usually....

September 6, 2017 Arlene Giddings

usually...september is my month...
not just because it's my birthday
and our anniversary...
but because it's always like a
mini january for me...
a bit of a fresh start,
a reason to make lists (like i need a reason, haha)
and set {or re-set} goals...
to prepare for the hunkering
down of winter
after the go-go-go feeling of summer...

but i'm struggling a little this year.

i don't know if it's because
i have no little ones
starting first days of school
backpacks in hand,
teeth missing and new sneakers to break in...

i am out of sorts.

lately there has been too much of
saying goodbye to people before you are ready
and stupid migraines in a cluster,
news that you try to avoid
cause what can you do about it
anyway
but yet it still manages
to creep into your brain
and keep you awake at night
wondering about the warmer oceans
and global discontent...

i am out of sorts this september.

but even as i write this...
i can feel it lifting a bit.
i started thinking about fall...and boots
on trail walks...crunchy leaves...
the smell of woodsmoke heavy in the air...
candles burning...books to read...
pajama pants and big soft blankets.
chicken fricot...hot chocolate with melty marshmallows...

yeah.
i feel better already!
i have to go...i have lists to make!
:)

muddy creek market & other things i love...{warning...there might be photos}

September 3, 2017 Arlene Giddings

so i know i have talked about
muddy creek market
on here before and on facebook
but i finally remembered to take
my camera on a recent visit
out there.

i know this doesn't have to be said...but...i totally want that tractor.

but first...
meet apples
the most adorable big bunny
i have ever met.
he lives at the muddy creek market.

jenna has stocked up on tons
of beautiful items since the last time
i visited...so many talented artists
and crafts people...
it always amazes me what people create.

and i always feel this tiny shocked surprised
feeling when i see some of my own
doodles nestled in among the rest...
it's like i forget sometimes that
something is mine.
it happens every now and then
when someone posts a wedding or family photo
and i think...awwww...that's so sweet
or that's cool
and then i'm like...oh...heh.
i took that.
and it kind of surprises me
in a good way...
well...unless i'm losing my mind...
that might not be such a good surprise.

after muddy creek market
(and i am not going to lie...
i am fighting myself not to spell it crick..
i think i have always spelled it that way in my head)
i took a drive to ch'town (to buy tombow markers,
but that is too long and far too sad/pathetic a story
that only emphasizes how cheap i am, to share here)
and ate at the chip shack!!!
and got a hug from the queen of fries
(and from her mom, too!)
fries are soooooo damn good.

the prettiness on the drive...those clouds...sigh

i found some cute little shops :)

and some old favorites...

such a great day...
(well..except that i got home
and INSTANTLY regretted being
too cheap to buy the tombow markers, heh)

annnnnd....one more of the tractor...cause look at it..so cute and red...sigh.

tuesday truths...

August 29, 2017 Arlene Giddings

the idea that summer is coming
to a close is making me feel
panicky and anxious
like
i haven't done it all yet,
i'm not ready for it to end!
i loved the garden so much
that i made myself
sick
of the friggin' garden.
enough already with the
watering
and the picking
and the watering...
next year, i'm using a hose.
and not planting 60 billion
of EVERYTHING.
i want to go to the trailside cafe
and see dylan menzie...
because seriously...
have you heard him?
(and this one is in my most-favorite-church!)
i had a small panic attack
and thought that EVERYTHING on my
summer bucket list
had to be done by labor day
until someone kindly pointed out to me
that labor day is NOT the first day of fall.
heh.
but still...SO LITTLE TIME...
(there's that panicky feeling again)
maudie may have replaced the muppets
for now as number one in my
desert island movies...
i know that seems like a weird contrast...
but...if you didn't know that i might be a little weird by now
then you may just want to stop reading...heh...
(but....don't really stop reading! i was just kidding!)

rainbows and watercolors

August 8, 2017 Arlene Giddings

the other night
i was working on a new watercolor...
(and when i say working on, i mean struggling with...)
when i happened to look
out the window
and see this bright & shiny rainbow
over my neighbors house.

i really need to reconfigure my workspace...it's better than it was but i think i need more space.

i grabbed the camera
and ran outside
barefoot in the spitting rain.

sometimes
it's good to walk away
from what you are working on
and
get your feet wet
while looking for
end of the rainbow...

when i came back in,
i felt like my frustration
with feeling like i don't know what i am doing
with these brushes, this paper, this color...
why doesn't anything on the paper
match what is in my head,
why do youtube videos
make it all
look
so damn
easy.

anyway.
i felt better when i came in
and was able to finish what i was working on
with fresh eyes
and less eff words.

although...
i tried doing her feet different
and now she looks like
she is suspended in air...
sigh.

and one last photo...of the cat...cause...look at his cute little nose! :)

scatter-y

August 7, 2017 Arlene Giddings

a friend/co-worker told me
one time
that i was very
"scatter-y"...
(and she meant this
in the most loving way)
(or...so i tell myself)

i had a lot going on at the time...
was going to back to school
and working part time
with 2 kids and all that
that entails...
and so, sometimes,
i would be late for work
or forget what time i worked
or show up for shifts
that i wasn't even scheduled to work...

hence the label
"scatter-y"

and i have not only resigned
myself to the fact that the term
"scatter-y"
does describe me...
i've embraced it.

i am not always like this...
and i think that a lot of people
would be surprised to know that i
think of myself this way...
in some areas of my life,
i am very focused & organized...
like at my "real" job and
when i did weddings...
(because let's face it...
there is NO room for error
when you are shooting someone's wedding...)

but today.
today i feel incredibly scatter-y...
like my brain is running in a thousand different directions.

there is so much i want to do.

for example...here are the things that ran through my head
JUST TODAY.

i should try to create a coloring book...i should google how to do that...or maybe i should
build a dollhouse
take a wood working class
revamp my blog/website
take HTML/programming classes so i CAN revamp my blog
knit that damn robot
a 365 project of robots (add page to blog) (REVAMP blog)(HTML COURSES)
build a birdhouse
make cool backdrops to photograph my cards against (need to find reclaimed wood)
revamp youtube page to match up with blog
redesign etsy page
blog 3 times a week
what about all the birch tree we cut down...i had plans for that...i need a chainsaw...
research what to plant in the fall
i need a macro lens
am i doing weddings next year or not?
should i move the raspberry plants
i need to build a pergola...what is a pergola...is that what it's called...or is that some kind of pasta? mmmm...i'm hungry. i should go pick some string beans.
i should take a wood working class.

and this is all great...but i get so overwhelmed
then i don't know where to start
and i'm just spinning my wheels...
in a scatter-y kind of way...
& then I come here to tell you about the other night
when i ran down to the boardwalk
to take photos of the sunset
and instead
i tell you all of this...sigh.

well....here are some sunset pictures...heh.