Car, Covid and Art

 New pottery - some from a workshop I took with the fabulous Julie MacKinnon and some I did on my own (which is not fired yet.) I always have fun at the workshops and this time my friends Sue and Susannah were also there, which adds to the enjoyment.

<I like making slab work like this open bowl. 

And I tried throwing a plate at home on my borrowed-from-Julie wheel. ^ I think it's the new speckled clay, which is not as soft as the white but definitely softer than the curry. I will underglaze this one, I think.

And this big bowl - WOW. Love it.

Meanwhile, down in Idaho miss Stevie Dirks is going great guns, throwing mugs like a pro and selling already! What! I spawned an artistic genius. It sure didn't come from me, her talent. It is all her own. I will keep playing with clay and hopefully improve on all my skills, but I do not see selling anything in my future.

Hey I tried painting some clouds too. Youtube was very helpful. It is not finished yet, but I am enjoying adding depth and shadows to it. I love noticing clouds and always thought I would like to learn to paint them. This is acrylic. I even have a little palette holder that keeps the paint wet in between sessions. Look at me - fancy-pants painter-girl! Ha

Now baking I can do - well, pies and scones anyway. But I cannot really afford to eat them because my body gets fat so easily. So, for now, no baking. I try baking almond and no sugar stuff, but it still seems to cause an insulin response so it's best for me not to bother at all. And there is chocolate in the house - a gift for dog sitting. I hope it does not scream my name too loudly. Sigh.

I keep trying to get back to a good regular fasting schedule but find myself eating a little tiny bit  - a seed cracker here, an olive there, a macadamia nut or two or six. Which is not true fasting. I really want to rid myself of the Covid weight - please! I know that if I keep at the fasting long enough, I will lose fat. That is a guarantee. Like the guy who fasted for over a year and lost 300 hundred pounds. I do not have to lose that much, but it sure would be nice to fit into ALL my clothes. Love handles - be gone! No one to hang onto them anyway, so what is the point?

Speaking of Covid, I have been invited to a friend's place for a socially distance outdoor get-together in place of the Fall Fair apparently. I am hesitant to go however. They would all be people I have not been in regular contact with - outside my bubble in other words. And even though I would be masked and socially distanced, it still doesn't feel right. 

My silly family (McGee's) maintain a group text on FB Messenger that I love. Not a lot is said, really, but you get the flavor of the group thru the little jokes, or videos or photos that they post. I truly miss each and every one of them, but I love that we are all connected still. When we are freed from Covid-Hell next year or the year after I will be making pilgrimages to see every single one of them! And of course, Stevie and I will be heading to Europe too - from which I jokingly say I may never return.

Well, we don't do much these days outside the living room and the garden - just the occasional walk on Channel Ridge or Duck Creek, usually just Sadie and myself. Sometimes I join with Charlie, or Sue or Susannah, but mostly I don't really try to set anything up. I feel a sort of low level depression that just keeps me somewhat inactive socially. Is it fear? Possibly. The less contact we have, the better able to avoid that virus.

I got a new car for no particular reason - a little Mustang Fastback. Sadie jumps in thru the boot door, so if you watch her, it looks like she is going into the trunk. Weird. I put down the backseats though and that means she has the entire back area to herself which she seems to like. 

 

Norah was not too impressed when we tried to get her into the back however. We had to lift her up and then kind of close the door quickly before she figured out how to jump back out. So it's not as great for multiple dog carrying, but I like the smaller size and it really hugs the road. Bonus the payments are less than the Toyota was. My financial advisor keeps encouraging me to spend less...I am not sure this is what she was thinking however. Whoops.