Celebrations:
My niece was here on August 20th for her 14th birthday! We…
- made 18 cups of cherry juice
- picked rhubarb and prepared for juice (didn’t get much rhubarb this year)
- picked all of the the onions (only got 5!) and turnips (6!) - we were only able to save a couple of bites off the largest turnip as they were full of worms 😞
- made a chickweed, beet green, red pepper, onion salad with grated cheese
- roasted the tiny bit of turnip with beets and onion
- watched half of a Hallmark movie on TV as we ate lunch (French toast)
- she had brownie for her cake and opened her present
- we picked all of the apples (couple dozen!) - all but 3 were in rough shape so prepped them all for juice
- I taught her how to play Scrabble and I won by a mere 16 points
- she put nail polish on my fingernails
- August 23 I had a live blood analysis appointment - OFF the CHARTS improvement again!!!!!!!! I still have liver stress and inflammation, but much less than last time! While in Red Deer, I stopped at Michaels and bought some dark brown yarn (so I can continue my crochet food projects), some glue (so I can continue making mini collages), a pad of mixed media paper (so I can continue my various painting explorations) and 3 small pads of watercolour paper (so I can play with my new watercolour paints).
- I enjoyed another fun day with my niece! She was over August 31st and we dug all the potatoes, and roasted some of the smaller ones. Beets weren't quite ready, and I have no idea if I'll get any carrots this year as they are still small! We picked a honeydew melon and 1 of the cantaloupe melons. We ended up defrosting the basement fridge (wasn’t in the day's plan). We watched half of a Hallmark movie as we ate lunch. Later, we went downtown and had a free sundae at the Drop In - their end of summer event. We played Scrabble again - I won, but she had better words!
- someone I know from Delburne very kindly and generously donated 4 of her paintings to my fundraising sale for the newspaper, so they are available for purchase too.
- I published two more comic strips in the paper and posted them online.
Recently Completed:
Since the last newsletter, I've completed...
- painting an envelope booklet I made in Kiala Givehand's 7 Books in 7 Days class from a few years ago (watercolour pencils, acrylics, Inktense pencils, Posca paint pens, on 9x12 watcercolour paper). My original plan had been to play with my new watercolour set, but in the end I used my dollar store set.
I played with Charlotte Hamilton's 5-minute self-portraits process using different reference photo for these explorations.
Then I did a set by carbon copying the reference photo onto the paper. Also added more colours to these two to make them a touch more realistic looking. While the process and exploration has been fun, it hasn't been fun enough for me to continue at this time. Though, it has shown me that portraits aren't completely out of reach for me, if I feel called to pursue them in the future! Also, I think I'm drawn to some of my wonky free-hand ones more than the more realistic versions.
- I completed more mini collages on 4.5x6 mixed media paper. The last one on the 4th row is my 100th this year! Wow! Guess that means I'm an artist who creates collages.
I finally pulled out my crochet food project and made some headway! I completed two crochet ice cream drumsticks, three ice cream sandwiches (Rocky Road, Chocolate Mint, Cherry), 4 fortune cookies, 2 wrapped candies, 2 strawberry confectioneries, and 2 chocolates.
On August 24th, I was incredibly disappointed when I opened the pot of rhubarb my niece and I started steeping when she was here and discovered it was covered in mould. I had to toss the whole batch out so I didn't get any more rhubarb juice. 😞
The apples were fine so I finished them off and made 10 cups of juice. I was given some Nanking cherries and made them into 6 cups of juice.
- on September 10th, I decided to experiment with canning some of my smaller potatoes - only did a pint and we'll see how it goes. Fingers crossed.
Jigsaw Puzzles:
Since my last letter, I completed a 1,500 piece triptych puzzle - this is so lovely, I plan to save it and hang it on my wall.
UFO (UnFinished Object) Update:
- though I haven't mentioned it for awhile, I am still reading my way through the books in the basement - I finished reading some trilogies and other novels I've owned for years, and decided that I won't read them again in the future, so passed them onto my sister so she could read them (and decide what she wanted to do with them). I recently finish a 5-book set that I did keep - I'd forgotten how good it was till I read it again.
- I didn't realize it was a nagging UFO until I pulled out and started reading some old journals. First was Oct 17, 2013 to Dec 1, 2014, and then I found Dec 1, 2014 to July 19, 2017. On the one hand, NOTHING seems to have changed in my life since then, but on the other hand EVERYTHING has changed! There were a few pages I saved to read more intently as they have some pretty good ideas and wisdom in them. The next set I pulled out was my very first attempt at Julia Cameron's Morning Pages (from her book The Artist's Way) - they started June 30, 2010 and went to February 14, 2011. Oh, the drama that was in my life from the people around me! It was interesting to read how ACTIVE and involved in the community I was back then. While I wish I was able to do more and be more active, I don't really wish for my life back then as my schedule was insane. I found a set of journal pages from July - Oct, 2013, that came before the first set I read - this followed a specific person's (can't remember who) journal structure with prompts. I followed it till around the middle of September, then I started doing my own thing. Next, I read through some journal pages from March to July, 2018 - I sure gave myself a LOT of good advice that I never followed at the time! Finally, I found 5 gratitude/prayer journals that started Feb. 2, 2002 - two weeks after I started my MLS degree studies and I had published the first issue of The Chautauqua! I am currently reading the days just prior to Dad's passing on April 20, 2003. It was a very rough time - and I'm discovering that my life was pretty darn stressful for much longer than I realized before my total physical collapse in May, 2013.
- I also watched a business masterclass replay online - for the stage I'm at in my life and business, I'm doing the right things so I was able to close that tab. I watched a brief series on using creativity as your mediation practice - I do that, in my own way - another tab closed. I skimmed through 3 bonus Qigong videos I had - even though I'm not currently doing any Qigong, I do plan to get back to it and when I do, I have others I prefer so I was finally able to close those tabs on my ipad. I watched 2 Shiloh Sophia online classes I had and was able to close those tabs on my computer. I watched an online replay for a singing/kirtan class - sigh, I need to sing more! I watched a 2 hour online Feng Shui presentation about being more aware of what we say and then noticing how our homes reflect that (ie "my legs are sore," and then noticing a table with wobbly legs that needs fixed).
Courses and Challenges (free and paid):
- Stacie Bloomfield's (free) Design a Greeting Card course: this has been in my inbox for 2 (?) years and I decided to finally just do it! I don't have Procreate (and haven't needed it for what I do) so I wasn't able to do exactly what she did, but I got enough out of it that I could figure out how I would apply the concept to what I do if designing greeting cards ends up being in my future. I have had that idea on the back burner for ages!
- Barbel's (free) Trailing Floral class: I got lots of hints and tips from this class, even though I'm not quite at the point of starting to play with a trailing floral pattern. Also, I only have Illustrator on my ipad so I'm not sure how easy it would be to create a trailing floral pattern on it.
- Amanda Sophia's free mini Divine Woman Awakening course on the Celtic Wheel of the Year - we're deep in the harvest season of Lughnasadh now and getting closer to the Autumn Equinox (the next point, and for Amanda, the beginning of the Celtic wheel/New Year). As you have already read, I've been harvesting my garden, as well as "pruning" belongings in the house. Also, the journal reading (and shredding) I have been doing totally fits with this season of letting go. Before the Equinox, I plan to do a short new year ritual to find a "word of the year" and "theme" for the coming Celtic year.
- Amanda Sophia's free mini course on Feng Shui - paused
- Amanda Sophia’s free Geomancy & Land Healing course - not started yet.
- Hillary Faye's (paid) Eternal Beauty course - I listened to the guided meditation audios for each of the 6 weeks of the course, and will go back and complete the suggested activities for each week.
- Shiloh Sophia's Wild Card Oracle class - not sure if I will make more cards or not.
- Recipes, Remedies, and Rituals Ayurveda course practices: eating only my personal portion size for each meal and doing abdominal rubbing throughout the day to help with digestion/elimination and overall relaxation of the body.
Works in progress:
Currently, I'm working on...
- a 9x12 page of watercolour play
- a mini booklet made out of watercolour paper - I opened my set of Watercolours from Walmart (even though the dollar store set isn't used up yet) and have been playing with them.
- another 9x12 painting - not a word one, but not exactly sure what it will be yet!
- more crochet food for my epic buffet project! It feels so wonderful to be working on this again.
- seated forward bends! It's been a challenge to keep doing my practice and I'm mainly doing my seated forward bend in the tub when I have my evening bath. Rather than focus on how far my nose is from my knees, I'm going to focus on how far my nose has moved from when I started. Hard to believe it's been over half a year now!
Bottom: 26 weeks (1/2 year!) - Aug. 19
- I have also started what I’m calling a “mystery activity” for now as I don’t want to jinx it. So far I have done a little bit on it every day for just over 2 weeks!
Featured Items for Sale:
"Magical Moments in my Day Journal: for the extra special moments all around me" 6x9 lined journal $15 purchased from me or you can purchase from Amazon https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CJLKZ3KB
Please contact me at thechautauqua@gmail.com or phone 403-352-3837 to make a purchase.
Upcoming Projects:
"Save the Chautauqua”Art Sale in the solarium! You are invited to come check it out each weekend from now to the Thanksgiving long weekend. This is a great opportunity to see my art in person and pick up some early Christmas gifts.
- I offer Pay-What-You-Can Distance Reiki/Energy Healing sessions. 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
~~~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~~~
Thank you so much for your support, and again, to receive this newsletter directly via email please email: thechautauqua@gmail.com and to be added to the mailing list. Thank you!
If you would like to support my artistic journey, please consider purchasing my artwork, items available in person at 4910-47 St, Mirror, AB
or by making 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 continuing to bring joy and inspiration! Thank you so much and have a marvellous day!
