Old Lady Things

Today’s list was inspired by the temperature outside and a rare bout of insomnia.

Old Lady Things I Am Ready For Already

1. Bunny Slippers.  Big fat pink ones.
2. A walk-in sit-down shower.  Ok, I’m not really sold on the sit down part of that yet, but my knee does not like stepping over the side of the bath tub these days.  And it’s not even a very high side.  I’ll be wanting ramps instead of stairs soon.  An elevator would be nice.
3. One of those robotic vacuum things that bangs around your furniture picking up dirt while you sit on the couch wishing it was less stupid and more thorough.  But if I had one I would likely want to get a cat to ride around on it.
4. A bunch of flameless candles unlikely to burn the house down if left unattended. With a remote control.  Might as well go all out.
5. A granny shawl.  Actually two.  One for my shoulders, one for my lap.
6. A personal shopper.
7. A personal masseuse.
8. A chauffeur.
9. A pool guy.  And yes I know we don’t have a pool.
10. A tiny home.  I watched a minimalist documentary.  I think I could live that way.  Probably have to give up the pool guy though.

Seriously right now I would settle for just some big ass warm and fuzzy slippers because my feet are freezing.  And I am wearing thermal socks.

This is what my life has become.  I need a nap.

 

Sharing My World 54

Weekend Artwork by Littlest Granddaughter

SHARE YOUR WORLD – 2016 WEEK 11

How many siblings do you have? What’s your birth order?

My brother was born first, followed by me three years later, followed by my sister another three years later, and six years after that, baby sister, spoiled by her siblings.  So I am a middle child, one of three girls, nobody special.  Or incredibly special, I can’t decide.

In a car would you rather drive or be a passenger?

I don’t mind being a passenger, feeling free to let my mind wander or to fall asleep or to give directions or to wonder out loud why we are taking this particularly stupid route.  Well, that’s only when W is behind the wheel.  I don’t mind driving by myself, but I do not like having passengers when I’m driving.  Probably because I’m such a bad passenger/back seat driver myself and also because I like to talk to other drivers on the road without anyone hearing the dumb things I say.  Plus I take wrong turns all the time and nobody needs to know that.

When you lose electricity in a storm, do you light the candles or turn on the flashlight? How many of each do you own?

All W’s flashlights are downstairs in the dark, but I have candles and matches everywhere.  Some family member asked me once why W has so many flashlights and I didn’t know the answer to that one because, like I said, they’re all downstairs somewhere in the dark and I wouldn’t know where to look for them.  I have a little pen sized flashlight in my makeup bag for some obscure reason, and I used to have a light thing dangling from my keys but I don’t know what happened to it.  I never used it because there’s an interior light in the car and the porch light is always on at our back door and I can’t think of a single time I needed to use my keys in the dark.

I’m not sure why I have this uncanny ability to turn the answer to a simple question into a rambling essay.  I light candles.  We own many.

List at least five of your favorite types of animal (any animal to domestic to wild to marine life)

Lions, tigers, elephants, giraffes, zebras.  In a previous life I lived in Africa.  Or a zoo.  Or the circus.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

This weekend our eldest grandson attended a special wrestling development clinic at the U of A for wrestlers who got medals at the Alberta Winter Games.  We are incredibly proud of him for doing so well in a sport he’s only just started.

Youngest grandson got to go to an Oilers hockey game, and even though his team “got destroyed” as he explained it, he had a great time.

The girls and I went to see the Zootopia movie in 3D.  Because those special glasses are to die for.  You can pop out the lenses and wear them home.  And the movie was great fun!  They were especially giggly about the sloths.

I put a border on the above artwork by Madison and I’m going to put it up somewhere more important than the fridge.  I love that she made it so colourful and happy.

Not sure what I’m looking forward to in particular this week, but in general, spring.  And summer.  And all the snow disappearing.  Just normal every day stuff.  No crazy wishes or expectations.  I’m happy to keep waking up in the morning.

Christmas-ish Haiku

Nothing left to do,
Nowhere else I need to be.
I love Christmas Eve.

 

Christmas candle fills

The air with cranberry cheer,

Whatever that is.

 

Happy Holidays,

Merry Christmas, Peace on Earth

Tidings of great joy.

Sharing My World 21

Share Your World – 2015 Week #10

When you lose electricity in a storm, do you light the candles or turn on the flashlight? How many of each do you own?

I have no idea where all the flashlights are in this house, although I know W has lots of them.  Candles are more my thing.  Most of those are on the fireplace mantle along with a box of wooden matches.  We have a barbecue lighter, which I hate, because it takes for flaming ever to fire unless someone besides me is using it.  I also have cigarette lighters which I use for lighting incense sticks.  It appears I am a fan of fire.  My phone is always close by if I need to light things up in a hurry.   Despite all this preparedness, the power rarely ever goes out here during a storm.  I honestly can’t remember the last time it happened.  However, that doesn’t stop me from sitting around with the lights out.  I love candlelight.

You are given $5,000 and the chance to exchange it for one of two envelopes. One envelope contains $50,000 and one contains $500. Do you make the trade? Why or why not?

I’m no gambler.  The odds are rarely in my favor.  I went to the horse races once and was thrilled to break even.  So no, I would not make the trade.  I would grab the five grand and run.

What’s your first memory?

I don’t trust that my very early memories are really my own, rather than stories I’ve been told.  I think I remember standing up in the back seat of a car behind my dad and seeing a gigantic animal wander across the road in front of us while the rest of the passengers (mom, brother, grandparents) exclaimed excitedly about it.  Several miles down the road I apparently said “Oh my, that was a very big mouse.”  Moose, mouse, big scary creature – it was all the same to me.  My mother told me I was two years old and couldn’t possibly have a memory of that, and she’s probably right.  But standing in the backseat behind my dad is something I know I did all the time.  It was the best way to travel for a kid who got motion sickness if she sat down and couldn’t see out the windows.  There were no seat belts or booster seats way back then.  There were some really big mice wandering around on the roads though.

What do you do if you can’t sleep at night? Do you count sheep, toss and turn, or get up and try to do something?

I read.  Until my eyes burn.  But falling asleep is normally easy for me.  If there’s too much going on in my head,  I think about breathing.  Not making myself take slow, deep breaths or anything, just being aware of the breaths I am taking and nothing else.  Inhaling, exhaling, relaxing.  It’s usually the last thing I remember.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m glad W had a good visit with his parents.  And yes, I’m glad he went on his own.  I’m glad I had some me time.  Well, who am I kidding, it’s ALL me time.  I’m grateful that I survived the trip to and from the airport in rush hour traffic yesterday.  Through various stretches of construction.  Going just over the speed limit and still being passed on both sides by idiots in a big hurry to die.  This morning I went to see my doctor to have my prescriptions renewed and to discuss the results of my recent tests.  And on the way home I stopped at Michael’s for some retail therapy.

My calendar is blank for next week, except for a notation that our middle granddaughter celebrates her tenth birthday on the 18th.

They’re growing up and we’re growing old.  And I’m grateful for both of those things.

Art du Jour 19

This is what happens when you can’t make up your mind about hair colour.  There’s only so much blending you can do with pencil crayons and then they just refuse to do it anymore.

Eyes that are a foot away from my nose while I’m drawing them tend to look very different at a further distance.  I will just say I’m doing portraits of strabismus patients.

The snow is done falling for now, and the temperature has dropped to 30 below Celsius according to our thermometer which is just outside my “art studio” window.  W was kind enough to let me know this morning how many days it’s been since I left the house.  Who keeps track of these things?  Well obviously he does, and needs to find another hobby.

When I went to work I’d say my fresh air time was two minutes a day tops.  From the house to the warmed up car, car to the workplace, then back to the car and into the house.  I can’t say I’m missing my time spent outdoors at this time of year since it was previously pretty much non-existent.

How long will it take to develop cabin fever?  Well there’s a little project to work on while I’m working on all my other little projects.  Stay tuned for enthralling updates on that.  Plus a perfected recipe for guacamole as soon as I can work out the amount of garlic that is not likely to add its pungent odour to the entire house.

It’s candle season!  Yay!  Last night the living room was a raspberry garlic scented paradise.

Yeah, maybe I do need to get out more.

 

Citrus Candles

Well how incredibly easy does this look?  I use a lemon every day in my breakfast smoothie and tried for days to ‘leave the center core-like stem intact’.  Those things have a death wish.  But eventually I got serious, and was able to leave not only the stem but lots of the veiny section separaters in a pulpy mess in two lemon halves.

I left them sitting on the kitchen counter for several hours, hoping the juice and moisture would evaporate and that W would not throw them in the compost bin.  Neither of these things happened.

Then I lopped off a little piece of the bottom of each half so they’d sit less tipped over on their sides and poured some coconut oil into each one.

A huge dose of dogged determination and half a box of matches later, VOILA!

We have fire, some spilled oil, and one more to go.  I know, beautiful, right? Actually they look much better in the dark.

They did burn for hours as promised (at least two, but definitely didn’t make it to three) with a lemony coconut aroma that was only discernible if you got close enough to them to singe your eyebrows.

Would I recommend this craft to everyone who likes crafts?  Of course I would.  Why should I be the only one swearing at gutted lemon halves?

This post is in response to Cin’s Feb Challenge Day 22:  Finger paint/messy craft, written by someone skilled in the art of making even the simplest projects difficult and messy.

Bubble Bath

Imagine a romantic candle lit bathroom scene with rose petals and steamy mirrors, a glass of white wine perched on the edge of a big claw foot tub and a shapely leg rising from scented bubbles.  It’s time to pamper yourself, listen to some good music, think happy thoughts, close your eyes and relax.

I’m impressed if you were able to get all that going on in your head, and even more impressed if you’ve done it all in real life and it works for you.

I’m afraid I have a very bad bubble bath attitude and don’t understand what all the fuss is about.  I would rather shower than take a bath.  I don’t like all that soap and how it makes my skin itch. I don’t like hot-tubs full of chemicals and flakes of dead skin either.  I don’t like soap scum, bathtub rings or rubber ducks.  Is there a bah humbug expression for this kind of thing?  I am the Ebenezer Scrooge of bathing with bubbles.

This is how happy it makes me to soak in a tub.  Please stop torturing this poor woman and let her pull the damn plug.

Oh well, that’s just me.  I do understand it is a little weird to feel this way.  But I can relax and listen to music and drink wine while admiring my toes without getting all wet or locking myself in the bathroom first.  However, if that’s what you really want to do, I would never try to stop you.

Just clean up that scummy oily soap ring when you’re done.

Posted for Cin’s Feb Challenge /Witchy Rambles Day 7 – Bubble Bath

Good Things On A Sunday

These are good things on any day, really.

– Adult children.  Really, everyone should have a few.

– Finding decaf coffee for my Tassimo.  I have been blind.  (Thank you K and C for inspiring me to use this coffee maker for more than its previously mostly decorative purposes.)

– Blowing snow from the inside looking out.

– Candles that last all day and into the night.

– Driving home in the pouring rain and getting there just before it starts to freeze.

– Old movies on Netflix.

– Looking into the eyes of our children and seeing what miracles we have created.

– Good books, and lots of them.

– Today.

– Flux – a natural state.  (Our moods change, our lives change, our feelings for each other change.  Our bearings change.  The song changes, the air changes, the temperature in the shower changes.)  Accepting this.

– Magic

– A warm bed after a long day.

– Learning new words, like quaintrelle – a woman who emphasizes a life of passion expressed through personal style, leisurely pastimes, charm, and cultivation of life’s pleasures.

– Big warm sweaters.

– The smell of dinner cooking.

– The sound of laughter.

– Having no definite plans.

– Realizing there is really nothing in the world we lack, and rejoicing in the way things are.

Just Jazzy 173

“A Christmas candle is a lovely thing; It makes no noise at all, But softly gives itself away; While quite unselfish, it grows small.”
― Eva K. Logue

I like to drink French wine by candlelight – Bourgogne, Cabernet Sauvignon, Châteauneuf-du-Pape. If I consume enough of it I can even properly pronounce the names. I swear it’s true. You should try it.

 

Just Jazzy Advent Calendar

Of Madmen and Poets

This lover sincerely thanks all the mad men, wise men and lucid poets of the world for their various talents and areas of expertise.

From a procrastination point of view, these last couple of days have been wildly successful.  I can’t think of one thing I’ve accomplished that’s worth talking about.  My house has been cleaned, but I didn’t contribute to that except for writing a cheque.  W has arrived back home after closing up and winterizing everything on the island.  Notice how I left well before any of that had to be done.

Although it’s been only a couple of days, I am sadly missing a former co-worker who was a ray of sunshine in an otherwise often dull and cloudy workplace.  Maybe I’ll start marking big X’s on my calendar to count off the days I have left.  You know how prisoners keep track of their confinement time.

Or I could snap out of this lethargic state.  There’s an idea.  Already W is wanting his grocery and to-do lists and I had forgotten how nice it is to have someone else around to do all that tedious stuff.  It’s crisp and cold outside and therefore time to start burning some candles inside and basking in their warm glow.  The flames make a nice sparkly reflection on a wine glass.  I’m going to add “case of red wine” to the grocery list and see what happens.

And one day soon all these bazillions of books I’ve been reading could stand some one-sentence reviews.  Man my life is hard.  I don’t know how I keep up.

Anyway, Cheers everybody!  Let’s all be lovers, and have a fantastic weekend.

Supper Sunset Series 03 (Photo credit: smilla4)