The long and the short of it is that I took the challenge. It let much, much, much pressure off my shoulders and noodle. That along with laying on my back when I sleep is saving my shoulder and arms. How could I say no? I almost gave my oil set and brushes away to Christian Community Action. I though I was done with oil painting. You may remember my discussions of breathing fumes at night. I was not on board with courting cancer. Exhaust issues changed and I packed up my kit and brushes to resume there position in the studio. Apparently acrylics are out of bounds on this trek. It is oils or get out of town. Here's the trick: an 8"x8" canvas is the second component. I might ease in on this with a complimentary one year deadline.
What is left to tend for next year is Operator-Water Drinker-Field Spy. I have started the quilting and that was half the battle. Thanks to the encouragement to play through on my rest day, I've discovered that I may be able to nail a hand pieced, hand quilted king size quilt in four to six months. Depending on difficulty I still should be able to finish in under a year. That is just an estimate. When I hang the shingle for sure I'll have negotiation points to explain. Whatever dark cloud I am under I hope a little rain falls that will help me grow.
Meanwhile, I will not be putzing around to much before I start painting. I got druthers to work on the birthday experiment and tend to roses later this week.
As ever, stay hungry and curious.