Higher End Of Chaos

My lack of writing for the past couple of months can be chalked up to what can only be described as the higher end of moderate life chaos.

We were dealt one of those very unexpected life circumstances that all the platitude writers tell you about.

It all started with a very odd group of events.

The short version:

In July JP decided to leave the job he'd been at for almost a decade.  He was presented with what was to be opportunities that were not available to him at his existing job.  He had been basically told that he'd capped out - he could stay for another 10 years or 50 years but he wasn't going to make any more money - so leaving that less than ideal situation* was a no-brainer especially because the new job offered a significant bump in pay.  Additionally, the new job put him close to Berlin, MD, where I was the long-term solo resident artist at the historic gallery at The Globe. We were intent and excited to sell our northern Delaware home and buy in southern Delaware; he would be closer to his new job and I would be closer to the place where my art had been selling very, very well for a good long time.  Everything really seemed to be lining up nicely.

Then the first bomb dropped.

Letter Writing

I've been working on the website for a lot of days recently and I'm excited for what I want to add to it this year.  Lots and lots of ideas.

One of the main things I'm really looking forward to adding is a stationery page filled with all kinds of writing stuff. I often refer to myself as old-fashioned because the older I get and the more the world gets nuttier, I truly believe that back then was better for a myriad of reasons, one of which was letter writing.  No one writes letters anymore - it's a terrible loss.  I'll let this quote explain why I feel that way:

“There is a charm to letters and cards that emails and smses (text messages) can’t ever replicate, you cannot inhale them, drawing the fragrance of the place they have been mailed from, the feel of paper in your hand bearing the weight of the words contained within. You cannot rub your fingers over the paper and visualise the sender, seated at a table, writing, perhaps with a smile on their lips or a frown splitting the brow. You can’t see the pressure of the pen on the reverse of the page and imagine the mood the person might have been in when he or she was writing it. Smiley face icons cannot hope to replace words thought out carefully in order to put a smile on the other person’s face, the pressure of the pen, the sharpness or the laxity of the handwriting telling stories about the frame of mind of the writer, the smudges on the sheets of paper telling their own stories, blotches where tears might have fallen, hastily scratched out words where another would have been more appropriate, stories that the writer of the letter might not have intended to communicate."― Kiran Manral

Do you save the emails people write to you?  The text messages?  Do you print them out, fold them, put them in a box so that weeks or years or decades later you can pull them out and read them again, remembering?  Probably not; or, at least, you don't save the majority of them, right?
Does anyone have a box filled with the text messages that showed the words shared between two people that they can show to their kids/grandkids one day?
When is the last time you sent someone a card for no reason?  When I was younger we did this all the time.  I still have letters from an old best friend that I pull out from time to time so I can travel back in time just for a little while.

If, when I add a stationery section to my website/online store, it influences even one or two people to slow down and pick up a pen and write something to someone, then I will consider myself and my business successful. I never started this business to become a millionaire.
There are plenty of other reasons people pursue their passion(s) besides money.

If you want to write to me the old-fashioned way, just let me know.


P.S.  I'll write back.

Getting Back To Simple

I'm working with pressed flowers today which is really calming and soft and peaceful and perfect considering I'm in one of my retreat moods.

A retreat mood, for me, is what happens when I am feeling particularly disconnected from the world in its current state.

I should be truthful: I'm almost always in one of my 'retreat' moods since I almost always feel disconnected from the world.

As a rule I don't generally care about the things that seemingly the rest of the world cares about.  I won't get into the particulars of that since I am not wanting to be on the receiving end of a barrage of hate mail or worse, so I'll just leave it at that because the world, in its current state, does not like it very much when you don't care about what it wants you to care about.

(I just re-read that paragraph and it sounds kind of harsh and unfeeling and that is not the truth at all.  In actuality, it is the exact opposite of harsh and unfeeling.  I should expound on that paragraph further by saying that that I do care - deeply -  but for the most part only about stuff that matters. About stuff that you might lie there thinking about when it's about the time you become living-challenged.  For example, I don't care much about granite countertops. Or open floor plans. Or the newest iphone. Or politics. You get the idea.)

Because of  the way I think and view things, it leaves me sort of in my own Private Idaho.

I am very, very aware that the more the world "progresses"...the more I seem to regress.

Pretty soon I might be Amish.  😏

I made the ornament pictured to the right in the above picture.  It was really easy.  You mix baking soda, cornstarch, water in a pan, cook until it's a paste, cool, roll out, cut out shapes, then bake in the over for an hour or so.  Easy as pie.

Actually, easier than pie.

There are a ton of recipes for ornament dough on the internet but here's one in case you don't feel like searching.

Also, the act of working with dough will soothe your soul a little bit if you, like me, need to retreat and get back to simple.

Stuck On The Delaware Memorial Bridge

Here we have a picture I took on Saturday afternoon.

It is a picture of us BEING BROKE DOWN 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐎𝐏 OF THE DELAWARE MEMORIAL BRIDGE!

I took this pictures because (a) no one would believe we actually got stuck there, and (b) when you are in the middle of a massive anxiety attack you have to find things to distract yourself from your massive anxiety attack, such as taking pictures with your phone.

For the record, I don't do well, in general, with bridges. That is actually a really big understatement.

For one, I get very dizzy on them and avoid driving over them unless I'm the passenger.

For two, I'm severely claustrophobic. Getting stuck anywhere is bad; getting stuck at the very top of a bridge is pretty much my worst nightmare, second to elevators, which I do not ever take.  (Fun fact: I believe the last time I rode an elevator was in 2009.)

So you can imagine how "happy" I was when, just as we started up the southbound side of the bridge,

Help Me Find A Shop Location

The other day I talked about how we are actively looking for the right location to open a brick and mortar shop.  Or a barn wood and plank shop.

I know exactly what I am looking for and sometimes it's hard for me to describe it but this morning I found it.

And very unfortunately it's in Kansas.
I mean, I've never been to Kansas and I'm sure it's probably a great place...but I live in Delaware and I don't think I can commute to KS or get JP to move there so I can open my little shop.

Also, even if I wanted to commute or move to Kansas, this place is sold.

But I'm putting it out there in case someone out there on the internet has a place very similar to this that they'd like to unload (cheap!) or knows of a similar place.
It does not have to be in Delaware but does have to be on the east coast.  Mid-Atlantic, New England-ish would be best as I do not do well in the heat of the summer in the south.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1547-Road-17_Howard_KS_67349_M70140-73293#photo0

Help me find the perfect location for Poor Girl Mercantile!

The Globe Is Closing

Last night, on Facebook(!),  I found out that The Globe is closing.

For those of you who don't know, I mostly got my art start at The Globe in Berlin, Maryland.

It all started with one little postcard that I sent out to various galleries and places that sold art.
Jennifer, the owner of The Globe, got the postcard with the picture of my artwork on the front, liked what she saw, called me and - long story short - my artwork has been featured there since 2013.  I became the resident artist there about 3 or so years ago, meaning I went from having occasional shows there throughout a year to my artwork hanging there 365 days a year.

To say that opportunities have come my way as a result of my association with The Globe would be a gross understatement.  To this day, I get contacted regularly by people who say things like "I saw your work at The Globe" or "I regularly buy pieces of your stuff at The Globe".

And now they're closing.

Not gonna lie, the news stunned me.  And then I told JP and it stunned him.  Especially since we just installed 20+ pieces there a couple of weeks ago.  So we both sat there being stunned for a little while until one of us said, "OK, what's next?".

This would be one of those pick-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps kind of things.

Oddly enough, just yesterday I updated the PGMerc.com website and wrote that JP and I are actively seeking  a brick and mortar location and that I think it really will happen in 2020.

Then - bam! - hours later I find out The Globe is closing.  I think the Universe might be at work doing some shifting and re-aligning here.

Truth is, I have never been comfortable having all of my artwork eggs in one basket because, well for example, out of nowhere the basket could decide to close.  There's a lesson in this...there always is.

JP says I need to have a presence in the Berlin, MD area because I have a pretty big following there.  I agree, but right now I have no idea what that means.  There are so many people down that way that became near and dear to me all because of my artwork and The Globe.  Maybe I can get everyone to start a petition on change.org for the new owners to keep me as the resident artist?  😉

I guess I'll have to start looking around to see if there is another suitable venue around there that I can send a postcard to while we search for our own shop.  I could also drag out the art show tent and be a vendor at the many different events held in Berlin throughout the year, but that tent thing is not my kind of thing really.

We'll see how this winds up playing out.

In the meantime, there's still a bunch of my framed artwork hanging on the walls at The Globe until around November 30th, their closing date.

Get 'em while the getting's good.

 

 

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

It's September 3rd and Labor Day is behind us which means that summer is unofficially over.

via GIPHY

The relief I am feeling is palpable.

Other people's children are back to school, the beaches are uncrowded, traffic is back to normal,
and most importantly, the sun will become less obnoxious while setting earlier and earlier.

It's time to put my summer-induced stupor to rest and get back to work.

Shift

Every morning the crows call out to let me know they're here for breakfast. Luna and I head downstairs and out the back door, where I toss out a bunch of dog kibble for them, which they love.

The kibble, though, has to be the kind for small dogs or puppies.  They don't care much for the adult dog size.

Then we sat outside with them for awhile, listening to them talk to us and each other. I adore them and they know it. It's daily magic. 

This morning, we stayed outside for awhile since the terrible heat and humidity we've been plagued with all summer has broken, replaced with glorious cool, soul-soothing air.

As we sat out this morning listening to the crows and the soft breeze through the trees, I noticed that the light has started to changed already.  Fall light is coming.

The harsh sunlight of summer is starting to be replaced by the soft filtered light of Autumn.

I can already feel the rigidity I've been holding inside because of the frenetic nature of summer starting to melt away.  Sweet relief.

Speaking of my crows, I believe I've gotten my first crow gift.
I came upstairs to my office late this morning and opened the window next to my desk. 
Something shiny caught my eye. 

Tucked into the frame where the window screen sets in was this torn topping from a shiny bag. It definitely wasn't anything of mine and there's no way it found its way up there by itself and then tucked itself into the window frame unless we had some kind of mad wind storm or hurricane and I missed it.

More magic.

Yesterday was JP's birthday.  He is not big on his birthday so it was just a low-key day.  It is not in my nature to not make a fuss on anyone's birthday, but I would never do anything he didn't want so we chilled.  I wasn't feeling good anyway, Sherb had a migraine and I didn't want her to drag herself out and over, so it all kind of worked out.

Our new neighbors moved in this weekend so we bought them a housewarming gift of a charcuterie cheese board and a nice bottle of wine.  JP brought it over to them in the afternoon and he must have mentioned to them that it was his birthday. 

Lo and behold, our doorbell rings a few hours later and there are our new neighbors handing JP a big old ice cream cake from Dairy Queen personalized with 'Happy Birthday JP'!  I mean, how kind was that?

Since I wasn't feel well, we put the cake away and now have a date to share it and cocktails with our new neighbors on Thursday for a belated birthday mini-celebration.  So fun.

I know JP doesn't like to make much of his birthday but I saw the look in his eyes yesterday when he carried that cake into the house. 

A little kindness really does go a long way.

Homegirl

Sick of me talking about the weather yet?

Sorry.

But hope is on the horizon as this dreadfully hot summer with all of its oppressive sunshine and breathtaking (literally) humidity and dew points will soon yield to fake Fall (Labor Day) and then real Fall...when it will still be stupid hot but pumpkins and mums will start showing up everywhere psyching you into not thinking about how the temperature really hasn't changed much at all.

I have been stuck in the house for the past four or five days because it's too hot for me to safely go outside.

My lungs - damaged since they both collapsed 10 years ago - don't take kindly to humidity so I have to stay inside when it's oven-like outside. On the bright side of being forced to be mostly housebound for 3-4 months, you can legitimately call me Homegirl...which I kind of like.

In fact, I was inspired to design a new t-shirt as a result.  If there actually is an upside to being housebound it's tapping into all kinds of creativity so I don't lose my mind from boredom.

Introvert that I am, I actually love being at home; it is here that I would rather be than any other place.

I just don't like it when I'm forced to stay there because I'm in Climate Prison.  That's when things get dicey.

However, as I write this - the day after a cold front moved in - it is 58­° glorious breathable degrees this morning.

Halleujah, I have been set free!

At the almost end of August, I can finally go outside and enjoy summer.

"Cozy Palace"

'Cozy Palace'

click here to see ordering info

"Nowadays," she said, "it is almost a sin to stereotype and make judgments on people.
You can get tarred and feathered and given one of a hundred different labels if you say out loud what some people think is the wrong thing.

 Yet all them same people are sometimes the ones who talk bad about where I live.

Well I don't care what they say. I love where I live. This place is my cozy palace.

When I bake cookies in my little oven, they taste and smell just as good as the ones that fancy people make in their expensive kitchens. Maybe I don't have a granite countertop but I have prepared many meals on my plain laminate one that have nourished and given pleasure to me and the people I love. Heck, I could rip out my old countertop and put in a granite one anytime I want to but that's not going to change anything around here except to drain out my bank account for no good reason other than so I can say I got a granite countertop. No, thank you.

You know, this little place holds just as many memories as any other house anywhere on this planet, by God. This place knows our tears and every other high and low that's come our way. It's protected us from every storm that's passed through, too. And every year we set up the Christmas tree with our old ornaments and the twinkle lights right there in front of the windows so everyone can see.

Maybe it ain't much, but it's home.

Yes, it's home."

Old School Goodness

Yesterday afternoon I was on my way to the grocery store when I felt a little bit fuzzy-headed which often happens when I go outside into the bright sun.

Playing it safe, I decided to skip the store and go back home because no one wants to have a dizzy attack in the middle of a crowded grocery store causing all kinds of unwanted and embarrassing attention if, for example, you get so dizzy that you have to maybe sit down on the floor right there in front of the deli or seafood department.

Nowadays, with everyone being on drugs and because I religiously watch Live PD, I know if I get a dizzy attack in public that people will automatically think it's drug related and the police will be called and then next thing you know they'd be shoving Narcan up my nose all because I get dizzy from sunshine. I am fully aware that trying to tell authorities that I am not on drugs¹ but am instead dizzy from sunshine would further convince them that I actually was on drugs because how many people do you actually know get dizzy from sunshine?!

Playing out these kinds of scenarios in my head is actually why I just stay home a lot.  Thanks, anxiety.

Anyway, I turned off the main road into the neighborhood to go back home and that's when I saw the lemonade stand out of the corner of my eye and so I of course made a U-turn at the intersection just past it because no good and decent human being doesn't turn around and go back when you see a lemonade stand even if you're feeling a little bit dizzy-headed.

can you STAND the cuteness?!

I never have any real money on me much to JP's chagrin who is forever giving me cash "just in case" - I have such a good husband - but I did have a single dollar bill so I bought a small size and told them to keep the change.

Then I drove off feeling bad for only tipping them 300%.  Thanks, anxiety.

Where I live in New Castle County, Delaware, all you ever seem to hear about is terrible crime-y stuff.  Yet here was this Ode To Sweetness and Nostalgia and Fun right there almost in my backyard.
I wanted to stand out on the main road with a big sign directing traffic to this lemonade stand because you know what? We all need more lemonade stands in our lives.  We all need to turn our cars around and stop and get out and smile at and chat with adorable kids being innocent and catch the eye of their watchful mom (sitting out of the picture here but set up watching her babies from the driveway) giving her a "yay you!" look for letting her kids be kids.  That's good parenting, right there.

Actually, it's just a whole bunch of all kinds of good.

I'm going back over there today to see if they're hopefully set up again.

I'm prepared, I have cash.




¹¹(I hate any kind of drug, even the helpful kind. I even have to mull over taking a Tylenol for a good long while before I'll put one in my mouth.)

"Spirit."

"You’re forgetting one thing, you know, and that’s the spirit of the object, which, 

if you sit long enough, will finally creep in through the back door and grab you.” 

-A. Wyeth

Last Fall, I was lucky enough to spend an entire day wandering the grounds and inside the farmhouse at Kuerner Farm in Chadds Ford, PA. If you are a fan of Andrew Wyeth, you already know about Kuerner Farm. If you aren't familiar, Kuerner Farm is the backdrop of scores of Andrew Wyeth's works, spanning decades.

Andrew Wyeth is by far my most favorite artist. On that day, at that farm, I stood where he stood, walked where he walked, saw what he saw. There are some obvious reasons why I called this piece 'Spirit'.

I took this picture that day. It is the exact spot of Andrew Wyeth's piece called 'Groundhog Day' down to the exact wallpaper. 

I stood there for a long while on that day back in October, in front of that window, and I let all that spirit creep in through the back door of that farmhouse...and grab me.