Monthly Archives: August 2018

What a GREAT Morning!

While we were eating breakfast, we saw –

 

There were two hummingbirds. We have two feeders, one on each side of the deck. They still dive-bombed each other, making it difficult for either of them to get a good drink.

We went to do our errands early (for us) because it was forecast that rain would start around 11:00 this morning (it did) and continue off and on throughout the day and into this evening.

On the way to town, we saw –

Nancy McCubbin – http://www.flickr.com

 

I didn’t get a picture of the deer, either, but this gives you the idea.  It was a whole family –  father, mother, and fawn. We stopped and they crossed the road safely. Our yellow lab, Amber, was in the back seat of the truck, but she didn’t see them until they were on the other side of the road.

When we returned home, we got a call from our son, who lives and works in Thailand! We converted from phone to conference call so we could see  him while we talked. We had a really good chat with lots of laughs.  I LOVE to see him smile!

 

I guess we COULD have won the lottery, or the Publisher’s Clearing House, but that’s the only way the morning could have been better. :0)

I hope you’re having a good day, too.

Leave a comment

Filed under Delightful Surprises

Intimidated

ashleyjensen.org

I’m a wimp.

Years ago, when my good friend Debbye was dying of recurrent breast cancer, I watched her doing some watercolors in her bed. I told her, “I wish I could do that.” She got angry with me – the only time EVER – saying, “What are you waiting for? What is your excuse? YOU have time. YOU can practice. YOU can learn. What difference does it make if what you do never makes it off of your own refrigerator door? JUST DO IT!” 

I answered her challenge by starting my own website, Creative Artworks, with the good help of my son, who designed my website. I had only my own stuff on there, but then learned I could add the work of others without increasing my costs – just my own labor. I ran the website for about 17 years, met wonderful people from all over the world, some of whom became good friends. It was a wonderful experience. I shut down the website last year because it was time and I still have my own work on Etsy and ArtFire.

Now I’m trying to learn something new. I’m trying to learn to paint more realistic fur and feathers on my drawings. I’m using a tracing board to do the drawings, since trying to draw animals and birds free-hand is intimidating, too. I now have a group of drawings, some my own, others traced from a book called, Keys to Painting Fur & Feathers, some traced from images I found on the net.

Now it’s time to actually add the fur or feathers and I’m finding that, again, I’m my own worst enemy. I keep finding another drawing to add to the mix. I keep re-reading parts of the book. I continue to look at the drawings…

I’m thinking of Debbye today as I try to gather myself and get started. I’m trying to fight feelings of inadequacy. I know my drawings won’t end up like what I’m trying to emulate. I see Debbye’s face as she sits on the bed challenging me. “What difference does it make if these never make it out of my sketch book? I don’t have to show these to anybody EVER. I can ball them up and throw them away.  WHY am I procrastinating?

I’ve decided to start with colored pencils, just doing a light color block on a drawing, with the idea of refining it over and over until it’s as good as I can make it right now. I can always do another tracing and do it again. Maybe this will get me started – TODAY.

Wish me luck?

Leave a comment

Filed under Challenges, learning new things

Glorious, Larger-than-Life Art

Jatayu Nature Park – Kerala India – Bisqajit Palvia – LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under Art Around the World, sculpture

Sunshine

Anthony J. D’Angelo via SayingImages.com

 

I don’t think the above quote is Pollyanna-ish.  The way you look at life, particularly the every day, goes a long way to shape it. I am consciously saying to myself, “Today will be a good day,” each morning and reminding myself to SMILE – if not at strangers I see during the day – I smile at my husband, my doggies, my cats, and even my fish!  I try to concentrate on finding something that brings up my spirits. Many times I find it in the birds at the feeders that I can see through the window as we eat breakfast. Our pets make us laugh. We’ll see a pair of roadrunners, as we did yesterday – speculating together on why they ran in different directions as we drove down the driveway.

Particularly as we age, it becomes harder and harder to do this – and more important that we do.

We see mostly bad news on TV, the newspaper, the Internet news sites. We hear that someone we love is ill. We lose our friends, Our bodies become a challenge, rather than a help. We can either let all of this engulf us, or we can determinedly stick our necks out and find things that bring us joy in being alive.

Learning new things, trying to do something you’ve never done before, reaching out to friends and family, joining a new group, reading, painting, gardening,  writing a blog, volunteering –

Find your own sunshine every day, stick it in your pocket and carry it with you. You might just brighten someone ELSE’s day, too.

Leave a comment

Filed under Attitude, Favorite Quotes

Animal Paintings – Take 17

“Ostrich” – http://www.pinterest.com

Leave a comment

Filed under animal paintings, Creativity

“Intense Purple”

“Intense Purple” – Paul Militaru Photography

Leave a comment

Filed under Paul Militaru Photography

Animal Paintings – Take 16

Andrea Lavery – 2014 – http://www.pinterest.com

Leave a comment

Filed under animal paintings, Creativity

Wonders

SayingImages.com

Leave a comment

Filed under Attitude

“Mona – My Real Friend”

“Mona – My Real Friend” – Paul Militaru Photography

Leave a comment

Filed under Paul Militaru Photography

Defining Yourself

SayingImages.com

This week my husband and I went to Brunch Bunch to celebrate the birthday of our good friend, Kay. She LIVES the quote above.

Example: Friday we were celebrating her birthday. I brought her a present and a birthday card and we shared a nice lunch with good conversation and lots of laughs.

Kay brought US presents on HER birthday. She is trying to alter her recipe for her wonderful Mountain Dew Cake so that my diabetic husband can enjoy stuffing his face without guilt. The experiment this week didn’t work, so she baked ANOTHER, regular Mt. Dew cake and called me before we left to join her for lunch. We agreed that she would surprise him with one small piece of the cake. He was surprised and delighted – because the way to his heart is through sweet desserts – and he joyfully gobbled up the cake even before his lunch arrived. :0)  Kay told him about her experiment, and that she would try to figure out how to make him a sugar-free Mt. Dew cake and would bring the whole cake to him when she was successful.

She brought ME three really pretty bowl candles by the Habersham Candle Company – their “Wax Pottery Collection.”  You put them on a plate when you light them, but they smell terrific even without being lit. My husband particularly liked one of the scents – “Sweet Tea & Lemon” – so I put that one in our office, where we spend a lot of time.

It’s just like Kay to bring you things on no occasion, just because she thought of you, bake and bring cakes to people all over our town of Greenwood, Arkansas, help friends and family in need – I could go on and on.

When I grow up, I want to be like Kay.

Leave a comment

Filed under Favorite Quotes, Friendship

“A Beautiful Family – Storks”

“A Beautiful Family – Storks” – Paul Militaru Photography

Leave a comment

Filed under Paul Militaru Photography

Gary Wing Art

Gary Wing – LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Imagine

Bright Vibes via Dr. Rabbani Amber – LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under Favorite Quotes, kindness

Klutz of the Day Award

elizabeth hill – liz.blogspot.com

Sometimes my husband and I vie for this coveted award, but today I won hands-down.

I did another session in my closet. (The rest of it is fine tuning.) I got the towels and washcloths out of my closet and put them on the hallway shelves that are between bedrooms. In trying to clear off a couple of shelves, I was carrying a big bag of quilts and managed to stumble on ‘something.’ The next thing I knew I was on my face on the floor. Happily, my face was in the big bag of quilts, so it was none the worse for wear. My knees and forearms not so much. I have a very mild, but stinging, rug burn on both knees and my shins, plus my forearms. I started to yell for my husband, realized I was more embarrassed than hurt, and so just got to an upright sitting position on the floor and patted Amber, who was being quite companionable.

When I felt okay again, I was able to finish what I was doing, strip the bed and change the sheets, and brought the laundry downstairs. I told my husband about the fall, and he related that HE also fell this morning (while I was out having a massage) trying to discipline Amber, who had gotten into my trash can again. So we’re a pair. We agreed that we need to be even MORE careful than we thought we were being.

I’m going to finish vacuuming ( I need to do the tiled area on the first floor), the second load of wash, and then I’m done for the day.

I would rather win the award than have my husband win it. As Bette Davis said, “Getting old ain’t for sissies.”

Leave a comment

Filed under Are YOU also older than Dirt?, quality of life, The Fun of Getting Old

“Finally Water”

“Finally Water” – Paul Militaru Photography

Leave a comment

Filed under Paul Militaru Photography

Llyal Bryaev Art

via Ana Loreta Baicu – LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under Creativity, Watercolors I Love

Good Afternoon!

I’m late getting to my blog today because I enjoyed a glorious massage!

If you live in the Greenwood/Fort Smith/Hackett and more area in Arkansas you should contact Lynn Moody at lynnmoody42@yahoo.com and schedule an appointment. Time with Lynn will be the very best present you can give yourself.

Dribs and Drabs and Details Updates:

  • The pulled pork recipe last night was a success and it couldn’t be simpler.

I bought a pork loin the day before yesterday. Yesterday morning I browned it on all sides and then put it in my slow cooker. I didn’t go by a recipe, but added tomato soup plus a can of water, a chicken ‘booster’ packet, a bit of seasoned salt and pepper, onion bits, and garlic. I set it to low for 10 hours. When we were ready to have dinner, I turned off the slow cooker and put the pork loin on a platter. My husband and I grabbed a handful of forks and had great fun pulling it to shreds. We then got out our scales and divided it into 4 oz portions in freezable and microwaveable portions, putting a tablespoon of the remaining liquid from the slow cooker in each.

My husband deemed it ‘very good!’ I was relieved because this can take the place of the pulled pork item that Nutrisystem discontinued recently and probably won’t have again. This was my husband’s favorite item, so this is a big deal for us. It was also quick and easy to prep for cooking. This meant a lot to me because I’ve never tried pulled pork before.

He did ask that we find another BBQ sauce because it would add more flavor, so I found one today, with the help of a good friend, that has 5 grams of sugar per serving. A serving is 2 tablespoons, and we’ll only use ONE, so this is good going forward. We’ll probably have the pulled pork as a staple of his/our new eating plan going forward.  He can eat some whenever he wants for dinner or lunch, since he is near his weight goal now. I’ll probably use it as a flex dinner because we’re eating it on a hamburger bun.

  •  I’m almost ready to start adding some fur or feathers to the drawings I traced recently using my new 4 LED Tracing Board (light box). I did find another drawing I want to try (a fawn) , so will try to get that one added today.
  • I managed to do some yard work last night WITHOUT getting stung by red wasps or ants! I did find that the red wasps had built a nest INSIDE the mouth of the metal peacock critter we built who sits in the planter. My husband squirted the wasps and we ran for the house just before we finished our yard work. Hopefully, with relocating the peacock, the wasps will decide to live elsewhere.
  • I’ll do a final tweak on my closet clean out and reorganization project today and call it finished until I move things in the fall.
  • My husband’s blood test numbers were SO much better that I sent them to a friend who has been trying to get term life insurance for him. (He was turned down 2 years ago, and the policy premium we have now will skyrocket on his birthday.) She submitted the numbers to the underwriters who were super impressed with the improvement and agreed to consider him for a policy! We’ll apply next week. Fingers crossed.

That catches you up on the exciting lives of the Arkansas Lewises. I hope things are going well with you, too.

 

 

 

2 Comments

Filed under DIET!, Gardening, Lewis Art, Organizing/DeCluttering, quality of life, taking care of yourself

Pulled Pork

I’ve told you that my husband and I are showing success on the Nutrisystem program.

A couple of orders ago, they put a notice on the pulled pork – his favorite thing – that they were ‘temporarily short on supplies.’ The next time we ordered they didn’t show it at all. After talking to a bunch of people we discovered that it was gone and would probably stay gone. I wrote a letter to the management making several suggestions (really) about what I thought could be done to keep their customers happy. They’re a large corporation and can’t apparently be bothered by the little guys, so I haven’t received a response and the pulled pork is still not listed.

This is almost a deal breaker for my husband. We were on Nutrisystem before – years ago, and they gradually discontinued foods to the point that my husband threw up his hands and said, “I quit.”  We were pleased to see that they’ve added frozen things, a lot more choices, and a program for teaching you how to cook and eat in a healthy fashion when you’re not eating their products all the time. The fact that they’ve now discontinued his favorite thing was an instant replay for us.

We’ve figured out an expensive way to get around the problem, but I wanted to think more outside the box for the future. I got a pork loin yesterday and it is in the slow cooker now, making the house smell delicious. I figure we’ll try this tonight, figure out how I can make it better without adding a bunch of calories, sugar, salt, etc. and I’ll keep trying it until my husband says, “This is pretty good.” If I can come up with our own recipe that he likes, he’ll stay on the program and the pressure will be off – at least until they discontinue the NEXT one…

All appendages crossed that today is the start of a good pulled pork!

Leave a comment

Filed under Healthy Eating

Donation

dohanews.co

Yesterday I finished (more or less) cleaning out my closet.

One of my New Year’s Resolutions this year was to try to make donations to the Veterans Thrift Store in Fort Smith and our local library once a month.

Today was donation #9 for the year to the Veterans Thrift Store, so I’m a bit ahead on my goal!  I’m not doing as well on donations to the local library. I’ve only done 4 this year, so will have to step up my efforts.

It feels good to be going through our things, purging what we’re not using, seeing that other people have access to what they might enjoy, and having less ‘STUFF.’

I have some fine tuning on my closet, but I’m almost there. :0)

Leave a comment

Filed under Acting Like a Grownup, giving, Organizing/DeCluttering

Art From Found Things – Take 21

“Man Drinking Tea” – Jessica Laine Morris – jessicalainemorris.wordpress.com

 

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Art From Found Things, Creativity

“Stream”

“Stream” – Paul Militaru Photography

Leave a comment

Filed under Paul Militaru Photography

Attitude

Mary Engelbreit via SayingImages.com

Leave a comment

Filed under Attitude, Favorite Quotes

Closet Purge/Reorganization Project Finished

I have now finished going through my closet with my hot weather clothes, all my shoes, purses, scarves, etc. For me, this is good. Before, my shoes were all over the floor, for example. To the right of the shelves you can see my scarves and a hint of my purses.

 

My shoes are actually in the shelves for shoes now!

 

Casual tops are on the top. Dressier (as far as I GET dressier) on the bottom.)

I’ve tried everything on and have brought a LOT of stuff downstairs and dumped it in the foyer corner until I start listing and bagging things for donation to the Veterans Thrift Store in Fort Smith. THAT’S for another day, though.

I’m going to go put my feet up and dive into another book. :0)

Leave a comment

Filed under Challenges, giving, Housekeeping - Maintenance, I'm a slob, Lewis projects, Organizing/DeCluttering

“White Flowers”

“White Flowers” – Paul Militaru Photography

Leave a comment

Filed under Paul Militaru Photography

Art From Found Objects – Take 20

dishfunctionaldesigns.blogpot.com

 

“Ginger” – Robot Dog – Will Wagenaar – Reclaim2Fame

Leave a comment

Filed under Art From Found Things, Creativity

Jeff Jett Photograph

Jeff Jett via LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under Awe-Inspiring Photography

Quarterly Progress Report

My husband and I went for our quarterly checkup by our primary doctor this afternoon. We got blood tests last week and were hopeful that we would see some changes for the better.

I’ve told you my husband is a Type II Diabetic. His A1C last quarter was 7.6. (This was down a bunch from his original count of 16+, but still wasn’t normal.)  Today it was 6.2 (the goal for diabetics is <7). HOOORAAAAAAY!  We had essentially given up ever getting a normal reading again, and were just concentrating on eating right and getting the numbers as low as we could. We practically danced around the room!

The big difference in my numbers was in Lipid Profile (Fats in the blood, I think)

  • Cholesterol was down 107 points
  • LDL down 57 points
  • Non-HDL down 70 points
  • Triglycerides down 61 points

She said that since my husband and I are essentially eating the same foods, my exercise was the cause of my improved numbers!

She was so pleased she said I could wait to come back for SIX months. I’ve been going quarterly for YEARS, so this was super good news. If my husband keeps his good numbers in November, HE can go to every six months, too!

Tonight we’re going bowling with our good friends and having our FLEX snack for the week, a scoop of  ice cream from Braum’s. We celebrated by having a FLEX lunch, as well, enjoying a couple of pieces of fried fish from our local grocery deli. We haven’t had that for almost five months now, so it was a joyous celebration, even though we’re supposed to spread the flex meals out – one per day.

We knew we had lost weight.  We knew we had lost inches (though my husband won’t measure, he’s losing his tummy)

It was wonderful to have the doctor confirm with objective numbers that we’re improving our health. She said, as we were leaving, “I wish all my patients took an active interest in their health and worked as hard as you two have.”

A wonderful pat on the head! :0)

Leave a comment

Filed under Cause for Celebration, Challenges, Changes, DIET!, exercise, getting the lard off, Healthy Eating, quality of life, taking care of yourself

Today’s World – Take 7

Today’s World via Bill Lites

Leave a comment

Filed under Changes, Funny Signs - Humor, Reading is FUNdamental

Fur & Feathers Project

I pretty much have the drawings I want in order to practice painting fur and feathers that look more realistic than I’m able to do now. I have most of my drawings done with the help of my new toy, a 4 LED Tracing Board, which allows me to trace most anything that fits on the board. I then transfer the tracings to my sketch book using carbon paper. Then I can concentrate on studying the Keys to Painting Fur & Feathers, edited by Rachel Rubin Wolf.

Kingfisher and Parrot are previous drawings of mine that I retraced in order to do what I hope will be a better job this time.

 

Amber and Molly are our doggies. I traced these from photos I took of them.

 

Our cat, Abby, is typically on her back or on her side, as in this picture, thinking deep thoughts.

 

Smoke is a much more active cat, always about to leap from one place to the next.

The bear is a drawing by Claudia Nice in the Fur & Feathers book, borrowed to try to learn to add the fur.

 

The last two birds I found on the net and traced.

I’m studying the book, trying to absorb enough to get started. I think I’ll try to work in colored pencils first, so I’ll particularly study that section of the book. I’m having SUCH a good time with this. I love learning new techniques!

Leave a comment

Filed under Challenges, doing what you love, learning new things

“Mountain Flowers”

“Mountain Flowers” – Paul Militaru Photography

Leave a comment

Filed under Paul Militaru Photography

Art from Found Things – Take 19

adoptabot.deviantart.com

 

Brian Marshall – http://www.flickr.com

Leave a comment

Filed under Art Around the World, Creativity