Saturday Morning Comic
Friday, 10 October 2025
My Artist Voice #42 October 10, 2025
Welcome to my 42nd Letter. To receive these letters directly in your email inbox so you don't miss any, please contact thechautauqua@gmail.com to be added to the mailing list. Please share this with friends who may also be interested. Thank you so much for your support.
On Sept. 27th, I decided to try making beet chips with my golden beets (plus 1 red beet) - I used the medium sized ones as they fit in my food processor for ease of slicing. The recipe I had called for dill, garlic powder, and salt/pepper for seasoning - I also added some dried oregano. Also I used some melted meat drippings instead of olive oil because that's what I had on hand. The chips sure SHRUNK, but they tasted great. I ended up with just shy of 2 cups of chips. In future attempts, I think I'll try making them on a higher temperature as they didn't crisp up for a very long time.
For the month of October, I have my 120 page lined journals available for purchase for a Heart-felt Donation to support The Chautauqua. I do ask for a minimum donation of $10 to cover shipping costs. They make great gifts. Email thechautauqua@gmail.com to purchase. Thank you for your support.
As a life-long creative, and now artist, I weave my varied interests and wisdom together in an enlightening and entertaining manner, to make people think, but above all else, bring a smile to their faces and hearts, as my style is childlike in its simplicity and playfulness. While bedridden for much of 2017, I developed 5 – 10 minute practices which allowed me to commit to them daily. I’ve been called the “Queen of Small Steps” because my simple practices – though they seem small individually – have added up to quite a body of work in a few short years.
Happy Thanksgiving to you!
I was quite surprised to answer a knock at my door Sept. 11th and be greeted with this lovely bouquet! A very nice, and incredibly unexpected, gesture on their part. I sent a hand-written thank you for the flowers to the Telus CEO, and included one of my TEA cards. There was a bit of a hiccup as my September statement had too many extra charges (I didn't know the customer care gal was to review before it was sent to me, and she didn't see it till after I got it), but hopefully all will be correct going forward now. Fingers crossed.
I was amazed that most of the flowers lasted 3 weeks before I had to compost them. The greenery is still quite lush looking so I left it in the vase on the table.
Celtic Year theme: Joy and Delight (fire, do what brings you joy weekly, how can you bring joy to others?)
Autumn Equinox: Rebirth and Reinvention (water, rejoice in your rebirth as a new person with a fresh path before you)
Celebrations:
After the massive hassle I had trying to get the power bill changed to my name (had to create a new account and that brought extra challenges and fees!), I was surprised how quick and easy it was to change the gas account to my name (again, had to set up a new account but the transition was seamless). Fingers crossed that everything works out the way it should.
The watercolour set I won back in July for World Watercolor Month arrived on Sept. 16th! I knew I was getting a set of paints, and was surprised to see a paintbrush too!
I missed the Canadian Country Music Awards on Sept. 13th - no TV - and I wasn't able to watch online as the promotion for it said I should have been able to, so I was pleased to see that the show was on the CCMA YouTube site a few days later, and I was able to watch the entire show replay on Sept. 20th. We have a lot of great new talent in this country.
I watched the CPCA race replays almost daily till they automatically deleted (30 days after posted). I figured that was the end of my chuckwagon race enjoyment for this year till I discovered a few videos of previous years’ races from the Calgary Stampede on YouTube! And I found some videos for previous years' CPCA races too! Hallelujah! While I don't plan to watch replays "every" evening all fall and winter (though I certainly could!), 2-3 days per week is sufficient, I’m pleased I found an easy way to continue making this joyful activity a part of my life for a few more months!
I love a good sea shanty and I also love a good acapella group, and this one ticks all the boxes for me and is my new favourite song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppLHWb-unIg
I published two more comic strips in the paper and posted them online. Both are repeats from last year.
Recently Completed:
Since the last newsletter...
I finished my 13 inch "Stainglass Mandala" - painted in acrylics, Posca paint pen, and glitter glue - unfortunately, the lovely sparkle on it doesn't show in the picture.
I completed my 40th cartoon comic sketchbooklet. You can view it here: https://www.facebook.com/beth.richardson.10/videos/1104929638293759
I completed more mini collages on 4.5x6 mixed media paper.
In Beth's Garden & Yard:
With the extreme heat the end of August, and being sick in bed the entire 2nd week of September, my poor garden didn't get the care and attention it really needed. I only watered the most vital food plants so the flowers died on me, and the other plants were pretty sad looking. I picked the last of the 2nd planting of peas on Sept. 11th and pulled the vines.
The two tomato seedlings I'd gotten from my friend earlier in the season were, I was led to believe, regular tomatoes. Instead, they turned out to be two orange cherry tomato plants! Much better option, and something I'd never tried before.
I picked the last of the beans on Sept. 14th and pulled the plants. I picked the last of the cherry tomatoes in my hanging planter from the greenhouse on Sept. 16th and the plant hit the compost. I also picked sage and chocolate mint to dry.
I didn't get back out to the garden till Sept. 24th. I pulled weeds only so I could find the carrots and onions - filled an ice cream pail with both as small and not many! I pulled all the beets and got 4 lbs of golden beets and 4 lbs of red beets that I'd planted for my friend (gave them to her later in the morning). I also cut down thistles as tall as my shoulders by the north fence and filled a 5 gallon pail - very tightly packed! There are still so many around the garden, and as they went to seed, I'm sure they will produce next year too. Grrr. I discovered more mystery seeds growing - can't tell what they are yet, and I saw 2 marble sized fruit on the pumpkin/squash/gourd plants!
I managed to get the carrots and onions washed after lunch, but I felt too tired to touch the beets. Washed the beets on Sept. 25th.
Sept. 27th, I emptied my 2nd rain barrel completely. I pulled my cucumber plants - they weren't getting enough water and weren't really producing. I am glad I got some cucumbers this year as it was looking pretty bleak for most of the summer.
Sept. 30th, I went out and spent 1.75 hrs harvesting the plants along the house. That was my 2nd picking of peppers! If we’d gotten rain in September, as well as nice weather, the peppers would have been really big! The melons did better than it looked like they were going to - granted, they may not be developed when I cut them all open. The two tiny objects below the grapes, are my two "mystery seed" pumpkins/squash/gourds/??? - I was surprised when I saw them - alas, not enough season left (or moisture) for them to fully mature so I could tell for sure what they were. I also completely emptied my final rain barrel and put it away for the winter.
A friend gave me a bag of tomatoes and cucumbers on Oct. 2nd.
I made it out to the garden on Oct. 3rd and dealt with the final row of carrots - about half were only tops, but I managed to fill an ice cream pail with carrots and another pail with some of the carrot tops to dry. I also picked a small handful of SHORT rhubarb stalks. That's the harvest completely finished for the year!
My neighbour arrived Oct. 4th and trimmed my front dwarf lilacs - the biggest concern was that they were over the sidewalk so I don't need to worry about that any more. I washed the carrots - had to take many breaks to rest. My carrot crop turned out better than I expected. After assessing the carrot tops more closely, I was disappointed that they were in worse shape than I realized, so they all ended up in the compost.
I was glad everything was in the house because we had a killing frost the morning of Oct. 5th! My neighbour returned to do a final mowing and trimming of my lawn before winter. He also pruned the two flowering plum bushes in front of the solarium. My front yard is visible again!!
As the forecast for the Thanksgiving weekend was calling for snow, I went out Oct. 8th and tossed the plant pots I wanted to keep back into the garage, plus the plant pots that were around the labyrinth. I emptied the 2 pepper pots. The rest of the pots are on the deck in the sale. I also trimmed the double peony and used the leaves as mulch for a couple areas I wanted covered for the winter. All in all, I was outside about an hour. If nothing else gets done for winter prep, I have the most important tasks done now.
In Beth's Kitchen:
It took me a while to get myself back on track so it wasn't until after lunch on Sept. 20th before I was able to put together an Oregano, Tomato Cheddar clafoutis - a neighbour gave me some red cherry tomatoes the day before, and I used my own orange cherry tomatoes, plus I added fresh basil, dill, and thyme.
September 21st, I decided to try a more savoury clafoutis with apples, and I added cheddar cheese. While it was tasty, the sweeter (dessert) version was my favourite of the two.
I had produce ripening faster than I could deal with it so on Oct. 5th I pulled out a larger Pyrex dish and made a tomato/green pepper clafoutis with all of the ripe orange cherry tomatoes and the smaller green peppers. I also used 2% milk and added basil and dill to it.
The tomatoes from my friend were riper than I realized when I first looked at them, so I took all the large ones and blended them up (with some salt and dried basil) and made 2 cups of tomato juice.
I dealt with the carrots and put them in the fridge, except for all the really small ones. I had a carrot "fries" recipe I've wanted to try, and decided to use the small carrots, rather than cutting up the larger ones. I didn't have the right cheese for the recipe, so I used nutritional yeast instead, and I used the last of the melted meat drippings for the oil. I also added dill to the called for spices of onion salt, garlic powder, salt and pepper. I'm not sure if I'll make again as they didn't "crisp" as they were supposed to - though, they sure smelt and tasted great!
Oct. 7th, I decided to try a Pumpkin Apple pie recipe I recently came across. To make life easier, I used a pre-made pie shell, and I really should have had a "deep dish" one instead of a regular one. I had to do a wee bit of tweaking to the recipe to allow for the ingredients I had on hand.
Later in the day, I stuffed the remaining 6 green peppers I had - chopped onion, teeny tomatoes, grated cheese, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and herbs/spices.
I had enough ingredients so made a second pumpkin apple pie Oct. 8th, and froze it. I made a batch of rhubarb cinnamon buns with the last of my fresh rhubarb.
Jigsaw Puzzles:
Since my last letter, I completed a 1,000 piece puzzle...
...and a 300 piece one that certainly fits the season.
UFO (UnFinished Object) Update:
On Sept. 12th I closed a whole bunch of open website tabs on my computer. While the topics and information may have been important (or seemed important) at one time, I'm in a completely different place now so could let most go (full disclosure: half of the links no longer even worked so easy decision to close). As well, I had a lot of open tabs that were recipes I wanted to try so on Sept. 13th, I decided what I still wanted to give a go, downloaded those recipes, and closed the tabs.
Sept. 27th, I watched a free 3-video class on writing/illustrating picture books that I signed up for back in May. Honestly, even for a freebie, it wasn't a great class so I'm glad that's done and I could close the tab and unsubscribe from the gal's email list.
I finally sold mom's liftchair! That was a nice LARGE item to get out of the house, and created some nice open space in the basement.
I’m still reading “Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson.” It’s neat to read how Johnson, and other authors in his circle, rated their contemporaries' literature who are now considered our “classics.” (If Johnson and gang had their way, we wouldn't have had some of them to read in this day and age!). Also, it highlights how different our society is now from the late 1700s! Overall, as a society, we have really lost the ability to have civil discussions were people are encouraged to disagree with each other, and yet remain steadfast friends.
Courses and Challenges (free and paid):
Deanne Fitzpatrick's (paid) Playful Joyful Rug Hooking beginner course: I finished hooking another small rug on Sept. 21st. An experiment with hooking different coloured yarns together to create new colours. Also, the first time I've used a real textured yarn.
Lou Reed's Inner Empire Immersion: our Opening Ceremony was Sept. 22nd (my time), and it was a small intimate group on live, including Lou. We did a journal ceremony ritual, and the main take-away for me was that I need to slow down and bring more stillness into my life! The suggestion/example Lou gave me was to go through my life at the same speed I would walk if I was in water up to my neck! That will be quite the challenge!!
Our first session was on Oct. 6th (my time) and we're now entering the beginning of our journey together.
Demi Fox hosted a free 3-day Sacred Way of the Priestess of Avalon immersion October 6-8th. I was able to watch all three Zoom sessions live. I’d love to take her year-long program.
Kiala Givehand’s 7 Books in 7 Days course: I still have ideas for books I want to make.
Physical Activity:
Rebounder: I'm only doing a 1 min/day.
"Mystery activity” I’m still doing this DAILY!! My aim is to increase my time to over 1 minute daily!
Works in progress:
Currently, I'm working on...
- 13 inch round mandala acrylic painting
- Era of the Dreamers journal - I usually do something in it every day
- personal smashbook for some journal writing as part of my connection to Spirit and my Guides
- mini collages
- painting (18-20?) ceramic Easter egg people from Gramma's craft kits (acrylics) - stalled right now
- UFO crochet project (not food)
- my next small hooked rug
A good friend was surprised to hear that I had never watched the TV series "Yellowstone" and highly recommended it. I haven't started Season 2 yet.
Featured Products for Sale:
The Fall is a great time to get back into routines, so I am making my hour long Love Your Body Yoga Class (suitable for beginners and all levels) available in digital format for $20. If you would like to experience this class, please email thechautauqua@gmail.com.
I have inspirational card decks, journals, chapbooks, musical CD's and more for sale that would make gifts. Please contact me at thechautauqua@gmail.com or phone 403-352-3837 to make a purchase. Or visit 4910 47 St, in Mirror, AB. Items are also available for sale at Amy’s Bakery on Main Street in Delburne, AB.
Upcoming Projects:
- I offer $50 Distance Reiki/Energy Healing sessions. I’ve been an Kundalini Reiki Master since 2023. Energy healing works great from any distance and I've sent Reiki healing as far away as Queensland, Australia. Please, contact me to set up your healing session.
"I have been suffering with Long COVID for over a year and have tried every healing modality in the book to get my energy back. Beth has been gifting me with healing Reiki energy for quite some time now and I have, for the first time in over a year, started to feel like myself again. Much of my weakness has dissipated, and the dark cloud that I have been stewing under has lifted. Thank you Beth. ♥️" - Carla, Esthetician, Nova Scotia
Thanks for reading, and as always, feel free to share with anyone you think might enjoy it.
Beth
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Thank you so much for your support, to receive this newsletter directly via email please email: thechautauqua@gmail.com to be added to the mailing list. Thank you!
Back issues of this newsletter are found here: https://thechautauquanewspaper.blogspot.com/ under the category "Artist Newsletter"
To support my artistic journey, please consider purchasing my artwork, items available in person at 4910-47 St, Mirror, AB
or make a donation via
Mail a cheque or money order (made out to Beth Richardson – Chautauqua) to Box 261 Mirror, AB T0B 3C0
E-transfer/PayPal to thechautauqua@gmail.com
Your support and kindness are always greatly appreciated, and I look forward to bringing you joy and inspiration! Thank you so much and have a marvellous day!
Wednesday, 8 October 2025
People should have fun, enjoy the present,
and take notice of who is on the journey of life with them.
I believe that in others we find meaning.
- Deanne Fitzpatrick
email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or phone: 403-352-3837
Monday, 6 October 2025
From BEEing Created by Beth Richardson ©2021
email: thechautauqua@gmail.com
or phone: 403-352-3837 to purchase
Friday, 3 October 2025
October 3, 2025 Chautauqua
In this digital age, why IS print media still important and
relevant?
I’m not anti-technology, as I wouldn’t be able to produce
this printed newspaper without it, and the ease it brings me. There are truly
great things being done by technological advances all the time, And yet, there
is still a lot about technology that we should pause and think twice (or even
thrice) about.
As AI (artificial intelligence) becomes more prevalent in our everyday lives, we need to have non-digital resources and activities to keep our brains healthy. Human are meant to do physical activities for our brain and physical health. Reading printed media could make you healthier and smarter!
***************************************************
Ad rates have gone up to cover costs.
There is no charge to submit photos and/or news items,
however, a donation is gratefully accepted.
I ask you to please donate a minimum of $23 in honour of
the 23 years I’ve been in publication. That’s less than a $1/issue for a
year. Receipts available on request. Thank you for your support.
Beth
Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tZ9QBCOQvaAq2ECveHm7OZ_W3YDVda8V/view?usp=sharing
Whether you've enjoyed reading The Chautauqua from the first issue 23 years ago, are a brand new reader, or somewhere in between, I sincerely hope that The Chautauqua has enriched your life, as much as it has enriched mine publishing it. If you would like to help ensure it continues to enrich others like yourself, I ask you to please consider making a donation to The Chautauqua.
Mail a cheque or money order (made out to Beth Richardson – Chautauqua) to Box 261 Mirror, AB T0B 3C0
E-transfer/PayPal to thechautauqua@gmail.com
Your support and kindness is always greatly appreciated, and I look forward to continuing to bring joy and inspiration to you with each issue. Thank you so much and have a marvellous day!
Wednesday, 1 October 2025
I think it takes creativity
to keep getting out of bed in the morning.
- quoted by Deanne Fitzpatrick
email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or phone: 403-352-3837
Monday, 29 September 2025
Saturday, 27 September 2025
Friday, 26 September 2025
Wednesday, 24 September 2025
Monday, 22 September 2025
Friday, 19 September 2025
September 19, 2025 Chautauqua
Picture source unknown
After 10 years, ad rates have gone up to cover costs.
There is no charge to submit photos and/or news items,
however, a donation is gratefully accepted.
I encourage, as many readers as possible to please donate
a minimum of $23 in honour of the 23 years I’ve been in publication. That’s
less than a $1/issue for a year. Receipts available on request. Thank you
for your support.
Beth
Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nyBnTNh_rmwuRBR_9cIt4rTUSz7XxVE0/view?usp=sharing
Whether you've enjoyed reading The Chautauqua from the first issue 23 years ago, are a brand new reader, or somewhere in between, I sincerely hope that The Chautauqua has enriched your life, as much as it has enriched mine publishing it. If you would like to help ensure it continues to enrich others like yourself, I ask you to please consider making a donation to The Chautauqua.
Mail a cheque or money order (made out to Beth Richardson – Chautauqua) to Box 261 Mirror, AB T0B 3C0
E-transfer/PayPal to thechautauqua@gmail.com
Your support and kindness is always greatly appreciated, and I look forward to continuing to bring joy and inspiration to you with each issue. Thank you so much and have a marvellous day!
Wednesday, 17 September 2025
Weather forecast for tonight: dark.
Continued dark overnight,
with widely scattered light by morning.
- George Carlin
email: thechautauqua@gmail.com
Monday, 15 September 2025
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