Hello 2019

So it begins… I’m a firm believer that what you do on New Year’s Eve and Day will set the tone for the entire year. I want to live a peaceful, creative life in harmony with my own self so I shall do things today and tomorrow that will nurture my soul and affirm intentions.

I have a list. Yeah. I’ve been thinking about this for days and gave everyone who likes to pop in on me unannounced a heads up, like a leave me be… let me do my thing, love you but I don’t want to socialize this year. I want to make art and toast the dawn, light candles in the snow. It’s a solitary thing.

Well, forget the snow as the forecast is rain today tapering off after midnight. Sunrise should be a dry 42 degrees. Perhaps KiKi Gath Ddu and Ysbryd with join me.

Yeah… up to feeding two black cats now.

This photo is KiKi, snapped when she came in on a cold night. I named the elusive feral Ysbryd (Welsh for Ghost) because he is rarely seen and looks so much like Marsberry that my grandsons told me that I “pranked” them about Mars being dead. I’m pretty sure Ysbryd is the same black cat that freaked the vet out in 2017 (wrote about that and crack back then, here’s a link:  Crackerjacks).

I’m pretty sure that KiKi has some kind of relationship going on with Ysbryd as he showed up the night my neighbor “recused” KiKi and brought her to my house.  I was told that she was a sweet little house kitty, abandoned when her owner moved, but it is fairly obvious that KiKi is a full grown cat who loves the outdoor life. She won’t come in unless it’s bitter cold (less than 20 degrees) and I know she’s bedding down somewhere, perhaps nesting in the old compost bin with Ysbryd, as I’ve seen her walk the exact same path across the back yard as the feral and have brushed out bits of weeds out of her fur. She knows this is home, shows up every night for dinner on the porch. I’m pretty sure Ysbryd eats here, too. That’s KiKi’s doing. She wants those dog-size dishes filled to the top, more than enough for two or three cats. Most days, it is gone before morning.

Oh well… here’s my New Year’s List of 19 for 2019 (in no particular order):

1. Out with the old… take down Christmas decorations; take the vet’s coats off my kitchen coat rack, bag them up and stash them in a closet with his other stuff that he’s yet to take home.
2. Set up “new” work table (a street find) in my office/studio space, rearranging furniture till it feels right, opening space to relocate this computer in there, too.
3. Straighten up the kitchen dining area and baking center, stashing away holiday supplies.
4. Write a blog post (this one).
5. Try a pour painting technique, just for grins.
6. Finish painting the outdoor ashtray stand (base coated months ago).
7. Hang more art (have to drill holes in old walls for that, too.)
8. Photograph the back side of “Endure” before rehanging it on the wall (plan to post it for sale).
9. Tear pole lamp found on curb apart, paint flowers or something on the shade.
10. Spray paint and hang the Gong (outdoors, must be over 40 degrees, no rain).
11. Invent a new recipe (thinking stuffed chicken nuggets).
12. Wake up before dawn (ditto tomorrow).
13. Light candles and toast the first dawn of the new year.
14. Bead a crystal bracelet for a friend who likes to sparkle.
15. Crochet at least a row or two on that shawl started awhile back.
16. Write down that blues poem… it’s like lyrics to a song being writ in my head.
17. Sharpen all my pencils. If I feel like it, start a new drawing.
18. Start listing old colored pencil drawings for sale online.
19. Apply temporary tattoo for grownups purchased awhile back.

These are not resolutions. There’s no deadline, no timeline… might take a few days before I can check everything off, but that’s how I want to start my year. I hope you get to start yours as you please, too.

Here’s to good things for us all… thanks for reading!

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Marmion Crickets

“Grandma’s House” (Photo snapped before son-in-law cut the grass.)

The sound of crickets making rub legged songs to each other greets me when I flip off the porch light and slip outside for a smoke at night. I survey the freshly cut lawn and newly installed solar lights, and then look beyond, to the dots of solar lights accenting well kept lawns of tidy houses lined up and down the block, hoping the little bit of yard work will make my own little house less of an eyesore. It will blend in better next year, after the exterior is painted.

If other neighbors are outside at night, they are as quiet and motionless as I am.

Still I feel watched. I’m the newbie here, so I feel like they waiting to see what I do to this place, if I will blend in or disrupt their neighborhood. The first to introduce herself was Ms. Kravitz (not her real name, think nibby neighbor on Bewitched years ago). She seems to be running her own little block watch by keeping tabs on everybody. She talks to M more than me, shares tidbits about different neighbors.

M watches me, chuckles to himself while I’m fixing things. He’s not the handyman type, so it kind of amazes him when I come up with a creative way to do something that would otherwise be physically impossible for me to do. He’s learned not to argue over my homemade gadget tools.

He tells his friends that he’s just staying with me until I get used to my new environment, that he doesn’t want me to be here by myself until he’s sure my neighbors will look out for me. On days he has gone back to his own place for awhile, my daughter has stopped by, so I really haven’t had more than a couple hours alone in my own house yet. He’s really good at watching football in another room while I am busy doing things, but it is not exactly the quiet solitude I occasionally need. I find myself getting up in the wee hours to write or to just be alone with my thoughts.

Well, here is a photo of the back yard after cutting down baby maple trees that had rooted in untended flower beds. Most were seedlings. The tallest was ye 14 foot. As for the angel, she was there when I moved in… it makes me wonder if a pet was buried there.

The house definitely needs painted. What color should it be?

The color palette must go with browns… brown roof, brown gutters, brown rain spouts, and shades of brown of the stonework facade that covers half the front. I want to go with something different, maybe gingerbread it up a bit, yet still kind of blend in with the neighborhood.

M says, “Why do you ask? You are going to do whatever you want to do anyway.”

True… my house, my decisions, but I do value input from others. I may like a suggestion, or someone’s suggestion might lead to something else… thinking is a process and I have all winter to decide.

Speaking of time, I’m almost out of time… M will arrive on the next bus.

I’m really trying to make a go of this relationship thing, more often just learning to go with the flow of it, take it as it is, roll with what comes, if that makes sense. I’m not used to anything.

That may sound odd, but you have to consider… 34 years of my adult life has been lived as a single woman on my own.  None of this couple stuff comes easy; my “normal” is alone. I’m also kind of selfish and set in my ways. I ain’t right, so he says… oh well.

Thanks for reading.