Valentines

I made a group of Zentangle® tiles that started with a heart shape string…chose 6 of them for this post I am writing on the 14th…

I am remembering the printed cardstock Valentines from early elementary school. Everyone created a paper bag to hold the cards, and we all distributed our cards to all our classmates – being more careful about who got each card as we got a little older. They were just cardstock and ink – no glitter or sequins or plastic coating. Is that something that still happens? Later the little candy hearts were exchanged/eaten on the day, but they aren’t part of my first memories of Valentines Day. There was a heart shaped box of chocolates that my grandfather bought for my sisters and I one year; it only happened that once and it might have been a spur of the moment purchase on his part. That kind of chocolate was not something anyone in our family craved.

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. “Zentangle” is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

Plastics Crisis – Donating Plastic and Valentine’s Plans

I’ve gathered plastic from my kitchen and am donating it to Goodwill. The large plastic bin full of old water bottles/travel mugs and the yellow bowl is a Tupperware cake container that I’ve had for almost my whole married life (i.e. over 50 years)!

I’ve gathered plastic from my kitchen and am donating it to Goodwill. The large plastic bin full of old water bottles/travel mugs and the yellow bowl is a Tupperware cake container that I’ve had for almost my whole married life (i.e. over 50 years)!

It’s better to donate the supposedly reusable plastic rather than sending it to the landfill although it will likely be used in someone else’s kitchen; I feel guilty about enabling that. I also added a coffee maker (minus the carafe) since I replaced it with a glass and stainless electric tea kettle. I will never have this kind of plastic to donate again.

Switching from donating plastic to Valentine’s Day plans…

Our Valentine’s Day celebration does not involve as much plastic as some other holidays since we don’t decorate (no balloons or glitter). There are a few gift ceramic mugs that were added in past years; we are past the need to buy a valentine’s gift; the only chocolate I like is my usual ethically sourced dark chocolate packaged in foil and heavy paper – and I don’t wait for a holiday to enjoy it. If the weather is good, we might do a winter walk around the Botanical Garden. I might check the thrift store for a dressy item for the day…and the rest of winter…when I make the donation to Goodwill. We might go out to eat – not to fast food and we probably won’t have leftovers (no plastic utensils or take out boxes); or maybe we’ll just go out for a special dessert. Looking back at the 2/14 celebrations in the past few years – the biggest single use plastic of the day might be clamshell packaging for a piece of red velvet cake – and I’ll do without that this year.

Frosty Valentine’s

Valentine’s Day is a very commercialized celebration --- lots of red roses, chocolate and other candy often in red heart shaped boxes or the candy itself in the heart shape. If my husband and I do anything for Valentine’s – we do it on our monthly wedding anniversary which is within a few days of the 14th. This year it will be our 601st monthly anniversary!

One positive outcome of the commercialization of the celebration, I am anticipating lots of candy on sale on the 15th….hoping for a good selection to buy at a reduced price for my daughter and son-in-law to have in their campus offices for their meetings with students!

Another positive aspect to Valentine’s is its position in February. The winter can be gray, cold, and icy. Maybe Valentine’s Day should be a prompt to look around for beauty in the ‘wild’ to share with someone near and dear: a sunrise or the beauty of ice crystals at close range….choose to see beauty in February outdoors (or through a window)!

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 19, 2022

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Study recommends six steps to improve our water quality – The study focused on nitrogen pollution.

The cells that give you super-immunity – Memory B cells were first discovered in the 1960s….but there is still a lot we are learning about them as we analyze the data from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chicken Frenzy: A State Awash in Hog Farms Faces a Poultry Boom – Ugh! Hope North Carolina can figure out how to keep their groundwater and waterways from being polluted. It’s a beautiful state and it saddens me that the intensive hog and poultry production has not developed technology to be friendly to their immediate environment….or any place that is down stream from where they are located.

What’s the Weirdest Animal Courtship? Here Are 4 Candidates – A post that came out on Valentine’s Day.

Heart-disease risk soars after COVID – even with a mild case – Heart disease was already one of the chronic conditions common for a lot of people in later life… now with COVID, the numbers of people are going to increase and the age demographics are skewing younger.

Enhanced forensic test confirms Neolithic fisherman died by drowning – A skeleton from a 5,000-year-old mass grave on the coast of Northern Chile was analyzed with methods used for more recent bones to determine if a person drowned in salt water….and the method worked!

The mysteries of the Ponderosa Pine – The complex relationships between the health of pine forests and: birds, low-severity fire, squirrels, mushrooms, and carbon storage. Forests are complex!

The science of healthy baby sleep - A little history…and the bottom line: there is NOT just one correct approach to how infants should sleep.

Feeling dizzy when you stand up? Simple muscle techniques can effectively manage symptoms of initial orthostatic hypotension – There might be more validation that needs to be done across a wider demographic range…..hope this happens and if it works for a wide range of people so that doctors can immediately start encouraging their patients that have initial orthostatic hypertension (IOH) to use the simple moves before and immediately after they stand up.

Do you know the world weirdest wild pigs? – The post includes 5 of the 18 wild pig species. The only one in North America is the Africa Red River Hog – one was caught in a trap set for feral hog control in Texas (2019); there are evidently Texas game ranches advertising ‘hunts’ for red river hogs which indicates they have been intentionally imported and there has been at least one escapee from one of those ranches! Is there a free-ranging population of African River Hogs reproducing in the wilds of Texas?

Valentines!

I used Valentines Day as a prompt for some Zentangle® tiles. At first it was all about heart shaped patterns and red coloring.

My fascination did not last long with the shape…but I did like the red coloring. I started another project with everything the same except for the ‘string’…keeping the red coloring for Valentines Day. It is surprising how different the tiles look with that one change in the frame – string – patterns + coloring - appreciate process.

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. “Zentangle” is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

Zentangle® Tiles for Valentines

I decided to make Valentine themed tiles for my February Zentangle project. I used some heavy pink paper my sister gave me – leftover from her teaching days when she retired. The paper cutter made quick work of cutting 4 tiles from 2 pieces of the 8.5x11 inch sheets (with no waste). I used a black Sharpie Ultra Fine to draw the patterns and various colors of the same type pen to ‘color’…some gel pens to do a bit of highlighting. Enjoy the slideshow of the 8 tiles below!

The is extra printing on some calendar squares…some that are holidays and others that are ‘tradition.’ Some make good prompts for projects and celebration. They are evocative of the same day in other years and are part of the annual cycle. I tend to like them as signposts of a longer rhythm than a month, a week, or a day.    

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. “Zentangle” is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.