Finally Floundering February bids us adieu. And right on the Mark March brings ideas to move forward.
A couple years ago my cousin sent me a tape recorder and asked me to write (record) my memoirs.
I chickened out. Plain and simple. But I did write my memories. So here’s my idea (and I’m already a day late!) I will record, read aloud and edit the memories and edit as I go. I put it in NaNo as this month’s goal. I added my last Nano novel. Both books are 15k each. I plan to read aloud and edit that one, too.
I may have bit off more than I can chew. Maybe I’ll prioritize the memoir. No more Floundering, just get busy!
By the way, for those who tried,thanks for playing 😀
In other news we have winter starting now. Alaska is sending us a cold front.
Just as evening was descending. Cold but blue skies.
Yesterday morning. The sky was not that blue.
Blue than it actually was.
That’s more how I remember it.
Coming down. Cold and gray.
Meanwhile, for Finishing Friday:
This is a fun project. Haven’t touched the lighthouse.
Almost to the heels.
Still proceeding with learning the uke. I actually am needing the next book. I think my fingers are toughening up!
I finished The Mammoth Hunters but haven’t had the chance to write the review. I’m loving reading the series again.
It’s snowing again. It’s so pretty. I’m glad the rodent was wrong!
We started out with pretty snow, but now it is all atrocious mud and rain. Yuck!
Your prompt for JusJoJan, January 26th, 2024, is “atrocious.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!
Jemima of Jemima’s blog provided us with the prompt of the day. Thank you, Linda and Jemima!
My achievements for this Friday are meager, but I feel good about them. My greatest accomplishment is over a year in getting it done. Now, I need to find a way to send it to its new home.
Sealed and an acrylic paint border. I had tried different types of tape including a pretty duct tape. But none stuck very well. But I think the black looks better anyway. I’m just so sloppy with paints I got it on everything. It cleaned up okay. But I’m ready to do some new diamond paintings.
The socks I was knitting ended up being tinked back to the arch area. I had them all the way to being close to done, but I held them in my hand and wondered about the size. They are supposed to fit a size 1 child, but when I looked that up, that would have been at least 7 inches long. These were only 5. So most of the week I have been undoing the work. The good part is I am getting better acquainted with the shadow wrapping needed for the heel and above. So when I finally get there again I’ll know what I’m doing. By the way, in the picture, you will see that each sock has its own needles. When I reach the heel of these no-show socks I find I do better with them separated.
The sock on the right is the one I’m working on until I reach the heel. The ball is all that I had to tink off the sock. For the sock on the left, I just wound the yarn around the sock so I wouldn’t get them mixed up.
When I want to just relax I am working on this pair of slipper socks.
I’m going to have to decide who gets these soon so I know how large to make them. I already have a pair I made for me but I love them enough to want another pair. They are comfortable.
I’m still only on day 8 of the lessons as I haven’t mastered the few chords taught so far. My fingers are getting tougher, but they still aren’t coordinated enough to not mute other strings. But, hey, I can now get through Row, Row, Row, and Mary Had A Little Lamb. Yay! I’m thinking I need to make a strap for my uke to carry it around and take the pressure off my hands. There are several patterns on YouTube.
I wish I had learned recorder as a kid like these guys. But I’m glad I do understand music so that I can read and play the notes I know how to play. I finally got out my alto and found I remembered how to play it. My lapse of learning happened when I realized I had been using the wrong fingering for the type of recorder I had. Baroque versus German. All of my recorders and I inherited a lot of them from the school I worked in, plus my alto and my tenor that I bought are the Baroque.
Now that I know that I have retaught my fingers the F. I stopped playing before because it sounded wrong, and I couldn’t figure out why. Now I know, and I have to re-train my brain for it.
Speaking of the musical instruments, this is the time I usually play around with them. So, have a great Friday night and week-end!
“ending to keep a firm hold of something; clinging or adhering closely.
“tenacious grip”
or
not readily relinquishing a position, principle, or course of action; determined.
“you’re tenacious and you get at the truth”
or
persisting in existence; not easily dispelled.
“a tenacious local legend”
When I am working on something I can seem stubborn. But I would rather think of it as tenacious. Sticking to it until I become better, sticking to it until I have a product to wear, or give to someone else to enjoy. The following are my newest slippers and socks.
These are a pair of this-and-that slippers using up leftover yarn. If they don’t turn out well, I will keep them and love them myself!
These will be the smallest no-show socks for a sweet little girl who is a size 1 child. I hope they turn out to be her size. I have to admit my own size is easiest to do as I have my own feet available to check as I go.
I tenaciously cling to the idea of learning to play new instruments while maintaining the ones I know. My recorder is always near me. I’ve finally gotten the idea of how the Baroque fingering for F and F sharp is different than the fingering I learned at first. I like that it sounds right now.
The last time I tried a stringed instrument was a guitar I had as a young teen. I named it Herman. I gave up because it hurt my fingers. So, I thought a ukulele would be easier. Definitely easy to tote around. Nope. I’m only on one-finger chords, and it already hurts. But now I have a group on Facebook helping me learn to keep practice times down to 10 minutes until my fingers develop callouses. I plan to stick it out. And still get back to my piano. No sense in letting that go when it has been with me since I was 5. 69 years of piano? I ought to be at the concert level! No. I just want to enjoy it and learn more.
Remember this guy? I was working on him a year ago. I gave up because I didn’t like to do the last steps. But I finally finished sealing the painting. Tomorrow, I will frame the work with the tape in the upper left corner. Then he and the leg-warmers will go to their new owner.
Through the limbs of the mesquite, you can see the tenacious snow that won’t leave the driveway despite the rain we have had for a couple days. More rain is expected. Somehow, I don’t think I will see snow tomorrow.
My brother has a new but beautiful enemy. We have about 6 of these guys hanging around our yard and our neighbors’ yards. Though I would appreciate them dealing with all the mice around here, they seem to be going after the chickens and small stray cats and rabbits that hang out in our area. My brother got beak to beak with one as he tried to save one of his chickens, but the owl had already won. So he strengthened the coop so that owls couldn’t get in. Sadly, our chickens are free-range during the day, and that makes it dangerous for them. When not being pests, these large birds are gorgeous. And probably more tenacious than any other predator around here.
But I can’t leave this prompt without this tribute:
Your prompt for #JusJoJan the 13th and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “close up/close-up.” Use the verbal phrase “close up” and/or the noun/adjective “close-up” somewhere in your post, or write a post in the spirit of the phrase. Have fun!
A face only a mother could love or one more wrinkle? The close-up may not bring in the bucks, but what about personality? What about love? Those who are as touchy as a cactus or close up their hearts and hide from emotions are even less appealing. It isn’t easy to be around the monkey, for the energy is tough to keep up with. Walking on eggshells for the touchier relationships is tough, too.
I’ve been lucky enough to live with the types I mentioned and have to admit that as hard as it was, there were good times, too. The monkey is more fun than the cactus, but when those anti-touchy-feely types feel safe and can find their center, they can reveal their hearts of gold. Long, honest talks can bring understanding. It’s not easy. Early traumas can trigger anyone. Even me. Making me a part of the problem while hoping to be part of the solution. Yeah, bring it up close, and those gray hairs and wrinkles have good reasons to be there.
It’s a lot of work, don’t you think? And worth it.
Just like the leg warmers. And speaking of close-ups, the areas that I had to do decreases, look like little hearts. I think I see a correlation. Maybe not.
The stream went cold. Just like when our electricity went off a while ago. We finally got our foot of snow. Not enough to cover the bushes but it’s looking better.
If you click on the photo, you can see the snow close up. But you still can’t feel the cold.
Your prompt for JusJoJan January 8th, 2024 is “gratitude.” Use the word “gratitude” any way you’d like. Have fun!
I am grateful for the prompt from Sadje click the blue gratitude. For the “rules” of JJIJ, click the other blue word. I am grateful for the WordPress family given to me starting with Linda, Sadje and so many others. Everyone is ready to help, lend support, or laugh with.
I love all of you!
I feel such gratitude for all my family and friends who surround me with love.
This is kind of a weird thing to be thankful for, but I’m thankful for what we learned from the pandemic. Zooming church and friends is a wonderful way to enhance our lives.
Oh, and I’m grateful for our snow. Except I couldn’t make it to my doctor’s appointment. But, hey, we are Zooming an appointment tomorrow.
Tomorrow we’re going to get a lot more snow. We really need the precipitation.
Snow is one of the most captivating weather I love to watch. Last night we had clear skies, star twinkling brightly. I went to bed a little discouraged. But lo and behold this morning the driveway is full of the wonderful white stuff.
If you have been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD you recognize captivating behaviors. Either every thing has you flitting from one idea to another, or you are captured, or hyperfocused by something. I love when I am held in that rapture, when I am learning something new.
I hate the flitting between captures. Spinning my wheels. Not getting anything done. But put up Duolingo and I can play for hours.
I used to sit in front of my piano and play and sing for hours. I wish and how I get captured by that again.
Your prompt for JusJoJan January 4th, 2024 is “captivating.” Use the word “captivating” any way you’d like. Enjoy!
Thank you, Linda, for the Just Jot It January fun. Click on the JusJoJan above to learn about how it all works.
Thank you, Wendy, for the prompt of the day. Check out her “Wendy’s Waffle” blog by clicking captivating above.
Good thing I had to get up at 3:53AM. I peaked through the curtain and the porch was white. We weren’t expecting snow. Just in case it’s gone by morning, here’s proof the sky wanted to give Christmas Valley a beginning-to-look-like nod.
It’s still coming down.
My son and his beautiful lady came to see us yesterday. Today, during the day, they are driving back home. Spare a prayer for them and other travelers for Christmas love.
Meanwhile, for the last two or three days I’ve been learning to make leg warmers. I had up to 2 inches but had to frog it and start over.
I couldn’t find a leg-warmer two at a time pattern. I really need to do it that way as I know my ADD will leave me with only one..
Suddenly I realized, DUH! Just use measurements for the cast on of the leg-warmer patterns I did find. Then follow the tutorials for Two-At-A-Time Top Down socks. Like this one-
Working on my series: Haven.
Doodler (zendoodle.com)
Music major: voice and piano
Mom of four great adults
Reiki II practitioner
I have been on disability/retired for 10 years now from depression, anxiety and fibromyalgia.
Where ancient wisdom meets modern technology. Stories that illuminate the wonders of science, culture, and life — crafted with human creativity and a touch of AI magic.
Darswords 
You must be logged in to post a comment.