Thursday, April 30, 2020

Stove Top Stuffed Cabbage

I haven’t had them for a very long time. Stuffed cabbage was a staple in our house when we were growing up. My husband is the cook in our house and he has made some wonderful cabbage soup. So we thought we might try making the stuffed cabbage in the frying pan on the stove top rather than the long way of boiling the cabbage to get the leaves, stuffing the leaves with the hamburger and rice, putting a bit of bacon on the top, and then put it all in the oven. I was occupied doing other things while my husband was off concocting this recipe. A bit of hamburger with onions, cut pieces of cabbage, and a lot of white rice. What I didn’t realize was he was using a lot of cabbage near the core - which may be okay in soup, but not for a “casserole” cabbage roll. Then, he added in some turkey lunch meat because there wasn’t a lot of hamburger to begin with. When he served it up it looked okay, but for the first time in forty years, dinner tasted awful. I was embarrassed to tell him, but he can handle the truth. The turkey ruined it, although the cabbage was on the “hard” side - very unlike the real cabbage rolls that are soft and transparent when they are baked. So much for the experiment. That just goes to show you that sometimes you just need to follow the recipe - and don’t add turkey. 










Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Redbubble, Zazzle and Pixels LITDigitalart Face Masks

None of them have arrived yet. Not the ones from China, or anywhere else. After searching for nondescript cloth face masks, we are still waiting for them to show up. Since I no longer own a sewing machine, nor have the material to make one, ordering for us made sense. Yes, I’ve made several masks out of coffee filters, rubber bands, staples and paper clips. But if and when we venture outside we would prefer cloth. Both my husband and I wore masks when we worked in health care. Having to wear one now is very strange. Nevertheless, all of my Digitalart websites are getting in to the business. That means that designs that I already have on Zazzle, Redbubble, and Pixels can be used as images on masks. But it all needs to be done one by one, which is time consuming.... but that’s not a big deal. So yesterday I updated a few images that now include face masks, and am thinking about adding more. Personally I prefer an understated and plain color compared to a bright or bold image. If this becomes a requirement to wear forever I’m sure everyone will adopt a personal style. It hardly matters if the mask isn’t worn correctly - covering the nose and mouth is necessary to do any good. All I know is that I didn’t care to wear a mask for work, and I really don’t want to wear one now. But we really don’t have a choice in the matter - for everyone’s sake. 










Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Face Masks - Cloth, Paper and Everything in Between

I used to wear them when I worked as A staff nurse for a patient in isolation, and as the nursing supervisor in the cath lab. It was a sterile environment and part of the garb that was required for a lot of reasons. My husband is a retired surgeon and wore them all the time. Now face masks are required just to walk outside. Since I don’t have a sewing machine or material I can’t make my own. Back in the day I used to make a lot of my cloths. My mom taught us how to see when she managed a fabric store. I don’t even own any scarves anymore thanks to downsizing 16 years ago. So I’ve put a couple of pieces together with shoe covers and rubber bands, and tried using a table linen napkin but they are too bulky. I assembled several more using number 4 and number 2 coffee filters, rubber bands, paper clips, staples, and tape. They actually feel the best and are a neutral tan color! I’ve also ordered a few more cloth options since I think we are going to be stuck with this “accessory” for quite some time - from Vida & Co, Caraa, and Denali. I just looked around the internet and they are each a little different. It seems that’s all the advertising is about these days. I’m not in to the fashion statements - just plain and simple. Disposables will be used more for inside the building for grocery picks and mail runs to the lobby at midnight. Yesterday I read that a stocking over the face mask would make the mask more “protective” - but how ridiculous would that look? All I know is whenever we watch TV there are many people wearing face masks - but their noses aren’t covered and they keep fiddling with them which defeats the purpose. I guess I’m just glad we are familiar with using them regardless of what type they are. We are still waiting for all of our cloth masks to be delivered. They are obviously in high demand. For now I have thE current supply all tucked away in a basket in the closet. Pretty soon they’ll move to the front of the house along with the gloves and sanitizers. 








Monday, April 27, 2020

Birillo Alessi or Topsky Soap Dish?

It’s still really difficult to get Softsoap or any other brand liquid soap refill. We still had a little bit left over from our last purchase, but it was going quickly with all the hand washing. I never thought we would be using bar soap again, but it was inevitable given our meager liquid supply. I suppose we could use body wash as soap, but we had a bunch of sample soaps around and started using them. The only problem was we didn’t have any soap dishes. So we punted with a small kitchen dish, but the usual soggy soap started. I searched for a reasonable option and found a Topsky version that came in two, and was in two pieces so the soap could drip to the bottom. We put one in the kitchen and one in the bathroom. My husband didn’t like the color in the bathroom - but it worked in the kitchen because there are several other items it matches. So he started looking for something that might look better - especially since this was no longer going to be a temporary scenario. He found the Birillo Alessi two part soap dish that was white with a stainless top that also drains. It does look nicer in the bathroom since all the fixtures are silvery polished chrome. In the mean time we will leave the liquid dispenser on the sink in the hopes the backup bottle arrives soon. Ideally we would all love to have an auto sensor dispenser that would go along with an auto sensor faucet. Both of these items will probably become routine feature in any new home - just like slots for masks and gloves will become fixtures in the foyer or mud room. Who would have thought?






















Sunday, April 26, 2020

Zazzle Furry Dachshund Golf Balls

Just when things were getting in to a bit of a rhythm, it all came to a screeching halt. I started painting custom pet digitalart portraits soon after the iPad first came out in 2010. I opened an Etsy store, then moved on to Pixels/Fine Art America, Zazzle, Redbubble, Amazon Merch, and my own website - LIT Digital Art. Then highlighted all of it on my blog, LITs Capitol Hill/Hell, a Facebook business page, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumbler. It’s a full time job keeping it all going. It’s really more of a hobby than a business and thank goodness for that. It was such a treat to get notified when someone purchased an item with an image of something I created on it. That actually meant more to me than any amount of money. The last purchase was from somebody in England who bought three golf balls with my long haired dachshund face on them. That was in early March. It feels like centuries ago. We have been housebound since March 13. Now that face masks are probably going to be a permanent part of life several of the websites are making them available - Zazzle and Pixels. I just don’t see face masks as an artsy endeavor, but who knows? Maybe it has something to do with having been in health care for thirty years. I wore them in the cath lab and ICU, and they weren’t the most comfortable gear - now they are even more annoying but essential. If my little “business” took a jolt, I can only imagine how it must feel fir anyone depending on it to live. It also reminds me of why I chose nursing as a major - it was in the 1970’s and the economy was a mess. I thought I would be able to get a job and I was right - everyone was shocked by my decision because science and math were not my strong suits. Even though my heart was in Art my mind was making me be practical. It served me well throughout the years. I wonder how this pandemic will affect how people will choose their careers? All I knew was you’d always find a job in nursing - anywhere, any place, any shift. Art became a hobby and I’m very happy with that. 








Saturday, April 25, 2020

Plushi Paper

In the never ending search for toilet paper, one needs to be creative or look at items that were never on the radar screen. Since we haven’t left the house since March 13, we are dependent on grocery delivery and Amazon - like thousands of others. And if we are using these services, so are thousands of others. Every time we added toilet paper to the list, it was never delivered - the same for hand sanitizer, soap, and drano. Everything is out of stock. Luckily we had enough toilet paper to last a couple of more weeks. Nevertheless, the search intensified. It seems my daily routine - like everyone else - is scoring delivery times on Instacart and others and searching amazon for the rare opportunities when a product becomes available. We even opened another Costco membership thinking that would help - but it didn’t. So I got a couple of travel toilet paper rolls - the kind one might take camping or traveling. Then I came across a product called Plushi Paper. It had good reviews for the most part. It’s toilet paper in a large Kleenex box that comes in a container that holds the box and can be placed on the toilet paper roll hanger. It’s meant for people who can’t easily tear off the paper - like young children or seniors - or for RV’s, etc. So I ordered some. It came with four boxes and seems like it will work. For now, I’ve stored it in the cabinet and it’s there if the other stuff runs out. Luckily Wegman’s finally delivered and I’ve had luck with Amazon. A while back we inadvertently ordered a large number of paper by mistake and it lasted a long time. But that was when it wasn’t a hassle to get it on the weekly grocery store trips. How things have changed. 












Friday, April 24, 2020

Shadow Art

When we were looking for a condo to move in to in northern Virginia last year, we wanted a unit on the west side of the building. I love sunset over sunrise any day and sitting on the balcony in the late afternoon is relaxing. I’m a night owl but my husband is an early riser. Having the sun hit me first thing in the morning isn’t my idea of a good time. Our little 500 square foot condo on Capitol Hill faced south, so we had light until three in the afternoon when the sun went behind the building, but living on the first floor with a high fence blocked the view to the street; the other 450 square foot studio unit faced north - harsh winds - and rare afternoon sun. So when the light comes in now, it casts interesting shadows on objects in the house. Since we haven’t left home since March 13, one needs to be creative in coming up with blog topics. Since we don’t drive in to DC anymore, the subject matter is limiting. Nevertheless, the shadows are great for photos and a story. The plant console stand in the dining room is coming to life after the winter months. I’m hoping to get another orchid bloom. The bromeliad shadow on the Persian carpet was interesting. The leaf shapes against the wall were soft and crisp while the architectural shadows were hard and well defined. It’s very pleasant to spend the day in our 1000 square foot living space. So glad we downsized in 2006. It makes everything so much easier. 





















Thursday, April 23, 2020

Lucky Bamboo

We had a big change of scenery yesterday. Since we haven’t been outdoors since March 13, items we need the most - particularly groceries - have been delivered to the lobby of our building. We get a call to pick them up. We put on masks and take every precaution when we leave our unit. It’s also the time we pick up mail - otherwise we go at midnight to avoid contact. Whenever possible I try to schedule deliveries in late afternoon or evening to minimize running in to anyone. Otherwise, any non perishable package is left by the door after seven pm. Most of those have been necessities - like toilet paper. It’s an art to snag this item as of late. We used to buy cut flowers every other week or so to put in our wall vase and on the plant console in the dining room. For quite some time, the vases have been empty. My husband was commenting the other day about bamboo plants for the vases. We have a small one in the bathroom that has lasted forever - without a window, but indirect light. Of course, everyone is looking to keep busy indoors - and caring for houseplants has become a big deal. So I found a place in California that ships bamboo plants. They arrived yesterday. The box was sprayed with alcohol, and after being “quarantined” for 24 hours, we opened the box today and unpacked the plants. I still need to figure out exactly where they should go - perhaps a few in the bedroom? Until then, a few stalks were placed in the vase on the plant console, and a few in the wall vase. We may add some small river rocks or maybe we won’t. Such decisions! There’s something sweet about having and taking care of plants. It’s a great diversion that helps us both. 














Wednesday, April 22, 2020

I Lost All My Safari Tabs on My IpadPro

They all just disappeared the other day. All the Safari open tabs on my iPad went poof - and there were many, many tabs. Then they all came back out of the blue. Unfortunately I didn’t copy what was there, so it’s all up to my memory because they all went missing yesterday again. I’ve had iPads since 2010 and this has never happened. When I searched the topic, apparently it happens all the time. So I read about bookmarking and went to work reestablishing all the items that I could remember. Looking at tabs that were recently closed wouldn’t help my effort. So I started with all the things I typically look at in the morning - my blog, my digitalart web pages, the news, the local news, the condo building link, HP ink, social security, pharmacy and health care portals, real estate in our current and old neighborhood.... but there were so many I just couldn’t remember. I suppose when I’m looking for something and don’t see it I’ll add it. You could say it was a good way to clean up the tabs and leave only the essentials. That would have been okay if it was my idea. 








Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Living My Mom’s Life

There’s really not a photo for this blog today. My mom passed away two months ago. She was 97 and lived a good life. I was in weekly phone contact with her since I went away to college forty five years ago and many times weekly using a lot of different methods over the years - letters and cards, photos, Presto, and finally emails via our iPads. The last year was particularly difficult for her. The emails slowly ended, and the conversations were the same every week, until there were none. She would say there was nothing to tell me because nothing changed from day to day. This, after months of not wanting to talk to any of us due to side effects from the iv antibiotic therapy she was getting for an amputated forefoot. It all seemed so unnecessary. Logically it made sense she was slowly leaving us and she was in control until the end. When she started asking for dad I knew it wouldn’t be much longer. But her last year reminds me of our current quarantine. We luckily don’t have to make almost weekly visits to the doctor. But we do have to stay in the house - maybe more than a lot of other people, but it feels suffocating at times. I am thankful for everything we have and have no right to complain. And I’m not. But every once in a while I get claustrophobic and it feels like Groundhog Day because it is. I used to like that movie. I often wonder what age would be the best during times like this? It’s all about the attitude I’m sure - just like anything else. 

Monday, April 20, 2020

Houseplant Artwork

We always had plants and flowers in our gardens. In the Midwest we had several window boxes and containers to go along with the flower beds. In our tiny patio garden on Capitol Hill we had a birdbath, many birds, perennials and annuals. Even for a small place it demanded constant attention. But it was worth it. When we moved to northern Virginia last year we swapped our patio garden for a console table in the dining room - and filled it with indoor houseplants. Most, if not all, have survived their first year. They sit beneath a lovely mirror that reflects the sunlight in the late afternoon. Unfortunately, none of them are flowering. We used to fill the wall vase with cut flowers every other week, but lately all that’s left is greens. When one is stuck in the house, it’s tough to be creative with ideas to update this blog. Luckily something usually comes to mind. I remember taking up close photos of the plants at the US Botanic garden - my favorite place. So I thought I’d do the same with my plants. If you look close enough, the detail of the leaves is so artistic. I am hoping that the orchid that was given to us as a housewarming gift once again blooms. It seems the sunlight in the afternoon is nudging it along, although I’ve never had much luck. So in the mean time we will continue to look after our indoor friends. It’s good for both of us.