How To Subscribe to This Blog

Does this topic make you want to hide under this quilt and nap?

Good morning, Blog Readers.

My blog has 2 different items that you may subscribe to. This confuses many people, so today I will tackle item #1. 

How to subscribe to THE BLOG:

You may subscribe to my blog. This means that each time I post a new entry, you will get an email. The email will contain the whole post, or you can click (or tap) on it and go to the blog on my website. 

It is not necessary to subscribe to be able to read it. Subscribing means you will get an email; not everyone wants 5 emails from me per week. No offense taken. Do what works for you.

If you are looking at the main blog page instead of the individual blog post, you should see the thing circled in the picture above. If you are reading the individual blog post, the subscribe dealie doesn’t show.

If you fill out the subscribe dealie, you will get a confirmation email. Follow the instructions there, and you will start receiving an email each time I post.

Yeppers, a little bit boring today. Tomorrow will also be a little bit boring. It will explain how to subscribe to the newsletter.

Thank you for reading.

Email me if you want help! Oh no, do I need to do a whole tutorial on that?? Say it ain’t so! My eddress (in words instead of regular email format so that the Bad Boys of the World Wide Web won’t bother me) is cabinart at cabinart dot net.

P.S. “Blog” comes from “web log”. Take away the “we” and the space, and you get “blog”. The “log” part is the word meaning “journal”. It is a journal on the world wide web. 

 

9 Things Learned in May

“Alta Peak and Moro Rock”, oil painting on wrapped canvas, 10×30″, $500 plus tax
  1. We are having a garlic shortage. Why? Was there a “blight” in Gilroy? Does our garlic come from China? Do people cooking at home use more garlic than restaurants? I’m glad that 4 bulbs I planted survived and are ready to harvest. This is tricky stuff to grow, because the gophers like it and nearby weeds keep it from getting very large.
  2. When someone commissions me to make custom art, even if I show every single step of the process and the customer approves, sometimes there is disappointment. So, I learned to be more involved in the process, offer design opinions and not assume that the customer knows his mind. (Why has it taken me 33 years to learn this? Is it a lesson that I knew, but put on hold for some customers? What’s wrong with me? Can this artist be saved??)
  3. I can live without the library. I don’t like it, but I can do it anyway.
  4. Frederick Russell Burnham was a big deal explorer, adventurer, soldier, miner, and friends with Teddy Roosevelt. Born in 1861, died in 1947, and buried in Three Rivers! I am reading his biography, A Splendid Savage by Steve Kemper. SINCE THE LIBRARY IS CLOSED, I guess you’ll have to buy a copy if you want to read it. (Mine is borrowed from the friend who told me about the guy). Here. Use this link and I might earn a quarter from Amazon. (It opens in a new tab so you won’t lose your place here.)
  5.  I don’t exercise enough. Thought I was in decent shape until we hiked to Timber Gap, when I was sure that someone had both stretched and tilted the trail. Will I exercise more and harder now? I DON’T FEEEEL LIKE IT. (Oh yeah? Do you FEEEEL like hiking without pain?) I think the ongoing battle with the inner lazy fat girl will never cease.
  6. It is vital to print out on paper any book that I am designing. I almost took a shortcut and skipped that step on my current project (a private book that will only be available to the person who hired me.) The better version of myself printed it anyway, and I was appalled by the formatting errors, and 5 typos. FIVE – appalled, I tell you! Big lesson learned – ALWAYS print it to proofread on paper; I will find things that I missed on the screen.
  7. Cars get dirty just parked in garages. Weird.
  8. My nephew can write music and sing! Want to hear him? The link here is to his latest song “Slow”.  Austin Harms (tap or click on his name)
  9. The painting above was included in the last email newsletter I sent out, and several people referred to it as a mural BECAUSE I DIDN’T IDENTIFY IT AS AN OIL PAINTING FOR SALE! This reluctance to appear “sellsy” is NOT helpful to my newsletter subscribers (and you can also become a newsletter subscriber by using the SUBSCRIBE TO ENEWSLETTER thing on the blog, but it doesn’t show up on a “smart” phone so you’ll need to be on a desktop or a laptop). A friend whose business it is to help people with their social media helped me learn this. #Hashtag Hostess Angele Black is BRILLIANT at her business!

What did you learn in May?

Unintended Good Consequences

Some of these I have already mentioned. Just trying to remind us all that there is always a silver lining. Always? Usually. Usually? Often. Often? Sometimes.

While on a walk this week, I stopped to visit with my friend in her yard and ended up working with her there for awhile.
  1. Less traffic.
  2. No mo ro bo (Robot calls have stopped at our house.)
  3. Less rushed with a looser schedule. (No, I didn’t say “loser”.)
  4. More time to pull weeds, both here and with my friends.
  5. Time to redesign my website.
  6. Catching up on To-Be-Read stack of books.
  7. Wearing Crocs exclusively, no matter what the outfit.
  8. More time with my cats, Tucker, Jackson, and Pippin.
  9. Time to make jelly from elderberry juice frozen who knows when.
  10. Can knit during a Zoom meeting, which would not be acceptable if we were meeting in person.

    What have you noticed as a good unintended consequence?

Saturday Thoughts

  1. I went to Visalia for the first time in several weeks and the lack of traffic was nice.
  2. I drove a little over the speed limit, and was passed in a blur by every car that came near me. Fueled by frustration, rebellion, and a desire for adventure, no matter how small?
  3. It troubles me that I was not carded at the grocery store when I was there during the Senior Hours. (And those hours are probably the reason for the light traffic. . . who else goes to Visalia at 5:45 a.m.??)
  4. Many of the bulk bins at Winco are back! These are the ones overhead that require pulling a lever rather than the ones below that provide a scoop so you can reach in the barrel and gather your own food.
  5. The library sent me a notice that I have 2 books due today. Well, yes, indeed, they have been due since March, but the drop-box is locked. But maybe the notice means the library will be reopening soon!
  6. I started a new project that will be on my blog next week.
  7. A drawing student came to my home, set up her own table and chair in my driveway, and we had a lesson. This worked because it wasn’t hot this week. No photos – I often live my life without documenting it, particularly when it involves other people. 
  8. Here is an article that explains how viruses are spread, describing which behaviors are high or lower risk: The Risks
  9. Here is an article (long, helpful) about the unintended consequences of the shut down: SJVSun.com
  10. Farewell-to-Spring wildflowers are thick around Kaweah Lake: beautiful pinky-lavender flowers that make me sad. The green is gone and the heat is on its way.

P.S. The reason it troubled me to not be carded is that I wanted people to say “You couldn’t possibly be a senior!!” Vanity, vanity, all is vanity. . .

Questions

 

  1. Why in a town called Three Rivers do people buy water?
  2. Why do people wear masks when they are alone in their own cars?
  3. Why does IHeartRadio play the same commercials as many as five times in a row?
  4. Why do people only return phone calls after you’ve given up waiting for them and have left the room (or the phone)?
  5. Why do people tailgate?
  6. Why is there so much conflicting information about The Virus?
  7. Why do I knit faster when I think I might run out of yarn?
  8. What happens to worn out batteries on electric cars?
  9. WHAT AM I GOING TO WORK ON NOW THAT MY COMMISSIONS ARE COMPLETED??

I’ll figure out something. Always have.

Sunday Thoughts

Beauty restores. Beauty comforts. Beauty heals. You cannot overdose on beauty. 

 

He has made everything beautiful in its time. . . Ecclesiastes 3:11a

Some Fun on Saturday

I saw this on Instagram, and don’t know who to credit. Totally tickles my funny bone.

My business referral group, Business Network International, tells us to meet with other members in our chapter once a week. We need to truly know one another to confidently refer business. This friend and I met at the river and properly socially distanced.

This is probably the best my studio garden will look all year. Everything is temporary (including this stupid virus, so there.)

As a very late adopter of tech, until a few weeks ago I didn’t know what FaceTime was. This week, a dear friend and I had a long visit via FaceTime – what a treat! We’ve known each other since 5th or 6th grade and after a decades long separation, we reunited about 4 years ago. I showed her some artwork; she sang me a song and I “met” her husband.  (Sorry, no photo for this.)

My friends/customers put this on Facebook, and then sent it to me as a screenshot because they know I would enjoy the setting for their goofy post. Makes me grin. (Yes, I know there shouldn’t be an apostrophe in “it’s” but I didn’t write it. Or its. Or it’s.)

What’s going on here? I will tell you on Monday.

May you find some fun on Saturday. (Remember when you wished weekends would last forever? What do you think about that now?)

What I Learned in April

It feels as if I already told you what I learned in all those listicles. These are just occurrences in my strange little world, not things I learned.

  1. My 12th blogiversary came and went without fanfare. I have published 2,816 times since April 15, 2008. Bless you for being here!
  2. I forgot a close friend’s 60th birthday; she has forgiven me.
  3. A quote to rework my website made my head spin; unsure of how to proceed. 
  4. I miss the bulk bins at Winco almost as much as the library (although they were not a weekly visitation site for me like the library).
  5. A friend called #Hastag Hostess has encouraged me to post on Instagram 5 days a week. I am trying, but it ain’t natural-like. If you are into that particular thing, I am #janabotkinart.
  6. I have a pile of things to donate to the Goodwill but it isn’t open. Neither is the local thrift shop, but there is a leave-and-take bookshelf out front.
  7. Our cats are starting to rebel at their curfew, mostly Jackson.

How about a list of books I read:

Salt & Light, or Reading Rabbit, oil on board, 11×14″, Not for sale
  1. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
  2. Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher
  3. Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher
  4. Get Your Life Back by John Eldredge
  5. Storybrand by Donald Miller
  6. Don’t Make Me Think (still reading this one)
  7. Words that Work by Frank Luntz (ditto)
  8. Hearing God by Dallas Willard (ditto)

What did you read? 

What do you miss?

What is taking place in your strange little world?

Sunday Good Things

Today I am going to overwhelm you with good things. It takes many postives to outweigh the negatives in Normal Times. Right now we are not in Normal Times. Duh.

I sat by the river with a friend in chairs spaced far apart. First time we’ve seen each other in 6 weeks, and she lives 1/4 mile away.
The weeds that pass for a lawn in spring are still green.
I love spring. Love green. Love being in Three Rivers in spring.
Another friend stopped by with roses (in a BLUE bottle!) and strawberries.
The Botmobile is back home, and Tucker is pleased with the return to normal.
I found the tag for these! Osteospermum, “Zion copper amethyst”. (Thank you Joyce, for sharing yours with me too!)
The bank behind the house has a fabulous variety of foothill wildflowers.
Ithuriel’s Spear.
Fiesta Flowers.
Tucker
Jackson is a pest to Tucker.

A morning walk with yet another friend. . .
. . . who marveled with me about the light. . .
. . . and gave me some grapes. (We all seem to be feeding one another whenever we have the opportunity.)

That iris in the morning light!

Jackson is not a pest to me.
The snowball bush (a spirea) with pink roses in front is a joy in the spring.

Because it is Sunday, here is the ultimate good thing.

You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11