The Iron Diva

Sunday, August 16, 2026

Somewhere Over the Wish List: The Weekly Digest

Getting outside....

I caught the shot of this rainbow on my way back from Arvada this weekend.

Enjoyed seeing the thriving flower beds while I was out and about this week. All these gorgeous flowers make me happy.

Favorite quote(s) of the week...

To live a spiritual life does not mean that we must leave our families, give up our jobs, or change our ways of working; it does not mean that we have to withdraw from social or political activities, or lose interest in literature and art; it does not require severe forms of asceticism or long hours of prayer. Changes such as these may in fact grow out of our spiritual life, and for some people radical decisions may be necessary. But the spiritual life can be lived in as many ways as there are people. What is new is that we have moved from the many things to the kingdom of God. What is new is that we are set free from the compulsions of our world and have set our hearts on the only necessary thing. What is new is that we no longer experience the many things, people, and events as endless causes for worry, but begin to experience them as the rich variety of ways in which God makes his presence known to us. - Henri Nouwen, Making All Things New, 00:43:27 in the audiobook version.

Dear God, I need your silences like I need physical food. I dedicate myself to them. May I resolve to cut my physical food each time I cut my spiritual intake. Thus, soul and body will go up and down together. For I am resolved to employ this practice and to pay the price to do so. Amen. E. Stanley Jones, How to Pray, 00:58:31 in the audiobook version.

You have loved us first, O God, alas! We speak of it in terms of history as if You have only loved us first but a single time, rather than that without ceasing You have loved us first many times and every day and our whole life through. - Soren Kierkegaard, Quoted in Devotional Classics (Edited by Foster & Smith), p. 351.

I'm thinking about...

Wish Lists: I've had the fun privilege of being able to bless some of my friends, family, and charities I support through their wish lists: birthdays, Christmas, baby showers, back to school, and helping stock teacher classrooms. I really enjoy helping out that way because it guarantees that people get what they truly need or want. So my question is, would it be annoying, tacky or wrong to put out wish lists of my own? Understand, no one is under any obligation to purchase anything.

Why the consternation? Because I feel like those who put out their lists have earned the right to do so: they have families, have a supportive circle of friends, and/or have a noble cause for the list (teachers for example). I'm not sure I've earned that right. I've been considering putting a link to my Amazon wish list on my Auntie's Workshop blog of items that would help upgrade my supplies and equipment so I can make more and better art. I thought this might be a fun alternative for those who haven't yet seen any art pieces they wish to purchase for themselves, but want to support what I do. Just a thought.

What y'all think?

What I've read since my last digest...

Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton ✮✮
Making All Things New by Henri Nouwen ✮✮✮✮
Invitation to Solitude and Silence by Ruth Haley Barton ✮1/2
The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzero ✮1/2
Reading the Sermon on the Mount with John Stott by John Stott✮✮✮1/2
How to Pray by E. Stanley Jones ✮✮
Wandering Thoughts by John Wesley ✮✮
Wacky Wednesday by Dr. Seuss, et al. ✮✮✮✮ (Category: Kiddie Lit)
Get Your Life Back by John Eldredge ✮✮✮✮

I'm currently reading...

The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy L. Sayers
The Courage to Create by Rollo May
Eugenics and Other Evils by G. K. Chesterton

My current "crock pot" reads (slow and steady reads that will take a while):

Diary of an Old Soul by George MacDonald
Devotional Classics by Richard J. Foster and James Bryan Smith (Editors)

Recent blog posts...

My previous digest, "Uno Flip" is here.
My latest book review (revisited) of The Turquoise Table by Kristin Schell is here.
Government Cheese: The Weekly Hodgepodge is here.
Five Minute Friday: "Lazy." is here.
My "2026 Baby Got Stacks" reading challenge is here. (Updated regularly).
My "26 for 2026" challenge is here. (Updated regularly)
My "26 for 2026" art challenge is here. (Updated regularly).

From the Workshop...

See my latest Monday Mess Making post "Christmas in July 2026 - 02" here.

I am thankful for...

Afternoon rain showers.
Slightly cooler weather so I can get outside some.
Rotisserie chickens.
Iced tea and coffee.
Culture passes from the library that allow me to experience cool things.
Long quilting needles.
Short liner brushes.
Ankle socks.
Command strips and hooks.
Thrift stores.

Sunday, July 19, 2026

Uno Flip: The Weekly Digest

Looking out the window....

Saw this on a walk this week. It's called Orange Carpet Creeping Hummingbird Trumpet

The hibiscus bush between buildings one and two at our complex is blooming despite the drought.

Yes, I know this zoomed in from the car window shot is just as janky as when I tried to take the same picture last year. However, these planters on 1st Avenue and University Boulevard in Denver make my drive back from church so joyful.

A cool experience...

Our church periodically has a themed game night. Usually these are held during the cooler months (ie: when sundown is 4:30 p.m. and Auntie stays home). Thank goodness Pastor Roman decided to have one during the summer. This one was early enough for me to participate for a couple of hours and still have time to get home before dark. Our table ended up playing Spades and the "Flip" version of UNO. It was a fun time of laughter and meeting new people.

Favorite quote(s) of the week...

Before we can be a good host, we must experience being a welcomed guest, and before we can create a place of belonging for others, we must believe we belong. For that, we must first know to whom we belong. We are able to love because we were first loved. - Kristin Schell, The Turquoise Table, p. 121.

The love from God is no sentimental slop It burns away everything that is of a nature contrary to itself. Nothing can abide if it stands in opposition to divine love. Also, this love comforts, draws, nurtures, and inflames us with desire for the Beloved. - Richard J. Foster, Devotional Classics, p. 134.

I'm thinking about...

I know that my full-time job at the university is year-round and I'm on indefinite hiatus from teaching, but the new school year is coming up for local schools and our in-seat undergraduate students. Last year, I decided that I wanted to do something special to commemorate the new school year. However, I haven't figured out what. My coworker Marla takes a back-to-school picture complete with the new school year plaque and everything. I'm not sure if that's the right thing for me. Every time I pass the school supply aisle at Wal-Mart, I want to buy supplies for myself--but I don't need any.

I'll continue to ponder it and figure out something...or not.

What I've read since my last digest...

On Loving God by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
The Turquoise Table by Kristin Schell (A glorious reread) ✮✮✮✮
Real Life Organizing by Cassandra Aarsen ✮✮✮✮
Richard Baxter by Glenda Mathes and Joel Beeke ✮✮1/2 (Category: Kiddie Lit)

I'm currently reading...

The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy L. Sayers
Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Stanton
The Courage to Create by Rollo May

My current "crock pot" reads (slow and steady reads that will take a while):

Diary of an Old Soul by George MacDonald
The Emotional Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzero
Devotional Classics by Richard J. Foster and James Bryan Smith

Recent blog posts...

My previous digest, "Artistic Chat Bots" is here.
My latest book review (revisited) of The Turquoise Table by Kristin Schell is here.
Government Cheese: The Weekly Hodgepodge is here.
Five Minute Friday: "Lazy." is here.
My "2026 Baby Got Stacks" reading challenge is here. (Updated regularly).
My "26 for 2026" challenge is here. (Updated regularly)
My "26 for 2026" art challenge is here. (Updated regularly).

From the Workshop...

See my latest Monday Mess Making post "Christmas in July 2026 - 01" is here.

I am thankful for...

Chris and Michelle, our Creative
Arts Team leaders with Pastor Ayinde
Air conditioning: Yes I know I said that last week, but it was 99 degrees today.
Our Creative Arts Team at church. The team is composed of the worship team, choir, production team, and everyone else who makes each service's worship experience as smooth as possible. It's not fancy Hollywood production that is overly distracting or focused on the wrong thing. It simply helps us meet God in worship.
I know I've ranted about my 7th grade Home Economics teacher, however, I am thankful that the one useful thing I did learn from her (that had nothing to do with sewing) was how to properly follow a recipe. I'm having so much fun learning new recipes. This week I learned to make Lemon Bars. I got the recipe from the May 2026 Southern Living Magazine. I cannot describe how delectable this recipe is, but wow.
Friends who enjoy being my taste testers for new recipes.
Someone at PBS finally got wise and made the Create channel available to stream. Back home, I could watch Create over my antenna. For some reason here in Colorado the channel is being overrun by another unrelated channel on my antenna. My TV has built-in Roku options, and for years I've tried to see Create but it wasn't available. About a month ago, I checked in again to the PBS app and low and behold, there it is. Now, I'm not sure how long it's been available (maybe a year?), but it's there and it's shows are available to stream on demand. My favorite new-to-me show so far is J. Schwanke's Life in Bloom, a fun and informative show about flowers and flower arranging.

Sunday, July 12, 2026

Artistic Chat Bots: The Weekly Digest

Looking out the window....

Despite the crispier-than-normal summer we're having here in Colorado, blooms like this goldenrod are thriving. The lavender is also flourishing. I saw many flower beds loaded with lavender on my drive back from church on Sunday but couldn't take any pictures (safety first). Stunning!

A cool experience...

My birthday celebration bled over into summer. Emily and her family took me to see Gaelic Storm at the Arvada Center's amphitheater. The band and their opener Jigjam are (for a lack of a better way to describe it) sort of Irish Bluegrass. It was such a wonderful experience. I cackled at the humor embedded in some of the songs (one solo included the melody to Axel F from the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack for example). The talent of the musicians was mind blowing.

Favorite quote(s) of the week...

Prayer is like an automobile: you do not have to understand anything about the inner workings for it to get you somewhere. - Richard J. Foster, Devotional Classics, p. 113.

There are some who believe that when we turn to God we ought to leave our brains behind us. True, they will soon be left behind by necessity if we go far on the road towards God who is above all reason and all knowledge, for the Spirit swiftly overpasses these imperfect instruments. But those whose feet are still firmly planted upon earth gain nothing by anticipating this moment when reason is left behind; they will not attain the depths of prayer by the mere annihilation of their intelligence. - Evelyn Underhill, qtd. in Devotional Classics, p. 96.

I'm thinking about...

Etsy: I've been asked by several people why I don't sell my art on Etsy. Here's my answer. I tried selling on the website years ago when the listing and selling fees were reasonable. However, because I could only produce a few different items at a time rather than being able to produce in bulk, I sold nothing and my shop gained no traction. In other words, because my items were actually handmade and took time, neither Etsy nor its buyers were interested.

Fast forward to current day, and it's worse....

So now not only are the fees higher, but Etsy promotes the use of AI to "create" art rather than real human artists.

I just can't...and I won't.

In all honesty, those who keep suggesting I use Etsy don't purchase my art in the first place. So they have no idea (or don't care) what goes into the creative process and that buying directly from me is cheaper in the long run.

I'm not going to go into a rant about AI, but I will say this. AI is a vitamin, not pure food. In other words, there are ethical ways to use AI to SUPPLEMENT your own work, but there is no ethical way to use it to REPLACE your own work.

What I've read since my last digest...