Monday, February 24, 2014

A Little Monday Randomness

Hey all, spring has sprung around here, and I've been too busy to do much blogging. But I'm loading up the posts for this week and planning to get out to visit you all soon. In the meantime, here are ten bits of randomness from my life . . . 
1. Clara and I had a great time visiting Henry at the University of Oregon.  We loved taking the train, which was quite a bit cheaper than flying. I was surprised that so many of my UK friends said that train travel is more expensive than flying. 
2. And I'm happy to report that the boy is happy and thriving; just check out this picture of him and his roommate:
3. Meanwhile, back at home, the chickens continue to get bigger and bigger. We hope they start laying soon. Over the weekend, Paul and Clara installed some laying boxes in the coop:
Those are fake wooden eggs in the boxes, designed to tell the hens where they should be laying.  Can that really work?
4. I've watched a couple of movies lately. I liked Dallas Buyer's Club pretty well; it definitely took me back to the 80's, but it seemed a bit redundant of some of the other movies and plays from that time. I really did not like Blue Jasmine. Have you seen either?
5. This month, my book group is reading a long book called The Golem and The Jinni by Helene Wecker. I'm about half way through and enjoying it so far, but slowing down a bit. I just don't think I'm made for long books. Anyone else reading or read this one?
6. Ali Edwards had a really inspiring post on how to complete unfinished projects. You can check it out here. I'm going to return to it next month after I finish setting up my craft room/ guest room. She also blogged about setting up a "block schedule" to get her work done, and that's something I planned to do at the beginning of the year (Monday - art and blogging; Tuesday - work focusing on class; Wednesday - work on articles; do stuff around home; Thursday - work focusing on class; Friday - art and home stuff), but I've fallen away from it. I hope to get back to it soon.
7. I lost ten pounds last month on a great eating plan sponsored by my gym. It focuses on eating a balance of macro nutrients at certain times of the day (either 3 or 4 hour intervals) to become a fat burning machine. It really worked for me, and has helped me get back on track with nutrition, portion control and exercise. It feels so good to be able to fit comfortably into my wardrobe again.
8. My craft supply purge and craft room/guest room set up is going great guns. My rough deadline to have it done is March 20, which is the day Henry returns for spring break.  Today, I donated all these supplies to the High School art program: three pizza boxes stuffed with cardstock (three with 12x12; one with 8.5x11); one pizza box stuffed with decorative papers; one large black bag full of wood mounted stamps; one box full of paper scraps (the one in the upper right hand side of the photo); one box full of assemblage and collage supplies; and one box full of fine art supplies and tools, including art books, ink pads, a light box, a glue gun, mannequins, and more. They were thrilled to receive it, and I was so happy to get it out of the house and to someplace useful. I'll have more thoughts on this process soon.
9. The most recent artist for the "Studying Under the Masters" class I'm taking is Marc Chagall.  I haven't had a chance to do anything with him yet, except find some pieces of his which I love (and which aren't necessarily his most famous works). Check these out:
Paris through my window
Blue lovers
The juggler
10. On Saturday, Clara and I are going to the Humane Society to be trained to volunteer in another program - the kitten nursery. It runs in the spring, during "kitten season," and volunteers feed and take care of the kittens which are too young to go to foster care or be put up for adoption. It will be challenging work, but we're excited to help.
And that's it from here! 

12 comments:

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

Haha - ok, I was reading along going, "Oh, that's cool...Henry looks great...never heard of wooden eggs...etc...etc..." and when I got to number 10 I said, "Oh no!" out loud. And I say "oh no" only because I KNOW I would come home with at least one kitten if that were me! I'll be curious to see how you and Clara make it through that volunteering gig without adding to your household zoo. :o)

Amy said...

I've got Blue Jasmine downloaded but haven't got around to watching it yet ... I'm not usually a fan of Woody Allen but I do LOVE Cate Blanchett ... though,she often plays very troubled characters within dark storylines.

helena said...

lovely to see a smiling Henry in situ. That is a lot of stash to purge - well done.

Ladkyis said...

The wooden eggs do work. and then you can decorate them as works of art.

I think kitten nursery would be bad for me, I love cats. We don't have any pets except the chickens and when they have gone we won't have any more.

Susanne said...

There is lots going on there. I'll bet the high school was thrilled to get all those goodies.

Anonymous said...

What a busy time you are having at the moment - I bet you are really looking forward to being a kitten muma!

Missus Wookie said...

Very productive sorting - not surprised that the school was so happy to get your supplies. Your studio must be feeling light :)

scrappyjacky said...

I really like Chagall's work as well....very intense colours.
Spring seems to be arriving here....just hope winter doesn't decide to rear it's head again!!

Lou said...

loved seeing your photos. I will be checking out the Ali Edwards post. Well done on your weight loss too x

Karen said...

We've seen quite a few movies (for us) prior to the Oscars this weekend, but I haven't seen Dallas Buyers Club or Blue Jasmine. Tracy won't watch a Woody Allen movie. I had it on my list until I read a review about how depressing it was, and had second thoughts. I've never read anything at all about your book group book. Off to check it out.

Sian said...

I like that your posts get me to look at things with new eyes. I've never been much of a Chagall fan, but I've been staring intently at these..

Lesley G said...

Loved reading your randomness.
Those eggs do work (apparently) so says my sister!
All that donated stuff, you are really spurring me on to make a dent in my stuff then maybe I would be able to move around my room!
Way to go on your weight loss.
I am declaring target tomorrow as my body has now said enough is enough and I'm happy :)