Last month I played in Julie Kirk’s The Month in Numbers for the first time, which is an invitation to compile a list of things that occurred during your month and summarize them with a numbers post. I thought it was a wonderful way to close out the month and so I’m playing again this month. Do check out Julie’s site for information on how you can play along too, and check out the links to other bloggers doing their monthly count.
Back in June I spent the month blogging an abecedarium and had such fun doing it, I plan on doing another one in August. Stay tuned for that. But to get myself back in gear, I’m doing this month’s count in A to Z fashion again as well. Here we go… I’m putting on my crown and welcoming you into the counting house for the July numbers:
A is for astrological solar return report: 1
Yes July brought me a birthday, and every year I gift myself with a reading to get an overview of the stars I’ll be dancing under for the next twelve months.
B is for blog posts written: 13
C is for communal count – the contents of my everyday bag (individual items): 67
This was a category suggested by Julie. I’m hoping lots of players take her up on the invitation to peek into their bags. Here are the photos:
And the specific counts: purse items: 1 camera in 1 silk bag; 1 pair glasses in 1 felted case; 1 journal; 3 pens; 1 watch;1 phone; 1 wallet; 1 set of 4 keys; 1 card case with 1 additional key; 1 crow bag; 22 coins
Wallet: 7 cards; 8 pieces paper money; 4 index cards; 1 tiny journal; 1 card case with 4 additional cards; 1 card case with 6 biz cards; 2 festival passes; 1 receipt
crow bag: 2 pots solid perfume; 1 bottle Rescue Remedy; 1 bottle Tylenol; 1 package Kleenex; 4 cosmetic things – pencil, mascara, lipstick, chap stick; 2 safety pins
For a total of 67 individual items
D is for dentist visits: 2
E is for eating out: 6 times
F is for farmers’ market visits: 2
G is for gelatos consumed: 1 delicious raspberry wonder
H is for hand analysis reports: 1
It might be the artist in me (or perhaps the latent criminal) but I loved inking up and making hand and finger prints. And then hearing what all the markings were. It delights me to think of my hands as holding constellations like a night sky: I have Moon stars, Neptune star, Mars star, Venus star, Persephone line, a fingerprint in the palm of my hand, peacock markings, and lots of other wonders.
I is for ICADs (index card a day) created in July: 31
Today brings us to the end of the 61 day challenge, and I must say I quite enjoyed the daily ritual of creating a quick piece of art, and connecting with lots of others playing as well. I invite you to visit the Daisy Yellow blog and check out the link party of this week’s final cards. Here are the final three I haven’t yet posted:
J is for journals: 1 won (yay!) and 2 created
K is for kitty toys purchased: 4 (3 catnip fortune cookies and 1 catnip banana)
Meet Amaterasu Solaria and Jupiter, the deserving recipients:
L is for lilac bouquets: 1
Yes it IS July and yes I do have lilacs that I’ve cut and am enjoying their heady fragrance. I have a variety of lilacs that are supposed to bloom several times from Spring through Fall. How wonderful is that?
M is for morning coffee on the porch (with requisite bubble blowing as well): 29 times
N is for neighborhood block party: 1
O is for onions, Vidalia (the size of my head!): 1consumed
Ok, to be truthful here… it wasn’t really a Vidalia, as it was locally grown and I understand federal marketing order, as well as a state law in Georgia, prohibits the use of the term Vidalia for any onions not grown in a certain region of Georgia. So mine was a Vidalia-esque sweet onion. But it WAS the size of my head. 😉
P is for photos: 472 taken; 38 printed
I was pretty amazed at this count as I’ve never paid attention before, and I’m definitely not a photographer. But this category was another of the communal count invitations from Julie, so I played along.
Q is for quesadillas: 2 eaten and thoroughly enjoyed
R is for my reading list: 10 books read. I think my fave this month was American Gods: The 10th Anniversary Edition by Neil Gaiman. A dose of modern day mythology.
S is for selfies: 31 taken
I’m really loving this daily practice. It’s far more profound than I could have possibly imagined when I began, and I’m not sure I’ll be stopping any time soon.
T is for talisman: 1
This beautiful talisman necklace was created by artist Mia Illuzia with a menalite stone as the focal point. Menalite is often referred to as goddess stone because they often form in shapes that look like goddesses or totem animals. This one is entitled Soul Bird and it’s a powerful piece that I really love.
U is for Uppercase magazine: 2 read
This quarterly is a new find for me this year and it’s my intention to work my way through all the back issues. It’s a delightful compendium of graphic design, illustration, crafting that describes itself as being for “the creative and curious.” I do love a good art and design publication.
V is for vanilla absolute: 1
I’m working with an utterly delightful Madagascar absolute doing some blending experiments to create some natural perfumes. I’m in the height of the alchemy stage which is always great fun for me.
X is for X, the algebraic expression: 1
Yes, I actually did need to solve an equation using X. Of course we do it all the time in our heads, but I actually had to write this one out to figure it out.
Y is for yogurt: 9 containers eaten.
Z is for zines read: 2
So there you have it, my month in numbers. What about you? Any numbers stand out for you in July? An abecedarium entry to share? Favorite book of the month? A wonderful magazine to suggest? Are you ready to turn the calendar page and welcome August? Do tell – you know I love to hear.
What a great idea to do this as an A-Z – how clever!
Pleased to see I’m not the only one with rescue remedy in my bag!
I smiled when I saw you carried it as well. Smart cookies we are. 😉
I agree, what a great idea!
Thanks Rita – I’m glad you stopped by.
Love your final three ICAD cards, and I enjoyed reading your A-Z list!
Thanks – and I’m glad you stopped by.
That is such a fun thing to do but I think I need some time to consider – maybe next month of to sum up my holidays :0)
I am very impressed. Off to count how many things I have in my bag.
A holiday sum up sounds like a wonderful way to play. Hope you come play next month! And thanks for stopping by – I appreciate it!
Oh I love how you have done this with letters – brilliant! I really enjoyed reading your list and am off to investigate some of your entries further – thank you, your kitties are beautiful ans so is the necklace! J x
Thanks for coming by to visit. I certainly enjoyed your list as well. It’s quite fun playing isn’t it?
Welcome once again Deborah – your alpha/numeric combo posts must take some brain work! Great stuff!
I smiled to see another bottle of Rescue Remedy [even before seeing Debs got here before me to comment on it too!] – I wonder if there’ll be any others out there!
And funny too to see another pair of pretty cats peering up at me – just like in Jennies Month in Numbers post! I love seeing the connections between us all.
I don’t think I’ve seen Menalite before – how amazing – my other half [who likes stomes/ fossils etc] will love it – I’ll have to show him when he gets home!
Thank you for joining in with another great post – I’ve added you to the board now Deborah : http://pinterest.com/notesonpaper/my-month-in-numbers/
Happy August to you!
Julie 🙂
p.s: The questions for the 2nd ‘Communal Count’ are now up on my blog 🙂
I’m really enjoying this fun closing-out-the-month practice Julie – and thank you for the inspiration behind it and the monthly hosting. Yay you! And I’m certainly enjoying reading the summaries of other players as well. It is indeed fun to see the similarities among all the unique things as well. Love this.
I Love these month in number posts!
Thanks Cynthia Lee. They’re a fun way to look back on the month.
This is such a cool way to remember the month! Do you write stuff down as you go, or just do it at the end? I would never remember! Your gray cat looks JUST like my cat, Velcro. They could be twins. And I have been thinking about starting a selfie practice. It’s intriguing, but I think I would do it for myself in the beginning and not share any of them. Do you share them or not?
I do keep ongoing track of some things, but for some of the letters I had to decide at the end what item I’d be counting. So to answer your question – yes to both. 😉
Velcro is perfectly wonderful name. My kitty is a real love sponge and likes to stick close to me, so I’m thinking they may indeed be related, at least in spirit.
I began the selfies as a 6-week project with a very small group, and so we’ve been sharing our daily photos within that safe and sacred space. I actually found it really helpful to just get over myself really quickly, so I think that was a good thing for me. I’ve shared a couple of the selfies I’ve taken on my blog over the course of the month, but mostly it’s been a private reflective process. I’d love to hear if you start a practice and what it’s like for you.
What a fabulous spin on the numbers! Loved all the bird patterns in your bag.
Cool to find other people who do similar things like taking lots of pictures, reading books and zines and eating yogurt. 😀
The number count thing is great fun isn’t it Paula? And I love the aspect of recognizing similarities and noting differences in other’s lives, and being inspired by it all. Thanks so much for stopping by, and happy counting in August.
How original, what a fun way to share your MIN. Wish I had a porch to have my morning coffee on.
Thanks for coming by Janet. I do love my little porch. I always feel a bit sad when it gets too cold to sit out in late autumn. But that makes the arrival of Spring all the more delicious.
Wow, what a thorough count, and all so well thought out. That must have taken some time. It sounds like you really enjoyed July.
July was fun for me, and I’m counting on August for the same. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by – I appreciate it.
I really like your itemization of the month! I’ve been enjoying your blog, lots of lovely things to read and see!
Thanks for the kind words, and I’m delighted you’ve stopped by to visit.
Love how you have done an A-Z for your numbers – what a fun and fab idea. Thanks for the little peek into your handbag
Thanks for stopping by and saying hello Karen – I appreciate it. It was fun peeking into everyone’s bag wasn’t it?