Monday at the short end.

I just woke up from a mega nap on the sofa and now I'm sitting here with my cup of strong coffee and my cigarette, trying to wake up properly, yawning a bit still. When I came home from creative therapy, I walked the dog, ate some lunch and laid down on the sofa. I had thought about being creative at home too and painting a picture, but I felt like sleeping. I slept well last night, but look at all the sleep I still had in me. Two and a half hours worth!

Creative therapy was lovely as usual. I worked on my fourth painting and basically just added second layers of paint to what I had painted so far, which amounts to about one third of the painting. I did the easy, large areas first and I have just started on the more detailed work. Unfortunately, it was time to go home then. The morning goes by so quickly, too quickly, if you ask me, and I could easily continue into the afternoon.

I've got my schedule for the new activities that I'm going to be starting November the 4th. I will have wood shop on Monday afternoons and creative class on Wednesday afternoons. I'm on a waiting list for another creative class for Thursdays, either in the afternoons or the mornings.These are not therapeutic classes. They are merely meant as activities and are guided by experts in that field. They are not also therapists.

So for a while I'm going to be having double the amount of classes, which I don't mind one bit, although it may be tougher than I think. It will only be for about one month, so I should be able to do that. The creative class is in the same space where I have my creative class on Mondays and Fridays now, so I can just continue with my work there, which I'm really thrilled about, because it won't be that different for me. Different people in the group and a different instructor, but what I do there will be the same. It may be possible that I will have to buy my own canvasses in that class, but that is no problem. Transporting them on my bike may be a little tough, but I'll figure out something. Maybe my sister can give me a ride. She'll have to anyway, to get those other ones home.

I was very worried about starting up the other program and leaving behind everything that was familiar to me, the therapists and the people, but now I think I'm going to be okay. I know the man who instructs the wood shop and he is very funny and kind, so I'm not worried about that and I'm going to be okay in the creative class. So, really, I think everything is going to be alright and I need not worry so much. "There is nothing to fear, but fear itself," as Teddy Roosevelt said. Or did he say, "Walk softly and carry a big stick." I think they both apply. I have a big African walking stick that I could bring with me. It is a massive thing with a big knob on it and you could easily knock someone out with it. It is carved out of one piece of wood and heavy. Maybe I should carry it and walk softly on my supple leather boots.

Tonight I will paint. I have my mind set on it. I have an idea for a painting and if it turns out well, I'll also do it on canvas. I'm going to be making a series of moonlight paintings. I've already started one and I want to make a few more. I've got a beautiful dark blue color for the sky in which the stars sparkle. I have to remember to find more cards with abstract depictions of animals. I must make it a point to look for those. It will be a mission I'll be on. I know the first place I'm going to look and that will be in the numerous albums of cards that are in the room where I have my Wednesday creative class now.

Alright, a picture has taken shape in my head and I know what I have to put down on paper, so I'm going to do that now. I'm quite excited about it and I hope it works out the way I think it will.

Oh, by the way, I'm still changing the image on my art blog every day, but I hate to have to remind you all the time. If you become a follower, I won't have to. Just a gentle hint.

Have a good evening. Send me good vibes while I paint.

Ciao,
Nora

Another day dome...

I'm keeping a close eye on the thermometer inside the apartment. The moment it drops below 19 degrees Celsius, I'm closing the windows in the bedrooms. It is now exactly 19 degrees and it's 2 degrees outside. I'm sitting here in my bathrobe and slippers and I'm actually more then warm enough, so it could even drop down below 19 degrees before I take action. I simply refuse to turn on the heater, though. I think all of my neighbors must be heating their places well for my apartment to stay so warm. I'm not going to give them a clue and keep my energy bill as small as possible, but I've already said that, so let me not be repetitive.

Today has been an absolutely forgettable day, but you mustn't really say that about any day, must you? It's a god given day after all and you must make of it what you can. Regardless, nothing the least bit exciting happened. It was as dull and flat as the Kansas plains (except that in the springtime those can be real pretty with all the prairie flowers).

The highlights of the day were the two long naps I took, one in the morning and one in the evening. That's why I'm up at this ungodly hour. I fell asleep, as usual, watching the news and woke up at 11 pm with a huge thirst for a cup of coffee and a computer session. Why I have these stubborn notions late at night I have no idea, but there you go. Instead of being soundly asleep in bed, I'm sitting here thinking that now I will start drinking fruit juice or hot milk. Of course, hot milk has the added benefit that it makes you sleepy and then I could take my sleeping pill at the same time. Decisions, decisions!

I got dressed and walked the dog this morning and then ate some nice warm porridge for breakfast, which made me sleepy, and fully dressed, I laid down on the sofa and in the shortest amount of time I was asleep and slept for 3 hours. So you see how I wasted the whole morning doing absolutely nothing but walk the dog. Of course, when I woke up, I had to have a cup of coffee and check my emails and answer those and when I was done with that, it was time to walk the dog again. My whole day revolves around walking the dog. He makes sure I get enough fresh air and rosy cheeks.

I had tea with my sister in the afternoon. She always forgets that I put sugar in my tea and I have stopped reminding her and drink it without. She also forgot to give me a cookie, so I got my own. It's handy if you know where those are kept. They happened to be really good ones with chocolate on them. Because my sister lives in a big 2.5 story house on a corner, she had the heater on and needless to say, her energy bill is more than 3 times higher than mine. That's in a new, well insulated house with double glazing everywhere. A big house is expensive in the upkeep.

I've lived in big houses and know the responsibility of ownership, that's why I'm so happy to live in this relatively small apartment now. I have rent control and a cheap service contract and no worries about the upkeep. I can paint it green and purple on the inside if I want and have the most hideous carpet, as long as I take it out when I move, but I'm never going to move. I'm in a perfect location in a nice middle class neighborhood. Oh yes, I care about those things. Crime rate and all that. I wouldn't want to live in the next neighborhood over. There are some very strange people living there. Generations of families that all stick together and have feuds and lives of crime. Not all of them, of course, but you do have to live with them.

It's taking me forever to write this, because I'm constantly distracted by my own thoughts and go into a reverie every few sentences and smoke a cigarette. This way the whole night is passing by rather quickly. I could be on a long journey staring out the window gazing at the scenery. It is of great interest as I pass by it. Large portions of my life pass through my mind and I am reminded of so many things while I write this. It's not with displeasure that I look at them, I just remember them and observe them and think about how it was to be alive then and what a difference it is from today.

I never thought I would have ended up as a single 55 year old woman in the Netherlands, living on my own with a dog and two cats and being creative, though in a way it is close to the picture that I secretly had of myself when I thought about me in the future. I often thought of myself as a solitary human being on her own, in her own life, somewhere in the Netherlands, brewing coffee on an Autumn morning and being free to think her own thoughts. The surroundings are different, but the basic premise is right. I just thought that was an imaginary me I was dreaming about. I didn't know it would come about like this. So, in the end I've become the person I imagined myself to be one day. I better live up to that now.

I've added a collage to my art blog here. Please go have a look and become a follower. The more, the merrier.

I'll go have that glass of warm milk now. I've taken my sleeping pill, but it's not working yet. That means sleeping late in the morning.

Ciao,
Nora

Art Blog.

Jesker woke me up at 3 o'clock this morning. I thought he had to go out, but he didn't. He was hungry and wanted a Bonzo bone. I tried to go back to sleep, but found myself wide a wake and after awhile I got up and made myself a cup of coffee and turned the computer on.

It is zero degrees outside, but in here it is still 19 degrees, even though I still have the top windows open on a crack in the bedrooms. It's going to be sunny and 8 degrees today. That's 46 degrees Fahrenheit for you Americans. That means it's cold enough to wear a scarf and gloves most of the day, except for maybe when it's at its warmest.

Connie Rose, who is a very gifted multi media artist herself, had urged me a couple of times to start an art bog, specifically to do nothing else but show my art on, so I did that this morning and started with one collage. You can find that art blog here and the link is at the top left page of this website. I've photoshopped the images to make them a bit more appealing and I will add a new one every day, until they start to run down to a trickle and I add them as I make them, or I will add digital images.

I think that will keep things nicely separated. The written world in which I tell you about my life as a 55 year old single Dutch woman, who happens to be manic depressive, and my artwork, which has nothing to do with that, but which I can refer you to here whenever there is something new. And I won't be as bashful about showing new things, because they will be safe there on the art blog.

In the meantime, I've gotten awfully cold and I have had to put on my slippers and bathrobe. I have cold hands and cold feet. As long as I can keep my extremities warm, I won't need to put on the heater. I'm not going to make the energy company happy with any extra money from me, no matter how kind and client friendly their commercials are. Making us feel all warm and snugly about using our energy wisely, but by all means turn on the heater on those cold nights. I pay a fixed rate every month and then pay extra or get money back at the end of the year, and you can all guess what I'm hoping for. I have energy saving light bulbs all over the apartment and I'm going to replace those with led bulbs as I need them, because those really save money and last a long time.

Jesker's appetite has completely returned and he lets me know in no uncertain terms when he is hungry. He puts on quite an act and you would think that he was the hungriest dog in the whole world and that I never fed him. He does not rest until I have gotten up and fed him, but after that he is as meek as a lamb and goes straight to sleep, until he decides that he needs to go out and do his business as a result of the digestion process. I am but a slave to his needs and urges. He has a timetable and I need to stick to it. The cats very stubbornly tried to get to his food in his bowl, but he defended it for all he was worth, but Toby managed to get a piece of it. He's a brave cat for trying. Shows you how intimidated he is.

I'm going to have to brave the cold in a while and I think I will put on an extra layer of clothes. There's no sense in freezing my buns off. I will put on thick socks as well and hope my boots fit me then. I really don't mind the cold as long as I'm dressed properly. There's no wind and the sky is clear as far as I know. I just don't want it to snow, because riding my bike in the snow is not something I look forward to. Last winter was bad enough, slipping and sliding all over the place on the patches where it was icy. I hope for no snow, but I think we will get it anyway. In Germany they already did. Colder winters are part of the climate change too.

Well, without much ado, I will end this epistle and bid you all a good day, or a good night if you are in that time zone. So good morning or good night, which ever applies to you.

Ciao,
Nora