Reality Check

No matter what age or condition I think I am -- inside my head-- this is what I look like on the outside. I wish I looked like I do in the bathroom mirror, right after washing my face. So young and fresh. I can see the waddle of my chin. That I need better glasses. That my hair is messy, again. My ears don't look as BIG as they do in real life, though. My nose is larger than I think it is. All in all, for me, a nice picture. 62.5

G has taken the dog to Petco to buy dog food and a new, metal water bowl for the back deck. They also went to the vet to get Riley's nails clipped and Riley now weighs 72 pounds. He's lost 6 pounds since the beginning of the new year. All that chasing of the plastic, planting pots around the yard. Now they are out walking. Riley stood next to me, looking, asking to go to "school" (daycare) this morning. He really likes to go there. It's his routine. But not today. Today he gets to spend time with G & me.

I went shopping at Big Lots yesterday in hopes of finding more of the delicious Italian pasta they had last month. Antolina. Imported from Italy. I found bowtie pasta last time and this time I found two sizes of spaghetti. I bought 21 packages. We had one package last night with butter and Parmesan cheese (and lots of fresh ground pepper). I may have to go back and buy more. Cooks up nice and al dente "firm to the tooth" and has a wonderful flavor. Not true of most pasta we buy. Which usually is pasty. But I think most Americans like their pasta overcooked, soft and gummy. Not me.

G is doing "End of the Month" paperwork and I will be eating alone this evening. I have some kale and the two artichokes I purchased so I will have a nice vegetarian meal. I will saute the kale with an onion (browned in olive oil) and some plumped up raisins. The artichoke will be steamed and served with some melted butter. Yummy.

I paid my overdue real estate taxes yesterday morning, deposited my pay checks, wiped down all the surfaces in two bathrooms, bought pasta at Big Lots, worked hard at work, took a lovely shower after work, made an easy dinner and actually stayed awake to watch TWO entire TiVo'ed programs. The Mentalist and Lost.

I have rhubarb in the fridge for a rhubarb custard pie. It isn't SPRING without rhubarb pie. I think I ate my way through two or three last spring, which might just be WHY I gained 20 pounds (along with the daily Yumbo for lunch or the yogurt and fruit). Do ya think????? That and the fact that I switched from the mini ice cream cone to the medium all summer. Just those two changes. Makes quite a difference, FAST. Now if I could just find something to burn off the pie and ice cream so I could have the lower weight (which I want) and the treats (which I want). Because I don't want to give up the treats. I even skip dinner in order to have the ice cream. The gym?

I have been finding that my breakfast is used up by 11 am (tummy grumbling) at work and that my lunch salad doesn't do the trick of filling me up when I have heavy lifting and hauling to do. That's why I started eating the ham and cheese Yumbo last year with carrot sticks and hummus. Then I switched to vanilla low fat yogurt, a fresh sliced peach and raspberries with Grape Nuts. That was VERY HIGH in calories also. Yogurt is NOT a low calorie food. And yogurt and fruit does not FILL you up. So I added a bran muffin. See. It's perfectly clear how I gained weight. And we're not even talking about the mid morning raisin bagel with low fat cream cheese. Now I chew gum. And make my own little French press coffee mid afternoon. I have even left my Granola bars at home, instead of in my locker.

Now that, finally, I am starting to think clearly again, I hope, that over the next six months, I will be able to lose some of this weight. Slowly. I will never be as thin as I need to be. Or was, once. But I can try to return to the weight I decided was "good enough". And then I have to be careful.

I'm going to clear the dining room table of art supplies, magazines, paid bills and plants. That's my "reality check" job for the day. And place my container of seedlings out on the deck to warm up in the sun. And later today, weed, iron shirts, and watch television. I have a lunch date with a librarian. Can that be any better???

Six Months

It has been six months since my father died. Six months of not getting things done. I had turkey fat sitting in a bowl on the sunporch (freezing weather most of the time) since Thanksgiving. I took care of it this morning. It hadn't really bothered me until this morning. And that's how bad it's been around here, for me.

Everyday, after work, I pick up the dog, do errands, and come home to work in my garden or flower beds. Before we know it, G has arrived home from work and the three of us sit outside for a few minutes to discuss "our day" and then go inside to prepare dinner, feed the dog, take showers. We eat while watching the 6 to 7 pm news. By 9:30 we are asleep in front of the television.

Somehow I must try and fit art into this long and work filled day. I tried working (writing) in my journal but have lost the "muse". I save all my good thoughts for you! LOL. Whatever thoughts I have, float away when I sit down to write.

Work is good. Heavy lifting. Watering. Deadheading. I go home dirty and tired. I found some new Crocs to buy online. Off Road. In Army Green. Serious treads on the soles. The website even has Croc boots. Butt ugly. Like something out of a storm trooper comic book. Water proof. I tugged on a pair of old boots sitting in the Annual House. Checked them for spiders etc before putting my feet in them. They kept my feet (socks) dry but then started "heating" up from the warm cement floor and the sun pouring into the Big House. So I took them off. But it was good for about an hour and my socks weren't as soggy as usual. Wool socks. I don't even realize my feet are wet. Wool Rocks.

Today I will be in the Perennial Yard. Sorting. Organizing. Cleaning. That's work. Annual House, Big House, Yard. There's also the Nursery. That's trees and shrubs. Not my business.

Today I will also be visiting my bank. To deposit four paychecks. I really should get direct deposit. I like to SEE my money.

Today we will be having leftover pot roast and leftover mashed potatoes and some fresh broccoli. Yesterday's dinner was HORRIBLE. Fried chicken in questionable oil. Oh. My. G ate it and thought it was delicious. Now you know about his taste level. I couldn't finish my first bite. I am clearing out the fridge and pantry and obviously some of these things need to go directly into the garbage can. I'm sure there was nothing wrong with the chicken. It was the oil I fried it in that should have been tossed. I had toast for breakfast. Plain.

It's 8 am and I don't start work until 11. I have 2.5 hours to spend doing something. Laundry? Iron G's shirts? Clean out the fridge? Read blogs? Walk the dog? Create Affidavit for the Ohio Banks? Fill out Annuity Papers? Deposit Checks in Bank? Clean one of the three bathrooms? Mop or sweep the floors? Dust (six months worth on everything)? Take down the Christmas decor? (I left the 2007 stuff up and had it for 2008-- snowmen look strange in June, but not so strange that I put them away) Remove and wash the couch slipcovers? Vacuum?

Now I have 2 hours. And time for another cup of coffee and the New York Times on line.

Definitely Spring

My daffodils are up and blooming in the back garden beds. White with pale yellow here and bright yellow in the peony beds. And the peonies are all sending up red bud shoots so I will have a riot of fragrant blooms in June. My two new peonies: Krinkle White and Bowl of Beauty will join the pink, white and red. The Sweet Woodruff I planted as a "ground cover" is sending out trailing runners which will send down roots for new plants.

In the veg garden I have my beets, rabe, turnips, celery, fava beans/spinach, and kale. A friend at work has given me chard seedlings and I have lettuce to add to the garden today since it's cloudy and a good day to transplant. I do some small gardening chore each afternoon after work. I'm already dirty and dressed for gardening so why not? And that, dear readers, is why you haven't heard from me so often.

The day just races by. In the morning, I have my salad to make (romaine, carrots, cranberries and chinese noodles with wheat berries when I have some cooked), my breakfast to eat, my pockets and bag to pack, and the dog to pack up (he has his toys, collar and lunch) for day care. All in one short hour from 6:30 to 7:30. When my work schedule changes I will need to do all this from 6 to 7 in the morning. No time to blog.

In the afternoon, I have the dog to exercise after his day at day care, the garden chores to work on, grocery shopping if needed, dinner to prepare (we haven't been eating very creatively lately), and laundry to do. Today, Sunday, my day off, I have time to iron shirts, cook wheat berries and make a decent supper. I already have the wheat berries cooking and a load of clothes in the wash and it isn't even 8 in the morning yet.

We have been having pretty mild and decent spring weather and everyone wants to start gardening and having flowers in the garden (outside) and we still have a last frost to get past. Everyday they ask if we have tomato seedlings. And everyday I say "no, it's too early". Yesterday, Mainers were dressed in shorts, sleeveless tops and sandals. It was 62. But I guess when compared with 10 below zero most of the winter, 62 is a regular heat wave. Not for me. I feel cold all the time. My body needed iron and B vitamins so we went out for a cheeseburger last night. I feel much better now.

Well, the coffee is ready to drink and I'm having whole grain toast for breakfast. I'm considering the possible things in the freezer that we might eat this evening: chicken, steak, ground beef. I just don't know. I also have a huge ham in the fridge that I could bake and then we could eat ham all next week. Or I could empty the fridge and give it a very much needed cleaning. Or I could go out for ice cream now that Cote's is open for the season. Oh, yes!

Definitely. Spring. Happy.

Fatique

Long days at work. Sunshine and, today, rain. Dirt under my nails. Dirt on my clothes. Wet wool socks.

I got to plant things for Secretary's Day tomorrow. In multiples of 5 or 6. Some offices have that many secretaries. More likely, assistants. I made it all look very special and "gifty". Crisp clear cellophane, cute gift cards, ribbons color coded to the flowers and container. Not matching. I am an "artist" you know. So, unusual choices. There was a comment from a co worker "well, we don't see that, often". They should!

I'm taking this book back to the library tomorrow, but wanted to share a "good cook book" with you dear readers. David Tanis is the chef who wrote this simple, garden driven, book. David was a chef for Alice Waters and now spends 6 months working for her in California and the other 6 months living in France. Not bad, huh? The cuff of my robe and my hand is reflected in the fig.

My orchid in bloom. I love the shadows. This would be fun to dye paint on whole cloth and then topstitch with lots and lots of colored thread. And maybe some beads.

I have two artichokes steamed for dinner. G is having leftover tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Yesterday we had a delicious dinner of meatloaf, mashed potatoes with light cream and sour cream mixed in and steamed broccoli. Perhaps popcorn while watching the results show for Dancing with the Stars? I think the cowboy is going home tonight. Or the football player. Depends on who has the larger fan base. No room anymore for people who haven't learned to dance, can't loosen up, keep their back straight, point their toes and shake their hips all in time to ridiculous music. My opinion.

I may fall asleep before we get to 10 pm. And I need an Aleeve. And a delicious hot shower.

Friday At Last

We had "some weather" today. Maybe up to 60 degrees. Where I was working out in the perennial yard, it was windy, so not as warm. Tomorrow we are expecting rain. My garden would appreciate it.

Riley is exhausted. He is sleeping so hard that I had to go check to see if he was dead. He opened his eye. Looked at me. Closed his eye. Not dead.

I made Tomato Basil Soup for G for his dinner. With homemade little dumplings. I just mixed up some egg beaters, milk and flour into a smooth and sticky dough and spooned it into boiling water and let them cook until they floated. I also added a ribbon of light cream to the soup. You could add a shot of vodka for an Italian touch. The dumplings add a Serbian peasant touch because I learned how to make them from my grandmother.

Tomorrow I am "hostessing" the garden speaker. Roses. I am in charge of copies of handouts, chairs, coffee and coffee cake at 9 am. At the 1 o'clock class we'll be serving cookies.

We are having the class in the Annual House and we'll have the "cold" crops for company. Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, lettuces, onions and celery. I want one of everything. I purchased a Jackamani clematis. I wanted one last year but waited too long. It's always best to buy plants the first few days they arrive. After that, they get depressed or something (even though I give them excellent care, water and talk to them-- we even play music for them). Like orphans when they don't get adopted. Poor self image. I plan to plant my Jackamani in a big pile of compost on Sunday. I plan to plant a number of things on Sunday.

G just finished eating a whole container of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. He never gains weight and has cholesterol of 180. I really don't understand. And it's hard to live with someone who eats like that and gets away with it. But I'm healthier. Never get sick and have more stamina. He's always whining about something.

TiVo. I already had my shower. And then bedtime.

Expiration Date

Late last night, or early this morning, I realized why I have been feeling so confused, morose, and listless. With the death of my father, I have only my very immediate family left. Me. G. and our children. So the next time someone very important to me dies....... it will be one of the four of us. It's been there, in my head, like a blinking light. The expiration date.

We all know that death is coming. It's just so easy to believe we have so much more time. And with that sort of thinking, we waste what time we still have. I guess that's what's going on in my subconscious mind. I'm questioning the way I use the time I have left. And asking what will happen to the "me" who will, eventually, lose the people dearest to her. Or what will happen if they lose me. Are my belongings in order.

This post isn't meant to be depressing. I think knowing you have a certain amount of time, like 20 years, and some of it will be limited by age and health, you can make plans to use what you have left; wisely, joyfully and lovingly.

And, most importantly, don't waste your precious time on things you don't enjoy. Don't postpone things that bring you great joy. Prioritize your life. There are things you have to do, must do, should do, can do, want to do, wish you could do. Sort it out.

An example. I packed up and mailed a box of hard cover books to my friend K after our visit. She insisted it was too expensive to ship them. I insisted that it was something I wanted to do as I had the books and she wanted to read them. In the end, book rate for the box was only $5 and we both ended up happy. I intend to do more of that. Doing things I want to do and not being put off by "cost" in time or money.

I have planted tulips in the vegetable garden. More peonies outside the dining room windows. Purchased two fruit trees that won't make fruit for 3 to 5 years. Planted small Agapanthus (Lily of the Nile) roots because someday, years from now, I hope to see them bloom and prosper out on my deck.

I am coming to terms with my expiration date. My "use by" date.

"Choice by choice, moment by moment, I build the necklace of my day, stringing together choices that form artful living." Julia Cameron

On the cooking front: Working five days and not having a day off in common with my husband is wearing on me. I haven't been doing anything creative in the kitchen and need to stop at the grocery for supplies after work. We had grilled steaks (not so tender), baked potatoes and a large mixed salad for dinner last night. Monday we had cherry tomato (my garden produce/2008) pasta. I have no idea, at all, what we will be eating tonight. If it was just me, I have roasted butternut squash, roasted beets, beet and kale greens I could saute with a browned onion. I also have the other half of my veggie whole wheat pizza. Nothing that would interest G. I liked when G traveled for a living and I had two or possibly three days to just feed myself.

On the weight front: I woke up feeling incredibly thin and light. And weighed myself and was horrified by the number. Quite the bummer!!!

The Other Me

Ever have those moments when you wish you had gone in a more adventurous direction? I would still want to dress like this, but I just don't have the legs for it. When I did have the legs for it, I was too conservative and "proper". Oh, to go back and try again. But the background paper is mine.

Yesterday was very busy at the greenhouse. The churches were picking up their Sunday flower orders and everyone in the area was buying an Easter Lily to give as a gift to someone, probably someone who is cooking Easter dinner. We had orders (long distance) for delivery of flowers to many assisted living homes. I paid particular attention to these orders. I work tomorrow, Easter Sunday, and we expect a good number of people to visit and ask questions.

I had to work the front counter and cash registers again. But I could answer a number of questions and help people find products so, in that respect, my being up front was valuable. My skills on the cash register are dubious. I was complimented on my "foiling" technique when adding a colorful foil wrap to the purchased plants. Perfection in all things. My Zen leanings.

I also, patiently, explained that cutting perfect squares of foil off the roll, instead of ripping jagged chunks, was a far better beginning to an attractive foil wrap.

I find that my perfectionist ways (the alter ego of procrastination) are out of sync with the ways of the world. No one wants to take the added few seconds to do the job correctly. And that's all it amounts to; a few extra seconds. Okay. Maybe it adds a few minutes. To cut squares of foil and refold them into nice triangles for the storage boxes. To wrap the plant and have four nice flaps at the corners. To cut and arrange a nice mixed salad each day for lunch and bring your own fork. To water the dirt in the pot and not just wave the hose over the top foliage. To go back and rewater to make sure everything is evenly moist. To sweep off the potting bench surface and clear away empty pots and dirt for the next person. To refill the potting soil container so the next person doing a repot finds soil, ready to use. Okay. I've gotten that off my mind.

Today is a bit cooler. Yesterday was sunny, warm (50) and the sky was BLUE. Today is cloudy and looks like it might rain. G raked the front yard so my task today is to scoop up the piles and remove them to some "other place". We have a new area, not quite so visible, for the burn pile so the debris can go there or be dumped into the low areas of the woods. BUT, on my walks I have been seeing RAKED wood areas and they look so clean and neat. Do I want that?

We had leftover Garden Vegetable Chowder and a small amount of leftover pizza from last Friday for dinner last night. Today I plan to make new pizza. Seems that all we eat around here is soup and pizza. But it's homemade pizza. That is healthier isn't it? Especially mine with all the vegetables on top of whole wheat dough. I would prefer to eat something else but the dough is ready so I have to use it or lose it. G will be having Italian sausage, mushrooms and onion on his. I'll have cherry tomatoes, green peppers, onion and olives.

I have kale, beets, beet greens and butternut squash for a "harvest plate" like they serve at 111 Maine for my Easter dinner. I even have some asparagus to go along. G will have grilled lamb chops I have marinated in olive oil, lemon and rosemary, asparagus and none of the other vegetables. The big ham I bought will be eaten some other time before it's freeze or eat date of June. I just don't have the time or interest in cooking it this weekend. I'll round out the meal with some steamed rice.

I'm tired. I feel old. I feel heavy and wide in the hips. My hair is all fluffy and out of control. I want to crawl back into bed, cover my head and just disappear into sleep for hours. But I can't. I have piles of leaves to scoop, a dog to walk, food to cook, dirty clothes to wash and the reward of a long, hot shower at the end of all that work. My day off.

Frozen Pansies

Thawing on the floor in the sunroom. It got down to the 20's last night and because I had been out raking acorns off the lawn in my shirt sleeves yesterday afternoon, I forgot to bring my little pot of pansies in for the night. I don't even want to think about all the pansies at work, outside, and the hosta, outside. By the time I get to work today (11am) whatever can be done, will be, and that's the way the weather rolls.

I brought home four empty coffee cans and a big roll of newsprint sections (unprinted) from work yesterday. The cans come in handy for scooping fertilizer and lime out of the bags. The paper is just nice to have in case some five year olds come to visit and want to draw and color with crayons. It could happen. Or I can cover the dinner table with paper (like restaurants do) and hand out markers and crayons to my dinner guests.

My life was much different when I was in the habit of covering the coffee table with long sheets of blank newsprint (the newspapers would give the roll ends away in those days) and letting my two small children color while they watched Sesame Street in black and white. I taught them early on that television was secondary to some other activity. We did lots of crafts. We would have been coloring eggs today. And I would have my Easter Tree decorated with eggs, chicks and rabbits. All hanging by threads from branches. When I mentioned this at work it was greeted with "that's so Martha Stewart".

G cut a branch that had broken off a (possible) crab tree next to the place where he works and placed it on the counter in a glass vase, with the hottest possible tap water, to force blossoms. The customers are waiting to see what happens. I said he could hang some eggs on the branches, so I think that's what he will do on Saturday. It's sad that we can't do things like this at my place of work.

Today G is attempting to make some headway in the downed branches littering the front lawn. And if he remembers, G and Riley can drive over to the greenhouse and inspect and carry home the two fruit trees I purchased last week. A peach and a plum. And G has to sweep the road sand off our daughter's lawn. And it would be great if he had time to vacuum. A day off from work. LOL

I need to get dressed for work, make the bed, wash the breakfast dishes and take the compost bucket out to the compost pile. I semi-raked the back lawn after work yesterday where I raked all the gravel in the annual house. I'm trying for Michele Obama arms. I already have the hips.

Art Club

Last night I attended my second "Art Club" meeting. We had a fantastic evening. The full moon may have helped. I demonstrated Karen Michel's (Complete Guide to Altered Imagery) techniques for distressing photographs. Like the two above.

We soaked our photos in warm water to loosen up the photo emulsion a bit. Then we sanded the surface of the photo with sandpaper, a sanding block etc. The process is meant to open the surface (the shiny, slick surface) for further additions of paint, oil sticks (the water soluble kind), bleach pen dots or lines, stamped images, etched lines (ballpoint needles or awls). As you can see in the image on the left, I didn't sand everything. I left the tunnel images and the glass sculptures.

My demo piece was a picture of one of the other members (she had brought a handful of "bad" photos to share). I sanded the background images, leaving her face and seated body intact and began to show the group how to add color back into the sanded areas. P was very pleased with this as it was the messy background which had made the photograph "bad". After much painting, stamping, puncturing, she had an altered photograph she loved.

Another artist had a lovely photo of her young teen daughter in a pretty swirling dress. What wasn't so nice was the background. A moss covered dingy rental house. But after soaking, sanding, painting and with a halo of bleach pen dots, she had something she said she "worshiped".

In the end, each and every artist there last night went home with a new trick in their art tool box and with a very nice piece or two of altered art. Our 'end of evening' show and tell had something rather spectacular from each of us. All very different, as we are, and a fresh approach to making art.

And remember ---- I had to be, literally, dragged to that first Art Club meeting in March.

The Art Club began with one woman who wanted to learn and make art with fellow art makers. She invited two or three women to join her in making some cards or collage. They each invited a friend to come along at the next meeting. In March, we had about 15 people. In April, 12. Everyone brings some food to share, if they have some, and materials to share like papers, magazines to tear up, boxes of paints, oil sticks, glitter, pens.

Last night, in the "tell" part of show and tell, I discovered a number of members who were artists long ago and had lost that part of their life to family and work responsibilities. They were trying to reconnect with that past life. In my small way, I pushed them outside the "box" and into new territory. The have returned the favor, so to speak, and pushed me outside the house.

Yes, what we were doing could be classified as "craft" and not "art". But it's not WHAT you make or create. It's that you DO something. MAKE something.

One artist, wanting just a little something to do in the 30 minutes each day she had for art, now has photographs to alter with a shoebox of supplies. Sandpaper, oil sticks, watercolor paint. And she collaged images onto the altered photos with a glue stick. She thanked me repeatedly for giving her the gift of something she could do anytime and anywhere. I had given her art, she said.

What about each of you, dear readers? Do you have art in your day?

Missing Me

I haven't blogged since April first. What happened to all those days????? I have been working and planting seeds in the garden and teaching a class in Gardening 101.

It's raining today. Yesterday was glorious and warm and sunny. We even had ice cream at DQ for supper. And this morning was still pretty decent. But by the time I left work at 3:30, it was raw, cold and wet.

So. I'm working five days a week now. I'm working Easter Sunday. My Gardening 101 class went very well and they even took notes. I'm having a salad and an orange for lunch or a peanut butter on whole wheat with an apple. I still "need" something mid morning. Today it was an oatmeal cookie. A lot of new people have come back to work. (new to me because they didn't work last year).

Yesterday I sat down to do one of the "detestable tasks" I have on my list. Taxes. I tried to open Turbo Tax ($60) and turns out we don't have the correct operating system. So it won't load. And we can't return it. So I sharpened my pencil and started in, doing it the way I have done for 40 years. Only I used to be smarter. It took four or five complete tries before I got everything right (I think).

The Qualified Dividend ...I have had to pay penalties and be audited (several years now) because of this little item. I ALWAYS think I have gotten it right and NO! I don't. So I am more than a bit crazed by this element. And the worksheet. I erased so many times that there was no paper left at the end.

The Correct Tax Table. (I was using the single column for my daughter. I do her taxes first because, even though there are more forms, it just seems easier because it's not my money). I just didn't STOP using the single column in the tax charts until I had messed up MY taxes TWICE. And I used the Federal Tax Chart on my Maine Taxes and just about had a stroke. I could feel the arteries in my head constricting. No way was I writing a check that big to the State of Maine. I think Maine ranks 49 out of 50 states in the Realistic Taxation Category.

And then after I was done doing my taxes about ten times, I realized that my daughter had Qualified Dividends. So I got to do hers two more times. And erase holes in her worksheet.

Good thing we had ice cream for supper. And went to bed at 9:15.

Things will be better tomorrow. Art Club.

My daughter gets refunds and G & I get to write a BIG set of checks and fill out the Vouchers to prepay our tax money for 2009.

Friend of Twelve by Twelve- Window

My camera is giving up. And the light here in Maine isn't very good. But I do like what I have made for this challenge. A window grid. The darkest fabric, outside the window frame, is opportunity, waiting, just beyond. And that's what I think of when I look out the window. What is waiting for me just beyond what I already know.

When my life is in conflict and I am troubled, I find peace and contentment, while staring out the window. It is sort of a meditation ritual. Life goes on outside. With or without me. My troubles are small in comparison to the rotation of the seasons and the planet.

The fabrics used here are all from a small package of scraps I received in the mail awhile ago. All blues and all unknown to me. I added the blue batik outside border and the small square in the center from my own wastebasket scraps.

Working on this piece was very pleasant after a long time away from my fabric and my work space. I have been doing work with paper in collage and working in my journal. This is my first piece of fabric art in 2009. I need to make more.

I like Deborah's idea of a piece each day for a specific period of time. For her, it's Lent. I don't know what I will decide to do: perhaps a piece on my days off.