"Red Green Bird" - Postcard

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This week's Sunday Postcard Art challenge was "For the Birds."

This is my second entry.

I created this using GIMP 2.10.14.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

Featured in the weekly sampler.

"T Stands For Teddy And Tea Designed By You" - Photograph

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I am joining Bleubeard and Elizabeth for this week's T Stands For challenge found here.

Note to all: for the past two weeks, I had problems where I left comments for everyone, but not all of those comments actually appeared. I visited everyone, so if you didn't see a comment from me, it means blogger didn't save my comment, but I don't know why not. :-(  I've also noticed a few others mentioning that they were having the same problem.

This is my summation of the past week:

Teddy will be serving double duty as my main image plus as my "T-Day ticket" for my T-Day posts for awhile.

Weather-wise, we had some very cold days (and nights), but we got lucky during the weekend, when it warmed up, so that the storm that came through dropped rain, not snow.

I still haven't been doing much online nor with my artwork, so it's another week with not much to mention.

Postcard: Hummingbirds

Photos:  Snow Covered Waterfall Stone Wall Dam In Woods

Movies:

Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) (DVD) fun entertainment

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012) (DVD) fun entertainment

Man of Steel (2013) (DVD) pretty good, standard Marvel / DC Comics action hero type movie action scenes

I Kill Giants (2017) (DVD) okay, not what I expected the movie to be about

"Hummingbirds" - Postcard

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This week's Sunday Postcard Art challenge was "For the Birds."

I'm not completely happy with this result, but I finally had to enforce my time limit "pencils down!" rule on myself.

I created this using GIMP 2.10.14.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

Snow Covered Waterfall Stone Wall Dam In Woods - Photograph

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I took these photographs on one of the north trails off Rock House Rd in Easton, CT this past week. This trail is part of the Centennial Watershed State Forest Aspetuck Trail. The official trail map must be carried as one's permit for access to the area.

With regard to why a permit is needed on these particular hiking trails: they are on land that the public water supply flows through. So they have rules for what you can and can't do there, and if you get caught in there without a permit (which is the trail map), you can be fined / arrested.

This north trail has a hidden gem on it only about 15 minutes walk north of the road: a stone wall dam / waterfall! The trail also parallels the water, which makes for a tranquil, enjoyable setting.

Approximate GPS location for parking on Rock House Road: 41.286599, -73.331555

"T Stands For Teddy And Let Them Sip Tea Cake" - Photograph

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I am joining Bleubeard and Elizabeth for this week's T Stands For challenge found here.

Note to all: last week and this week, I've been having problems where I leave comments for everyone, but not all of those comments actually appear. I visit everyone, so if you don't see a comment from me, it means blogger didn't save my comment. :-(

This is my summation of the past week:

Teddy will be serving double duty as my main image plus as my "T-Day ticket" for my T-Day posts for awhile.

Weather-wise, we've gone from unseasonably warm to unseasonably cold here in Connecticut. And we got about 4" (10.16 cm) of snow Saturday into early Sunday morning, that ended with freezing rain, so there was a crust on top of the snow, which made shoveling it a joy (sarcasm).

I still haven't been doing much online nor with my artwork, so it's another week with not much to mention.

If you missed Erika's post where she made a beautiful tag using a flooring sample, I added a link to it in one of my "how to" sections on my blog, because I thought it was a very clever idea: Tag using flooring sample.

During one of the warm days we had, I got out and took some photographs: Male Deer, Westport Library Riverwalk Reflections, Male Mallard Duck, Male Red-breasted Merganser.

Postcard: Pens and Nibs.

movies:

Aeon Flux (2005) (DVD) Okay, but it's another one of those movies where some humans have superhuman capabilities as if they are a cartoon person, not a real person. And there are problems with at least one plot premise that made it impossible to believe.

The Dark Tower (2017) (DVD) very good

"Pens and Nibs" - Postcard

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This week's Sunday Postcard Art challenge was "Pens and Nibs."

I created this using GIMP 2.10.14.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

Male Red-breasted Merganser Water Spray - Photograph

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I took these photographs of a male Red-breasted Merganser bathing in the Saugatuck River while I was on the Westport Library Riverwalk in Westport, CT this past week.

This bird continued bathing for quite some time, kicking up sprays of water as he did so. Then he'd swim a few feet away, and start all over again. He was at a long distance from me, so it was hard to get in focus photos of him.

Male Mallard Duck Preening Foot - Photograph

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I took this photograph of a male Mallard Duck while I was on the Westport Library Riverwalk in Westport, CT this past week. Unfortunately the water was dirty looking beneath him.

Westport Library Riverwalk Reflections - Photograph

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I took these photographs while I was on the Westport Library Riverwalk in Westport, CT this past week.

The red brick Italianate style building in the first photo is the National Hall, which was built in 1873. It has changed ownership and uses over time.

Male Deer - Photograph

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I took these photographs of a group of male deer at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport, CT this past week.

While these photos may look like they were taken during the Fall, they were taken in January, on an unseasonably warm, pleasant day.

"T Stands For Teddy And Chocola Tea Spread" - Photograph

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I am joining Bleubeard and Elizabeth for this week's T Stands For challenge found here.

This is my summation of the past week:

Teddy will be serving double duty as my main image plus as my "T-Day ticket" for my T-Day posts for awhile.

Teddy told me to post the online recipe for the one shown in the photo: Chocola-TEA Spread.

Weather-wise, we had some very unseasonably warm temperatures over the weekend here in Connecticut, with highs in the 60s F (15.5 C). Not being a fan of cold and snow, I was happy with that weather. But now it's returning back to more normal temperatures.

I've been in a bit of a funk since the holidays, so I haven't been doing much online nor with my artwork.

Postcard: Winter Fairy Queen.

movies:

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (at theatre). I'm a fan of the first Star Wars movie, so this third trilogy series, just like the second trilogy series, didn't really captivate me, the way the original Star Wars movie did. (And the first trilogy series, deciding to go with unbelievable plot contrivances about who was related to whom, made zero sense to me, was disappointing and distracting, and didn't even need to be written that way.) This third trilogy, in this concluding movie, has even bigger plot holes / discrepancies / contrivances / etc. If you want to know what I mean, read some of the negative reviews about it that contain spoilers.

"Winter Fairy Queen" - Postcard

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This week's Sunday Postcard Art challenge was "Winter is Here."

I created this using GIMP 2.10.14.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"T Stands For Teddy And Peppermint Chocolate Tea" - Photograph

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I am joining Bleubeard and Elizabeth for this week's T Stands For challenge found here.

This is my summation of the past week:

Teddy will be serving double duty as my main image plus as my "T-Day ticket" for my T-Day posts for awhile.

Teddy drank the Peppermint Chocolate Tea sample that was included in this catalog, and said it was delicious.

Weather-wise, it continues to be tolerable considering it's Winter. We might get some snow Tuesday night into Wednesday that is just enough to make the roads slick and cause problems, but hopefully not. Then by Saturday (01/11), it's supposed to get up to 56 F (13.3 C), which is above normal in Connecticut for this time of year, but I'll take it!

This past week, I got to attend a Quinnipiac University Bobcats men's ice hockey game versus the Harvard Crimson. I haven't been to an ice hockey game in a long time, so it was fun to see, and it wasn't too cold in the seats. The Bobcats won, 6 to 1. Toward the end of the game, the Harvard team became poor sports / sore losers, and started a few fights. Then, with only about 10 or 20 seconds left, one of their players decked one of our players, flipping him onto the ice, but the referee didn't see it. The fans did, and started booing. Other than that, the game had been enjoyable to watch and cheer on.

local news: Speaking of Quinnipiac University, this past week, a team of students there got to examine one of the possible Revolutionary War Soldier skeletons that was found in Ridgefield, Connecticut at the beginning of December 2019.   news article

Postcards: New Year's Eve, Happy New Year, Frida Kahlo.

Medieval theme 2020 Book of Days: The Book of Days 2020, Title Page, Journal Front Accordion Pocket, Journal Back Accordion Pocket.

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Over the past week, we watched the following movies:

sci-fi movies:

Passengers (2016) (DVD) good

Geostorm (2017) (DVD) good thriller, but requires some suspension of disbelief

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) (DVD) okay, longer than necessary

Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018) (DVD) okay, had some implausibilities

action / thriller movies:

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) (DVD) very good

211 (2018) (DVD) good, action packed, but some gory scenes

Speed Kills (2018) (DVD) okay. main character's (played by John Travolta) actions didn't make me care about him, and his plastic looking face (due to too many plastic surgeries?) was a distraction.

The Vanishing (Keepers, original title) (2018) (DVD) turned off. There should be a special rating for movies that have "home invasion" type brutality in them so they can be avoided by those who don't like that.

comedy movies:

A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014) (DVD) funny

Game Night (2018) (DVD) very funny

"Frida Kahlo" - Postcard

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This week's Sunday Postcard Art challenge was "Frida Kahlo."

I wasn't sure what to do for this theme, so I winged it. I included the heart on this because she endured a lot of physical ailments and pain, yet she persevered through an inner strength.

I created this using GIMP 2.10.14.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

Journal Back Accordion Pocket

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I created a back accordion pocket for the weekly planner/journal that I'm using for my Book of Days.

I created this using GIMP 2.10.14.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

The master index for all of my entries is here.

Journal Front Accordion Pocket

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I created a front accordion pocket for the weekly planner/journal that I'm using for my Book of Days.

I created this using GIMP 2.10.14.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

The master index for all of my entries is here.

Title Page - The Book of Days

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I created a Title Page for my Book of Days.

I created this using GIMP 2.10.14.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

The master index for all of my entries is here.

The Book of Days 2020

I'm doing my Book of Days theme again for 2020.

My only rules for myself are Keep It Simple (KIS) and Have Fun.

The challenge involves using a weekly planner. I purchased a Cupcakes and Cashmere Blue Sky 5" x 8" Weekly & Monthly Planner January to December 2020.

I re-used the 2" x 1.5" tabs template that I created with GIMP, and reused the divider tabs that I made for 2019, then printed them on card stock paper, cut them out, and Elmer's glue sticked them into the planner.

The weekly challenge themes are listed below, and I will add links to my entries as I create them. My weeks start on Monday. This blog entry will serve as my master index to them.

All of the images are © All Rights Reserved

Title Page

Journal Front Accordion Pocket

Journal Back Accordion Pocket

January
Week  1. Jan 1
Week  2. Jan 6  - Full Wolf Moon (Jan 10)
Week  3. Jan 13
Week  4. Jan 20
Week  5. Jan 27 - Imbolc (Feb 1)

February
Week  6. Feb 3  - Full Snow Moon (Feb 9)
Week  7. Feb 10 - Valentine's Day
Week  8. Feb 17
Week  9. Feb 24 - Mardi Gras

March
Week 10. Mar 2
Week 11. Mar 9  - Full Worm Moon (Mar 9)
Week 12. Mar 16 - Saint Patrick's Day, Vernal Equinox
Week 13. Mar 23
Week 14. Mar 30

April
Week 15. Apr 6  - Full Pink Moon (Apr 7)
Week 16. Apr 13
Week 17. Apr 20
Week 18. Apr 27 - Beltane (May 1)

May
Week 19. May 4  - Full Flower Moon (May 7)
Week 20. May 11
Week 21. May 18
Week 22. May 25

June
Week 23. Jun 1  - Full Strawberry Moon (Jun 5)
Week 24. Jun 8
Week 25. Jun 15 - Summer Solstice
Week 26. Jun 22
Week 27. Jun 29 - Full Buck Moon (Jul 5)

July
Week 28. Jul 6
Week 29. Jul 13
Week 30. Jul 20
Week 31. Jul 27 - Lughnasadh (Aug 1)

August
Week 32. Aug 3  - Full Sturgeon Moon (Aug 3)
Week 33. Aug 10
Week 34. Aug 17
Week 35. Aug 24
Week 36. Aug 31 - Full Harvest Moon (Sep 2)

September
Week 37. Sep 7
Week 38. Sep 14
Week 39. Sep 21 - Autumnal Equinox
Week 40. Sep 28 - Full Hunter’s Moon (Oct 1)

October
Week 41. Oct 5
Week 42. Oct 12
Week 43. Oct 19
Week 44. Oct 26 - Halloween Blue Moon (Oct 31), Samhain (Nov 1), All Saint's, All Souls (Dia de Muertos)

November
Week 45. Nov 2
Week 46. Nov 9
Week 47. Nov 16
Week 48. Nov 23
Week 49. Nov 30 - Full Beaver Moon (Nov 30)

December
Week 50. Dec 7
Week 51. Dec 14
Week 52. Dec 21 - Winter Solstice, Christmas
Week 53. Dec 28 - Full Cold Moon (Dec 29), New Year's Eve

"Happy New Year" - Postcard

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Happy New Year!

I created this using GIMP 2.10.14.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)