This past week was better than the week before, although I did have medical tests for two days which was a big time suck. Tests for the Valley Fever (no results yet) and for the arm. I most likely have tendonitis of the biceps, and that is why it’s so painful. I’m now icing three times a day, but I might need some PT. Do you know if they will do PT via telehealth, at least until I get both vaccines? Yes, I’m a wimp.
When I came out of the Xray office, these birds were holding a noisy concert.
Before I forget to tell you, next week I’m going to post on Tuesday instead of Monday, but then I will probably go back to Mondays.
I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ve been selling part of my wardrobe on Poshmark. I’m sick of a cluttered closet although I usually choose from a handful of yoga pants and tunic-Ts to wear. Also, I feel less guilty about all these art supplies I’ve been stocking up because what I am making at Poshmark is just covering my new purchases. I particularly love pan pastels, but they are expensive at about $10 each!!!
I’m going to share a page from my art journal with you to give you an idea of what I’m working on. If you haven’t been keeping up with me starting an art journal, I will let you know that I am a COMPLETE AND UTTER BEGINNER, which becomes clear when you see this page. But it is a good representative of me teaching myself how to use art supplies and experimenting with what works and what doesn’t. So here goes. [Covers eyes and ears at the same time with all 4 limbs.]
I worked on a separate sheet of paper which I then adhered to a background page (scribbled with pastels and water) in a temporary-type way. My daughter’s face is a transfer. Learning to do a transfer was the most exciting and most difficult thing I’ve done so far. It meant another supply I had to buy: Fluid Matte Medium. I used watercolors and acrylic paints. A scrap of a poem called “Daughter Poem” and a ticket from a production of Rent my daughter was in. A “Love” stamp with gray ink. Gray pan pastel with 2 different stencils and a die cut. A pocket made of tracing paper with a plaid secret note and a gold star. I would have liked to stitch the pocket with colorful yarn/thread, but the paper has been weakened from all the coats of paint and products–and the transfer process as well.
A pick-me-up that occurred this past week is that I had an essay accepted at a journal with a very nice editor–we worked a bit on revision. And . . . I had three poems accepted by another wonderful journal. The essay and the poems are all about my father, so maybe this is a trend for 2021.
I am hoping to get the vaccine this week. If not this week, then certainly next week. Keeping these fingers crossed until it happens.
Make it a great week! XO
I’m glad to hear you’re doing better this week, Luanne. Thank you for sharing the page from your art journal and the process of how you created it. I hope you’re able to get the vaccine this week. I got mine on Friday. Congratulations on the acceptances!
Congrats on the vaccine! 🙂 Which one did you get? How did you feel afterwards?
Thank you re the acceptances. That was such a surprise. Both came on the same day. Such is life! Have a good week, Liz!
I got the Moderna vaccine. The side effects for me were a headache and bad pain in my arm.
I ‘ve left a review of Doll God on Goodreads, and I just heard from the Zon this morning that they’ve posted the review. I really enjoyed the book, so thought-provoking!
Ugh to the side effects. I hope you’re feeling better now.
Liz, I read the review, and I am really blown away. It’s one of the best reviews of Doll God I’ve ever read, and I am so tickled. You really GOT the book. You made my week, for sure!!!!! Thank you!!!
Yes, I’m feeling better, thank you.
You’re welcome!! I’m glad that I got the book!!
Well, that’s good. I hope #2 is not too hard.
I’m so glad you did–again, thank you so much for the review.
The art is looking good – as, of course is the photograph. I hope you will be betterer soon
Thank you, thank you, and thank you! Keep on staying safe, Derrick!
So glad you had a better week and I hope the tests come back with good results. Beginner? Seriously? That is gorgeous! And congrats on all the publications.
I hope you get the vaccine this week or next. I’ve had both shots now. I am going to warn you since no one warned me about one thing to be prepared for. I’ve been having knee problems since early January—probably arthritis and then a strain from walking on the beach. It was finally starting to feel better five days or so before my second shot. Then it flared up again. I’ve now heard from a few others that the immune system response to the shots can trigger an inflammatory reaction and thus exacerbate other conditions. So don’t be surprised if your bicep hurts more afterwards. Hate to be negative, but if I’d known, I wouldn’t have panicked when the pain in my knee suddenly got worse again. Not that I would have skipped the vaccine—it’s more than worth the increased discomfort, but at least I would have known why it happened.
Amy, you are so kind! I have jumped off the deep end with the art journal (which is the way I often do things) and so I am happy to be learning so much. Of course, it would be better to have a teacher for what I want, but I am picking up from here and there on google, starting with the Amy Maricle video class I took. I saw pretty quickly that I needed to pick up from a variety of people because if you use the same methods and supplies as someone else you produce something that looks like (an amateurish version of) what they are producing. I like to do my own thing, even if it’s to my detriment hahahahah.
I am so sorry to hear that the vaccine triggers more problems. I will be sure NOT to tell the gardener who is very nervous about the vaccine as it is. He has horrific arthritis, including SLAC in one wrist and almost SLAC in the other. That means that there is nothing there but bone and no fixing it until he gives up and has his wrists fused!!!!! I imagine I also will be a mess after the second vaccine. I’ll keep this in the back of my mind and try to forget it in the front!!! I hope you start feeling better very fast!
I didn’t want to alarm you—-just prepare you. What is SLAC?
I love it that you’re writing about your father. After savoring Greg Seeley’s “The Horse Lawyer and other Poems,” which encompasses three generations on the same Iowa farm over 125 years, you know what that triggered. Motherline poems! I realized I already have a smattering for most of these ancestors as a way of “getting to know them.”
Congratulations on the publications! And may you get health relief soon.
Thank you, Joy! The memoir I have been writing for 13 years (hahahahaha) is about my father. But some of the material is leaking out in these other forms. Maybe that’s the way it will have to be. Motherline poems! I love that!!!!! I’ll have to find Seeley’s book!
I just saw that you left a lovely review for Doll God. Thank you so much, Joy!
You’d welcome! I forget to check for reviews, but I do like writing them.
Look at you with the artist’s eyes and the hands to go with them! Really, really good, I think!
Bravo, my talented friend!!
And congrats on the publications, too…going to be a better year!!!
Sheila, you are so kind! Thank you so much. I know it’s very amateurish but at least it was a little ambitious!
Thank you–I sure hope it will. Have you been fully vaccinated yet?
Supposedly have my second vaccine this weekend – Pretty will take care of me!
I’m sure she will!!!
Luanne, thanks so much for the post on the German genealogy conference in July. I know I should sign up for my research on my maternal grandmother’s family, but I probably won’t because I am too lazy and too thrifty! Great ideas and looks like good speakers, too. Perhaps I will change my plans and tune in.
I’m not attending btw. They asked me if I would promote it on the blog, and since I have German genealogy troubles hahaha I accommodated them. It does sound good though.
Glad you had a better week Luanne, though I hope you get your vaccine soon. It looks and sounds like you had a good balance between being creative and getting your creative work out there!
Thank you, Andrea. I feel like I am juggling a few things right now, as you say, hah. I don’t like to spend too long doing any one thing. Maybe that’s why I like writing poetry more than prose ;).
I’m glad you’re feeling better and enjoying your art. Congratulations on the acceptances!
I hope you get your vaccine. We’re not even close–daughters and son-in-law have had theirs though.
Thank you very much! Oh my. I’m sorry. I never thought I would be happy to be 65 haha. I am guessing daughters and SIL need to be vaccinated for jobs?
Yes, son in law is a nurse, one daughter is a social worker, and the other has lupus.
Yes, they all really need the vaccine. I hope the lupus is under control.
Yes, she almost had a problem when the twice-impeached one was telling everyone her medicine was a Covid cure.
A better week is good, Luanne. I liked your piece of art. I think it shows talent and inventiveness. Well done Luanne.
Thank you so much, John! I like to challenge myself and usually jump in the deep end ;)!!! Have a good week!
You as well, Luanne. 😊
Congrats on your upcoming publications! I need to work on that . . .
Ellen, thank you! OK, you know what they say: BIC (butt in chair). But that’s not the hard part during the pandemic, is it? It’s the focus, I think. So difficult.
You are just rolling right along with your successes and fun projects. Good to hear. Now just get that tendinitis under control and you’ll be in good shape. Glad to hear all this good news.
Yes, you are so write, Anneli. Thank you. I don’t know about this arm. It just seems to get worse and worse. Now I can’t even pull my hair back in a ponytail. I had to give myself a side ponytail today!!!
Maybe you’ll start a new fashion trend. I sure hope you feel better soon. I know this kind of things takes a long time though.
I am not even going to change what I just wrote. “you are so write, Anneli.” HAHAHA
I thought you did that on purpose!
The art projects sound so liberating and fun, Luanne. I love the one you posted here! Congratulations on the essay and poem acceptances! My collection is also about my father, and I am finding it to be a natural way to feature some of my memories. I look forward to more of yours. Is your essay for Epiphany by any chance? I started working on one to send them, but then I had to stop to work on taxes and haven’t finished that task yet! Honestly, how do you get so much done even while having Valley Fever? Keep it going. 🙂 xo
Thank you so much, Carla, about the art journal page. I am having so much fun with the messy stuff! I discovered that 20 minutes of art fun is as good as a nap. It’s very regenerative. Of course, a nice nap or episode of Schitt’s Creek right after is good, too :). I’m excited to hear about your collection about your father. No, not Epiphany. It’s Rind Literary Magazine. OH GOSH, I MISSED YOUR BIRTHDAY. I JUST REALIZED THAT VALENTINE’S DAY IS PAST SO SO IS YOUR BIRTHDAY. I’m so sorry. Happy belated birthday, Carla. XOXOXO
Thanks Luanne! I will look forward to chatting about father-poems! 🙂
I wish I had zoom because I could invite you to a zoom meeting for poetry LOL.
Or we could just do FaceTime, which is a bit easier. Let’s consider it!
When you have time why don’t you write me a brief email explaining how to use FaceTime on the computer. I’d like to use my laptop.
Okay.
Wow! That art journal page is awesome. It’s so good that you can find the time and inspiration to do that.
Neither of us have been vaccinated, though he is 72. I won’t likely be up until late summer. I’ve heard a variety of reactions, but still way preferable to dealing with Covid19!!
Congratulations on the acceptances – and finding an editor good to work with. 😉
Thank you so much re the acceptances and the art journal page!!! I am not following along like a good girl on learning the journal techniques, but have skipped way ahead and so it’s nice to know that you can get a feel for what I am trying to do. Oh, my you are a long way off for the vaccine. But your man should be getting one soon! Is there hope that he will soon? The process seems so spotty to me. There are people in their 80s and 90s here in AZ that are falling through the cracks. Then my future SIL’s parents came here as snowbirds and are getting vaccinated before the gardener and I are although we are the residents. So weird, if you ask me. And I worry about those old people!
I get you. My aunt, in her 80s, got too frustrated with the online sign-up process and gave up. I told her to hang in there – supplies will eventually make it pharmacies like the flu shots. I’m really surprised my husband hasn’t gotten called yet.
He might need to be the squeaky wheel.
Yes, I got him on the right track and he has an appointment for tomorrow evening.
Anytime anything looks up a little, it’s reason to celebrate. Your mixed media art piece is wonderful. I keep thinking about trying because I love them so but I can’t finish all I have started now. Hurray for more publications and hopefully good test results. I’ve had to reschedule due to weather so it’s just waiting now. Keeping good thoughts for you.
You Rescheduled your vaccine? I went as a walk-in today with the gardener who had an appt but they wouldn’t vaccinate me because of “Texas.” I guess that means the supply is threatened because of the weather.
Thank you about the journal page. I am trying hah!
No, I rescheduled an ultrasound. I’m not sure I can get the vaccine. Spring is coming…I hope.
OK, I hope you can get your ultrasound AND your vaccine soon! I am now hoping for Friday for the vaccing. Fingers crossed for both of us.
Love the bird concert. I hope that means spring will be here. Best to you Luanne.
I think the whole country can’t wait for spring at this point! XO
Definitely!
Luanne, congratulations on all your acceptances this week – that is fantastic! What a boost in these difficult times and wishing you lots of more success placing your work! I love all the ideas in your art journal page and wow, I’m impressed with transferring a photo. I can imagine this is a very absorbing and interesting activity – giving great thought what to put into the page, an emotional as well and intellectual task, searching deep within yourself. Regarding physiotherapy, my mother has received only telephone support for her broken hip since October and it has worked well along with lots of help from me as her ‘trainer’ – she’s hoping to see them for real in the Spring! Hope your arm is soon better and fingers crossed you got the vaccine! xx
Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply, Annika. It is so absorbing. I can forget about everything else and get my hands messy! Wow, that is amazing that your mother has been able to make it work via telephone. I’m glad she’s recovered well. That must have been so painful. No vaccine for me today, sadly. Have a good weekend!
Sorry to know you’re having the tendinitis 🙁 Your elbow or your shoulder or both? PT will not be telehealth 🙁
I hope you get your vaccine!
Keep at the art, it makes me smile! 🙂
No vaccine. I am whining.
I’m glad it made you smile!
I have an appt with the orthopedist in a month. Whew. Have a good weekend!
I’m glad you’re doing better! I did water colors a long time ago. I loved it but life intervened and I haven’t touched them in 25 years. Good for you on the vaccine. My husband got his second shot today but sadly I haven’t been able to schedule. My state is a nightmare for scheduling and they do not have enough vaccine for the demand. Yay on your poems!
No vaccine! The gardener got one, but I wasn’t able to because of “Texas.” I was so sad.
I hope you can go back to the watercolors at some point!
I’ve given up on watercolors or any form of painting. My hands aren’t as steady as they were. My style these days is more like Jackson Pollack.
LOL, me too! I was just “saying” to Cheryl that I had to give up on stained glass when I lost the art of breaking the glass. If you can’t break the glass properly, there’s no point!
Oh yes. I did stain glass too. I still have a lamp I made but no place to hang it.
You see how you wrote “stain glass”? That’s how I was taught to say it when I started learning. Then at some point I was told it was wrong and that it was stained glass after all. Did you learn it was stain glass or was that a typo?
A typo. I had a great instructor. The lamp was hard and frustrating and at one point I got so angry I left to walk in the parking lot. When I came back he had fixed the issue I was having and gave me a kind tutorial on how to do that in the future. The lamp is kind of old fashioned but I used it for many years.
I hope you don’t have to wait too much longer for a vaccine (and btw, you should be able to do PT via the phone.) My husband got his shot two weeks ago and he’ll get his second next weekend … providing they have them available. Florida considers me too young and I don’t currently have any health conditions that put me at risk. I’m fine with that for now, especially since I will be officially retired on March 5 and the threat of eventually having to return to the office will be removed 😉 Now, I love your art! It’s like painting, collage and “scrapbooking” all at once. Has your daughter seen it yet? And congratulations on your acceptances! Seems that despite your health problems, you’re rocking and rolling with art and writing. ❤️
I’m glad he’s getting his second, but wish you could get yours. I sneak in to our age limit with the birthday I had this last year, so that’s why I am eligible to get mine. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Friday–that they will have the vaccine and nothing goes wrong.
Thank you so much about the art journal page! Haha, it is like that combo. It’s technically mixed media because of all the techniques I was trying out here. But you can still see the scrapbook influence. I’ve noticed that every page I do the scrapbook influence diminishes. But I’m not sure what I’m moving toward because I really need some kind of lesson :/. hah Starting to feel like I really do not have a clue at all.
My VF is almost gone, by the way, according to the NP. Not sure why I am still so exhausted, but maybe my body has to make up for all that time. Or else it’s the pain from my arm and how it affects my sleep. Old age? Pandemic? hah Nine days is almost 8 days!!!!
I’m so glad your VF is almost gone, but your body might still be recovering from all the stress and anxiety, and definitely if pain is affecting your sleep … indeed, you’ll be tired during the day! Keep working on your art journal. That seems like a nice healthy and creative distraction.
I love the collage (is that what it is?), Luanne! I need to get back to that. I bought so much stuff then went in to something else. (There’s a pattern here…🤣) Congrats on the acceptances. Tendonitis stinks! I’ve had it since October 1, even with PT. Painful!
Ugh! Why do these injuries last so long?! I hope yours gets better soon. LOL re your “pattern”!! Collage is part of it, but it’s mixed media because of all the different techniques I’m trying on here, including the transfer of my daughter’s face. I love all forms of art that are stuff put together or done as a palimpsest. I used to LOVE stained glass, but once I lost the art of breaking the glass I could no longer do it. I was away from it too long, and then I didn’t really want to do it with cats inside the house as the shards get all over. It was better when I had dogs. I also had a basement room with a door on it! Collage, mosaic, assemblages, all those types of things fascinate me.
Luanne, I’m so happy that lots of nice things are happening to you. I love your collage art work! <3 xxx
Thank you so much! I love this whole have fun learning thing!
Congratulations on the acceptances, Luanne, and I am glad the week is going better! Wishing you all the best on your art, too!
Lavinia, thank you so much for everything. Wishing you the best and hope you are safe and healthy.
Huge congratulations on having your submissions accepted! And I hope by now that you are feeling better with the icing and perhaps the vaccine by now? I hope the coming week is another successful one:)
Sarah, thank you! I got the first dose and only felt tired the next day. I didn’t get sick so it was better than the flu shot for me! Hope you are doing well, too!
That’s a comfort, Luanne, as I have my first jab coming up on Saturday:)).
Hope it went well!
Yes, thank you:)). The organisation was flawless – though I’m feeling a tad sorry for myself this morning. Achy, tired and a bit sore…
You must be feeling much better by now! Yes?
At long last we are both recovering. Himself started back at work this week. As for me, I seem to still have good and bad days, when I’m fit for nothing but lying on the settee and sleeping…
Try not to push yourself. Your body needs that rest. I’m sending you this healing vibes.
Thank you so much – I really appreciate it:))
Lovely collage!! Big congrats on your submission acceptances!! Revel in it!!
Re vaccines, hope you get it soon, I’m sure you will! I’m getting my first shot next Monday! Cuz I’m old(ish)! Yahoooo!!
Thank you so much, Ellie! Now, tell me about the vaccines in Canada. The gardener’s cousin who is 69 and disabled said she won’t be getting one until probably June!!!! What is going on with that?! She’s in Toronto. SO happy you are getting one!
Oh where to start?!! Every province is doing it differently!! The federal government is getting the doses to all provinces, but from then on, it’s a dog’s breakfast, as the saying goes. 😑
Here in Quebec, it has changed just about every single day!! I’m talking about the ‘priority list.’ At first they were doing just people in long-term care homes (nursing homes) plus healthcare workers. OK fine. Then, private seniors’ residences (retirement homes). Then, everyone 85 and over. The very next day after 85, they lowered it to 80. The next day – 75! That’s when I went online and made my appt. (You could go online or call, but I heard some people had to wait a long time to get through the busy lines!) Now it’s 70, and they’re talking about 60 soon!!!
Our Prime Minister, Trudeau, has said all along that every Canadian will be vaccinated by the end of September. But as the ages keep dropping – if your hubby’s cousin lives in Quebec, he would get his shot *very* soon!! But I can say with certainty that NO province would wait until June to vaccinate someone who is 69. No way. It just will not take that long.
I’m so glad it’s ramping up! We now have 3 vaccines and the 4th (Johnson & Johnson) will shortly have approval too. I think I’m getting Pfizer. You? Any side fx? xox
Gee, I thought I responded a long time ago. I had Pfizer. I was very tired the next day but that was it. But when I get the second dose I suspect I will get sick. So tell me how yours went! Or did you mean next Monday?
No, I had it (Pfizer)on the 8th, and all was great… except now my stomach’s upset but I doubt it’s from the shot. My 2nd shot appt isn’t til June 28! Sigh. Overall, though, I’m so glad!
What in the world?! How can it be so far off? It’s supposed to be in 3 weeks?
Our brilliant Quebec premier, François Legault, along with his public-health advisors decided to stretch it to cover more people with the 1st dose. I think. I dunno, it made sense, sort of, when I first read about it. They say it’s fine. Pfizer isn’t so sure!!
Lovely photograph/lovely art.
Thank you so much, Rae!
What a great week! Things are improving, you are being creative, and your work is being shared with a wider audience. Happiness? Happiness!
Thank you!