It's my favourite time of year! Calgary Stampede time!!!!!! I was able to watch the parade July 4th on TV, and I've watched all of the rodeo events and chuckwagon races each day on TV too. The whole thing wraps up on Sunday, July 13th.
Celebrations:
For my birthday back in May, my niece gave me a kneaded eraser. Oh! My! Gosh! GAME-CHANGER! Makes working in my journal so much easier.
June 28th I opened the letter I'd written, last June 28th, from my Future self that was part of the Painting Happiness course I did. I was surprised how GOOD it felt to read such an ENCOURAGING letter, with reminders that I am doing great things, and being a good person, no matter what challenges Life throws at me. On the hand, none of the specific accomplishments mentioned in the letter have happened...yet?!
Deanne Fitzpatrick Studio had a special in June for Deanne's 60th birthday and orders received a free copy of her hardcover "Sunday Letters" book...I kept my order simple and ordered a pack each of 3 miscellaneous sized linen (left) and burlap. The order + book arrived on June 30th! So when I finish up my second burlap runner, I'll have some backing to keep going if I haven't found anything else in the meantime.
As per family tradition, I watched the Ottawa Canada Day ceremony on CBC July 1st. After two very disappointing years (and last year the commentators spoke through the whole thing, even the speeches, so viewers didn't get to even appreciate the show), I was thrilled that this year's was not only a great show, but much like I remembered from my youth - highlighting various great Canadians and our great culture. I was pleasantly surprised that Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, was in attendance. Even the speeches were all really, really good.
I published two more comic strips in the paper and posted them online. Both are repeats from last year. It was only AFTER I published it, that I realized I forgot to update the year on the grad one. Oops!
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Recently Completed:
Since the last newsletter...
I completed my Inner Circle Unleashed Self painting I started on the Winter Solstice - it finally felt right to work on her again so started just before the Summer Solstice, and finished her on June 24th. I'm very happy with how she turned out, even though she's dramatically different than I expected when I started her back in December.
I still need to set up a dedicated space for my bits and pieces so I can complete more mini collages on 4.5x6 mixed media paper.
I completed my 38th cartoon comic booklet and you can view it here: https://www.facebook.com/beth.richardson.10/videos/1628244087840910
In Beth's Garden:
Sigh, the weeds are winning! Even the edible ones are out of hand!
On June 15th, after I watered everything, I dumped pots and pots of rotted dandelions around the potatoes to "hill" them. Haven't decided if I'm super lazy, or very clever and resourceful!
June 16th, I went over to a friend's here in town, and she gave me lots of irises, 1 lily, 2 tomato plants, 1 pepper plant, a kale plant, some German chamomile, and bee balm. As well, she let me have all of her rhubarb! All together, I was there about 1.5 hours as we also visited and toured her yard/garden. Back at home, I spent 15 mins transplanting everything into my garden - I even had space for it all! As it needed to go in the ground, I didn't worry that I wasn't really planting by the moon for these plants.
When I delivered papers on June 18 and 19th, I picked up some more strawberry plants from PJ's and Tailcreek greenhouses during their end of season sales. Over the two days, I ended up with 22 plants!! I was too tired after the deliveries, so didn't plant right away. I made it outside June 20th for 45 mins - planted the strawberry plants (with runners, I will have about 6 or 8 more if they each produce a plant!) and dealt with a few weeds. My garden is a MESS!
June 21st we had a good soaking rain! All in all, an inch of rain fell! Followed by another 1/4 inch on June 23rd.
June 24th I headed out to mow my lawn - only lasted 10 mins and only mowed 1/4 of it! June 25th, I went out with the intention of finishing. Ha! Again only managed 10 mins, and another 1/4 of the yard was mowed. Rained early in the morning of the 26th, so no mowing. Now the process would be much easier for “me” if I could mow at 5 AM when I have the most energy, but my neighbours would have a fit!
I was pleasantly surprised when my niece showed up at my door after lunch, and said she had an hour to help me in the yard, on the condition I paid her with a jar of rhubarb juice! Sold! While I pruned 2 or 3 of the front lilacs, she finished the mowing for me, moved a pile of branches from under the deck to the back yard, and wheeled the full wheelbarrow of lilac branches to the back for me. I gratefully paid her with TWO quart jars of rhubarb juice.
Another inch of rain fell June 27/28th which curtailed any outside work - even if my body had actually felt like doing anything (which it really didn't).
Heat warning July 2nd, but a few raindrops fell around 6:30 - 7 AM, and cooled things off a bit. I was outside for 55 mins before it got too muggy and hot for me. Weeded around the melons - quack grass was getting tall and thick - and pruned back the grapes. I also weeded around the cucumbers and beets - not very many beets came up (compared to what I planted!), but more than I thought had, so fingers crossed for a good crop. While the area I weeded was so small in the grand scheme of the garden/yard as a whole, it was nice to see at least a small patch that was all cleaned up.
Due to the heat warning, I made the decision to stay home and not deliver the papers, so I was able to go downtown before lunch. My "quick" trip ended up lasting 1.5 hrs because I saw a neighbour from my block and we chatted for most of that time! During the course of the conversation, he told me about his new battery weedeater and I joked that he could come play with it in my yard as I had LOTS of trimming that needed done. He said he'd be over later to do it (!) and showed up after lunch. He managed to get the very back of the yard done, and the path to the raspberries (there was 1 ripe berry!) cleared, which was a HUGE help. I also discovered my back fence had shifted somehow and some of the slats were loose, and he fixed that too!!! All together he was here 1.5 hours - though some of that was a hydration break and he admired my labyrinth. He also offered to help with other yard work too! WOW! Unfortunately, I ended up with a sunburn from being outside too much - though, less of a burn than I'd have gotten delivering the papers.
When I returned home, after delivering papers on July 3rd, my neighbour was just finishing up in the yard - he had mowed and finished all the trimming!! That was a HUGE load off my shoulders and my yard looks much better!
July 6th we received 1.25 inches of rain so no weeding done.
In Beth's Kitchen:
On June 13th I picked some of dwarf lilacs from the front to try as juice - I wanted to before, but they fried as soon as they bloomed the previous two years. My body sure wasn't up to dealing with the blossoms, so I only ended up with a cup of petals. Steeped them and finished the juice on June 14th - interesting colour from pale mauve flowers! It did become a wee bit more mauve once I added lemon juice, but I think I'll stick to regular lilacs for juice as the flavour of this one wasn't enjoyable (so good thing I only had a pint!)
June 16th I cut up and prepped all of the rhubarb, from my friend, for juice. With the paper deliveries, I wasn't able to get back to the rhubarb till the morning of June 20th. I was sure crossing my fingers when I lifted the lid on the pot! Thankfully it was still good and I made 23 cups of juice. It's practically colourless compared to the juice made with my rhubarb, so I was pleasantly surprised it wasn't as sour as I expected and I didn't have to use much sugar!
Also, on my paper delivery travels on June 18th, I got 2 free bell peppers. On June 22nd, I mixed up some pecan "meat" and stuffed them. I ended up making more "meat" than I thought, so had enough left over to make 4 small patties as well. I made a no-bake cherry pie too - in one of the nut crusts from the freezer - before I called it a day.
June 23rd was cold and wet, and I was craving cinnamon buns, so I whipped up a batch. I added the crushed dried orange again, plus I added crushed walnuts, as well as the dried diced banana (nope, still haven't found the new package of raisins).
June 25th, I pulled out a recipe for no-yeast buns that I've had for ages, and never made. I'd gotten some mayonnaise from Sis the night before, and I used chocolate milk because that's what I have on hand (so did impact the colour). They went together nice and quick, but I'm not sure yet if it's a recipe I'll make again or not.
July 1st we were under a heat warning so I quickly made up a batch of the no-yeast buns very early in the morning - used coconut milk this time. They turned out MUCH better than the first ones, but I'm still not convinced this recipe is a keeper. Especially when I do have some lovely keeper recipes such as the scones and cinnamon buns.
Have I mentioned yet how much more fun and easy it is mixing up these recipes in the stainless steel mixing bowls?? It really is!
I was given a bunch of fresh fruit on July 4th, so on July 5th I made up a 1/2 batch of rhubarb scones (I'd had the rhubarb prepped for a few days) and froze them. Then I made a no-bake blueberry pie - didn't exactly turn out as it should have so hopefully it is okay - I've only ever used frozen fruit when I use this pie recipe, so now I know I have to make a few tweaks if using fresh fruit. I also was given 3 lbs of cherries, and wanted to pit them before I did anything else with them. Well, I ended up making a flying trip to the hardware in Alix as my (old as me, but possibly older) cherry pitter broke after I did just 2 cherries. Oy! Anyway, I now have a nice shiny new pitter that may end up working even better than my old one, and I pitted all of the cherries.
July 6th was a rainy day so I mixed up a half batch of scones - this time I used some of the cherries!
Included with the fresh produce was some mini cucumbers, so on July 8th, I sautéed them in butter. Ever since I saw the movie "Julie & Julia" and discovered you can cook cucumbers, I've enjoyed eating them this way - the secret is you have to use butter (not olive oil or coconut oil). I sprinkled some fresh dill on top.
Jigsaw Puzzles:
Since my last letter, I completed two 1,000 piece puzzles
UFO (UnFinished Object) Update:
With the help I received in the yard, I don't feel like my life is an overwhelming UFO. Granted there is still lots that needs done outside (and inside), yet it feels like it's more manageable.
After some heavy reading last month, I decided I needed to reset my brain so pulled out a 4-book set of Erma Bombeck books from the basement (purchased from a yard sale) - I finished reading the first book.
Courses and Challenges (free and paid):
Era of Dreamers (free) with Maria Aleandra and Sage Adderley: I've been exploring different themes in my journal
Deanne Fitzpatrick's (paid) Playful Joyful Rug Hooking beginner course: I watched all of the course videos - I really like Deanne's teaching style. On June 14th I completed the hooked part of my next experiment - a 5x5 night sky based on one of my ipad drawings.
I had just enough space left on this long burlap table runner to do one more smaller rug. I started it on June 15th - same day as Deanne's 10 min/day hooking challenge (which goes all summer) began - and finished the hooking part on June 28th. Decided to try a round rug.
Lou Reed's free Becoming Extraordinary year-long energy course: there was delay getting my 2nd meeting with my coach booked, and then I found out the end of June that they were completely changing the course to something new, and I was offered a spot in the new course, which is starting in August. I’m still waiting to hear more information about the new course.
Amanda Sophia's free mini Divine Woman Awakening course (Celtic Wheel of the Year): Summer Solstice: time to be outside enjoying the sunshine, time to follow passions, and more.
In Demi Fox’s Morgan Le Fay Wheel of the Year, the Summer Solstice is the time of the Healer, with a focus on the element of water and herbalism.
Kiala Givehand’s 7 Books in 7 Days course: I still have ideas for books I want to make.
Physical Activity:
Rebounder: I'm back to 1 min at a time, every time I go down to the basement. As I've been more active outside with the watering, I'm okay with only doing a 1 min/day.
Chakradance I did my 2nd Full Moon Chakradance and mandala on July 9th.
"Mystery activity” I have done a little bit EVERY day for just over 45 weeks!!!!!!!!!
Works in progress:
Currently, I'm working on...
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- 13 inch round mandala acrylic painting - I felt it was time to paint over the Oracle painting from the Shiloh Sophia online class I did earlier this year.
- Era of the Dreamers journal - this is where I'm playing with my watercolour for now, as well as my other creative explorations.
- painting (18-20?) ceramic Easter egg people from Gramma's craft kits (acrylics) - stalled right now
Featured Products for Sale:
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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