Sketches and Thoughts on Our Life

I sketched in the brown paper book for Scavenger Hunt 286.  Will I ever fill it up?  I sketched with the usual Prismacolor Premier 08,  that has long lasting ink as well.

Number 1, bank - Gene’s bank that counts the money for him.  Number 2, guilty pleasure - my stash of Snickers, what else?  Number 3, view from the kitchen window - the kitchen is sort of in the middle of the house so the window is from the dining area.  Part of the bay window view.

This morning I sketched on the iPad with Brushes and my fingers.  I spent about 45 minutes on this simple sketch.  Jeepers.....  It was fun and I tried to not use “Undo”  and really sketch.

Number 4, monarch - the club king from a deck of cards.

It was and still is nice and cool today.  Super.


Jo’s Thoughts:

My lack of posting and painting MAY still be due to the fire. Our life style has changed because of the move caused by the big fire of September 2012  (Correction on 10/10/2012 the fire was in 2011, sorry.) has good and bad changes.  It is amazing how much stuff we lost, but how easily we have accommodated to having less stuff.  I’m not complaining, just trying to explain about how this all affected us in our “advanced” age.  It is sort of like being newlyweds without some of the fun!

We do have a more modern home with handicapped entrances and bathrooms.  That is great.  And of course mostly new “things” as most of our things burned in the fire except for what we had with us.  So that is great for the convenience part but not the memories part.

I was fixing lunch/early dinner Saturday and went to make a cake.  My one cake pan had gone home with Larry the last time we all got together.  I just made the cake in an oval Corning Ware.  It worked and tasted the same.  Before, I probably had six or more cake pans -- angel food, bundt, sheet, several 9 x 13 pans, loaf, round, etc., which I used a couple of times a year.  Obviously more than 6 pans.  The same with all my cooking stuff.  I do need to get another sauce pan or two but mostly things are OK. 

On the other hand, I’m not a clothes hound, I live in jeans and sweats but we were going to La Grange to The Bugle Boy for music Saturday night and I don’t have many casual shirts that I like.  So I must shop a bit and I’m definitely not a fan of that.  The two favorite shirts I have are worn over and over and they are soon to wear out!  At the art events someone may ask who or where Jo is?  They will just say, “She is the lady in the black shirt and jeans.”  Maybe that is a good thing, but it will soon be the lady in the worn out shirt.  So that is not OK.

Gene has had a tough time with his world.  He really likes to stay busy and keep our house in shape.  He can fix and do most anything around the house.  He had finally arrived at the point where he had a tool and or supplies to handle about any chore.  After the fire he has spent many hours at the stores .. Lowes, Home Depot, etc.  He has slowly bought saws, drills, hand tools, ladders, etc.  But still when he goes to put up a shelf or fix anything it is another trip for a bolt, the right nails, a certain small tool, etc.  We have a really nice house without so much repair and fixing up to do so that is OK.  But not having the things that make you comfortable is not OK.

We live in a rural area again, but just far enough out of town  to not have cable TV or be able to get DSL on a phone line.  We are using satellite TV and satellite Internet and cell phones. But I really, really miss the cable for Internet.  Satellite Internet is supposed to be faster but it is affected by weather, other people using it, etc.  It is more expensive and we are starting to exceed our usage and will have to pay at least double what we paid for cable and have less.  When you exceed usage, it slows down.  Plus with limited band width we can’t use goodies that are offered with the TV and our great iPads and iPhones.  No watching movies or TV on the iPad.  No programing our TV from afar, etc.    We do have TV and Internet even though it is more limited now.  So that is OK??

We are spoiled and it shows.  Heh, heh.  Maybe now returning after our long summer away from home we will settle in a bit more and start to have routines and that will mean more painting and art.

That is the beginning of the plan...........