I have a new great grandchild. I’ve sold some of my prints and notecards though no paintings yet. Despite the cold here at the end, my health is good. I had a wonderful birthday party for my 75th. I am blessed in many ways, my white skin insulating me from some of the worst other people are experiencing (and believe me, I do not take that lightly). So I look forward to another year of art and gardening and volunteering and friendships and family and resistance.

Happy New Year.

ps: I will get around to answering last post’s comments, just not right now.

do not invoke the gods

Apparently I bragged one time too many that I don’t get sick because sick I am. Damn. Can’t remember the last time I got sick but that little rug rat of a boy gave me an unwanted gift. At least I assume whatever this is came from Harrison. Started as a scratchy throat and a runny nose Saturday evening, then a cough and watering eyes, copious amounts of clear snot, can’t tell you how many tissues I’ve gone through. Two miserable nights with little sleep. Haven’t tested  but no, not bad enough to be flu or covid, just a cold. was starting to feel better Monday evening and finally got some sleep last night. Feeling much better today, not 100% but functuional.

Mostly I sat on the couch and read Sunday and yesterday, started a new book, a Painter’s Mill Chief of Police Kate Burkholder novel that takes place in the Amish community, Rage by Linda Castillo, which I’ve almost finished. I’ve read three or four in this series.

The other thing I did Sunday between blowing my nose was work on two more pages in my art journal. Not sure I’m finished with the first one, may go back and embellish it. Did the basic layout on another which I am in the process of embellishing. Felt so bad yesterday I didn’t work on either one. This is what I have so far. the first one is a bird’s eye view of the toadstools I posted the picture of last post (watercolor, colored pencil, permanent marker). I looked up the difference between mushroom and toadstool, toadstool generally refers to poisonous mushrooms and I assume the ones that pop up in my yard are not edible. 

The second page was an exercise suggested by that mysterious blogger Codex. Create a grid with masking tape, paint the open areas different colors, take a marker and  draw over the whole thing, tape and all, remove the tape. Now I’m going back and embellishing all the little rectangles. The intent is to add more detail and draw frames around each one as if it’s a display in a gallery. We’ll see how far I get with it.

    

Haven’t done any yoga of course. Abby always amuses me. When she doesn’t feel like doing the class for whatever reason she will check with me first to see if I’m coming, usually around or in between holidays. Monday was scheduled and then I got a text from her yesterday afternoon; “yoga tonight or nah?”, since I wasn’t feeling well I told her I wasn’t coming. Not a minute later she sent out a group text canceling the class, too cold (which it was) and windy, everybody stay home and stay warm.

Speaking of warm, the unseasonal warm weather last week apparently convinced the smaller fringe flower trees that it was spring. The birds seem to think so too.

Marcmas, the lost days

I started designating the week between Christmas and New Year’s as the lost days, really starting a couple of days before Christmas, when we were working because the few days before Christmas until the few days after New Year’s Day it was impossible to get any business accomplished so we generally just closed for the week plus. Even though we are retired, I still take this week to mostly do nothing. Wander the yard weather permitting, catch up on my reading, whatever else I find to do or not do with my time, no pressure. And so I wandered the yard and saw Brazilian button flower (above), bluebonnet (it’s been so dry I didn’t think we would get any next year but I counted at least 10), ball moss, toadstools.

I signed up for the next ‘advanced’ art journal workshop in January. I thought I should probably have more than the four pages we did in the first workshop so since I have this time I’ve been doing a few more after ignoring it all these months. I have limited supplies, permanent markers and water based markers, colored pencils, pencil, watercolors. I have a set of acrylics but so far haven’t used them. And I’m using my cheap Prang watercolor set with a limited (16) range of colors instead of my several sets of professional watercolors with way too many choices because I’m trying to keep these pages loose and quick, just studies instead of paintings. So far three new pages and the beginning of a fourth. The first one took me about four days to complete but the other two were quick and loose which is something I need to work on as I am not generally a spontaneous artist. 

I may not get time to work on the next page today because…

today is Marcmas! Marc’s birthday, 74 years old. We’re going out for a meal when our son, who is driving out from the city, and our daughter get here. This is the third? fourth? year we have done this. I love being around all my family; kids, grandkids, and now great grandkids and the chaos of my daughter’s house but it’s special to have just the four of us, our core family, for a few hours without the distraction of succeeding generations. Did I take pictures? No.

But I did take a few Christmas Day over at Sarah’s house. Harrison is 11 months and can stand but not yet walking. He found Paisleigh’s discarded apple that she took a few bites of and he spent the day gnawing on it with his one little tooth. Meanwhile Paisleigh was putting on all her new clothes, modeling them for me. I think she has on three layers here though the pajama shirt on top is on backwards.

Now that all the days of gathering are done for the year I’m ready for the empty lost days.

observations and sewing woes

Saturday evening’s sky.

Today is my grocery shop day but so far only one thing on the list. It’s unseasonably warm this week, average temperature for this time of year is about 69˚ and it’s supposed to get to 81˚ today. The tallows, the ginkgos, crepe myrtles, the maple, and the pecans have lost all their leaves. The red oak and water oak not yet. This morning when I got up and let the dog and cat out I could hear the crows going nuts in the wild space at the back corner of the property. When I walked back there to see what was what, the entire large flock flew off to settle in a farther tree with their cacophony. I potted the three cuttings from the morning glory bush and the green onions yesterday, just the root end on some and two that had been in the fridge too long that I had growing in water. And I’m formulating a new plan to trap Ghost.

I finished Paisleigh’s blanket on Sunday. Saturday went fine, even to the point of running out of the pink thread I was using as I made the last stitch. Sunday, not so much. I had to go to the Evil Empire for more blanket binding and yellow grosgrain ribbon because what I had wasn’t enough so I picked up a new spool of pink thread to match the blanket binding. Once home I cut and pinned the yellow ribbon and the blanket binding (took me a half hour to figure out how to turn the corner) and threaded the machine with the new spool of thread and that’s when the trouble started as I was trying to sew the blanket binding onto the edge of the blanket. There’s a hook attached to the bar that moves the needle up and down that carries the thread  and about every six to eight inches it would slip out and the thread would become knotted with the bobbin thread. So, stop, clip the thread, remove the tangled clump, rethread the machine and try again. About the sixth or seventh time the thread was so knotted that I couldn’t move the needle up or down at all and ended up breaking the needle. FINE! Be that way.

I’ve had this happen once before but it was with a very old spool of thread and when I replaced it, everything worked fine. So after I replaced the needle I yanked that new spool of thread out and threw it away and finished sewing the satin blanket binding on with a much darker pink. Then I stitched the yellow ribbon down and was done.

And then since I don’t buy wrapping paper because I have a huge roll of white paper that I used for full size drawings 

that I bought before Hurricane Harvey and the house flooding and subsequent retirement from the etched glass so I did what I always do when I need wrapping paper. I painted my own. Quickly done with markers and watercolor, amateurish, did the marker first then the watercolor and should have done the other way around but gets the job done.

I’ve done everything I wanted to do, have already gifted two of the four presents I’m giving this year so let the day come and the Lost Days begin.

 

failure

Minnie snoozing next to me last night on the couch. Cat was draped across my thigh with the most contented look on her face.

Trying to trap Ghost was a dismal failure Tuesday afternoon and evening. I planned to get Twin in the catio first since the other two would be easy. I figured Robin would be in at the door and open it when I was coming up the stairs with Twin in my arms and he would be in before he knew it but when I got across the street Robin already had Lovey and Handsome in there. So when I came up the stairs with Twin she was not at the door, she was holding Handsome to keep him from going out so I had to use one of the hands I was using to hold Twin firmly to open the door. Twin freaked, pushed out of my arms claws extended and landed on the floor just inside the open door determined to escape. Robin dropped Handsome, we’re both crouched trying to block Twin and get the door closed. We succeeded but not before Twin got Robin good on the meaty part of the outside of her hand. And then Twin was frantic to get out, trying to push through the screen and chicken wire (chicken wire on the outside of all the openings because the indoor cats had torn the screen in many places). I slipped the food dishes and bag of food through to door to Robin and then set up the trap while Ghost watched. And then we waited. Twin claimed down a bit but only as long as one or both of us were in there talking to him and petting him. The other two were fine though Handsome tested a few spots. And we waited and waited and waited. Ghost got close to the trap only once sniffing at the food at the back of the trap. Nope, not going in there. Ghost has been feral all his life I suppose, he’s been hungry, he knows hungry, he can deal with hungry, and he’s wary, has to be to have survived, and he definitely wasn’t hungry enough having eaten the day before. 

I went home about 4:30, needed to walk Minnie and start dinner. About five Robin reported that twin as still trying to get out and she was afraid he would hurt himself so she basically stayed out there only going in for a few minutes now and then. Wasn’t long before Twin was frantically trying to claw his way out again. At seven she reported that not only was Ghost not in the trap, he had left. We decided to stick to the plan and keep the other cats in all night. At 9:40 she reported two more escape attempts from Twin and now Handsome had teamed up with his brother to try and get through a particular spot they felt was the most vulnerable (where the bricks are in the picture). I told her to go ahead and trip the trap and let them out but she decided to wait a little longer. Then it started raining and the food in the trap would not be tempting. She waited until it stopped raining and then opened the door. All three run out, I asked her. She said Lovey went first, then Handsome who was still trying to tunnel out and she had to show him the open door. And then Twin who took the longest as if he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. I think he really liked the cat bed a lot, she said, but he finally shot out. How funny, Twin who was the most frantic and determined to get out was the last to leave.

Now I don’t know what to try. There’s no way we can lock the other cats up every night on the off chance that Ghost will get hungry enough to venture into the trap. It could take days and I’m not sure I could get Twin in there again, at least not right away so there’s no way I can feed the three brothers and not Ghost even if I don’t put a portion out for him. He’ll manage to get some of it. I’m thinking a big net and a blanket if we can get close enough to him. Plonk the net down and throw a blanket over it but how do we get him out from under the net/blanket and into a carrier without him shredding the net/blanket and more importantly, us. In the meantime I'm leaving the trap out where they see it all the time to get used to it and maybe in a couple of weeks, try again only this time using canned food for bait instead of dry.

I decided to put the monarch wing painting in the other frame with a mat. I like it better with the mat. I took it over to the HH market yesterday for their extended hours today, open until 7 pm. 

Haven’t worked on Paisleigh’s blanket the last several days trying to tie up various loose ends so that’s my dedicated activity for the weekend.

painting, sewing, and so far no luck

The tallow in the little backyard illuminated by the outdoor light.

We had our coldest two nights Sunday and Monday nights. Near freezing but not, I decided to tempt fate and not cover anything or bring anything in and so of course Sunday afternoon in the north wind blowing I was out there covering my enormous Queen Of The Night and a few other things and bringing the enormous stag horn fern into the garage with a few little tender things. Already on a warming trend now which I knew and was the reason I initially decided not to protect anything. 

My new trick for rolling out my yoga mat on these cold mornings before the house has warmed up and I’ve slept later than usual is telling myself it doesn’t have to be a lot but it has to be some. Once on the mat it’s easy to just go through my basic routine. Regardless I did not roll out my mat Monday morning which I justified with the knowledge that I was going to class that night.

I finished the little painting, pulled off the tape, slipped it in the frame I measured it for and, oops, some of the white border showed because my measurements were off so I painted the white border trying to smudge the hard line created by the tape. It worked mostly but because I know I can see, although once in the frame it’s not really noticeable. I had two solutions, the one I acted on or using the bigger frame I have and cutting a mat to the tape line. I do like matted paintings so I may ultimately do that. We’ll see. I’m mostly happy with the background though the ‘clouds’ are too evenly spaced. Nothing I can really do about that now except remember for the next time I do something similar. I created those by using a paper towel to randomly pick up the blue color while it was still wet, not so random as it turned out, but it’s fine since the butterfly wing is the focus.

Now that I’ve finished the painting I can put my paints away and get my sewing machine back out and start on Paisleigh’s name blanket. If you read Ms Moon who writes Bless Our Hearts you know that she made name blankets for each of her grandchildren which I thought was a lovely idea. Since my grandkids are all adults in their 20s, I’m making them for my great grandchildren starting with Paisleigh. Harrison’s will be done when he’s older. So Saturday between working on the little painting I started on the blanket. I cut the printed fleece to the size I want and then made patterns for the letters and omg, that girl has nine letters in her name (thanks Mikey who decided the spelling), set up the spacing and measured for the solid color rectangle the letters will go on. Yesterday I cut the blue background piece for the letters and cut the letters out while Cat insisted on helping. 

Today I try to trap Ghost. Got the other cats in the catio where they will now spend the night since Ghost knows something is up and has shown no interest in the food in the trap. So we’ll see if he’s in there in the morning.