Shopping

It's time for the Opus Garage Sale on Saturday where you can buy art supplies at very discounted prices.  So much for going out to the beach to hunt for treasures!  That's right!  It is here, in Canada, and about to becoming home to me...my metal detector!  Guess I will have to go hunting after the sale.  Tonight I will be making out my list of those painting supplies I plan to need for the year.  You never know what will be at the sale except that frames, canvasses, and brushes are usually the most sought after.  I'd better take some measurements of the paintings I have finished just in case there are frames to fit them.  Hope I have better luck than the Vancouver Library Book Sale.  Took the Skytrain downtown from work and back with only one, very small, but very old Chow Chow book from the 1930's.  It was the ONLY breed specific book I could find.  Next month is the BIG SALE in Victoria.  Just might make a weekend of it, take the dog over, shop, then ferry to Mayne Island to visit my Mom.  Could do a lot of treasure hunting there on the beaches.  hmmmm.....

Won't you join me?

I'm bored.  That is no surprise to anyone who knows me.  I seek to find something..anything..to keep me entertained and in "the loop".  I seek the companionship of strangers who share the same interests and passions that I enjoy.  Guess that is why I have joined yet another group!  I am now a new member of the New West Artists.  Why, since I am already a member of the Richmond Artists Guild?  I don't even live in New Westminster!  I think, in part, that I need another avenue to explore, new people around me to inspire me, an outlet for my bottled up creativity.  I must have ADD.  I can't stay focused on one thing for too long before I have this sudden urge to move on in another direction.  Take my writing, for instance...I have a book halfway done but inevitably something else grabs my attention and the book gets put aside while I bound towards the thing that attracts me at that moment.  I throw myself into the new project with abandon, then just as quickly as I was drawn to it, (you guessed it) I find something new to try.  At this time I am juggling my painting and writing but they are mostly solo projects.  Add to that my new interest in metal detecting and the old "seeker of lost books" (again solo) and you can see my dilemma.  Hence, I join groups.  Will it help me in the long run?  I doubt it..but it makes life interesting and sure beats sitting around home all day.

Books, books, books and more..

The season is hitting stride with many book sales to explore - from Victoria to Chilliwack and all points in between.  Take the next 30 days for example...this weekend was the Richmond Library sale, Thursday begins the Vancouver Library sale, on the May 12th weekend the Victoria Times Colonist is having a HUGE sale, and at the end of May is the Church book sale in Marpole.  Top that all off with all the wonderful used book shops in Sidney that I will be browsing in on my trip over the water, add a potential excursion to Bellingham to their book shops one of which is supposed to be quite remarkable....I will be broke if all goes well!  My library now consists of 3 tall bookcases FULL of dog books with at least 6 more boxes of duplicates and the books I haven't catalogued yet.  I will be drastically cutting down that number as I clear out the more common, generic books.  (watch for a yard sale of dog books in the summer) I plan to hold onto the rarer books that really explore the histories of the breeds in depth.  These will definitely be hard to part with unless I know that they will be going into great homes...just like selling the puppies I've raised...lol. You name the breed, I probably have a book on it, or a vintage trade card, or a figurine, or....  I don't call myself the dog book addict for nothing!


On the down side - Canucks lost.


...And my metal detector isn't in Canada yet.  Hopefully I will be able to pick it up in time for next weekend.

En Plein Air

Spent a wonderful morning/afternoon in Langley participating in the Opus Outdoor Painting Challenge.  This is the results of painting for about 3 hours...there is so much more that needs to be done but the "bones" are there.  Fortunately I had remembered to take my camera so I can continue the work at home.  Painting outside has its challenges...I was on a slippery slope, my chair and easel frequently sunk into the boggy soil (might as well been painting on the ground I was so low) and the light source kept moving.  At least the rain stayed away.  A great way to spent a Saturday!

Writer's Block

You can blame my creative writing class for getting me started on this blog.  It came highly recommended as an exercise to keep to the task, to remain committed (in more ways than one) in finishing my novel.  It hasn't worked.  I haven't typed one word in my novel since I registered for that class.  It didn't help that my instructor suggested that most novels are written in third person rather than first person.  Unfortunately, she was right and now I will be in the process of converting 30,000 words into "she" and "he" instead of "I".  It makes sense but it doesn't make it any easier.  Don't expect it published any time soon.

Needed: A little night magic

Sleep.  What's that?  I have been denied a decent night's sleep for so long I've forgotten how it feels to wake up well rested.  It's not for lack of trying.  Jak has taken to waking me up at all hours of the night needing to be let out, then he wants water, then food, then to be allowed upstairs so he can curl up in his bed there, then he barks repetitively and purposefully for me to come upstairs too to cover him up with his blanket.  I have tried various solutions to this problem and all still require me to physically get out from under my sheets, lift him off the bed, carry his 35 lbs to the back door and wait for him to finish thus losing a good 30 minutes of sleep (and another 30 minutes to fall back into sleep again)  Now, if that wasn't bad enough.  His midnight wanderings to relieve himself arouse Alex and spark his interest in what is happening within a 6 block area of the house.  Alex now begins to let everyone know that he is on duty and not be be messed with.  This continues on and off for at least another hour before he decides that it is all clear and he can crawl back under the kennel building for his own blissful nap.  Luckily I have no neighbours who care about the noise he makes.  Then.......there is my own inability to get a good rest without taking an Advil sometime before I crawl into bed.  An old stress fracture in my foot and now a pulled muscle in my thigh are constant reminders that I should slow down as I am not as young as I would like to be.  Zumba was the culprit in the latter injury but I NEED Zumba to stay fit.  A catch 22.  So, I catch a nap or two at work over lunch, as the early evening news blasts across the tellie, and usually in the last 20 minutes of the show I have been waiting all week to watch. Sigh.....

Tick, tock

The order is in.  I am now at the mercy of Canada Post to get my metal detector delivered to the dealer by Friday so I can pick it up on Saturday, otherwise it will be yet another longgggg week of waiting.  Have already made contact with a fellow in Maple Ridge whose family is refusing to go on any more of his exploration trips.  He has been trying to get a few people together for a group hunt and invited me to join him whenever I am out that way.  In fact, he owns the same detector that I am purchasing so he will be a big help in shortening my learning curve.  The dealer suggested that I hit all the soccer fields after their practises.  His son does that on the weekends and averages about $20.00 in finds.  That is certainly better than my meagre 1 cent an hour!  He also said he was surprised at the items he found in his own yard.  Well, if I do find anything I will post it here along with a photo if the items are exciting enough...I'm not expecting miracles.


Opus in Langley is hosting an outdoor painting contest this weekend and, of course, it coincides directly with the spring Richmond Library book sale.  I am torn as to which one to attend.  I can't do both if I expect to have a good selection of books to sort through...by Sunday everything is picked over. This year they are adding a special vintage section which is most intriguing.  Perhaps painting will win out this time.  The prizes are substantial and I really need to get back to putting paint onto canvas.  A friend from work has already registered for the event.  We are both a tad nervous about competing with the pros but, all in all, it will be a great kick start to get me painting again.  Can't remember the last painting I worked on.  I have lots of canvases covered but nothing finished and little to inspire me to do more.  The competition will take place within walking distance of the store and each person will be assigned a location to paint in.  It is up to us to find a suitable subject to paint in that area.  See....I knew that if I wrote about it it would convince me to actually do it and besides, I can pick up my detector at the same time!  


How about those Canucks?....need I comment more?  :(

The Waiting Game

Take it all back!  So they did.  Just when my hopes were high that a new "me" might emerge out of solitude and despair, an email arrives telling me my order has been cancelled.  Cancelled?!  What the heck!?  No reason given which left me perplexed and somewhat worried over the fate of my cyber dollars.  (p.s. they are safe)  So where to go now?  After spending several hours searching the bowels of the www I found a company in Langley that might (fingers crossed here) have what I need IN STOCK.  I may even have the "thingy" by the weekend if all goes as planned.  I don't want to disappoint my senior friends who were as excited as I about the prospects of hunting about for the fortune that awaits us underneath our feet.  Stay tuned...  


This blog-thing could have some unexpected drawbacks.  You see, I thought that I would merrily post my ramblings and rants and nobody would notice.  Just to get things off my chest and perhaps make me feel better in doing so.  Well...I do have SOME friends who do know how to find me and are willing to read what I write.  Take my Whippet friend...hmmm, brings back memories of trying to sleep with 4 Whippets and 1 Great Pyrenees sprawled across my bed with me suffocating underneath...but I digress..she commented on my latest blog recommending me to the sport of geocaching.  (pause here while I scramble to find the link for the website I'm about to refer you to)  Done.  Imagine a real, live treasure hunt that doesn't involve switching on the 'puter and dragging a mouse across the screen.  This is outdoors!  In case you have forgotten what that is (and how many hours have YOU spent on the 'puter today?) it is that place where we go to get fresh air and liquid sunshine, at least in these parts at this time of the year.  Found out that a cache is only a half a kilometre from here but I don't yet have the means (GPS) to find it.  Now, how frustrating is that?  I am feeling another shopping trip coming on....

What lies beneath..part one

I did something today.  Perhaps it is just old age creeping in and the prospects of living out the rest of my life in solitude or maybe it is just a need that has to be fulfilled while I am still young enough to enjoy it.  I know I have to get out more.  All those past decades have piled on the pounds and my fitness routine has not kept up with it.  You would think that wrestling with the "kids" every day (and night, since Jak will NOT let me sleep through one) would be exercise enough.  Not so.  Hence my newest acquisition - the Garrett Pro 250.  A what?  It's a metal detector, you know, the thingy that one uses to scan the ground surface to hunt for anything of value that might be hidden underneath....like gold, silver and other precious metals.  At least that is what I dreamt the first time we headed out into the mudflats to unearth our secret treasure troves.  That was over 20 years ago.  Emil, another "mudflatter", and I headed to the sand dunes of McDonald Beach on Sea Island to earn our fortunes.  Four hours later - a cheap broken watch, several rusted washers and bent nails, and too many bottle caps to mention - we earned a grand total of 8 cents for our efforts which we split between the two of us.  Deflated and tired from all the digging, I hung up my trowel and vowed that I would have to earn a living some other way.  So why now?  I tried to spend my money on two kayaks to spend the upcoming summer days paddling with friends on the pristine waters of the west coast lakes and bays.  The idea fell flat.  I either needed new friends who shared my spirit of adventure or I needed to look at something I could do on my own (or with those same friends should adventure suddenly strike them).  A detector is cheaper than a kayak, easier to carry, requires similar amounts of exertion, and offers the slim chance that I could strike it rich.  Rich attracts companions.  My prospects of singleton living could change as a result.  At least I won't be bored and all the fresh air, walking and bending will do me good.  It arrives in two weeks...