Typing

---------This is NOT about Quality.
It is only about Quantity.
And racing with the Personal Challenge.

You may ignore these words.

Unless they help you with you own doings.

---------

Sugar: Thoughts

Once upon a time sugar, in all it's many forms, was taken for granted.
I scooped it onto cereal, poured it into the Kool-Ade pitcher, snuck sugar cubes from the stash we kept for our Shetland Ponies.

Now... sadly, or for good... sugar and my body, especially my head do not play well together. Boo hoo/hooray?

I have not purchased a bag of sugar in over six years. This looks strange to even see typed. But it is true. And life has gone on.

My dealing with tinnitus and daughter dealing with other health issues brought us, several years ago, to sharing a quite restricted diet. Especially in regards to sugar. We began reading food labels with serious intent. We learned to bake with other sweet-ish ingredients. We learned to enjoy foods with little or no sugar added. It CAN be done. 

No pop/soda. Or maybe just a sip of Coca Cola for me. I have not had a whole glass or can of pop since the winter of '11-'12. Can be done. I've never been a fan of sweet tea, so plain iced tea is peachy keen. Water with lemon is delicious. 

When I do indulge, and art fair season can be a challenge on many points, yes, the mouth and brain SO enjoy a good doughnut or scone, but the day after's "louder ringing" that fills head for next day or two.... well, those darned "I did this to myself AGAIN" emotions.

Yesterday I ate a delicious Mexican chocolate biscotti. And now plan to abstain from as much sugar as possible for as long as I can. This weekend holds the Grand Marais Art Fair. Grand Marais is home to The World's Greatest Doughnuts. So.... we shall see. If intake is limited to one per day I will consider this a limited moral victory. I do not plan to stockpile doughnuts. I used to stockpile these doughnuts. Plain or chocolate-iced, in particular... I will be sad, but the head will stay sane.

On to continued prepping for the summer art festivals.
And crossing things off the ever-growing lists.

Two little 3" x 3" canvases await experiementing with brush and goauche. Just to see what happens. John Coltrane is trying to out-do the always-ringing in ears. Sometimes heart/head pulse "cymbals" synch up with digital soundtrack. That's at least always interesting.

It is seldom too late to challenge oneself to a 21 or 30 day Personal Challenge. Sometimes they are fun. Sometimes not. But they ARE a way to learn about oneself. I learned that I can be thought of as a"sweet" person - haha - without much help with those tiny tasty crystals.

You CAN fool some of the people some of the time!

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

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

1/4: Crazy

(Last and First of four speed-blogs today - subjects vary - LOL. Typos happen.)

Last week I mentioned a possible "insane" doings to Todd: Could we do the Grand Marais Art Fair this coming weekend, zoom down to Lexinton, Kentucky for the Thursday of No NANSense, and then bleary-eyed and early, head back Friday to drive straight through to Stillwater, jump into van and drive south to Stockholm, Wisconsin to do the Stockholm Art Fair on Saturday.

He simply said, "We haven't done anything crazy yet this year."

This was our old Buick last year - packed for a special bubble of four days I'd never expected to ever have again:

This will not be the case this year. We do not even have a room. Though, through the kindness of friends, we will be at the "beloved" CHIN the Wednesday evening of the hallway/room insanity. No, I do not know which room. We will bring a few models for sale and a few small bear paintings. And a small show-string for the A Good Vintage model horse show.

We will not see all of our friends. We will do the best we can. I will hope to have another bourbon at the bar. But if it does not happen, well, as the Zen speaker said, "That will be O.K., too."

Life is to be lived. Sometimes I slough off. I hope to zip like a meteor through the next two weeks, and metaphorically "crash" two Sundays to the future.

Four speed blogs today - done and done!

None editted.

I can't care.

This morning I've had chats with people I don't know about land and other subjects that I do. Life is rushed. But it's O.K.

Ever onward.

Fare-thee-well,

Sue 

www.suerowe.com

Facebook Page: Sue-Rowe-Studios

2/3: Garden Again

This year..... well.....
The best I can say is "It's O.K."
It is mysterious. Marigolds planted nearly side by side are THRIVING next to some that are hanging in there. Same seen packet.A bit different planting times. I should have kept notes. This year I kept no notes. LESSON: Keep Notes

Three or four varieties of tomatoes - after slow start they are starting to bloom. Friends are harvesting their multi-colored fruit. I still will dream. And now must work to use up the sauce still frozen from last year's bumper crop.

Dill is doing O.K. Fennel is thriving. I hope to see a cycle of Black Swallowtail butterflies work its way through. No Monarch action on the milkweed. I hope they are doing things in other folks' yards.

Zinnias, sunflowers, marigolds, and coleus dress up the veggie garden. I bought my first dahlia this spring. I an wishing it luck.

A few pepper plants, a very few basil, some lettuce, radishes, kale, and collards are greening up well, as are three hills of winter squash. I gave no land over to the growing of summer squash this year, nor to Butternut, though it grew well in 2016. I want a dense intense squash. Come on, little vines! You can do it! There is a short row of pole beans. No peas. No carrots. Though there is still a few bare spots, so you never know.

Time to start the last blog post - which will be the first, of course.

Then on to filling magnet and card racks, banking, making more lists, and pretending to be aware of this lovely Minnesota summer day.

Carry on and 
Fare-thee-well,
Sue

3/2: Possible Personal Challenge

Sugar

It's been a problem
of late

Too much
after many years
of 
hardly any

I
feel better
when consuming
little sugar

Really

So....
after this 
delicious
Mexican chocolate biscotti
at
The Daily Grind
I will track the days
of eating as little
sugar
as possible

Be aware
That's the ticket
Wish me luck

Tomorrow
is
Day One

100 Happy Bears - Wrap Up

Blog the 4/1:
No images. Just words. 

June brought a possible aid in lifting a mental "bleah" that had settled into brain though much of late Spring. I don't know when or why these times comes, and though they don't come often, when they do they are NOT inclined to move on. "We 'bleah' non-thoughts and boring doings LIKE it here in your comfy little brain."

But I don't appreciate them taking up squatting. Especially as it appeared  that they had no intentions of moving on.

What to do? What to do? Personal Challenge to the rescue?
Worth a try.

There was to be no pressure - escept that the bears be visibly, or through text shown to be, Happy. There were many ways for this to be done. Dancing. Smiling.Laughing. Making bad jokes in order to make other bears laugh. Whatever it took. Some days I made one or two. One day seventeen showed up. Qualily? All over the place. didn't matter. As long as the paper held Happy Bears.

Over time some "better" ones showed up. Ones that could be used in business. This made my slightly more happy. When people could relate to specific images this made me happy. Mood definitely lightened as June zoomed by. And because it was a task that needed doing I simply had to do it.

Now..... it's time to figure out how to use this mindset through the rest of the year. I don't want to stop drawing happy bears, but the hours in the day demand attention to other doings.

July's Personal Challenge? Though we are well into first week of month there are two doings I am considering. Ye olde Get More Organized and/or Getting Into Better Shape (again). "Focus, Pinky, focus."

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

Married

How we stay married -

Deciding to leave for an art fair this morning -

I agree to 6:30 A.M. (but feel a bit of I'd like to leave earlier)

Me, today: Now I'd like to leave at 6.
Hubby: 6:05.

Agreed.

Win-Win wins.

Shell Lake, Wisconsin, here we come!