“Place of Meditation” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
Alice Hoffman via TitleWaveforBooks via History Books via Cathy Ruggiero
Filed under Hobbies, Reading is FUNdamental
Ambrose Bierce via Email from Bill Lites
We got a kiddie pool for Amber last year. She was a cute MUCH SMALLER puppy last summer and was a little intimidated by the water. We finally got her to walk around and drink some of the water, but she didn’t want to actually swim in it much.
Now, since the weather is so beastly hot already here – and it’s not even officially summer yet – I let Amber out and she comes back sopping wet. She heads for the pool immediately, leaps in, walks around, drinks some of the water, then lies down in the middle, saying, “Ahhhhhh!” She may do this several times while she’s out. Then she barks at the door, wanting to come in. She’s 93 pounds of bull-in-a-china-shop wet puppy – and exuberant in her (1) wish for a cookie for barking when she wants to come in, and (2) wish to snuggle with her people.
I now keep dog towels at the front door and at the garage door so that I can at LEAST keep her from dripping all over everything. I’ll make this a routine until our weather cools off – hopefully in October – scrubbing out and refilling the pool every 3 days or so. She LOVES her kiddie pool now. She really doesn’t understand why we don’t care to snuggle with her until she dries off….
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
Bubba Watson via sayingimages.com
Jim Wheaton
My dad had a great sense of humor and shared it generously. The humor came in many forms: wonderful stories, jokes, looks, puns, and funny actions. He made us all laugh, even at times when we felt like crying. To him, making people laugh started out as a way to be accepted at school. This was a HUGE thing because one arm was shorter than the other, his left hand almost completely useless – an easy thing for unkind kids to use to bully and belittle him. The fact that he made everyone laugh and forget he might have had an extra challenge gained him acceptance.
He used his wonderful sense of humor to create a one-man advertising agency in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He and my mom celebrated when he finally gained enough clients that they were able to pay the bills more easily. He put my brother and me through college with his talent, finally winning a Silver Addy Award for Lifetime Achievement in Tulsa. The radio stations still play his commercials from time to time to honor his memory. (This happened the first time when my husband and I were visiting my mom and his parents, who lived on the next street. We were in Dillards Department store. All of a sudden I heard my dad’s voice! I dropped to my knees in the middle of the store. One of the clerks rushed over to help me. When I told her what was ‘wrong,’ she explained to me that the radio stations do that every year to honor my dad, since his commercials were so distinctive and funny. )
He taught me to stand back and look at situations as if I were looking at a movie. This allowed me to see the humor in many situations, allowing me to laugh, rather than get hurt or angry. I thank him often for teaching me this.
I miss him, of course, and get weepy at times, but I FEEL him looking down at me – usually when I’m trying something for the first time or sticking my neck out in some way. I can FEEL him smiling at me, urging me on. It lights me up from the inside, filling me and giving me strength.
On his last day, he scribbled on a piece of paper, “Remember me laughing.” And I DO. I cherish memories of him telling a story, laughing so hard at times – unable to go on for several seconds – being able to SEE the situation. The helpless laughter is what I remember most. I’ve forgotten a lot of the stories, but I’ll never forget his joy in telling them.
(One of his favorite stories was about going camping with his friends. If you knew them, this was already funny because neither my dad, nor any of his friends, were outdoor people. He described a laborious afternoon after they figured out where they would camp for the night. One guy decided to dig a hole in the ground because he slept on his back and wanted to be comfortable in his sleeping bag. He would dig a bit, ‘try-the-hole-for-fit’ and dig a bit more until it was perfect. The rest of the guys decided that seemed like a great idea, so they, too, dug holes for their butts. At dark, they got ready for bed. One of the guys was suddenly cursing. They turned on their flashlights to find out what the problem was. It turned out the guy was trying to brush his teeth – mistaking the “Unguentine” for toothpaste!
They got into their sleeping bags, still laughing, and suddenly the guy was cursing again. They turned on their flashlights to see him moving his sleeping bag to another spot. He angrily told them, “I sleep on my stomach!” )
I’m smiling now as I type this, easily picturing my dad trying to tell us this story, laughing his rear end off. I’m so lucky to have known and loved him.
“Reminiscence” – 18″ x 24″ – Graphite on Gessoed Board – Artist Coop Gallery in Westerly Rhode Island
Filed under Creativity, drawings
“Reflexion” – Miguel Guia – http://www.artspar.com
Filed under Creativity, sculpture
We changed our mailbox decoration this morning, taking down the Tazmanian Devil and putting up Popeye.
We really love to make these decorations. We choose the designs together. My husband changes the image into code that our CNC computer-guided torch can understand and follow, cutting out the design from various thicknesses of sheet metal. My husband makes the piece that attaches the decoration to the mailbox with two bolts. He welds it on and smooths out any rough edges.
We wipe down all sides of the front and back with PRE, a spray that removes any oil on the metal and allows the paint to stick better. We then attach the metal piece to a holder in the shop and use a transparency we made and an overhead projector to allow me to mark the bare metal with a magic marker front and back with the design as much as possible. I then paint both sides of the piece and the attachment piece. Finally, the piece is sprayed on both sides with clear protective polyurethane so deterioration will be slowed.
This piece is tall (about 3 feet), so we added a rod vertically to the back before I painted, to keep gusty wind from bending the piece. I try to paint it so that any rods and the attachment piece blend into the design on the back as much as I can.
In the background of this picture, you can see our 6 foot tall robot holding our address sign welcoming visitors, and one of the two owls we have on either side of the driveway. They sit on top of the gate poles. Everyone’s eyes glow as car lights hit them at night. Farther up the driveway is a flying pig hanging down, a guard dog with a rifle, and various other pieces at the top. :0)
“Gritting My Teeth” – Michelle Cazares
I love this picture. I identify with it, and yet the sweet little thing makes me smile. Wonderful photography!
Brian Tracy via recitethis.com via http://www.pinterest.com
I just gritted my teeth, writing down a quick list of what I would like to accomplish today. I didn’t even write down all of it, and I stopped – overwhelmed yet again by the number of things I ‘should’ be doing. And it doesn’t include the fun things I would like to do, like get up to my art room and play. :0(
This reminder by Brian Tracy is going on the side of my file cabinet close to my computer. I’m going to try choosing something I feel is the most important for the day and let that be IT as far as things I ‘should’ do. If I accomplish that one thing, I’ll treat myself to some FUN or RELAXING time. If there is time or energy left after that, it’s gravy.
(At least I’ll TRY to do this.)
Filed under Attitude, Favorite Quotes
Filed under Creativity, Gorgeous Glass
Maya Angelou via via PhotoBonito.com via Lisa Bearnes Richey
Filed under Encouragement
M. Facklamemail via Facebook/FortheLoveoftheDog via email from Bill Lites
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family, Favorite Quotes
I told you earlier that today is our 49th wedding anniversary. I’m having quite a luxurious day of celebration!
This morning I went for my monthly massage to my miracle worker, Lynn Moody. Sometimes she just makes me stop hurting. Sometimes she finds a sore spot and I tease her that I get relief when she stops. She is truly gifted as a massage therapist and my life is much better for it.
travelphukett.blogspot.com
I’ve been having pain in the muscles that run from my neck to my shoulders. Last month the right side was worse. Lynn suggested that I use ice and then heat on the muscles, 15 minutes each, plus do an exercise with a weight to stretch out those muscles, and also get an over-the-door pulley system to strengthen my muscles.
I’ve been doing all of these things, and they’ve helped, but this month the left side was worse.
Today Lynn put a wedge under my neck and I was in instant Heaven. My pain was gone! (That didn’t mean she didn’t pummel and force oxygen into all my sore spots, but this was SO GOOD I asked her what it was and where I could get one.
It’s called a Lumia Wellness Cervical Traction Chiropractic Wedge Pillow – Neck and Shoulder Pain Relief
She showed it to me on Amazon, and it was a better price there than other places. I ordered it as soon as I got home. I can’t wait to get it and add it to my Yoga Stretches and Relaxation Routine I’m trying to do every day.
My other luxurious activity for the day is a hair cut by another miracle worker, Michael Remillard. We were lucky to find him, and he makes both my husband and I look like someone cared and has a plan, rather than like we have normally looked. He listens to what we think we want. If he thinks it’s a good idea, he makes it happen as much as humanly possible. If he doesn’t think it’s a good idea, he tactfully tells us why and suggests something we like as a substitute. We trust him implicitly.
How lucky I am to have two such wonderful people in my life!
Filed under holidays, Pampering, taking care of yourself
“Yellow Blue Hydrangea” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
Objective Changes:
WEIGHT: 12.2 pounds down. I have to admit I’m a bit teed off because my husband doesn’t take any responsibility for even thinking about what he’s eating or when, just says, “Thanks” when I bring him the next snack or meal; doesn’t drink the water, doesn’t exercise, and he’s lost more than I have…
MEASUREMENTS: Down 16.3 inches. My husband has no interest in measuring, but he just ordered shorts that are 2 inches smaller in the waist. He put them on this morning and looks GOOD.
I had high blood pressure even with my medication. I’m now showing normal with my meds. “Normal” is such a beautiful word!
My husband is a Type II diabetic. When we started monitoring his blood sugar, it was at around 353 or higher. (Normal is under 100.) This week it was 113!
Subjective Measurements:
Each week we’re supposed to have one FLEX meal for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack, preferably on different days. Our flex SNACK is ice cream after bowling with friends on Monday evenings. Our flex LUNCH is Lunch Bunch with long-time friends on Fridays. We usually don’t do the flex BREAKFAST, since my husband likes Nutrisystem’s oatmeal and prefers to just stick with that. Flex DINNER – I’ve broiled a thin steak cut into 2 pieces and we’ve had little bitty baked potatoes. We’ve also shared a small container of chicken fried rice from our local Chinese restaurant.
Yesterday I tried cooking our first flex dinner from the Nutrisystem website. It is called “Meat and Potato Casserole.” It makes 6 servings. We ate two and I froze the other 4 servings in labeled individual dishwasher-and-microwave-safe containers. We found the casserole a little dry, but the flavor was good. We had a salad with it. Today I stopped and got some packets of low sodium brown gravy. The package makes 1 cup – way more than enough for the one tablespoon of gravy I plan to pour over each of the remaining servings when we eat them.
I’m not a wonderful cook. The amount of preparation for this meal seemed like a lot to this lazy woman who would rather do almost anything than spend a bunch of time in the kitchen. I used a food processor as they suggested to prepare the carrots and potatoes, but I think the next time I’ll just use my hand-held shredder because clean up will be a lot easier. It seemed that I had half the kitchen messed up by the time the casserole dish was finally in the oven.
That said, I’m delighted to be able to have recipes at my fingertips to help us stay on the good start we’ve made on losing the lard. To complain when I cooked once and had servings for the two of us for THREE meals is a LOT more “poor me” than any of us need or appreciate…. :0)
All in all a good week’s progress. I’m hoping to get off the plateau I seem to be on, but I’m doing healthy things for us.
bloomingcactus.me
49 years ago today we promised that we would love and cherish (but not drink from the same cup – thank you, Kalil Gibran). And so we have.
loveowls
Amazingly, we’re still together, haven’t killed each other, actually LIKE each other most of the time, and LOVE each other all of the time. When you think of it, when two completely different people promise to spend the rest of their lives together, they don’t realize what a work-in-progress it is ALWAYS going to be – and how worth the ride!
Happy marriages are worked on every day. It’s seeing the other person’s side in an argument. When you feel as if you’ve given over 100%, it’s probably coming out even. Standing on your tongue and putting a lock on your lips is sometimes required. Just as I’m ready to kill him, he does something that completely melts my heart into a puddle on the floor in front of me. I HOPE he feels the same.
We have a good start on our marriage now. We’ve built a life together that is unique in all the world. This loving is an addiction to which I hope I’m never cured.
Filed under Family
We have an active group of quilters here in Greenwood, Arkansas. Each year we have an event called, “Airing of the Quilts” where people put their beautiful work on display. Prizes are given, but I think ALL of them are wonderful.
I personally know 3 people who quilt, Linda and Kay from Lunch Bunch, and Kay’s daughter, LaDonna. I also know Alice, who does the machine quilting for everyone. These are such talented ladies and I’m proud to know them.
Kay offered to teach me to quilt, but I have way too many wonderful, expensive things I love to do and really don’t need to add something else. That doesn’t keep me from ‘oohing’ and ‘ahhhing’ and drooling over the beauty created by others.
Filed under Creativity, Embroidery/Sewing Art
Filed under Creativity, drawings
“Corner Withdrawn from Nature” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
With the combination of the occasional rain followed by really hot temperatures, our hummingbird birdbath water decoration became overrun with algae within a few days’ time. It was really awful, so yesterday I took everything out, scrubbed and hosed out the bin, the bricks that sit on the bottom of it, and all the rest of the stuff. I took a tool we made and unclogged the holes in the PVC pipe that runs the length of the bin, providing the spray. I brought a lot of stuff inside and scrubbed it in the kitchen sink with a variety of things that finally got everything looking pretty good again.
Then I felt under the weather most of the day, so I didn’t put the things back out. I did that a few minutes ago. I had to clean out the PVC holes again, but everything else looked much better.
We have a trash can on the deck under the bin and a pump in the bottom of it. This recycles the water. We have a garden hose hooked up to the pump. When the water goes below a certain level, the pump allows the hose to fill the trash can to the proper level again.
We made this because I saw a really pretty design on Facebook. Of course, we couldn’t really replicate that, so we did the best we could with what we had. Ours is deeper than the one on Facebook, so I put bricks and rocks in the bin for the hummingbirds to sit on while they bathe.
Last year we didn’t see any takers, but we’re again hopeful that the birds will find this cooling and fun. Even if they don’t, the water makes a beautiful, relaxing sound that WE can enjoy when our doors are open or we’re sitting on the deck. I’m happy that everything is clean now and invite all birds in the area to come and take a bath!
Filed under Lewis projects
tau0.wordpress.com
We woke up with the red light flashing on our weather alert, telling us we were under a thunderstorm warning. Instead of having anything scary, we just had a nice, but short, soaky rain. Our doggies cavorted around, clearly enjoying the rain. The rain stopped fairly quickly, and we are able to enjoy windows and doors open to a nice, cool breeze!
Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus) females feeding on Musk Thistle (Carduus nutans), Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado http://www.hummingbirds.org
AND, while we were eating breakfast, a hummingbird came to drink from one of our feeders. Just as we were enjoying watching, ANOTHER hummingbird came swooping by! This has been a slow hummingbird season for us so far, so we were really delighted to see TWO at once. It also gives me the motivation to thoroughly clean out the hummingbird birdbath my husband and I built.
Pics later….
Filed under Delightful Surprises, quality of life
“Golden Hour on the Lake” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Creativity, drawings
creativeartworksblog 