Getting On With Blogging

I've had just about two years of not writing much in here. I intend to change that. The pandemic is still raging and I will try to not mention that any more often than I have to. I may have been cooped up and kept away from friends and family during those two years, and even immobilized by a health problem since about mid-June, but I have still found things to do and I'm feeling better so I'm going back to telling you about what I'm up to in the new year.

At the beginning of each year, I am usually signed up for several projects. These are not necessarily tied to any New Year's Resolutions but may be kick-starters, just the same. I have a couple of decluttering challenges to follow and a few art-related projects, workshops, and/or courses lined up. It's all likely more than I can handle all at the beginning of the year, but it gives me things to choose from each day so that I do more than sit around eating leftover baked goods that I would normally be sharing with friends well into the year.

The first thing I will tackle is making 12 hopefully artistic bookmarks that will be mailed off no later than mid-January.  I will then happily await the arrival of 12 new ones from other artists scattered across the continent. I've done card exchanges before, and swapped Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) but I have never done bookmarks before.  I have no idea if I will make them all similar or extremely different from each other. I do have some new art supplies from ArtSnacks so maybe I'll start with them and see where it takes me.

I hope you will stick around to see what I'm up to in the new year. 

Dishing It Up

Back in the days when I wrote a weekly column for one newspaper or another, I used to say that it gave me something to think about besides what to have for supper. That's a big decision, you know. Planning meals and cooking them so that everything is ready at the same time is hard enough, but making sure there is at least something everyone at the table will like is no easy chore.

The column had a deadline so I had to be constantly thinking of new things to write about, and how to get the information needed to make sure I was being accurate.

I don't have a column anymore. I just have this blog. While some blogs do have a strict schedule as to when they are published, mine is more of a hobby, so I just write whatever comes to mind at whatever point in time that happens. I no longer hand off one column, give a big sigh of relief, only to .....just seconds later..... find myself under pressure to come up with a new idea.  In other words, I'm back to sometimes finding that the biggest decision of the day is figuring out what to feed my guys.  Even once I make that decision, I might discover that I would have been better off not to have made the choice I did.  Let's look at two recent examples.

My grandsons were coming for the weekend. They were to arrive on Friday evening, and I wasn't going to be home at the time of arrival, so I thought I'd make it easier for their dad to feed them. I made Sloppy Burgers.  The weather didn't cooperate, and by the time they did get here, it was 8 pm and they had already eaten. No problem. They could have the burgers the next night. But the next day they were invited to a friend's place for dinner, so the Sloppy Burgers that were meant for Friday night got pushed to Sunday. Well, then the freezing rain started, and since they don't live anywhere near here, the time to head home was just after lunch, instead of after supper. We had a hospital visit to make, so I left them knowing that they wouldn't starve.  Their dad made them Nachos for lunch instead and my hubby and I were left to eat as many Sloppy Burgers as we could hold for supper Sunday night just so I wouldn't have to throw them out.

Monday I decided to take a chicken out of the freezer so it could thaw and be roasted on Tuesday.  Tuesday I discovered my hubby was planning to go work out with one of his black belts, so I figured a lighter supper would be better. I had some chicken burgers in the freezer, and there were still some buns left from the weekend. Just before we ate the call came though that the other person had to work late, so they rescheduled the workout for Wednesday.  Lovely. So I'd cook the thawed bird on Wednesday and he could eat as little or as much of it as he wanted, and the rest could be for the next night. Then a good friend calls and wanted me to go with her to the Brockville Aquatarium Wednesday afternoon. She had free passes from the library. Well, I wasn't about to turn that down!  We had a good time and got home later than expected, and I knew I couldn't get that chicken to cook in time for supper, so we had Fish and Chips along with some cold slaw. Quick, easy and satisfying. Along comes Thursday and hubby suddenly decided to take the afternoon off, and run me into Ottawa to see if I can get my camera fixed (that's a whole different story). We didn't dally, but I arrived home even later than the night before. That darn bird had to go in the oven or I was going to have to throw it out! So, dinner was an hour late that night but it tasted good. Anything served that late is bound to.

I'm always hearing how important it is to plan your meals ahead of time so you can buy what you need to make them. I usually buy what I'm out of, and whatever is on special that I know we could eat, and then decide day by day what to pull out and cook. This past week of good planning only ran me into trouble and frustration so I'm issuing a warning to my guys......I'm going to cook the way I write my blog.  What ever comes to mind is what will be served up.

While my Muse is on Vacation

Apparently it's been a month since my last blog post.  Perhaps you have all given up on me.  I thought I'd better pop in to let you know I'm still alive.

Recently I've been watching a series of videos by Koosje Koene on Art Therapy for the creative block she has been experiencing.  It had not occurred to me that I might be suffering from the same problem.  I used to write newspaper columns and really hated having a deadline.  I took up blogging so that I'd have a place to say what was on my mind without the pressure of having to force it. If you look back over my previous posts you'll see that I normally post about once a week. That's not because I sit down to do so, but because something pops into my head that I want to share.  That hasn't been happening lately.

Maybe I have been suffering from creative block and just didn't realize it.  Or perhaps my muse has just gone on vacation for a while. She certainly has not been whispering stories in my ear lately.  But I have not been as upset about it as Koosje. I don't like to force things.

Creative people have to create, however, and I've been doing that in other ways. I noticed poppies showing up all over Facebook right from the beginning of November.  It made me want to try to paint some of  my own. I had painted poppies in oils in the past but thought it might be fun to experiment a little. 

I've never painted with knives before and thought I'd give them a try.  This quick little acrylic was enough to let me know I will be using knives a lot more often in the future.

 The other thing I've been playing with a lot lately are alcohol inks. (When people hear me say that in person they frequently ask me what I'm doing with alcoholics!) I don't have much experience with the inks yet but I have learned that while I may have an intention, I do not have the control.  Actually, that's what makes them so much fun.  I'm enjoying the experience of being freed up by what the knives and ink produce just as blogging has set me free from deadlines.




This past weekend I was in Hull, Quebec for the 25th anniversary of Capital Conquest.  That's a major martial arts event with instructors from all over the world.  Though I was only there as a spectator while my hubby taught a seminar on self defense using a cane, I was invited to take part in a little calligraphy seminar going on in the hallway. I was introduced to several styles of pens and got to experiment with each one.  I can tell you now that I will be writing again soon, but it might be with a pen created from a pop can.

Year One.... A Summary

I had a well established blog about my geocaching adventures but I came to the conclusion that sometimes I wanted to tell you about other places I go, or things I felt like talking about, so a year ago I decided to start this new blog. I have tried to tie the two of them together, but never succeeded.  Now that this new one has a good following, I'm thinking I might just put the future geocaching adventures in here too.

Blogging has been quite an experience for me. This is my 77th entry in this new one, and I've published 82 comments so far.  The most popular post so far was called Nothing Natural About Art.  I was in an online webinar by Johannes Vloothuis with at least a thousand other students at the time.  I happened to mention the blog post in one of the forums about that at the time, and so it's not surprising that so many people decided to check it out.  The second most popular post was Girls Just Want To Have Fun, and that's not too surprising either. It was about Red Hatters and Elvis Impersonators, so I'm sure it popped up well on the search engines.  The third most popular post is my own personal favourite. It's called In Case You Didn't Know .  I just felt the need to explain why it is that I am always offering so much unnecessary, and likely unwanted, information and advice.  The next three most popular posts all have to do with food.  They are either about  testing Chatelaine recipes, or about the 17 Day Diet. 

Statistics show that I not only have a following across all of North America, but also in Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom and even Singapore.  Others have dropped in from Sweden, Iran, Hungary and South Korea, among other places. I can't help wonder what it was I said that drew people from such far away locations to my page, but I do hope they continue to drop by.

Most of the comments I get are from people I have never met, and I love that they take a moment from their lives to let me know what they think. I often click on their link, if they have one, and follow it back to their own blogs and leave a comment there too. 

Because of that, this year, through blogging, I have enjoyed watching one family adopt 3 little girls, to add to the 4 children they already have, and then try to get to a point where life could continue in some sort of normal fashion. I really enjoyed stories another mother writes about her "twinnies" and younger daughter....and sometimes her hubby who, like many men, is often just one of the kids anyway.  I have followed several art related blogs, where I learn all kinds of interesting ideas and techniques.  I have recently become more interested in multimedia and art journals, and always enjoy stopping to watch the videos by Donna Downey, where I learn not to be afraid to just try something different.  There's no telling where it, or blogging, will take me.

I actually feel like I've made a few new online friends this past year, and I even got a lovely homemade Christmas card from one of them.  So, please, if you're reading this, feel free to comment at any point.  I'd love to hear what you think.

Year One.... A Summary

A year ago I decided to start this new blog. I had one before, but it was all about my geocaching adventures. I felt that sometimes I'd like to tell you about other places I go, or things I happen to be thinking about, so that's why I called this blog Other Rambles.  I tried to link them together, but was not successful, and I think, now that this one gets so much more traffic, I'll just plop the geocaching adventures into this one too, in the upcoming year.

Blogging has been an interesting adventure for me.  This entry will be the 76th of the year.  I've had 82 comments so far, and I seem to have a following not only from all over North America, but also quite a bit from Russia, Germany, Singapore and the United Kingdom.  Various other have wandered in from Sweden, Hungary, Iran and South Korea, among other places. I can't imagine what I've said to attract such far away readers, but I do hope I can hold onto them as I continue to ramble on.

Not surprisingly, the most popular post so far was the one called Nothing Natural about Art. I say this was not surprising as I was taking an online course with with Johannes Vloothuis and at least a thousand other people at the time, and I mentioned the blog in a forum connected with that.  The second most popular one was called Girls Just Want to Have Fun!  Since this was about Red Hatters and Elvis impersonators, I'm sure it popped up well in the search engines. The third most popular entry is my own personal favourite, In Case You Didn't Know. I just felt I had to tell the world why it is that I'm always passing along unasked for, and probably unwanted information and advise.  After those, the next 3 most popular entries were all about food, whether it was because I was testing some recipes for Chatelaine magazine, or simply trying out the 17 Day Diet.

As I mentioned, there have been a number of comments through out the year. Most of these have come from people I don't know.  I love that.  Not only does it let me know that I'm not just spouting off for my own benefit, it lets me know what others think.  I often follow the links back to these readers own blogs, and sometimes leave comments there too.  I actually feel like I've made a couple of new online friends this past year. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a lovely hand made Christmas card from one of them by snail mail recently.

I closely followed the adventures of one family as they adopted 3 little girls from the Philippines, adding them to the 4 children they already had and continued on with life, trying to make things as normal as possible for everyone in the family.  And I got some good giggles as a mother told stories of her twinnies and their younger sister....and occasionally her hubby, who , like many men, is often like another child in the family.  I also follow a few artistic blogs, where I pick up all kinds of new ideas and techniques.

It's been a great year, both reading and writing, and I'm looking forward to sharing more of my life, and taking a peek at yours.  Go ahead and comment so I can  find you!