Valerean

A few famous authors who were my peers back in the day have been announcing their retirement lately; I won't name names because I don't want to attract their fan bases here. Let me just say that I completely understand what it is to cope with increasing mental and physical limits due to age and infirmity, and how hard a hit the ego takes because of that. They have my sincere sympathy. I don't have a retirement date set for myself just yet. It's getting closer, but I have not noticed any diminished capability on my part other than it takes me a little longer to get things done. I asked for and was given more time this year to work on my current big project for the day job. My editor and I have both acknowledged that we're in the winding down stage of the career, not that it matters when you're a writer for hire. No one knows that I'm the one writing these projects, so no one will miss the real me when I hang it up. Kind of nice that way. After writ...

On the thrifting front I'm doing a little at the online auction. I have an urge to paint again (I don't know why; I'm terrible at it), but all the art supplies I had are either dried up or too old to use, so I put in a bid on this lot of supplies. There are actually 20 journals in this lot, which I plan to make covers for, embellish and then give as gifts. This little quilt has the most charming primitive applique work I've seen in a while, and I'd love to add it to my collection. Stay tuned to the blog to see if I win any or all of these.

Last week the first of the corn crop arrived at the local farm where we shop for veggies, so we made a trip to buy a bag. Although we can get corn cheaper at the supermarket, this is one of the times when we don't worry about the expense. The first trip to the farm for corn is kind of the unofficial start to spring for me. We'll be making trips out every few weeks to shop at the farm now until they close for the summer. Why don't we buy our veggies where we can get them cheaper? Supporting our local farmers is more important to us than saving money. I didn't take a photo, but we bought a bag with a half-dozen ears of corn and a big basket of baby cucumbers. It was ten dollars. I shared half of the cucumbers with our neighbor, who has her son and his family visiting them. There isn't much we can do about the economy, or stopping corporations from destroying family businesses like the farm. All we can do is show our support by spending our money whe...

While I was on my break my guy and I went to the Sunday farmer's market in Clermont, and stumbled upon a small car show in a parking lot there. This 1967 Impala was identical to mine back in the day. My first car was an ambulance in the military; this one was my second when I got home. Mom owned it and gave it to me. Imagine parallel parking this boat. There were a lot of people there so I couldn't get many pics, but it was fun. We love to look at cars. This Jag was my dream car when I was a teenager (it's even the same green color as the one I lusted after.) The wood dash nearly made me swoon. I knew I'd never get one (and I was right) but it was okay to dream. I went after and got the biggest dream of my life in 1998, so that made up for all the Jags I didn't get. :)

I didn't get to do too much on my vacation, so I indulged in a shopping trip last week to wrap it up on a positive note, and acquired this beauty from an antique mall for basically a song. It's gorgeous, the palette is unique and it just said "Take me home with you so I can live on your couch before some pinhead buys me and I end up with as a cat quilt and get torn to pieces." The flowers are hand-stitched. Sigh. How could I resist? She'll be much happier with me anyway. At the same antique mall I got a nice bundle of green scrap fabrics very cheap; these are also a contender for the next tote in my calendar project. Finally we stopped by the Russel Stover outlet so I could buy a little sugarfree candy, and I found these new chocolates which are absolutely delicious. Great way to end my vacation. :)

Last night I slept almost seven hours, which hasn't been the case for a while. The nighttime decongestant I took probably helped, but I can't resort to those every night to combat my insomnia. I use the last hours of the day to crochet and get myself in a meditative state, and that's helpful when it's time to go to bed, too. I'm just battling on top of everything else chronic pain, a hamster wheel-running mind, and that ever-present old age reality that if I go to sleep I am not guaranteed to wake up again. Sleep is absolutely important at this stage of the game, so I'm working on changing up my evening routine to calm my thoughts and manage the pain problems. Meditation is my first resort. It's helped me throughout my life, but I've gotten away from it in favor of repetitive mindless tasks like sewing and crochet. I'll be meditating for a few minutes before I go to bed and see if that improves the quality of my sleep. Dressing comfortabl...