“The Maine Coast” – Paul Crimi – LinkedIn
Jeff Rowland Art via Elena (Livia) D. – LinkedIn
“Silence – Oasis” – Paul Militaru Photography
Roy Gonzalez Tabora Via Elena (Livia) D. – LinkedIn
Monthly Archives: August 2019
Annette Schreiber Photography – Take 2
Photo by Annette Schreiber – annetteschreiberphotography.com
Photo by Annette Schreiber – annetteschreiberphotography.com
Filed under Annette Schreiber, Awe-Inspiring Photography
Excitement
We went to do errands this morning with Catbert in the back of the truck to put up on the mailbox as we left. When we got out to change the decoration, we found 8,011 (more or less) wasps had taken up residence inside the supporting pole that is between the back of the mailbox and the decorations. It is filled with a bunch of holes in line vertically so that we can attach the decorations with bolts and nuts.
This has never happened before, and they were really swarming. We decided to do our errands, add a stop at Yeager’s Hardware for some cans of wasp spray, and then see what we could do when we got back.
They were having a buy one, get one free sale on wasp spray, so we took advantage of that. We parked at the bottom of the driveway and my husband hosed down one side of the pole after telling me to ‘stay in the truck.’ I thought of all the movies we’ve seen where a character tells someone else to ‘stay in the car’ and they never do, resulting in all kinds of bad things. I also thought of created a cheesy horror movie – naming it, “Revenge of the Wasps” in my head as I watched. He had to use almost one whole can in order to get things under enough control that we were able to
- rush over and get the “Fritz the Cat” decoration down and into the back of the truck. He then sprayed two persistent wasps who kept reappearing.
- We then rushed over and put up “Catbert, the evil HR Director” from Dilbert cartoons, spraying one more time before we drove up the driveway again.
We left the partial can and the 2nd full can of wasp spray in the truck so that we are armed to get our mail tomorrow. I also want to make sure the wasps are gone so they don’t sting our wonderful mailman.
When I told my husband it was time to change mailbox decorations, I really wasn’t expecting such an ordeal.
Reprieve?
Animal Wallpapers – Desktop Nexus
Mother Nature is giving us a reprieve today – the heat index is ONLY 100 right now.
SO – my husband is out mowing the lawn and I’ve been weed whacking around the garden and behind the shop where his riding mower won’t go. It’s going to take several sessions to do what I need to do today. I work for 20 minutes to half an hour, then come in, rest, and drink water. I’ll keep doing that until the job is done or I decide to give it another day. The sun is behind a cloud right now. As soon as I go back out there, the sun will show its face again…
I hope the weather where you are today is comfortable, or that you have a good place to rest.
Filed under Gardening
Glorious Water 2 – Two Paintings and Two Photos
Painiting by Serguei Toutounov Via Elena (Livia) D. – LinkedIn
Svetlana Milenkovic – LinkedIn
Svetlana Milenkovic – LinkedIn
“Spring Morning – Windermere – Cumbria” – Painting by Graham Colthorpe – LinkedIn
Filed under Awe-Inspiring Photography, water paintings
Glorious Water
“Moon on Water” – Anwar B – LinkedIn
Inna Kashkovar – LinkedIn
Inna Kashkovar – LinkedIn
Iguazu Falls – Argentina – Iahsen Haddou – LinkedIn
Filed under water paintings
Prepare
About Signs
Having a health scare is just that -scary. Trying to get help for it is a character-building exercise at a time you’re under great stress. Once the initial hurdles have been jumped over, another of life’s realities rears its ugly head – you have to take charge, doing whatever is necessary to get the help needed.
Yesterday was a case in point. I have almost no tongue left because of biting it so many times while I was on the phone making my way through the bureaucratic maze, trying to get tests scheduled and appointments made.
I had been told we would receive calls regarding where and when we should show up for tests and referrals to various specialists. I was given a card with a phone number to call in case that didn’t happen. I was to use it if I didn’t hear anything in a week.
When I called the number on the card, I found that the ‘referral department’ doesn’t actually handle referrals – they give you phone numbers to call – one of which was the ‘scheduling department.’ It turned out that the scheduling department didn’t actually schedule the tests, they ‘authorized’ them. I received another number to call to actually schedule the tests. The finally scheduled group of added tests will help the specialists figure out what is needed and who should do it.
You get the picture.
It’s bad enough to go through the health scare. The problem is compounded when you finally realize that even though you HAVE TO go through the maze – endure the system – in order to get help, you are your own best advocate. You have to steadily, persistently, keep pushing until you actually get the needed tests scheduled, the actual appointments scheduled to see the specialists, get the results of those, the plan of attack to fix the original problem, the guidance on how to best care for the person who is sick and isn’t in a position to deal with this.
We are thankful. Our son – who lives and works in Thailand – wanted to come to help. He did and is here. He is keeping us calmer, more able to slog through the mazes, phone trees, delays, frustration, attitudes, and emotions, actually injecting some much-needed humor, as well as calm strength.
Filed under Challenges, Changes, character-building exercises, Family, taking care of yourself
Beautiful Photographs to Start Your Day
Photo by Annette Schreiber, annetteschreiberphotography.com
Best Nature View via 2 STAR art
Michele Kostka Langlois – Linked In
Nacpan Beach- El Nido Philippines-Image by Warren Camitan Via Mara Spirig – Linked In
“Dandelion” – Paul Militaru Photography
Photography Kaisa via Mara Spirig – LinkedIn
How Hot Can it Get?
This was posted by one of our local weather people on Facebook yesterday. He said today would be much the same. We are in Greenwood (left column).
On that happy note – we plan to do a lot of staying inside!
I hope YOUR weather is much more sensible. Enjoy your Monday.
Filed under Mother Nature, Seasons
Nice, Quiet Sunday
Brightside
We’re enjoying a quiet day here. Days like this have been few and far between lately, so we’re concentrating on being very thankful. We’ve been out, errands have been run, no big plans for the day. Mother Nature is trying to boil us in oil outside, with a heat index this afternoon of 110-115 degrees F., so we’re content to enjoy our cool home and maybe even catch a nap this afternoon.
I’m going to try to make some time to play in my art room today. I have a couple of ideas rattling around that I’d like to try. I’ll play my MP3 player, shut out the world, and enjoy! Ahhhh.
Happy Sunday to you, too! :0)
Delightful Experience
Poets & Quants
My husband and I signed up to be a host family for a 16-year-old young man from Italy this school year. We have been planning for this for some time now and August 6th the students were to arrive.
Due to a health problem in the family, we were forced to contact the coordinator and opt out. We were really disappointed, but really didn’t want our problem to ruin the year for our young man. Happily, the lady was able to find another family. We had been texting for some time. When I got the go-ahead, I contacted him and explained our situation, being able to assure him that his plans wouldn’t be changed, other than the host family. He told me he would let me know when he got here.
I figured that when he arrived, he would be swept up into lots of activity and that we would probably not hear from him. I then received a text from him, saying he would like to meet us! We arranged that he and his family would meet my husband and me at a local restaurant yesterday.
The meeting could not have been better. It was was wonderful to be able to hug him and enjoy talking with him and seeing him smile. I felt like I fell into a hole because I had to look up at him. :0) He is a really nice looking, friendly young man.
His host family is a delight. Young, energetic, already into school activities because they have two boys, 17 and 13, on football teams at the school, plus a lovely 4 or 5-year-old daughter. Our young man met another boy on the plane who lives in a different part of Italy. He is with another family here, close by! The three boys will have a blast this year. They are traveling to St. Louis today – after football pics at the school – to catch a Cardinals game. As you can tell, this is a WONDERFUL situation.
They will let us know the soccer schedule so that we can watch him play. We are making plans for a cookout at our place, and dinner at their place – with our young man cooking! – in the future.
What could have been a sad situation is now a joyful one.
Filed under Cause for Celebration, Challenges, Delightful Surprises, Family
Slow Learner
2 STAR art
I’m a slow learner.
Under the ‘better-late-than-never’ category, I have FINALLY learned that if I do one or two things on the ‘to-do’ list, then go up to my art room or work out in the garden for a bit, returning to do something else on the list, I’m a much happier camper.
It used to be that giving myself permission to do something fun was at the bottom of the list. I don’t know how or why that happened, but I realized no one gave me points for getting 5 things done on the list, rather than 3, and I ended up tired and feeling the days were passing me by. I tried to work harder and faster, thinking if I could finish the list, THEN I could happily play. The thing was, I NEVER get to the end of the to-do list. It continues to grow.
NOW I build something happy into my day – almost EVERY day. It might be just taking a few minutes to read. It might be playing with our dogs or cats, It might be having a chat with our goldfish (although they aren’t much for deep conversations.) It might be a longer play time of working in our veggie garden or our flower planters. If I have an idea rattling around in my brain for a new art project, I might spend some time on that.
I look at this NOW as a gift not only to myself but to others with whom I come in contact. My happiness seems to show, and I can pass it on to others.
If YOU are not doing this, consider giving it a try.
Filed under Attitude, Encouragement, quality of life
Happy Saturday
Aww Station via Marianna Bellantoni
Filed under Amazing Animals, CUTE!, Family, your 'awwww' for the day
Quilt That Will Knock Your Socks Off
Sandi Strenkowski – Quilt Along With Pat
Filed under Embroidery/Sewing Art
Ant Assassin!
I’ve just spent half an hour or so assassinating fire ants after donning my cape, goggles, gloves, and mixing 2 gallons of EIGHT bug killer in my sprayer.
These are the odious fire ants that are the bane of my existence for the past couple of years. I never really thought about them before until I happened upon them in one of my garden boxes (about 3 feet up in the air) and they swarmed all over me. biting/stinging me and causing my poor body to turn bright pink, swell up, ache, and itch all at the same time for about three days before starting to subside.
I have since looked up information, thinking that, before I set out to murder something, I should at least know if they do anything good for the environment.
According to extension.org, “Beneficial Effects of Fire Ants. Collectively, ants are beneficial insects in our environment. Their nest-building activities reduce soil compaction and help aerate the soil. Many ant species, such as imported fire ants, are omnivorous (they eat just about anything).”
I’m sorry, but the fact that also eat ME make aerating the soil a very low priority for me, particularly since we don’t need that around here.
I read a nice article by a lady who suggests that you pour a teakettle of boiling water down the hole of the mound and that will take care of the problem. That may very well be true, but I don’t think she is trying to treat a garden of veggie plants who would be upset at having boiling water poured on them or almost 8 acres of ridge line rocky soil. The EIGHT spray works well. The fact that the co-op guy in town recommended it highly, after me telling him I was planning to spray it on things I hoped to later feed to myself and my family, and that I didn’t want our pets hurt, went a long way to convince me.
There is Ant-Man from Marvel Comics and the super hero movie genre, but I don’t think he is murdering ants. I’ll just have to fill that gap.
Filed under Challenges, Gardening, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds
Good News for the Future!
Beingsalem Via Mara Spirig – LinkedIn
We just had people from Arkansas Valley Electric Co-op come to the door, saying they needed to measure our poles for the coming installation of a new fiber optic line. He went on to say that in the future, the company will be offering a bundle for people out in the sticks like we are, including Internet, TV, and Phone! He said it would be a year or year and a half, but came back to bring me a brochure.
There is hope for much faster, more reliable service in the future – if we can live long enough! HOORAY!
Filed under Changes, Good Thoughts, quality of life
The Photography of Paul Militaru
“A Beauty” – Paul Militaru Photography
“A Small Paradise” – Paul Militaru Photography
Pet Portraits by Masters
NikiFirmin-“Qannik” (Snowflake)
Gary Wing- “Twiglet”
Filed under drawings, Gary Wing, Niki Firmin - Pet Portraits
“No Good Deed Goes Unpunished”
Gardeners Path
This quote by Clare Booth Luce is said fairly often around here. So many things that should be good things seem to backfire or cause us harm.
The latest was yesterday when I was working in our square foot garden.
I’ve been feeling guilty because I haven’t been taking care of things out there as well as I would like to, so I made a special effort to put in some time, pruning dead leaves off our zucchini plants. I lifted one last plant up to get to some dead stuff and was suddenly covered with fire ants.
I rapidly brushed them off my arm, pulling off my weeding gloves and getting away from the source as quickly as possible, but ONE got me.
I rushed inside, took two Benedryl tablets, washed the bite and slathered Benedryl ointment on it. It still swelled up, but not as badly as I have in the past. I DO learn from mistakes….
Priority on today’s list is murdering fire ants. I don’t care if they perform some wonderful service to us. I want them gone. I will mix up some EIGHT spray and hose down the whole garden area, plus any ant hills I find, plus our tomato planters today. The EIGHT is really good at killing bugs, but is safe to spray on veggies and other plants and won’t harm our pets. I can’t say enough about this product.
Filed under Gardening, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds
Sly as a Fox
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
“A fox is a wolf who sends flowers.” ~ Ruth Brown
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
“The fox changes his fur but not his habits.” ~ Anonymous
Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography
Did You Know?
Bob Bennett – LinkedIn
- Many owl species have asymmetrical ears. When located at different heights on the owl’s head, their ears are able to pinpoint the location of sounds in multiple dimensions. Ready, aim, strike.
- The eyes of an owl are not true “eyeballs.” Their tube-shaped eyes are completely immobile, providing binocular vision which fully focuses on their prey and boosts depth perception.
- Owls can rotate their necks 270 degrees. A blood-pooling system collects blood to power their brains and eyes when neck movement cuts off circulation.
- A group of owls is called a parliament. This originates from C.S. Lewis’ description of a meeting of owls in The Chronicles of Narnia.
- Not all owls hoot! Barn Owls make hissing sounds, the Eastern Screech-Owl whinnies like a horse, and Saw-whet Owls sound like, well, an old whetstone sharpening a saw. Hence the name.
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
*Fun Facts about Owls” ~ Audubon.org
Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography
creativeartworksblog 