more glimpses of my neighborhood as seen through the eyes of my iphone. i can’t remember the last time i took a proper photo with a real camera. convenience wins out every time.
i am taking special pleasure in filling up the 3×5 pages in my little moleskine watercolor sketchbook. if you suffering from an art blockage i highly recommend a tiny sketchbook to get you moving again. it’s working wonders for me. even if painting isn’t your thing you could collage or write or do anything on the tiny pages.
i roasted a butternut squash today and ate it with salt and pepper and some plain almond yogurt. v.v. tasty. if you have dairy intolerance whole foods carries cashew, coconut, and almond yogurt. all quite fine i think. if i’ve roasted a butternut squash before i can’t remember, but i’ll be doing it more often.
let’s see, what other pictures did i make this week?
more objects from my desk, including the cats which were from some tiny stickers i spied when i cast my eyes about for something to paint.
i finished listening to eleanor oliphant is completely fine. i’ll miss hearing about eleanor’s trevails each night while i sit at my art desk. now to find another book. hmmmmm… this is never as easy as one hopes it will be. in the meantime i’m reading a book book. as in an actual book. the kind with words you have to read.
susan branch mentioned von arnim’s book in one of her lovely posts a while back and i made a note of it. if you click on the book below it will take you to an article which mentions a downton abbey connection!
meanwhile back in the neighborhood…put your walkers on we’re going for a stroll.
what a nice little porch this is, dontcha think?
up up up we go. i’ll give you a push if you can’t make it up this hill. i may need one myself!
we’ve gone the whole winter with only 1 real rain, but a bit more may be headed our way this week. i am desperately wanting to hear the patter of raindrops on my porch awning sometime soon.
also getting excited thinking about my week long adventure to northern california.
it’s been a long school year and it’s not over yet, but the little breaks go a long way to keeping me sane. knowing there’s an escape on the horizon. sometimes i wonder how retirement will be without anything to escape from. hmmmm…
Retirement.. you are right about the nothing to escape from… I am looking for things to escape TO now I have retired early as it seemed like a good idea at the time.It was a good idea but now my family is driving me crazy. They assume cos you are retired you have nothing better to do than run their errands! Beware of people who start a conversation with now you are retired you must have so much time on your hands.. My house is a total mess and I am grumpy cos its so humid and hot in Brisbane right now and I have no energy to tackle the jungle garden . My friend who has been retired longer assures me it is ok .It gets better!!
Mam
News flash
Vera is ordered at my Library and is forthcoming….yay.
Xoxox!!
IDK, I do all the same stuff retired that I did when I was working, just at a slower more leisurely pace. And whereas I worked 30-40 hours a week, now I volunteer 8-12 hours and it feels just about right. The best part? No fucking bra for DAYS on end….
Changing the subject, that little palm tree in that little book might be the sweetest thing I’ve seen all winter. Thanks for blogging, always a pleasure.
As to retirement – It sucks a lot of the time. Wish I had kept working. Boredom wise and financially. Be sure you have three times as much money as you think you’ll need.
Maybe more. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Things like hurricane damage and leaking pipes can wipe out a boat load of money. Ask me how I know.
boredom will never be an issue for me, but a hurricane and leaking pipes could. so sorry to hear this gail 🙁
Don’t spend another second worrying about retirement! I guarantee that having nothing to escape from will never even cross your mind! You will be far too busy doing one thing after another that you LOVE!
holy crapoli this is sounding better and better!!!
Totally agree about the tiny sketchbook! Totally portable, so no excuses, and the small page is so much easier to compose than a big one. Love your kitty faces!
– Tina
Retirement is lovely. It will be your escape “to”!
ohhhhh that sounds GOOD
Hi there, I’m newly retired and so so happy! I paint every.single.day!!!!
I appreciate the book suggestions, you’re right finding the next candidate isn’t always so easy.
hi paula – i love hearing from the recently retired. or any retired for that matter! i like knowing all i have to look forward to…
I have a great book suggestions, a book that is so you! Etta, Otto, Russell and James, get the audio book. Magical story. You will see yourself in Etta. I was retired for a few months. I was surprised because there wasn’t enough time but it also wasn’t nirvana as I dreamed. There are still aches, pains, and bills. I do miss it though something fierce right now!
I have been retired for a number of years now…. There are never enough hours in the day to do all I wish to do. Of course, shortly after I “retired” I opened an antique shop which keeps me busy in a new way. I checked on the book… Elizabeth in a German Garden…. on Amazon. I first found a free kindle copy but then discovered for a mere 99 cents I could order
Elizabeth von Arnim’s Collected Works: The Enchanted April, The Solitary Summer, The Benefactress, Vera, and More! ( 11 Works) and this includes the Garden book.
So, as if I didn’t have a ton of books already to read you “made” me get more.
an antique shop! CHARMING! just exactly like a character in your very own book.
The weather never seems to get it right, does it? Here in Cornwall we’re having the wettest, coldest winter anyone can remember in recent years. There you are, longing for rain, here we are on another continent, wishing for just a tiny bit of warmth.
That painting of the butternut squash is masterly! You’ve inspired me on the creative as well as the cooking front. So thanks. x
oh chrissy i always love hearing from you. let’s do a weather swap…? xo
You will love retirement. You still have to make time for the things you want to do. After my husband and I were retired for a year, we looked at each other and said how did we ever have time to work? We’re busy every day. And still not doing all the things we want to do. I know, lame.
i tasted retirement for a blissful year when i took my leave of abscence, then again for 6 mo.
utterly fabulous.. and i know what you mean about being busy.