Sharing creativity

At the end of last year I began meeting with a young woman named Gaby to share creative projects. 

We work independently at home and join up at her mother's local Cafe on the weekends.

The first week was a flower experiment in watercolor.

The second week was doodling in pen and ink.

For the third week we filled in the blank space on each other's drawings

and colored in sections with colored pencils.

The fourth week we used different media to create

 an intuitive piece on a large 18"x24" canvas.

The fifth week was a piece that was inspired by a song.

We will repeat this experiment for next week with

a recording the inspirational songs playing 

while we view each other's creations.

2025

Wow! The start of another year!

There have been many additions and subtractions throughout 80 years of my life. The additions have brought joy. The subtractions have brought grief and sorrow. No doubt there will be more of both in the years ahead. 

Instead of focusing on the past, I am going to focus on smiling at everyone I pass on the street, saying thank you to my servers, lending a helping hand to a neighbour, encouraging youthful enthusiasm and, most of all, telling my family and friends that I love them.

Wishing everyone a calm, peaceful New Year.

 

A road trip to Bellingham

It had been many years since I visited downtown Bellingham but I had heard stories about the quaint town and the interesting shops. Last week my sister and I drove her new Tesla across the border and down to Bellingham for an exploration.

Unfortunately the museum was closed on Thursdays but we wandered through the streets and alleyways.

After an hour of exploration we drove to the Fairhaven area for lunch and a visit to Eclipse Bookstore. The owner's modest accounting of books in his store is around 75,000. We read all of the messages in the front window before entering to find him sorting? stacking? books. He was surrounded by shelves of books and piles of books on the floor. My sister launched into questions about all of the messages in the windows and he said they explained his position regarding a proposed development. That was before he said "You obviously didn't read the CLOSED ON THURSDAYS SIGN! Oh dear...sorry!

The next time we visit Bellingham we will make sure that it is not on a Thursday!

SCAM update

 Just a brief update on the SCAM. 

They did not get a penny!!

Long story!

Lesson learned! 

THE SCAM

 On Friday I was the victim of a SCAM. The screen of my iPad said that it had been corrupted and I should call APPLE Support at the number on my screen. Foolishly...I did. That began a cycle that was carefully orchestrated by the perps. They were just convincing enough to make me follow along with their instructions while I continually questioned them. Their answers always made enough sense.

The end result, after many hours, was that the tone of his voice and his instructions alerted a survival mechanism that sent me directly to the RCMP. My phone continued to ring repeatedly while I was driving to the detachment. I ignored it.

During a visit to my bank later in the day I discovered that they had manipulated funds. My accounts are now frozen. Credit cards have been cancelled. Yes, they did attempt to put through some fraudulent charges. Apparently, according to the RCMP officer, I was much luckier than others in the past week who lost $60,000 and $80,000. My loss so far is $500 which I hope will be reimbursed by the bank.

My computers have been cleaned by a verified APPLE Support Technician. New credit cards will arrive soon and the bank will unfreeze my funds once they have evidence that my computers are cleared of any fraudulent activity.

It was like I spent the day in an alternative reality, acknowledging the possibility of fraud while mentally willing myself to believe the person on the other end of the phone. They are very good!

Walking and writing

Daily walks are more comfortable since I have been able to lace up my supportive athletic shoes. It is not easy and the right shoe is not secured as tightly as I would like but it makes a world of difference to walk in good shoes again. The daily goal is 10,000 steps on one excursion. So far I am able to accomplish around 9,000 steps in two outings but could probably do more with a little effort. Early morning is the best time to avoid this heat wave that is impacting us right now.

Sleeping has improved also with a combination of two pillows between my legs resulting in fewer wakeups and more comfort overall. I have been a bit impatient for my body to fully recover but, considering my age, it has been good.

Before temperatures reach into the 30's I take my morning coffee onto the balcony and do some journalling which often turns into mini stories. Random people appear on the page complete with tattoos, magical powers and hidden motives. It is similar to a blank canvas, eventually revealing an image that was not preplanned. I often think that these small vignettes should be developed into novels but my motivation is lacking to spend days, weeks and months in serious pursuit of an ending. It is more about the discovery of the characters than planning their future.

53 days after surgery

 I have followed my mantra of "one day at a time" and recovery has progressed smoothly. Sleep has been an ongoing issue and it has been a struggle to feel rested during the day while sleeping on my back in 2 hour segments. 

Two nights ago I returned to my side of the bed (leaving John's side to his memory) and lay on my side with two pillows between my knees. There was no discomfort and I slept for 4 hours before waking to a slight ache. A visit to the washroom, a glug of water and back to the same position with pillows secured between my knees and back to sleep for another 3 hours. What a relief to be able to sleep on my side again! 

A slow return to work at the Thrift store has gone well. Today I will extend my shift to 3 hours. Walks have increased to almost 10,000 steps managed in two daily walks around the neighborhood. There is still some discomfort but not enough to require pain medication.

Looking forward to future travels!