Author: medleybee

Visual arts have never been my forte. I’ve dabbled in oil painting, thanks to Bob Ross, before everyone knew who he was. Before ‘the internet’! My dog sometimes bears a striking resemblance to him. I have fond memories of making homemade play dough with my grandmother. The smell of wet flour and salt always brings me back. And like, I assume, most people, I love poking clay packages in art stores, despite the signs asking people not to. C’est plus fort que moi! I think the first time I realized you could use clay as an art form was at the cottage. Sure, we all made clumps of clay, digging deeper in the sand to get more. We covered ourselves in clay for smooooth skin. But my first memory of clay art was my cousin, who also had a cottage on the same lake. I thought she was the coolest person. Not afraid of bugs, or slimy things, was so pretty with her beautiful long light brown hair. And she was from the big city! She made a horse head made out of clay, dried flat on a wooden board. We brought it home with us and I was so sad when it broke in pieces! She is, to this day, still the coolest. Still making horse art! Check out her art! So yes, back to clay…

The workshop I decided on was wheel thrown, and as most women in my age group, pottery became ‘mainstream’ when Ghost came out. Classic pottery scene. And sure enough, when I went to my pottery workshop last Friday, it was myself, and a group of four friends, slightly younger than me. Once we started working on our pieces, they asked if they could take pictures, and of course posed like the movie. I commented that it must be a very common thing to happen. The teacher pointed to the office, and on the top shelf they actually have a VHS tape of the movie… and then she admitted to never having seen it! Nope, that didn’t make me feel old… :p I was expecting it to be difficult, and it was, but I truly enjoyed it. I was pleasantly surprised with the result. The teacher did help to fix a few wonky bits, but all in all, these are my creations! I can’t wait to see the finished product in a few weeks once they have glazed and fired it! I will share them when I go pick them up. In the meantime, this is what they looked like on Friday.

I’ve been an avid reader all my life. When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time at the library. I would often stop on my way home from school and escape in books. I was a big fan of the Smurfs comics. When new issues would come in, the librarian would put them aside for me so I would be the first one to read them. The book would crack when I first opened it! I still love that feeling of cracking open a new book. And the smell of the ink! You might still catch me sniffing books. And I know I’m not the only one who does that! In my tween years, I moved onto small horror books. I wish I could remember what the series was called! Maybe they were translated R.L. Stine. Definitely that genre. (don’t get me started on how much I hate when people use the word “genre” in English, but pronounce it John-ruh.) Probably read most genres since then.

I would have to say that my go to these days are Fantasy novels. High Fantasy, grimdark, Urban Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Humorous Fantasy. Basically anything but Romantasy. (Another word I hate).

I have read 14 books so far this year. Still have a ways to go to get to 50… Why do I feel like I might be making another list page…

My favourite novel of all time is The Count of Monte Cristo. What is your favourite?

I did it! I joined a meetups group, followed through, and went to a trivia night! And guess what! I had a great time!

Picture it, (Sicily… no wait! ha! ok, not that funny. Ahem…) Picture it. Busy local pub on a Friday evening. I park and sit in my car for a bit. I’m nervous. Hands are sweaty. This is soooo outside my comfort zone.

See, about a year ago, I screwed up my courage and decided to finally go to a coffee shop where people who knit and crochet meet once a week. I decided to go. Here I am, with my little bag that says “Bury me in yarn and books” and has a picture of… yarn and books… original, I know. Anyhoo, I ask where the group is seated, and they tell me the are on the patio outside. I walk out, head held high, even if my heart is beating so loud I can feel the thump-thumping in my throat, holding my bag in front of me so people can clearly see what it is. I walk up to the group of about 10 people. They all stop talking and slowly turn their heads and look at me.
Me: I’m here for the crochet an knitting group… I shyly lift up my bag and smile… One of them shakes their head. My stomach drops. Another points to a much smaller group of ladies who are ALL knitting or crocheting. That’s when I realise that no one in the group that I walked up to have any crafting implements in front of them. Just lots of drinks and desserts. I wanted to run back to my car and go home. But I didn’t. It ended up being ok. But nerve-racking.

So with that in the back of my mind, I walk up to the pub, go to the hostess. It’s so loud in there, I can barely hear her. I tell her I’m there to meet a group of ladies I don’t know. She said is it under so and so’s name. The name is vaguely familiar. I say yes, hoping it won’t be a repeat of the yarn group. It was the right group, and they made me feel so welcome from the get go. Trivia was fun! I have already signed up for the next trivia night. Join community group: CHECK!

I got these four. No one else in my team did. Can you?

I honestly don’t remember how it came about. How I thought of creating a list of things to do before I turned 50. I vaguely remember someone mentioning a year of ‘yes’ before she turned 50, that might be where I got it from. So now we are in April, and although I have registered for a few things, I’m not moving very quickly! Oh… the list? Here it is.

So far, I have joined a few groups, actually going to an event this evening, more about that later.
Create blog, here we are!
I purged my yarn. Still have it in bags, but will be donating soon.
I need to get cracking!