CNN.com
“Everyone should believe in something. I believe I will have another coffee.” ~ Unknown
Homecrux
“Coffee first. Schemes Later.” ~ Leanna Renee Hieber
Insider
“Humanity runs on coffee.” ~ Unknown
Insydo
“What goes best with coffee? Another cup.” ~ Henry Rollins
Filed under Coffee Art
I took a walk around our yard this morning and felt instantly cheered by signs of spring. We have several Redbud trees in the yard. Each year we try to cut down things around them, giving them the best chance we can of living and giving us a nice display.
This is our tulip tree. We just love it. It only blooms for a little while each spring, and is usually battered by storms – making the pretty blooms fall – but we love it.
I hope these trees lift your spirits as they did mine.
The Good Liar-t3.gstatic.com
“Consummate con man Roy Courtnay has set his sights on his latest mark: the recently widowed Betty McLeish, worth millions. But this time, what should have been a simple swindle escalates into a cat-and-mouse game with the ultimate stakes.” ~ Warner Bros.
Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen are very entertaining in this movie as they match wits. It reminded me a bit of Hopscotch, the 1980 movie with Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson because of some intelligent dialog, a good plot, etc.
Motherless Brooklyn -google.com
“Set against the backdrop of 1950s New York, “Motherless Brooklyn” follows Lionel Essrog (Norton), a lonely private detective afflicted with Tourette’s Syndrome, as he ventures to solve his friend’s murder. Armed only with a few clues and the powerful engine of his obsessive mind, Lionel unravels closely-guarded secrets that hold the fate of the whole city in the balance.” ~ Warner Bros.
I enjoy action movies, but I truly enjoy finding movies that have a plot, real characters, good dialog, great acting, people you care about, etc. If you haven’t seen these two, I think they are worth your time.
Filed under Book - Movie - TV Reviews
Nature Heaven
It is NOT raining today! It’s cool and gray outside, but I’ll take it! My husband is grumbling that, as soon as our yard dries out, he’ll have to mow – in MARCH! We haven’t even taken our snow tires off the truck and he’ll have to mow!
Arkansas has officially joined the ranks of the states calling for closure of a lot of things. We called and picked up burgers from our Lunch-Bunch-Friday Pizza Barn. They were figuring out how to offer curbside service and doing a fine job. A local Facebook group is providing a list of restaurants that are offering call-in and pick-up services now. We will try to support them, as well as small business people in our community, as we all try to get through this.
Meanwhile, since we are staying home, one would THINK my house would now be spotless. Hahahahaahahhhahaha! No such luck. I still am a champion at finding things that have higher priority than cleaning. I DID scrub the fish and the aquarium –
I am working on starting a new shop on Etsy for my hand-painted glassware. I would appreciate it if you would tell me if you like “Classy Glass,” “Sassy Glass” or “Something Else” (all suggestions welcome) as a name for the shop.
We got a notice from the census people a couple of days ago. My husband found that they directed him online to fill out a form. It was quick and easy. We saved the confirmation from them just in case it is needed in the future.
I hope that you are staying safe and happy.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Yulia Brodskaya via Lina D – Bored Panda
Yulia Brodskaya via Lina D – Bored Panda
Yulia Brodskaya via Lina D – Bored Panda
Filed under paper art
Wild and Wonderful
Well, yesterday I called and told my friend Kay that my husband and I had decided that we would stop going to Lunch Bunch on Fridays until the coronavirus pandemic calmed down. We are in the high risk group for the virus, so we’re trying to limit contact as much as possible. This was a really hard decision because Linda, Kay, and I (plus various others) have met for lunch every Friday for almost 19 years now.
This morning I discovered that the governor of Arkansas has ordered all restaurants, bars, and gyms in Arkansas closed until further notice. (Restaurants can offer take out.) Schools will remain closed through April 17th. I also learned that we have to make an appointment if we want to enter the lobby of our bank, though the drive-thrus and ATMs will be functional. City Hall and the Police Department buildings are closed to the public, too.
I have to tell you that – as worried as I am about the virus – I’m MORE worried about the economic effects of all this, and the changes that are being made in the power of the government as we try to get through this. I hope that we are able to get a handle on testing, possible medicines and equipment that help people suffering with the illness, and protect those trying to help the ill as soon as possible.
This being said, here are things that are NOT being cancelled –
Lisa Parkhurst Blaisdell via Ginger Charles
Diana Beltran Herrera via Lina D – Bored Panda
Diana Beltran Herrera via Lina D – Bored Panda
Diana Beltran Herrera via Lina D – Bored Panda
Diana Beltran Herrera via Lina D – Bored Panda
Diana Beltran Herrera via Lina D – Bored Panda
Filed under paper art
Nature Valley via Penny Yaffe Krakow
Cancelling appointments and not-strictly-necessary errands, social distancing, plus worry for economic repercussions from the coronavirus have me feeling stressed and a bit nuts. I find myself feeling overwhelmed, but having trouble actually sitting down and finishing tasks. I get started, then I think of something that might be more important. I switch to that, and think of something else. I definitely need a button I can push that allows my body – and particularly my brain – to ‘reboot.’ I feel like the sweet dog in the photo who has gathered all the sticks, but now isn’t sure what to DO with them…
One positive thing I’m doing is gathering another donation for the Veterans Thrift Town in Fort Smith, AR. We have been donating to them for years now. Every time we go with a donation, they are very friendly and helpful. Someone helps me get the bags and stuff out of the vehicle and happily give a receipt. The store is clean and well organized. I am happy we found this good group.
Another positive thing today is that we drove to Ft. Smith first thing this morning to sign our tax returns. I always breathe a sigh of relief that it is over for another year. We dashed into Walmart on the way back and are now in for the day.
I’m adding to my online shops. I’m making sure my shops are up to date. I’m thinking of starting a new one in the next few days. People are staying home more due to the coronavirus and might do more online shopping as a result. Right now I have –
Hand-painted note cards and stationery
and ArtFire – with everything else I make.
I’m thinking that I will start a new Etsy shop with my hand-painted glassware.
Meanwhile, I start to the kitchen to get a refill on my coffee and notice a ball of white hair on the tiled floor next to the back door. I also notice that the cat has pulled my hair-washing towel down on the floor. I pick that up and hang it on the chair back again. I put the cup down, go get my cordless vacuum, and end up vacuuming not only that area, but two half-baths, the dining area, the kitchen, the utility room, and the walk-in pantry.
As I walk back from hanging up the vacuum, I stop, pick up the hair washing towel and hang it back up on the chair and put the lunch dishes in the dishwasher. Then get out pork chops to thaw for dinner and pick up the hair washing towel again. At this point, I put the cat out, get my coffee, and come back to the computer…
I hope that YOUR day is more productive than mine. I MEAN well, but the results of my activities so far are less than desired…
Filed under giving, Health Alert, Thoughts on a ________
2017 Tiger Seo via ISO 500px
“An optimist is the human personification of spring.” – Susan J. Bissonette
iStock
“It’s spring fever…. You don’t quite know what it is you DO want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!” Mark Twain
Time
“Be like the flower, turn your face to the sun.” — Kahlil Gibran
Filed under Seasons
Niki Firmin – Lexi
Bethany Kerr Fine Art
Filed under Bethany Kerr, drawings, Niki Firmin - Pet Portraits
Melvin’s Restaurant via Murray Dennis
This is a great reminder of what YOU can do in YOUR community to help people get through the coronavirus effects.
Shop at the local stores that remain open if you can.
Many, like Rags & Roses Collective in Greenwood, are offering online shopping with curbside pick up. You can find details by clicking on the link.
Restaurants, like Lin’s House Chinese Restaurant in Greenwood, offer take out. My husband and I picked up fried rice last night.
Roma Family Italian Restaurant in Greenwood is offering free spaghetti to kids or the elderly in need. What a wonderful thing for them to do!
If you have to cancel an appointment for something like a massage, make arrangements to see that they receive the money anyway.
We are all in this together. Not only do we need to be mindful to try to keep ourselves and our families safe from the virus, but also need to be aware of the terrible financial effects something like this causes.
So, please support the people and businesses in your community until the virus is just an awful memory.
Filed under opportunities, quality of life
Cheong-ah Hwang via Lina D – Bored Panda
Cheong-ah Hwang via Lina D – Bored Panda
Cheong-ah Hwang via Lina D – Bored Panda
Filed under paper art
Microsoft
I absolutely love the creativity of people – the way some think outside the box, have fun with their imagination, and create a new art form. I would have never thought of making art when adding cream to coffee. I am fascinated by the talent and creativity shown.
Awesome Inventions
BuzzFeed
China Daily
Filed under Coffee Art
Joel Cooper via Lina D – Bored Panda
Joel Cooper via Lina D – Bored Panda
Filed under paper art
May the dust of your carriage wheels blind the eyes of your foes.
May you live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live.
May your fire never go out.
May your well never run dry.
May we be alive at this time next year.
May the roof above you never fall in and those gathered beneath it never fall out.
May the hinges of our friendship never grow rusty.
May the Irish hills caress you.
May her lakes and rivers bless you.
May the luck of the Irish enfold you.
May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.
I can resist everything except temptation. ~ Oscar Wilde
HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!
Filed under holidays, Lewis Art, Lewis Mailbox Decorations
Origami by Nguyen Hung Cuong via Lina D – Bored Panda
Origami by Nguyen Hung Cuong via Lina D – Bored Panda
Origami by Nguyen Hung Cuong via Lina D – Bored Panda
Origami by Nguyen Hung Cuong via Lina D – Bored Panda
Origami by Nguyen Hung Cuong via Lina D – Bored Panda
Origami by Nguyen Hung Cuong via Lina D – Bored Panda
Filed under paper art
Photo via Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
We enjoyed watching what could be a relative of this cute little fellow leap from a hanging bird feeder on the deck to the shovel bird feeder, and then around via the railing to the gallon glass bottle and wood feeder we have attached to the grill on the outside of the dining area window. He kept flipping his tail. I’m not sure what that signifies, but he sure was a busy little critter, checking everything out.
We went for a quick shot at the doctor’s office to quick stops at two groceries to replenish supplies and are now home for the day. Even with the schools closed, starting today, there wasn’t much traffic on the road.
A new thing greeted us at the clinic – a nurse was there to take our temperature outside before we were admitted inside. Then, they had rearranged the seating so that there were two chairs together, but they were far apart from another couple of chairs, all around the room, giving people plenty of space. I was glad to see these precautions.
I am thinking about ordering one of these on the net so that I can quit touching my face. I seem to be obsessive about touching my face, and I never realized it before! I’m constantly, scratching, touching, rubbing my eyes, pulling on my nose….. It’s either a funnel like this or I may start wearing mittens….
We are in the ‘high risk group’ for the virus. My husband continues to deny that he is included in the group, but he still thinks he can do what he did when he was a teenager, paying the price later, with lots of sore muscles. He also denies he is a Type II diabetic, only admitting he has a ‘sugar problem.’ We are trying to limit our exposure as much as seems reasonable, hoping the experts get a handle on the testing soon.
It is certainly getting more spring-like here, with lots and lots of rain this week. We are due to get up to 3 inches by the end of the day Thursday. It’s a really good thing the veggie planting boxes we built have good drainage or the plants would need to learn to swim!
I hope that you are somewhere safe, practicing social distancing, washing your hands, NOT touching your face, and spending your time in a pleasant manner.
Filed under Health Alert, quality of life, Thoughts on a ________
“Keto Chili” from Suzanne Ryan, Simply Keto
My husband requests this chili regularly. We both love it. A nice comfort type food for cool, rainy days as we have been having.
myketokitchen.com
This keto bread has allowed me to stay on my eating plan without feeling deprived. I was REALLY missing bread. My husband, who is almost at the weight he should be, and who is only having to watch sugar, eats regular rolls, bagels, toast, etc. I tried to be upbeat about it, but it was bothering me more and more. Sometimes I just gave in and had some of his bread, and then felt really guilty. The scales, of course, told me how bad this was.
I finally found this keto bread recipe. I wanted ONE recipe that could serve several purposes – I could butter a slice as if it were a roll with dinner, I could put a slice in the toaster and eat it with bacon and eggs. I can even use it for a sandwich, though it’s a bit crumbly for that. It doesn’t rise as much as a regular loaf of bread, but I like it – a LOT.
Eating like this, plus doing my yoga daily (this is Day 3 of my restart) and planning to add back my elliptical trainer sessions starting tomorrow, will hopefully help me shed my excess poundage.
Filed under DIET!, exercise, Keto Eating Plan and Recipes We Like
“Here’s lookin’ at YOU, kid.”
My fish don’t say much. They don’t do tricks. I need to clean their aquarium out once a week, even with the two filters I’m running now. But they DO gather in the corner when they see me coming, wriggling their little bodies and blowing bubbles at me, hoping I’ll drop flakes in their tank.
I lost one recently. :O( He had the balance problem I read about. I was sad to lose him, but I’ve learned a lesson that will help the other two – not to sprinkle the flakes on the surface of the water. An article I read said to put the flakes in some water from the tank and saturate them completely before adding the water and food to the tank. This is supposed to avoid the development of the balance problem due to gulping in air along with the flakes.
I’ve cleaned out the tank so much now that it is almost down to a science. I can empty it, change out or clean everything, and have the fish back swimming in about half an hour.
Filed under Family, Housekeeping - Maintenance
Calvin Nicholls via Lina D – Bored Panda
Calvin Nicholls via Lina D – Bored Panda
Calvin Nicholls via Lina D – Bored Panda
Calvin Nicholls via Lina D – Bored Panda
Filed under paper art
Peter Callesen via Lina D- Bored Panda
Peter Callesen via Lina D- Bored Panda
Peter Callesen via Lina D- Bored Panda
Peter Callesen via Lina D- Bored Panda
Filed under paper art
India TV
I earned my second star in a row today for two days of doing my old lady gentle yoga. I’ve been lax for a long time, and proved to myself, once again, that my BODY feels the difference over time.
Yesterday I woke up stiff and sore with my hips hurting after a restless night of trying to get comfortable – a definite wake up call. So while my husband was reading and watching TV, I spread out my mat, greeted Amber, our 95 pound yellow lab warmly, and got her to get on her bed so that I could start.
Though she continued to ‘ooze’ over, getting as close to me as I would allow, I continued to try to relax. I’m back at the point where it takes a minute or two of lying on my back quietly before everything finally relaxes and quits hurting! After I went through a whole lot of slow stretches – about 45 minutes worth – my body was finally relaxed and I felt good.
Today it was easier to grab the mat, stretch out, hug Amber, and get on with it. I’m breathing into the stretches and am already feeling a difference. It’s kind of pathetic that I have to KEEP realizing this over and over, but at least I’m back on the mat.
I give myself a gold star on my desk calendar for each day I do my practice. Since we’re staying at home a lot now, as soon as my body gets into the yoga routine again, I’ll add some elliptical trainer time in the garage…
Filed under exercise
Science | How Stuff Works
Spinach
Sweet Red Onions
Head Lettuce
My veggies were smiling when I went out to take these pictures this morning. Everything seems to be doing very well now.
I told you how hard I was trying to get the irrigation system going for my garden a couple of days ago. If my husband and I couldn’t get it going, I was going to have to fill my watering can over and over to give them a drink. We FINALLY figured out why we weren’t getting water in the outside agricultural water faucet we have – a faucet control in the well house was turned off instead of on.
Now that it is running perfectly, and the timer is set for daily watering, we are getting rain every day from yesterday through Thursday of next week. A beautiful illustration of Finagle’s Law of Dynamic Negatives. (Finagle’s law of dynamic negatives (also known as Melody’s law, Sod’s Law or Finagle’s corollary to Murphy’s law) is usually rendered as “Anything that can go wrong, will—at the worst possible moment.”) We also have it to mean “the more you need it, the harder it is to fix” or “you will get it fixed when you no longer need it.”
My garden is such a joy. The boxes we built allow me to continue gardening with pleasure, not having to bend over double or get down on my hands and knees over and over. The fence keeps large critters out. The chicken wire around the bottom keeps small critters out. The Mel’s Mix in the boxes (peat moss, vermiculite, and as many different kinds of compost as you can find or make) allows plants to grow well and happily, not having to depend on the quality or quantity of our soil.
The cool weather crops, spinach and head lettuce, will hopefully do really well before it gets too hot here. The red onions will stay where they are until harvest, probably in October. When it gets a bit warmer, I’ll add yellow squash and radishes, if not some other things, to the garden.
I have two large brick planters on the other side of the house that we converted to be square foot planters. We devote both of them to tomato plants.
So far, I have smiling, happy veggies. Fingers crossed that this will continue.
Have a happy Saturday!
Filed under Gardening, Mother Nature, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds
Bored Panda
I’m happy to tell you that we finally got our irrigation system for the garden working just in time for the rain today. Hahahaahahaahah! :0)
We had a great time at Lunch Bunch. Everyone was there, so we had a lot of good conversation, good food, and laughs. Afterwards we went to Walmart and one other store for supplies. Apparently, toilet paper is the big item everyone thinks is necessary to weather the coronavirus here. There was NONE at Walmart or in the other grocery at which we stopped. It is scary, being in the high risk group as my husband and I are, but I’m not sure that toilet paper is the cure. I think the caution about being in crowds or lots of public spaces is smart, and so we will cut down on what seems reasonable. Here is Arkansas, schools and churches haven’t been affected yet. Hopefully, testing will be readily available soon.
Signs of spring continues to appear. My daffodils are starting to fade, but my tulip tree is happy.
A beef roast is in the crock pot, so all I have to do for dinner is make a salad.
Every time Microsoft updates Windows 10, it causes me a problem. This time, it was two things –
Thing One – my access to Bill Pay on our bank account. We could get to the rest of the things on the account, but not that. I ended up accessing Bill Pay via FoxFire browser, the only one I could find that would allow it to show up.
Thing Two – My Cronometer website. This is a nice website where I can track what I’m eating, particularly in regard to my keto macros. It wouldn’t show up at all on Chrome anymore. I finally got it to show up on FireFox, too. I feel I’m back home with my safety net. I find the biggest problem is trying to eat enough fat. I’m now adding heavy cream to my coffee, and hopefully that will make the difference.
I found a funny sign I would like to add to the ones people see as they come up our long, steep driveway.
We have one like this –
source unknown
and this –
LoveThisPic
and this
source unknown
and I want to add to our collection with this one –
sadanduseless
Filed under Friendship, Funny Signs - Humor, Health Alert
Gorilla Love – Unknown – via Penny Yaffe Krakow
Head Lettuce
Red onions
Head Lettuce and Red Onions
Spinach
I have a funny problem. I was just out weeding and cleaning up the plants a bit. We have had a lot of rain lately, but most of it is going around us, rather than watering the garden. I decided to hook up our irrigation system, uncovering things for the first time this season. My control for the watering needed a battery, so I came back inside to get one.
When I went back outside, it was raining! Hahahahahaha!
Now that I’m writing this post, it has stopped.
Mother Nature is playing with me and laughing.
Filed under Gardening, Mother Nature, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds
I had fun doing a whole new style with the hand-painted wooden earrings. These are layered, with two or three wooden pieces attached to each other. They are still quite light weight. I even forget when I have them on!
Each is a one-of-a-kind design.
If you would like to take a closer look, they are listed in my Etsy shop.
Filed under playing in my art room
creativeartworksblog 