Kelsey Nelson
Phyllis Sickles
Filed under Creativity, Gorgeous Gourd Art
“Red Bouquet of Roses” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
Some Irish thoughts –
“I can resist everything except temptation.” ~ Oscar Wilde
“As you slide down the banister of life, May the splinters never point the wrong way.”
“May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been, the foresight to know where you’re going, and the insight to know when you’ve gone too far.”
“Everyone is wise until he speaks.”
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! May we all have the luck of the Irish today!
Filed under holidays
When we first started making metal decorations to attach to our mailbox, we used to have to manually cut the designs out using a welding torch and then spend a LOT of time smoothing all the edges, front and back, before even thinking of painting it. It was the best we could do at the time and some decoration is certainly more fun than none.
When we got the CNC set up, where my husband could convert a drawing we found on the net to a code the computer could understand and replicate, cutting it out of sheet metal, we upped our game and a wonderful new adventure began! We have so much fun making these. We now have too many to display each year! We change our decoration twice a month, and then we try to display as many of the other designs we’ve made that are unrelated to a certain holiday as possible.
Now my husband looks for designs that allow us to display something 3-dimensional to take it out of the more ordinary designs. Such a fun way to spend time together – scheming on what to make, how we’re going to make it, cutting it out, marking it, and painting it – and then, finally putting it up on the mailbox, hoping that others will smile as they pass. :0)
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Filed under Lewis Art, Lewis Mailbox Decorations, metal art
620 Best Decorative Gourds Images – Artist Unknown
Essential Glass Works-Etsy
Filed under Creativity, Gorgeous Gourd Art
Our aquarium filter pump suddenly died. I’m not really sure how long it had been on the fritz, but suddenly I noticed that the little fish weren’t happy and that their water looked cloudy. I had just changed the filter cartridge on the first, but I changed it again. I couldn’t get any movement of the water when I plugged it in!
This kind of situation is when I usually ask my husband for help. I couldn’t this time because he was helping a ham guy take down his ham radio towers and wouldn’t be home until it was too late for the poor little fishes. I looked in my supplies and found I did have another pump, but it was a different size and style from the one we were using. I sat down and read the instructions and put the pump together, put the cartridge that came with it in the pump, installed it in the aquarium and plugged it in. It worked!
The pump is actually the wrong size and the top of the aquarium won’t go on the way it should. I’ve ordered a replacement pump like the one we had before, plus more filter cartridges, and I’ll change things out when the new stuff arrives, putting the too-large pump back in storage in case of another failure. I feel good, though, that I was able to do an interim fix so the poor fishes wouldn’t be too uncomfortable.
Filed under Acting Like a Grownup, Challenges, Encouragement
When we return from Lunch Bunch, my plan is to start actually getting my greenhouse more organized. These pictures are from when we just finished it, when all was clean, pristine, and the weed barrier on the floor was in one piece.
Over the months since we finished building it, I’ve transferred lots of things into it, just moving things from our garage, the garden area, etc., so that it was at least in the greenhouse. I’ve been in and out on almost a daily basis, putting plants in there that I bought from one place or another and holding them until I could get them into the garden. A six-pack of tomatoes is in there now, but everything else has been planted in the raised bed square foot garden. I’m getting some good exercise because the only place we had to build the greenhouse is on the opposite side of our property from the shop and the garden.
Now is the time to at least start getting organized. I want to create an area for starting seeds. I want to consolidate a bunch of supplies, taking up as little table space as possible because I’ll need to bring more plants in when we demolish the two brick planters that have cracked, and in the future will want space for growing seeds, and staged growing plants as I try to get them ready to plant outside. I’ll have to be careful what I store on the floor under the tables on each side because water collects there when it rains. It’s exciting to finally start scheming and planning how I want things to work!
“Purple Hyacinth” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Purple Iris” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Purple Pansy” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
Nature of Art For Kids
After I take the doggies out again, I’m heading upstairs to play in my art room.
I received a suggestion that I do some thank you notes in the ‘thumb print” theme, but geared to boys, (“Thumbys”) since they need to write thank you notes, too, from time to time. It was also suggested that some “Thinking of You” cards in the same theme might be appreciated.
I hope that you are having some fun this afternoon, too!
Filed under Childlike Fun, doing what you love
“Exotic Flowers” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Pink Little Flowers” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Purple Gerbera” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Purple” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
“Washing the dog…. Just washing the dog….”
Molly is going through her awkward time of the year, where the weather is prime for digging up critters who hide under the grass in the yard and where she has needed the warmth of her fuzzy fur. Next week, instead of “Fuzzy Molly” we’ll have “Sleek Molly” who will have been sheared like a sheep. When she is sleek, she is much easier to keep clean, plus it’s very easy to grab any fleas and ticks who try to come into the house riding on her back.
She was SO awful, though, that I couldn’t stand it any longer. I put her in the sink and scrubbed her all over with tearless puppy shampoo (even though she’s 14 years old now.) I always use puppy shampoo because I hate the idea of it stinging if the soap happens to get near her eyes.
She is thoroughly teed off with me now – first because I lessened her dignity by putting her in the sink and scrubbing her, and second, because even after three bath towels and my hair dryer, she’s still wet enough that I don’t want to take her out so she can roll in the grass.
She finally realized that she’s lost this round, so breathed a huge, dramatic sigh and is now trying to sleep in her bed.
Now we both have dog hair all over us, but we she looks better and we both definitely smell better.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
YouTube
My husband got an email two days ago about a man in Van Buren, Arkansas needing help taking down his ham radio tower. My husband said he’d be glad to help. This morning he’s on the way to Van Buren to do what he can to help. The Vette is packed with tools. He has cell phone, cap, kleenex, chapstick, bottles of water, more tools than you can imagine (just in case), and the GPS is programmed with the man’s address. The man has hired a guy with a crane for the heavy part of the job.
Even though many of these people don’t know each other well, and, in some cases, have never met each other, there is a bond between them because of their interest in ham radios. Some are really into it and have been for years. Others, like my husband, like the idea and want to be able to find out what is happening in case of emergency. No matter the degree of expertise or why they’re interested, they tend to help each other. I’m happy that my husband is trying to help his fellow hams; but, I have to admit, I’ll breathe a sigh of relief when he’s home again in one piece. He tends to act as if he’s still a young man, rather than a man who’s a bit long in the tooth these days, and pays for it later.
We devoted 3 hours today to driving to Fort Smith, each of us getting teeth cleaned, and driving home. On the way home, though, we stopped at a local plant nursery, looking for the Rio Samba rose bushes we wanted. We FOUND some! We got three of them and stopped to grab some lunch to bring home
This planting was HARD. We had a yellow forsythia bush that had been here for years. It grew like a mad thing, spreading branches and rooting in all directions. It produced fewer and fewer yellow blooms for a shorter amount of time each year. I spent a lot of time trying to keep it from taking over everything in the planter. I finally got tired of it and asked my husband to take it out and replace it with one of the three rose bushes. He used a shovel, an axe, and a pry bar, then got a come-along from the shop and attached it to the trailer hitch on the truck to pull the plant out. We still had to cut back roots and keep digging, but we finally declared victory and planted the rose bush in its place.
Unless I was needed to help get the forsythia out, I was digging holes and planting the other two Rio Sambas. It was a straight forward job, but I had to dig all the way down to the concrete floor to get the hole deep enough for the gorgeous plant’s roots. This one is beside the top of the driveway, beside the garage.
This planter is off the front porch. It was a fairly easy job, too, except that this old broad doesn’t dig a lot of deep holes these days…
I think I told you recently that my friend, Kay, from Lunch Bunch, got me a Joseph’s Coat climbing rose for my birthday. We planted it today right next to a wisteria at the far end of the house. The wisteria is pretty much a bust, not having produced like the one in the front yard, but hopefully it’ll be a dandy thing for the rose to climb on. I can’t wait to see all the roses bloom!
Filed under Favorite Things, Gardening
I got up to refresh my coffee a minute ago. My husband was asleep in his chair, probably not remembering we need to leave for the dentist in about 10 minutes. This is what I found on the divider between the dining area and the kitchen. He had taken the doggies out and cut these to bring in while they were out. He’s definitely a keeper, and this is only one of the many reasons why.
Filed under Delightful Surprises, Family, Favorite Things, giving
“Black Ladies” – Paul Militaru Photography
“The Lady” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
Zen to Zany via Cathy Ruggiero
Filed under Attitude, Bright Ideas, Encouragement, opportunities
care.com
I’m a wuss about going to the dentist. In fact, for many years my husband or I took our son to the dentist, and my husband went, but I didn’t. Finally my husband got frustrated with me. He got me to go by threatening to NOT wear his motorcycle helmet if I didn’t. Nasty tactic – but effective. I went.
My husband has had to have a LOT of work on his teeth. He learned to avoid really awful problems by going to the dentist religiously, even while in the Marine Corps. There they seem to specialize in people who get the job done, but are not known for their bedside manner or being gentle with their patients. When he got out, he has always searched very carefully to find the best dentist he can.
He had to change when his dentist of many years retired. He asked him who he would recommend – who HE would go to. Dr. Wesley Moore, DDS was the one he recommended. We have gone to him for many years now and felt we were given a gift. Not only is HE a great dentist, he has a very carefully picked staff. Shannon was our hygienist for many years. She got me over my not-being-able-to-sleep the night before jitters and tense appointments by being a very gentle lady sensitive to the needs of her clients. When she heard my mom died of oral cancer and that I’m scared to death I’ll get it, too, she did my cancer exam first so I could relax more for the rest of the cleaning care. Very sadly, she and her husband died in a plane crash last year. We were all devastated.
Alesha was a substitute for both of the hygienists at Dr. Moore’s office. She was still in school to be a hygienist. Dr. Moore was happy with her, and so hired her, working with her so she could finish her certification and work for the clinic at the same time. I think she graduated at the end of December. Our first visit with her was hard. We were full of the loss of Shannon. Alesha knew her, was close to her, and well understood what her clients were feeling. She handled herself very well. Again Dr. Moore has chosen one of the best.
I still don’t like going to the dentist. I determinedly waved at Dr. Moore each time we went, speaking to him, but letting him know I liked him as a person, but didn’t want to EVER need to actually GO to him. Last year I had a tooth go bad suddenly. I’ve never had a cavity, much less had a tooth pulled. I was in terrible pain when I saw him, desperate for relief. He said he had an anesthesia where I was awake and could be cooperative with the procedure, but would take away the pain and I wouldn’t remember any details afterward. HEAVEN! He was right, too. I couldn’t be more grateful.
We go for our semi-annual teeth cleaning this morning. I still don’t want to go, but I didn’t have nightmares last night and didn’t have any trouble falling asleep. Finding good people on whom you can depend is one of the most wonderful things you can have.
Filed under Challenges, Changes, taking care of yourself
I got my plants in this afternoon. This picture gives you an idea of where the garden is in relation to our shop.
We have six 4’x4’x8″ raised bed boxes in our garden. It is surrounded by fencing, with chicken wire also around the bottom. I’ll run some bright surveyor’s tape around the perimeter about chest high and also down each of the guy wires at the corners to warn critters that there is a structure here.
I’m planting fewer things this year, with wider spacing. I planted 12 broccoli plants, 12 romaine plants, 12 spinach plants, and 12 iceburg lettuce plants. I had already planted two bunches of onion sets. I have several empty squares. I’ll plant some radishes, plus celery transplanted from plants started in the house later. I’m going to play with growing some gourds because my friend Kay brought some seeds to Lunch Bunch recently. :0) I also have a six pack of tomato plants still in the greenhouse. I’ll wait a couple of weeks to plant them.
Last year I lost some produce because the plants got too large and crowded each other out in the squares. This year I’m only planting one plant per square (other than the onions) and we’ll see how that works.
In this picture you can see the line of trash cans along the back of the shop, plus the blue tarp, etc. The light gray trash cans are filled with the components of Mel’s Mix (peat moss, vermiculite, mushroom compost, barnyard compost, and cotton burr compost.) I have our personal composter toward the house. The darker gray trash cans hold supplies for planting.
I had some trouble with the end of one of the irrigation hoses being messed up. My good husband came out and replaced the messed up end of hose with a new end and then we could water the garden! We won’t put the system on a timer until we’re sure all chance of frost and freezing are past.
Filed under DIET!, Healthy Eating, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds
I love puns and plays on words. It’s a very special form of humor. I don’t know if this is done with other languages or not, but I sure enjoy what people do, playing with ours.
The source of the following “Books” is
I Am Not A Grammar Cope. I Am an English Language Enthusiast
It was posted on Facebook by my friend, Michael Remillard
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I Am Not a Grammar Cop. I Am An English-language Enthusiast via Michael Remillard
Filed under Funny Signs - Humor
We have a small dog bed at my feet under my computer counter area for Molly, so she can get some protection and rest from Amber when she needs it Molly spends a good bit of time here, lying down with a big sigh and going right to sleep.
Today while I was typing, my chair was jostled and almost dumped (with me in it). When I recovered my balance, Amber was in Molly’s bed. I managed to get a couple of pictures before she decided to come out again (repeating the bull-in-a-china-shop move).
Amber doesn’t seem to realize (or care) that she is too big for this bed. She has one just across the room that is large enough for both dogs. Just a moment ago Molly was asleep in the bed and Amber pre-empted her, barging in and lying down on the bed, oblivious to the fact that Molly was sprawled out in it, asleep. Molly leaped up and left, and is now beside my feet on the floor, sleeping… Amber’s back half is in the bed and her front is all the way out beside the back wheels of my chair. I have to be careful not to move or I’ll run over Amber’s ear!
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
Belgian Nursery
My husband goes outside when the weather forecasters tell him it’s raining in Greenwood – on the Lewis’ house – right now. I have a bit more faith in their abilities, though we both realize that trying to forecast the weather is a complicated task. I just looked up the 10-day forecast for Greenwood on the net and see that today was the last forecast freeze through the 23rd. I’ve decided to go ahead and take the plunge, planting the veggies we are holding in the greenhouse.
Gardening Know How
I have iceburg lettuce, spinach, romaine, and broccoli plants, two six-packs of each.
I have my raised bed planters filled with Mel’s Mix and the string stretched across in two directions, creating the squares for planting. My planters are at about chest level so I can just walk up and plant things without having to bend over, get down on my knees or back up again.
I planted Texas Sweet Onion sets a couple of days ago. It’s such a pleasure! I’ll take pictures when I get the plants in. I’m excited to be starting a brand new spring crop!
I’ll watch the weather carefully, leaping up to put sheets over the plants if they say it’s going to get near freezing for the rest of the month.
I’m listing the new “Thumbelina” stationery in my Etsy and ArtFire stores this morning.
Included in the package are 5 hand painted sheets with different designs, 5 blank sheets for longer letters, and 5 correspondingly painted envelopes.
If you like, each painted sheet and envelope may be personalized at no extra charge.
Fun for reaching out to friends, family, and co-workers, bringing smiles to their faces. Nice for a gift, too!
Also available in note cards, thank you notes, “Thumbys” (Thank you notes for boys) and “Thinking of You” Cards very soon!
Filed under Uncategorized
No Sidebar via Stephanie Youmans Wilson
Filed under Encouragement, Favorite Quotes
lovecatsworld.com via Cathy Ruggiero
We definitely have a challenge in the Lewis household: going through doors.
It doesn’t SEEM as if it should be that difficult, does it?
Yesterday Molly barked to come inside.
Fuzzy Molly
I held the front porch door open for her.
(She is about 14 now. She has some trouble getting around and is mostly deaf, though she can hear me when I clap my hands or if she happens to be looking at me when I speak. She had trouble accepting Amber even when Amber only weighed 16 pounds when we first brought her home. Now Amber is 91 pounds (at last weigh-in) and is definitely a jealous, bumbling big, doofus puppy of little brain who wants to be in on all the action. )
So – I held the door open for Molly and invited her in. She didn’t hear me, but Amber did.
Amber at 1 year.
Amber trotted over to the door, bumping into me and wanting to go out. I said ‘no,’ and tried to get Molly in again. Molly heard me this time, but was intimidated to try to come IN while Amber was again trying to go OUT.
Combine this with two cats!
Smoke
Smoke was outside, deciding she wanted to come in, ahead of Molly, but didn’t want to deal with Amber.
Abby decided that she wanted to go OUT, but didn’t want to deal with anyone, so sat there meowing loudly….
Molly wouldn’t come in. Amber wouldn’t go to her place. Smoke wouldn’t come in. Abby wouldn’t go out. I’m standing at the door – a now IRATE traffic director – totally frustrated with the lot of them. Only the fish escaped my wrath, since they didn’t say anything.
I finally shut the door and stormed into the living room where my husband sat placidly reading his kindle in his recliner, oblivious to the whole situation. I just sat down, asking him if he would let Molly in…. :0)
Filed under Amazing Animals, Challenges, Family
creativeartworksblog 