Quick Post

Just a quick post because a personal challenge for this week is/was: Blog four times.

Now it's time to get back to the hand-setting of more greeting cards. The mixed emotions of having excellent art festivals is that then one has to more more product - in this case - art.

Not complaining. I could still be cleaning motel rooms for a dime above minimum wage. I still heartily dislike vacuuming.

Grand Marais brought some new ideas. The brain NEEDS new ideas. But right now there is no time. But there IS Hope. And art supplies.

On to the grand adventure - this Saturday - in Stockholm, Wisconsin,  in the park by the big river. And excited to clean house on Sunday! 

No new bruins this week - so here are the crew from earlier this summer - 

Fare-thee-well,

Sue

Eating

Not knowing how others feel after eating certain foods - but.... last night... again..... I ate very tasty pizza - yes, with wheat flour crust.... and brain and body went into serious couch mode immediately. Not saying brain wasn't exhausted by other doings, but I HAD PLANS for doing stuff after supper.

Nope. Woke up on couch after watching some of the ESPY Awards show - zonked out before end of show. Woke up at 4 A.M. The one good thing: the sleep was without aid of headphone radio - so brain got a sort of actual break from sound and "sound."

So now it is quarter to seven in the morning, I'm semi-perky, have visited the garden, made some greens for breakfast, and seem to have some energy again. (I want to have energy most of the time...)

Kale, mustard, dill, beet greens, and basil from the really green veg garden, well, YAY!!

Here's a shot of food source:

Added garlic clove and portabella mushroom to the pan, too. And plopped some garlic hummus onto the pile of sauteed stuff.

So, how to make me REMEMBER to stay away from the yummy bread????????? I'm can so good for long times, and then the brain over-rides the brain, mouth is happy for fifteen minutes, and then life goes Super Blah for hours or even days.

Maybe a shock collar whenever I even think of eating the stuff I know mucks my life up? I'd have to remember to put it on and zap me at the right moment. How to get all the brains on same track? 

Journal BEFORE eating instead of after? Hmmm....

This is why I have to keep blogging. Thoughts come out of the keyboard. Now on to a delicious healthful breakfast. Yes, tumeric in the tea, too. 

And a few more things got finished yesterday - but less than had I not done that pizza thing. Me to me: Don't wake up and smell the pizza.

On to a day - we have a DAY!!
And two days to prep for the lovely one day Stockholm (WI) Art Festival - eek and yay! Come early - most of us are open by 9 A.M. for a show that "starts" at 10! And parking is easier early. I can't think about the remarkable Stockholm Pie Company - but you probably can.

Fare-thee-well,
Summer is almost over....
Yes, I hit the hammock yesterday - ten minutes IS better than none.
Sue

www.suerowe.com
Facebook Page: Sue-Rowe-Studios

Beauty

Yesterday several local groups volunteered to pick up trash on the Hudson, Wisconsin side of the St. Croix River.

Our group walked the sides of the dike road near Bayfront Park. There was trash (boo) - but not very much. Yay!

And as one was looking into crevices between the many rocks there appeared many cobwebs "floating" in the spaces between the stones.
I had to take a few breaks from the hard work (haha) to study some the delicate, yet, tough formations. Dust particulars had lodged in the threads, and were held firm. They glistened in the sun. Simple magical pleasures.

Here is one of many....

And, here is another - 

These will remain as reminders that there IS Beauty all around us. Of course, we have to decide what Beauty means to us.

Take a few minutes and write down: What Beauty Means to Me. 

I think we do not often give enough thought to what we find beautiful. How the tea canisters are arranged at the local cafe? Cows on sunlit green hillsides? The kinds of fonts we prefer to use while typing?

The tiniest bit of beauty can get one through a wicked tough hour. 

And, yes, I am one to also focus on the not-beautiful, and the current state of piles o'stuff beginning to creep back into life.

So it is time again to do for one's home what one willing does for a river. 

But be willing to admire the beauty that can be hiding in life's cobwebs as well.

On to the rest of another crazy summer week! Stockholm (WI) Art Fair is this Saturday only. Channeling some kind of calmworkfrenzy into mind and body.

Good Luck, everybody!!!

Fare-thee-well,

Sue

Four More

Four more Finished Things -

A "Simply Put - We're happy Here" pastel done, matted, framed. And packed in the van for the Shell Lake (WI) Art Fair.

A long  (12" x 36") mixed media Hearts and Circles canvas done. many hearts Many small cirles - courtesy of the punch found by Todd in a storage locker containing MANY rubber stamping supplies. Varnished, wired, and in the van. Punch punch - planets moons circle-y circles of colored magic. We will see what people think of the Heart Project getting bigger and bigger. I see it as Fun and Using Up Stuff.

Two Business Stuff things. Well, three, actually.

Less things in the piles on the pile on the studio table. More things for potential sale. Whew.

So - on to a beautiful summer day! And being a wee bit jealous of the folks who will spending their day at the beach. We artists and craftspeople will be seeing them from a distance.

So many ways to spend the seemingly rare days of summer.

On to this one!!

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

Crows - Done

Just a quick post. 
The Three Crows are framed.

Not a good photo. But one for accountability.

The next Challenges deal with business stuff - ordering, banking, emailing.

Then on to finishing another pastel. Aiming to have it done for the Shell Lake art festival on Saturday.

On to practicing Staying On Task.
Best of Luck dealing with your daily challenges, too!

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

Person Challenge - July

July Personal Challenge:

FINISH THIRTY STARTED THINGS

This will be a Serious Challenge.

I am a much better starter than finisher - though I love having finished stuff.

So...

There is already a list of potential tasks - over thirty, in fact. Some easier than others.

One is/was: pack a sketchbook for CM. Done and done. The plan was made in June. The packet will be mailed today. 

Others deal with matting and framing art, ordering supplies, returning to re-cluttered studio areas. 

Oh, one was to plant remaining needed- to-be-transplanted plants.

Done yesterday during 4th of July thunderstorm.

Two of thirty. Twenty eight to go.

One of today's possibilities: frame the pastel crows - 

The supplies are here. There are no excuses but excuses.

Life Jab in Ribs:

Be Accountable
Do The Thing

Feel free to play along. If we are successful August can be a delight of New Starts - with a history of Finished Things behind us.

On to The Challenge!! Ho hi ~~~~~

Today already held doing battle with cabbage worms and Asian beetles. Nobody has won. Leaves have been lost. But not hope - on either side...

Saturday finds us at the Shell Lake Art Festival in Wisconsin. Weather looks like it may be a lovely day at the beach.

Then next week it's back to Grand Marais, Minnesota for their small but wonderful art festival. Always special to return to the lake, air, and people.

On to the morning! On to the day!

Fare-thee-well,

Sue

Facebook Page: Sue-Rowe-Studios

www.suerowe.com (Hoping to improve web site soon - yes, another challenge.)

Day -

The day started out in the garden, followed by much production, but very little crossed off the day's To Do list.

Mixed emotions.

Did stuff - but not the Planned Stuff.
So - tomorrow hold's today's stuff, plus it's own stuff, and maybe even some of last week's didn't got dones.

The eggplants are blossoming.

I listened to Roger Miller music tonight.

Life is O.K.