Monthly Archives: February 2019

Well, Hello!

Shari Septowski – Country Livin – via Stephanie Youmans Wilson

2 Comments

Filed under Creativity, CUTE!

A Girl and Her Horse

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – Linkedin

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

“Red Wellies” – Acrylic – Graham Colthorpe – LinkedIn

2 Comments

Filed under Amazing Animals

Honesty

Cindy Basnett Thurman

Leave a comment

Filed under Attitude

Bethany Kerr Pencil Sketches

Bethany Kerr

 

Bethany Kerr

Leave a comment

Filed under Bethany Kerr, drawings

Snow-Goon Mailbox Decoration

We love Calvin & Hobbes. Bill Watterson created the idea of Snow-Goons, evil snowmen who wreaked all sorts of havoc.

This is the front of our Snow-Goon decoration. He is one of the largest of our decorations. The piece is about 4 feet high and 3-1/2 fee wide. This one was also more challenging because of the attached arms holding the head. We like the 3-D effect.

This is the back of the piece.  I tried to blend the attachment bar into the snowman.  We’re in the middle of having a cold front move through, dropping our temperatures and threatening freezing rain, etc., so this decoration seemed appropriate.

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

After catching up with our good friends at Lunch Bunch and doing errands, we’re enjoying being home in a warm, dry house.

I hope you’re having a happy day, too.

Leave a comment

Filed under Lewis Mailbox Decorations, metal art, Seasons, snow people

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under holidays

My Get Up and Go has Got Up and Gone

WiffleGif.gif

We pooped ourselves out for the afternoon on the demolishing the brick planter project. We’ve eaten and taken a nap and STILL are feeling tired and sleepy. I’m drinking coffee to try to get some energy going.

We’re celebrating Valentine’s Day tonight with some jumbo shrimp cocktail and a salad.

dontgetserious

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” ~ CHARLES M. SCHULZ

Leave a comment

Filed under holidays

New Careers?

My husband and I have decided to consider becoming weather forecasters post-retirement. I say this because –

  • we FINISHED the demolition of the 2nd failed brick planter, AND
  • we also put a tarp over my cement mixer behind the shop that we use to mix Mel’s Mix (the special soil replacement ingredients we use in our raised bed square foot planters

Because of these two things, we can practically assure everyone that the 40% chance we had of rain tomorrow morning is no longer applicable.

If we HADN’T finished and the soil wasn’t covered up, we would have had a deluge. We have proved this several times before in the 30+ years we’ve lived here. :0)

I’m thinking of calling our local weather guys and girls and letting them know there should be a change in the forecast….

Here is the 2nd 8 foot x 1-1/2 foot demolished-waiting-for-spring-for-us-to-rebuild-the-planter.

We did the work today in record time because the plant roots remaining weren’t completely root-bound and also we learned the best tools to use and techniques on the FIRST failed planter we demolished.

 

I hope the other people who live in our area weren’t depending on it raining tomorrow…. :0)

4 Comments

Filed under Gardening, Housekeeping - Maintenance, Lewis projects, Mother Nature

Planter Project

 

Yesterday I told you that the weather forecast was for good weather until Tuesday of next week, when we’re due for another ‘wintry mix.’  I was happy because we wouldn’t be rushed on our demolishing of the 2nd of 2 planters that were falling apart.

Well, when I checked today, the forecast is NOW for a 40% chance of rain TOMORROW – morning!  Arrrrgh!!!!!!

You can see where we are now. We just finished our errands for the day and are resting a bit before we tackle this again. Since there is a good chance for rain tomorrow, we really need to see if we can get the dismantling done today, including digging out the remaining plants, digging out the rest of the potting soil, knocking down and hauling off the rest of the bricks, and then wrapping the tarp around the soil and putting bricks on top to try to save as much of the soil as possible for the rebuild in the spring.

My nose is out of joint right now about this –

  • It’s Valentine’s Day and I was hoping for a quiet day, with some time up in my art room. (We got some jumbo shrimp at the seafood place on the way home today from taking our tax stuff to our CPA. I peeled and cooked it, and it is cooling in the back fridge – but we may be dozing in our recliners from sheer exhaustion, rather than enjoying it tonight.)
  • We are a bit ‘long-in-the-tooth for this project. It’s probably a good character-building exercise to do it ourselves, but it would be so NICE not to have to get the whole demolition part into two days…

Okay. I hear you. Enough with the griping and on with the DOING.

I’ll post pics later today – or tomorrow… :0)

Leave a comment

Filed under character-building exercises, Housekeeping - Maintenance, Lewis projects

Who?

Email from Marsha Koenig

 

John Gooday via Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

(I can’t read signature) via Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

*These photos may have been taken by many talented photographers. They are posted by Jeff Jett at LinkedIn.com. All are united in an effort to save habitat and animals from harm.

2 Comments

Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography, Jeff Jett Photography

Part II of Brick Planter Redo

Awhile back I told you that two of our brick planters desperately needed to be rebuilt. My husband tried to dig out a hydrangea bush in one of them and the whole front of the planter fell down into the yard. We spent the next few days digging out the plants, shoveling the potting soil onto a tarp, hauling the bricks out of the way, and then wrapped up the soil as best we could to try to save as much as possible for the spring rebuild.

Today on the way back from errands, my husband said he thought we should take advantage of the spring-like weather today and start demolishing the second planter.

 

We worked for a couple of hours so far. We got a huge hydrangea plant out that was totally root-bound. We knocked off as much soil as possible and then wheel-barrowed the remains and dumped it ‘off the edge of the earth’ (past the edge of what we call the civilized part of our 8 acres.)

We’ve moved a lot of bricks and potting soil, but decided to admit we’re old and call it a day.

 

Tomorrow we’ll hit it again. The weather forecast says we don’t have bad weather until Tuesday of next week. I hope they’re right. We would like to get this part of the project wrapped up as soon as possible.

In the spring, we’ll rebuild the two planters. We already purchased the bricks. We’re not sure if these planters failed because the mortar we used on them was bad, or that they had enough water in them that didn’t drain out properly and froze, breaking up the sides.

We built 14 brick planters around the yard and only 2 failed, so that’s a reasonable amount of success. These lasted over 20 years before failing, so hopefully they’ll last until long after WE are gone.

Hopefully, more progress pictures tomorrow.

Leave a comment

Filed under Housekeeping - Maintenance, Lewis projects

Cats

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Elena Schumilova via Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Bored Panda

 

YouTube

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

 

berner2222 via mara spirig – linkedin

Leave a comment

Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography, Family

Now THIS is the Winter of my Dreams!

Irma Nadal – LinkedIn

 

Old Quebec – Iahsen Haddou – LinkedIn

 

Switzerland – Iahsen HADDOU – LinkedIn

 

Tetiana Shevchuk – LinkedIn

 

Tetiana Shevchuk – LinkedIn

6 Comments

Filed under Awe-Inspiring Photography, Seasons

I Want to Go Here

Richard Thorn via Elena (Livia) D. -LinkedIn

 

“Sunrise – The Keys in Florida” – Rita Gunning – LinkedIn

 

Elena (Livia) D. – LinkedIn

 

“Calm Waters” – Paul Militaru Photography

 

“In the Mountains” – Paul Militaru Photography

 

Abdulrabiman Saad Alburih via Rachealgrace Adams – LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under Awe-Inspiring Photography

“Just Living is Not Enough…”

Malgorzata Szczecinska via Elena (Livia) D. – LinkedIn

“The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another’s, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises.” – Leo Buscaglia

 

Mara Spirig – LinkedIn

“Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.” – Gerard De Nerval

 

Max Blanchard – AlheaMaxPhotos – LinkedIn

“I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.” ~Claude Monet

 

Flowers and Feelings via Cathy Ruggiero

“When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it’s your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not.” – Georgia O’Keeffe

 

“White Pink Laced” – Paul Militaru Photography

“Just living is not enough… one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” – Hans Christian Andersen

Leave a comment

Filed under Awe-Inspiring Photography, Watercolors I Love

Making Pencils Sing

Bethany Kerr

 

 

El Dudarion – Eric Armusik -LinkedIn

 

 

Igor Babailov – LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under Bethany Kerr, drawings

It Feels Like Christmas!

I found a super-good deal on a set of acrylic paints a few days ago. They arrived today, and I feel like a kid at Christmas! There are 14 tubes of paint in the set and I have paid more for 4 tubes – plus shipping – than I had to pay for this set with FREE shipping. Woo HOOO!

For some reason I haven’t been up to my art room in quite a while. I felt I needed to accomplish more on my purging project to go through 30+ years of STUFF we’ve accumulated and really don’t need.

I’m beginning to figure out now that the more I go through things, donating a bunch of things to others, throwing away a bunch of things, and then reorganizing and cleaning before putting what is good to keep again, I’m in a never-ending job. The more I DO, the more I SEE to do!

I’m going to give myself permission to take a bit of a break from all the work and play in my art room this week.

 

I don’t know if I’ll come up with anything, but I’ll have a wonderful time dreaming, experimenting, and playing!

keetonsonline.com – via Sherry Dellaria McGrath

Leave a comment

Filed under Attitude, doing what you love, empowerment, Favorite Things, Hobbies, Lewis Art

FUN

Zen to Zany via Cathy Ruggiero

Leave a comment

Filed under Attitude, Childlike Fun, Encouragement

Beautiful Birds

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

(I can’t read the signature) via RJ Bennett – Linkedin

 

Lara Light Photography – http://www.prophotomaster.com via Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography, Jeff Jett Photography, R.J. Bennett

Moms and Their Cubs

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography, Family, Jeff Jett Photography

11 Seasons of Arkansas

40/29 News – Fort Smith and Fayetteville – via Michael Remillard

Leave a comment

Filed under Funny Signs - Humor

Poor Molly

This is Molly after playing out in the rain and mud this morning.  She was SO awful I had to bathe and try to dry her (three baths towels and the hair dryer) enough so she could be with the family again.

She was not happy about it, and was angry and pouting for about an hour afterwards, but just came and rubbed herself against me and snuggled. I put her on the leash and took both Molly and Amber out. There was much barking and running around, but then both dogs took care of things and we returned.

Here is Molly pouting awhile ago.

And here she is after snuggling. All is forgiven, and hopefully the rains will stop before she finds that wonderful hole again…

Leave a comment

Filed under Amazing Animals, Family

Take What You Need

Christina L Paul – LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under empowerment, Encouragement, giving

For the Love of a Dog

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

“It is not an easy thing to inflate a dog.” ~ Edward Abbey

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

“Every boy should have two things: a dog, and a mother willing to let him have one.” ~ Unknown

 

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

“Some dogs live for praise. They look at you as if to say “Don’t throw balls… just throw bouquets.”” ~ Jhordis Anderson

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

“There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.” ~ Ben Williams

 

Therapy Dogs at Children’s Hospital – M Kemail – LinkedIn

“One reason a dog can be such a comfort when you’re feeling blue is that he doesn’t try to find out why.”  ~ unknown

 

“Fountain of Youth” – M. Kemail – LinkedIn

“I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult.” ~ Rita Rudner

 

“Branch Manager and Asst Branch Mgr – Physics – Astronomy.com via Cindy Basnett Thurman

 

“The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too.” ~ Samuel Butler

Leave a comment

Filed under Amazing Animals, Family

Another Beautiful Rain Gif

Inna Kashkovar – LinkedIn

We were impressed when we went to town today that most of the creeks were full-to-overflowing.  I remember one year when the road that goes into town had water almost up to the road itself! It made me suck in my breath – as if doing that would help us stay on the road. Today it wasn’t nearly that high, since the town has done some clean-out of creeks that go through it.

The rain is supposed to stop by sometime tomorrow, and I’m ready for some nice sunshine. I’m happy to say that we dodged the bullet on getting ice or snow this time.

One thing I’ve had to add to my to-do list today is giving Molly (our schnauzer/cocker spaniel mix) a bath. While she was out, she found a super-interesting hole to stick her entire nose in. She now has a mostly brown face and paws, so into the kitchen sink she goes!

2 Comments

Filed under Mother Nature

Today’s Continuing Project

When we built our home over 30 years ago, we used an entire room off the kitchen as our pantry. I’m lucky because we have a lot of space. It also causes some problems because I tend to stash way too much STUFF in here!

I went through our pantry when we switched to Nutrisystem almost a year ago. I cleaned a bunch of stuff out, gave away a bunch, packed other things away for much later….

Now we’re doing more flex meals, plus branching out. I need to reorganize the pantry so that things are easy to find, easy to get to, etc.

The side of the pantry in the picture above is the food side of the pantry.

On the back side is the pantry fridge, and then an L-shaped bunch of shelves that hold cleaning supplies, paper supplies, cooking pots, canning stuff – you name it.

I’m now working on getting things organized so that I can cook more without having to move a bunch of STUFF in order to get the pan I need, the ingredients I need….

I’m trying to do a bit each day. Today I’m giving it an extra push because it’s cold and rainy outside, we don’t need to go anywhere, and I want to accomplish more today than laundry and vacuuming. (Already done!)

I’m concentrating on the non-fo0d part of the pantry today. I’ll take pics if I make enough progress.

 

6 Comments

Filed under Housekeeping - Maintenance, I'm a slob, Organizing/DeCluttering

Definition :0)

SayingImages.com

Leave a comment

Filed under Funny Signs - Humor

Incredible Bronze-Water Sculpture

Polish Sculptor Malgorzata Chodakowska Via Elena (Livia) D. – LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under metal art, sculpture

Raccoons

David Clasivin (I’m having trouble reading the signature at the bottom of the photo) via Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

I love how raccoons LOOK. I DON’T like how they behave – at least not on our property.

We live on top of a ridge line on about 8 acres outside the town of Greenwood, Arkansas. We love the little world we’ve created, pretending we own all the land we can see. :0)

Almost every summer we have raccoons visiting. I would LIKE to say we enjoy this, but it’s a big pain. They won’t just be content sharing the sunflower seeds we put out for the birds on the deck. They eat ALL the seeds, making a mess, and then destroy the feeders!

Every year we go through the same thing – hoping that this year it will be different and we can all co-exist happily. We end up putting out our humane animal trap, baited with a cup of apple and peanut butter at the back of the trap. The raccoon eats all the seeds, destroys at least one – if not all – of the feeders, and then goes into the trap for the bait.

If our neighbors understood that WE are the ones relocating the raccoons out about 5 miles from us, onto their land for another chance at life, they would probably be quite hostile. We find a nice creek by the side of the road and then my husband opens the trap and lets the raccoon out.

Usually, if we have ONE, we have a whole family. We relocate them one by one, hoping that we’ve driven out far enough they won’t find their way back.

This past summer was quiet – quite a surprise. I was reminded of this when I saw these wonderful photos posted by Jeff Jett.

Leave a comment

Filed under Amazing Animals, Challenges

In Memory of Ben

“In Memory of Ben” – Niki Firmin Pet Portraits – LinkedIn

Leave a comment

Filed under Niki Firmin - Pet Portraits

Rain

Inna Kashkovar – LinkedIn

“I love the rain. I want the feeling of it on my face.” ~ Katherine Mansfield

 

I love this gif created by Inna Kashkovar on LinkedIn.  Isn’t it beautiful?

Our rain today is a cold one. We thought we might get ice, but it’s JUST warm enough that the precipitation has remained liquid, and for that I’m grateful, even though it’s supposed to be this way through TUESDAY morning!

We had a beautiful show this morning at breakfast. I counted four pairs of cardinals trying to get to seeds in the feeders on our deck while we ate breakfast. My husband went out to fill the main feeder. The birds were momentarily startled, but soon returned to enjoy the bounty. I have a feeder in the shape of a snowman that I’ll fill soon.

This is a wonderful day to walk outside, enjoy the quiet rain under an umbrella, and then come in to enjoy a warm, dry house.

I hope your day is good, too.

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Mother Nature