Author: MaryG

Thursday Doors—Squeeze Burger, Sacramento

~ MaryG ~ 3 Comments

I went looking for a door photo for Dan’s Thursday Doors and found this:

If someone asked me yesterday if I’d ever been to Sacramento, the capital of California, I would’ve said no.

But I was wrong. My high school friend Susan and I took our 11-year old sons on an epic Northern California road trip in the summer of 2012 and stopped at the famous Squeeze Burger (formerly Squeeze Inn) in Sacramento. We were on our way to her house in Lake Tahoe from Oakland.

Upon further research, I found pictures of the famous cheese-skirted burgers online, which look familiar.

We were in the second Sacramento location (now closed), which featured the original tiny Sacramento storefront as a booth in the restaurant. Perfect for two boys traveling with their moms.

This is why pictures matter people. By the time you hit 60, you will not remember half the stuff you did in your life.

No Kings

~ MaryG ~ 5 Comments

What’s everyone’s plan for Saturday?

Will you turnout for the largest (hopefully) pro-democracy peaceful protests in history?

NoKings.Org

I’m going to a poster-making event Wednesday, so I went searching in my basement for poster paint. I found some! Now I just need some normal size lettering brushes. My house painting brushes are too wide.

This was my paint-testing practice poster, but I think I’ll stick it on my lawn on Saturday

I’m debating what to put on my actual protest poster. Here’s what I’m thinking:

NO ABORTION BANS

NO Healthcare Hike$

NO Voter Suppression 

NO Assault Weapons

NO Kings in America

What’s your sign going to say?

How empty-nesters repurpose space

~ MaryG ~ 11 Comments

We now have three unused bedrooms upstairs, but we’re using our one and only dining room as a combo art studio, home office, and marijuana dispensary.

Because…stairs

I’m definitely seeing the benefits of living on one floor.

When your kids are home, it’s nice to have separate floors for various activities. Young kids can be sent “up to bed” and you can still watch your shows on whatever volume you want. Older kids and teens can go to the basement to roughhouse or just hang out adult-free. And everyone can have privacy and space when needed.

When it’s just the two of you, it’s different. Do I really want my other glasses enough to climb the stairs to get them? If I need a pain reliever in the middle of the night and the only bottle is in the kitchen, how bad is the pain really? Bad enough to go downstairs in a cold, dark house? Maybe I’d rather just try to sleep with the pain. A bee’s nest recently grew to massive proportions in our basement because nobody was down there to see them coming in. And how exactly are we going to deal, if my husband’s arthritis requires joint replacement?

Sometimes I decide to go upstairs to get something, get distracted by laundry sorting or some other upstairs activity, and return without what I went up there for. I’ve found that if I say my plan aloud (“I’m going to get a sweater”), there’s a better chance I’ll complete the mission. And if I forget, there’s a chance my husband heard me say it and can remind me.

So, convenience. That’s how empty-nesters repurpose space.

First landscape

~ MaryG ~ 14 Comments

Given the tremendous amount of interest among my fellow retired ladies in painting landscapes, I could not wait until the next class to try one—a misty one, of course.

Here’s my inspiration photo from my misty trip to Ireland in June:

The round tower at Glendalough—a medieval monastery in County Wicklow, Ireland
This is 9×12” watercolor block paper. I spent about 1.5 hours on it. I used a hairdryer to dry the paper between layers.

I’m going to ask the teacher for feedback/tips next class. I’m actually sad we don’t have class this Monday due to the holiday.

Happy weekend!

Thursday Doors—Trinity College Chapel, Connecticut

~ MaryG ~ 9 Comments

My college in Hartford, Connecticut had a spectacular gothic chapel on the quad. So Hogwarts! We were not an Ivy League school, but with that chapel on the quad—and scores of rich classmates from the snootiest boarding schools on the Eastern Seaboard—we could pretend we were. A couple of my more diligent classmates were able to transfer to Ivy League schools after freshmen year, but most of us just stayed and partied in Hartford.

My daughter had absolutely no interest in attending a small, private liberal arts college, but we did stop by one day when we were passing through the area. And the chapel still looked gorgeous.

My daughter in front of my college’s chapel doors in 2013.
The same doors as seen through an arch on the day of my graduation in 1987.

Posted for Dan’s Thursday Doors

More experimentation

~ MaryG ~ 4 Comments

I’ve watched a couple more online watercolor tutorials with the baby-voice lady: Allison Lyon.

I’m learning there are entire sub-genres of watercolor painting. Some can be very vibrant, precise or realistic (i.e. “botanicals”), and others can be soft, blurry, dreamlike (involving a lot of wet-on-wet and water-related techniques).

I tried a bunch of wet techniques in this one including lifting paint, dripping, and splattering. My husband’s computer got slightly spattered in the process. Oops! (It’s supposed to be dreamy, floating lotus blossoms, but not sure it reads as that.)
And here’s my attempt at a vibrant, crazy butterfly. My paint set has numerous shades of yellow, orange and red, so I was also trying to see what the pure shade of each of those colors looks like.

Watercolor Class Week 3: Portraits

~ MaryG ~ 9 Comments

Our teacher likes to paint portraits, so we painted portraits today.

She first gave a lesson on creating skin tones. The basic recipe is this: a lot of cad yellow, a little cad red, a spot of cobalt (or ultramarine) and varying amounts of water.

Sometimes a bit of crimson for very pale/pinkish people or a bit of purple for darker people.

She strongly urged us not to try to paint anyone we know and love on our first attempt, so I pulled this Spanish chef out of magazine.

My husband thinks he looks a bit like Dominic West.

Some of the ladies flat out refused to try painting a portrait. They like landscapes. So that’s what they will paint, because retired ladies do what they want! I fully support this.

The teacher also introduced us to a truly amazing watercolor portrait artist named Ali Cavanaugh. Holy shit, this woman is talented.

Do something, anything

~ MaryG ~ 18 Comments

I fully admit that I have been so grief-stricken and stunned by the second Trump term, I have not done much of anything to resist it. A protest here, a Facebook post there, a small donation now and then. I cancelled my Hulu subscription over the Kimmel thing.

But the fact of the matter is: we are out of time. If the upcoming midterm elections don’t somehow curb his power, it’s “game over” for US democracy as we’ve known it. The Supreme Court is not going to stop him.

Wildly unpopular “Project 2025” is being implemented, despite all claims to the contrary.

The cost of living is out of control, with healthcare costs set to skyrocket next year, and Donald Trump is responding by declaring war on…Chicago.

Women will most certainly be second-class citizens in this far right version of America. A 100% male committee in South Carolina is currently considering an abortion ban so extreme it could threaten women with the death penalty for pregnancy loss.

Our minister left us with the following quote from the Talmud on Sunday.

“Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”

She said that last part twice, so it stuck with me.

Cellpic Sunday—The Country Fair

~ MaryG ~ 7 Comments

My church runs an annual “country fair” which serves as both a fundraiser for the church and a fall festival for the town. A portion of the proceeds are donated to a local nonprofit each year.

It’s always in early October and it has been going on for decades. Different teams work to prepare and then implement the various revenue areas: the book sale, the country store, “trash & treasure,” face painting, bake sale, etc.

For the past few years, I’ve worked jewelry. We get a tremendous amount of jewelry donated by members and friends of the church throughout the year—everything from diamond rings to Mardi Gras beads.

Sorting, pricing and displaying it is a big job! There are about five of us that usually handle this task, with Julie being our fearless leader. Julie is a former Peace Corps volunteer and retired high school teacher with an eye for precious metals. She’s extremely good at making sure we don’t accidentally give away a real gold ring or a vintage sterling brooch for $5.

She tends to monitor and sell the “real jewelry” at the fair while the rest of us sell the mounds and mounds of “costume jewelry.” She can be tough when needed, especially on the early birds who are clearly looking to score some real gold for next to nothing.

Julie has permanently dedicated a significant portion of her basement to donated jewelry, props on which to display jewelry, and tools to evaluate and repair jewelry.

Here’s my snap of Julie the Jewelry Queen setting up necklace displays in the church office the night before the Country Fair.

And here’s a cell pic of our group in action yesterday. (It was taken by our minister.)

Posted for John’s Cellpic Sunday.

Most of us wear our church t-shirts to work at the fair which have our shared UU values on the back.

The YouTube Teachers

~ MaryG ~ 4 Comments

Because my in-person watercolors teacher is self-taught and rather informal, I feel like I need a bit more formal explanation about how to use these famously tricky paints.

In typical 2025 style, I asked ChatGPT for the “best watercolor tutorials on YouTube” which sent me down a rabbit hole. So many teachers! I ended up liking Allison Lyon—a very talented young woman with a gentle, soothing baby voice. I’ve already watched 5 or 6 of her videos and learned some stuff (i.e. wet on wet vs. wet on dry).

Practice 3x5s from Alison’s tutorials

I’m not usually a fan of women who speak in baby voices, but given our stressful times, I may amend this view. Just listening to her talk will de-stress you.

She’s on Instagram as well: @allisonlyonart