QUICK DRY CAFÉ – January 2023

[Charlies Mum Administrator (Maureen)]

A brief test post so that anyone clicking on the last page to open the thread doesn’t draw a blank reply page instead!

It’s been reported so often, the need for a new age and getting Reply instead, but they aren’t inclined to repair it.

I’ll be back!

Cheers, Maureen

Forum projects: Plant Parade projects in the Florals/Botanicals forum , WDE in the All Media Art Events , Different Strokes in Acrylics forum .

[Yorky Administrator Ormskirk]

It still happens here Maureen.

Doug

We must leave our mark on this world

[Charlies Mum Administrator (Maureen)]

It does Doug!

Just watching the fireworks from Sydney and wanted to say Happy New Year to Merri!

Dewi reminded some of us that today is ….. 123123….!!!

Well, we’re still in ‘23, and it’s lunch time! Eats!

Cheers, Maureen

Forum projects: Plant Parade projects in the Florals/Botanicals forum , WDE in the All Media Art Events , Different Strokes in Acrylics forum .

[LavenderFrost Moderator, Acrylics]

The weather has been warm here.

Cathy, don’t let a website tell you what you should keep. You should get your family to help you pack and at the same discuss what they want you to keep. Just an idea.

My mom is the type to get rid of things often, even books! Sometime I get upset that she didn’t tell me first. And when my grandmothers passed away there were knickknacks, figurines, etc. that I wanted. And jewelry of any kind.

Friday I had to go pick up parts for hubby, so I did a little grocery shopping too. Got home late afternoon and brought home McDonald’s. Later I cooked a pot of chili. I figured it wouldn’t matter if no one was hungry, we could have it the next day. And I worked on brushing mica powder onto those molds, that makes a shiny surface and you can apply different colours where you want them.

Yesterday I did the resin pouring, I posted a picture of that in the DS thread. Looking forward to taking them out. I hope they will be ok, these molds are so detailed and likely to hold bubbles.

I also made some pizza pinwheels for New Year’s day, and put them in the freezer. So good thing I didn’t have to cook supper as well lol. And hubby went fishing so he didn’t bother me lol.

So tonight we go to our friends’ little cabin in the bush for steak and lobster. I miss the days when we got a room at a hotel though lol. I think all us women prefer that, it’s the husband that wants to go to the cabin. Normally there isn’t even power there but we bring our big generator, and they put a heater in the outhouse lol. And they have little TV and a satellite dish.

Tomorrow we go to our other friends’ house in the afternoon. She said appetizers and snacks so that’s why I made the pizza pinwheels. I spent a lot of time thinking about what to make. Cooking for other people is always more stressful.

 

C&C always welcome. Michelle

mkmcreations.com
Every painting is a new adventure.

[ColinS, Moderator, Victoria British Columbia]

The Germans may have also done the orange in the stocking as a tradition, but my mum who grew up in rural Ireland said she and her 10 siblings always had an orange in their stockings Christmas morning and that was usually the only orange they saw all year. So I think it was a special treat for many people in leaner times.

Both my wife and I always had an orange in our stockings as kids, so we passed that tradition onto our own boys. In Toronto we would get wonderful Jaffa oranges in the 60s. I suppose they came all the way from Israel. Later when we moved West we had better access to fruit from California and the Pacific Rim generally (fresh pineapples, coconuts, kiwis, mangoes and papayas were available out here and we had never seen them in the grocery stores in Ontario at the time). And out here the stores would bring in Japanese mandarin oranges for Christmas in the 1970s. When we had our own kids we always got a box of mandarins from Japan at Christmas and just popped one in their stockings. There is something comfortable about the tradition that goes back at least three generations.

In Japan the orange is also associated with the New Year, and New Year house decorations (which are a big deal) often feature an orange (usually a bitter orange, though, not a Mandarin). The orange itself is a symbol of prosperity in east Asia, so associating with the spirit of a new year makes sense.

The stores don’t seem to carry the Japanese mandarins any more but DW found some really good mandarins from California this year. Things change but it is nice to have the continuity of traditions too.

"None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm." - Henry David Thoreau

Moderator Acrylics Forum~~~Reference Image Library

[Cathryn&Bailey]

Thank you Michelle for your advice, yet I already know pretty much what our daughters will want and not want. It was helpful for me to realize that they won’t want items that take extra time though, like my silver-plate flatware that we use. My quilts probably will be divided up, yet so far the baby quilts I made for them are with them and stored away. I intended for all my quilts to be used, even those given away. I let my girls have them when they were one year old, past the spit-up and “explosive diaper” stages.  I did take pictures of my maternity clothes before I donated them because I enjoyed, for the most part, being pregnant and blessed with our daughters. Then one Sunday, I saw my Bible study leader wearing one of my favorite outfits! I recognized it immediately because the older girls called it my clown outfit. It was a loose-fit one piece jumpsuit with random patches of pink and white patterned fabrics. Of course being “very pregnant” gave it the clown look. I was happy she had it as they welcomed all children they were blessed with.

Unfortunately my husband says to take pictures of everything, then get rid of it! Easy for him to say and I know our daughters will ask me, “Why do you need this?” I’ll have an answer for everything, yet the book I’m reading emphasizes keeping the best of a collection (even if I already got rid of half?); getting rid of trinkets (I understand that completely and will do so) and keeping treasures! I already easily got rid of anything with bad “mom” memories and kept what few items my sister allowed me to have of my dad’s.

Our “doctor daughter” won’t want anything because they have already purchased better quality items and they have what they need anyway and plenty of money to buy more. Money does change some people and not for the better! Items I took a lot of time and care making, such as “Leapfrog” (a Checkers game I made by painting different frogs on the fronts and back’s – the King pieces-on stones) were scattered around her house, whereas our nurse daughter is more organized and kept everything together. Yet we were disappointed when a Christmas gift given to the “nurse daughter’s” twins at 3 yrs old along with puppets I made, was destroyed by the children! We bought a Melissa and Doug puppet theatre and shipped it to them. How could 3 yr olds destroy that unless they jumped on it when parents weren’t watching? We showed our girls how to take care of their toys so they could use them a long time. The theatre was gone in a few months. Needless to say, unless we’re told specifically that they want something, they just get money now. The “doctor daughter’s”  children didn’t even thank us! Their mom texted us saying that they were pleasantly surprised by the money. We always had our girls write thank you notes or make the call to thank the person. We’re beginning to think we’re just good for the money with them, while our nurse daughter has the kids open our gifts as well FaceTime them! Even the little 4 yr old knew what he was going to use his money for as he waved it around. The 2 girls surprised us by saying that they are saving it with some other money for later.  All birthday and Christmas money I received had the same reply: “Thank you for the money! I’ll use it to save for college!”  Yet when my “mother” gave money to our girls, she told me that the girls can spend that money. Rules changed with her as everything had to be done her way. Enough of venting! Sorry! Arg! ?

The small oranges you talk about Colin, have cute names such as “Cuties” or “Smiles” and are clementines or mandarin “oranges.” I prefer them myself because they are easier to peel and are the perfect size as we don’t eat as much as we did when younger, plus they’re sweeter!

Mona, the cards I posted were made for 6 different Christmas’s. I kept just one from each year.  Your calendar of  your work is very impressive! Unfortunately, I haven’t painted much this year because I do so many other projects! Right now several are WIP: my entomology cabinets need to be re-arranged as new insect species are added; a huge knitted shawl needs to be finished; old ornaments will be remade to be more Victorian; Dept 56 “Dickens Village” homes are being made out of cardboard, gesso and other items to resemble Dept 56 homes and added to the Putz houses I started making and need painting & mica; our dogs portraits still need to be painted (been working on them for years! and not happy with any!) Maybe I just need to try something differently with them.

Downsizing, so the move won’t be as costly and we don’t know the house we’re going to get yet. Plus we both have surgeries coming up and past surgeries limit my mobility now. I can’t get up or down on the ground easily and without pain, so I can hand-pull the weeds from our moss lawn areas. I really like pulling weeds and I’ll bring moss from our home to the next home too! We planted the moss for environmental reasons and it always looks great! No mow! No water except a mist during droughts! Weed free when thickly established! And you can and should walk on it! Just don’t play football or allow dogs to run around on it.

Sorry if I’m repeating myself, it tends to happen more than I’d like!

Enjoy your New Year’s Eve and the “happy hoodies” that I bought for our dogs will come in handy with the loud noises tonight. I bought them with a forced blow dryer for dogs to help remove our German Shepherd’s fur and she did well even when she pawed off the hoodie!

New Year’s Eve usually was spent with Rob falling asleep on the living room floor while I quilted. Now I’m sure he’ll make it to the bed, while I read in bed until the dogs settle down again.  It’s a quiet night inside our home, while we try to ignore the noise outside. We’re just too old to stay awake as long as before.

Sleep well when you get there!
Cathy

PS. Sometimes typing on my iPhone mixes phrases up to different paragraphs and I fix it immediately, yet if something doesn’t look right, it wasn’t Me! It’s this darn phone ?!

If I had an Irish accent, I'd never stop talking!

Properly trained, a man can be a dog's best friend. Corey Ford

The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too. Samuel Butler

[Virginia (vmrs) Administrator]

Colin, we had mandarin oranges at Christmas too. We also had walnuts and always a noise maker and smaller items like pretty handkerchiefs and stuff like that. We usually got new brushes and combs for the year in our stocking too.

I keep things I enjoy and if someone can use the rest then they can have it. My craft room has a good lot of stuff in it but if something happened to me, it’s organized enough that my guys could get rid of it all easily. I even have a book of what to do where this or that and so on. That’s a leftover from our military days when you have to have all of that done before deployment because of course they can be deadly.

Cathy, if you’re near a VA, they usually have bookcases that need filling if you have fiction paperbacks. County or Senior homes might like them too. Or your craft stuff.

If you have a lot of craft stuff call the local elementary school and ask if the teachers there might like it.

The silver you may be able to sell if you don’t want it.

In the military you get to move a certain weight of stuff and the amount goes up the longer you’ve been in. I had one friend in the military who literally took truck loads of stuff with her everywhere. She found comfort in surrounding herself with what she knew.  I had another that would sell everything couches, tables, beds etc. Her theory was that you need to replace mattresses and all that every so often anyway so why bother moving it. I was somewhere in the middle. Funny how different people are! Do what works for you and enjoy the adventure of it.

Hope everyone has a lovely night!

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[Merriweather]

Happy New Year all.    Wish everyone good health,  a bit of mirth, and generally a good painting year.

I am also over the moon with knowing ‘our’ CP Mary will be queen in a short while.
I take my hat off to Queen Margarethe who has the good sense to hand over the reigns to her son CP Frederick.
Strong and confident to know she needs to have her own time…  and is not reluctant to let go.
That’s ‘our Mary’…from little Tasmania… Met Fred in a pub,  and now look.  wonderful.
I couldn’t be more delighted.

 

Cheers Merri

Painting is a complete distraction. I know of nothing which, without exhausting the body, more entirely absorbs the mind. Winston Churchill

[Cathryn&Bailey]

Thanks Virginia, we use our silver-plate flatware as our daily flatware, so that’s staying; and the paperbacks (which I call my “Men without Shirts” books are mostly historical romance set in Scotland and Ireland, love men in real kilts, hand-pleated! The whole 9 yards! Not the modern skirts they wear now!) will be returned for credit at the book store I bought them from on credit. My hardbacks can go to VA, senior centers,  etc.  My craft supplies you’ll have to pry from my cold, dead fingers! as that’s what I work on the most, almost anything can be used in puppet-making, etc. I’m involved in a lot of different crafting stuff, some given away like small quilts and fairy homes made from books after the insides are hollowed out! Buttons = plates; spools/bobbins = chairs; toothpaste caps = lampshades; silver jewelry bead caps + large hole bead + clear push pin + very small jewelry wire with a loop = oil lamps! My mind never stops! I was looking at 2 very long pheasant tail feathers I have and can’t think of what to use those for so I’ll ask my youngest daughter, who’s a teacher, if she knows of anyone who may have a use for them. Teachers can think of every use for items! The feathers on the sides of peacock feathers I use for puppet hair because that adds a lot of movement. Same with individual ostrich feathers I buy as “trim,” already lined up so Glue Goo loosens the glue bond and the feathers are ready to use! I just need to organize the crafts in separate clear tubs so everything is together when I need it. I have all my puppet stuff together and I know now what I’m going to use my 60” by 36” of 4 inch goldenrod fur for! Not telling! My problem is I have about 3-4 different crafts out at one time! I need to stop that!!!

Darn, it’s only 9 pm here and the fireworks have started! I think those were from the large amusement park several miles away, we had the same thing when we lived in Mason, Ohio with Kings Island nearby. Give my dogs a break please!

Cheers! Cathy

If I had an Irish accent, I'd never stop talking!

Properly trained, a man can be a dog's best friend. Corey Ford

The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too. Samuel Butler

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