Filed under Neil Buchanan, paintings of children
I’m feeling pretty good about the state of the yard, though that project is never ‘finished.’ There is nothing out there screaming loudly at me now, so I might spend part of the afternoon in my art room today without guilt.
The Hillybilly Kitchen on YouTube
There’s another bread recipe for sloths like me (:0) ) that I would like to try…
The price of the #56 (Encore in Death) paperback finally got reasonable enough for me, so I bought it. According to Amazon, it might actually be sitting in my mailbox right now. I have preordered Payback in Death, the paperback of it due to be released in December of this year. #58 – Random in Death will be out in hardback in January of 2024. Because of all this happy news, I’m re-reading the series, fully immersed in Eve Dallas’ world of murder, wonderful characters with complex relationships, courage and more. I’m re-reading Loyalty in Death, #9, right now.
Tenor
Our weather has been so beautiful lately it’s hard to believe. I’m really soaking it up, trying to get outside to at least smile at it, if not work out there. Today it’s supposed to get to 89, but very low humidity, so it’s essentially perfect. Can’t celebrate enough!
Happy day to you!
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Since I can remember I’ve always wanted to grow some of my own veggies and also grow and use herbs. I’ve done some of the first with various ranges of success and still want to do the second.
Norah Halstead has written a good general case for growing your own veggies and herbs organically both for your improved health and for the sake of the planet. She explains that you can enjoy this no matter how limited your space is, and walks you through what you need to know to create a rich environment for your plants. She managed to punch through most of my intimidation about growing, storing, and using herbs, both for my cooking and the idea of using some for medicinal purposes. The more medicines I end up taking, the more I would LIKE to be able to go as natural as possible when I can.
I would like her to concentrate on a book JUST about herbs, giving more information about what each herb does, more hints about how to grow each, when to harvest, more information about storing them after harvest, how to store the seeds for next season, and more.
The Nutrient Patch: Health-Boosting Vegetable Gardening Made Easy by Norah Halstead
Filed under Book - Movie - TV Reviews
These two pictures give you an idea of what I was trying to clean out today. There are 11 planters on the deck – all of them overgrown with weeds – some dead, most alive and thriving. I just came in from getting things cleaned out.
In the black planter in the center of this photo, there was a really big, strong root that didn’t want to come out. I finally got a stool, a short shovel, and some loppers. I pried up the root as much as possible and then lopped it off as low as I could. I don’t think we’ll see it again, since it will have to weather the winter with no water, little sun, and no food, but we’ll see. You can also see that Amber was helping me with the project. :0)
Things are looking more like someone cares now. I’m going to turn off the irrigation system to the back. There is only one planter along the driveway pad that needs watering, and I can do that by hand.
Filed under Gardening, Lewis projects
We have a paper that comes out every two weeks, I think. It’s free and I get it when we go to Lunch Bunch. I was FLOORED when I read one article on the front page, listing a bunch of stuff about which I was not aware that is or will happen in our little town of Greenwood.
THING ONE – I’ve told you about the bridge between us and town being completely taken out and replaced. It is finished for all practical purposes, but the barricades are still up and it isn’t open for traffic, so we are still having to go to town a back way that is much longer and aggravating.
THING TWO – Now it looks like just as this bridge is opening and we can enjoy getting back to our normal route to town, the main road to town is going to be barricaded by another thing.
The powers that be have long discussed a bypass that would go past the ‘square’ in town, easing the bad traffic that happens twice a day due to people trying to drive through Greenwood from towns to the east – with people trying to get to work in Fort Smith – plus the traffic caused by kids trying to get to, or leave, school by buses and what my husband calls, “Mommy traffic.” This has been a pie-in-the-sky thing for years. Apparently, Phase I of the bypass will START before the end of THIS YEAR! This will obliterate the intersection of Hwy 10 and Hwy 96 – an intersection we have to go through to get to town. Oh, GOOD!
I read a lot about it online yesterday, studying maps provided. They said it is due to start in November – no estimated end date. This would mean that the back way we’re having to take NOW wouldn’t be possible, NOR our normal route to town. We’ll have to take a rural road that goes into pasture-type land behind our house and WAAAAAAAY out to HWY 71 South and then BACK to GREENWOOD…. to tell you I’m not looking forward to this is a vast understatement.
THING THREE –apparently, they’re going to build a new medical center to replace the one where our primary doctor is, from just off the square in town to out on HWY 71.
THING FOUR – likewise, they’re going to build a new library to replace the easy-to-get-to one in town out to HWY 71.
THING FIVE –They are going to build a new Senior Center – you guessed it – out on HWY 71.
They say this will be more ‘convenient’ for people living in South Sebastian County. I have to admit feeling a bit selfish. I like things they way they are. The only one of these last three that won’t affect us yet is the Senior Center. I may be as old as dirt, but I’m not old enough to go there to do anything yet, and may never be. :0)
I guess that’s the list. I’m still feeling pretty shell-shocked. Too many changes in too little time.
I have to tell you that I’m pleased with myself for handling the problem of our pharmacist retiring and sending my husband’s prescription to Walgreens – something that meant we would have to drive to Ft. Smith once a month. I asked our doctor to call the prescription in to Humana. They did that, and I got confirmation today that the med is on its way. HOORAY.
I hope that you are able to handle the changes happening in your life – whether they are simply small and irritating, intimidating, or even scary or life-changing. Try to handle one thing at a time and try not to feel stressed. We can do this.
Filed under Challenges, Changes, character-building exercises
Mark Gray – @GrayMarker99 on X
I had to discipline myself in order not to drool all over this exquisite, gloriously purple photograph by Mark Gray. I think he said these flowers were ‘lupines.’ I’ll have to research to see if I can get some here and try to grow them. I think they’re spectacular. :0)
I hope you’re having a nice morning. It’s wonderful here, cloudy and 69 right now. We’re supposed to have a high this afternoon of 84 with low humidity. It’s like we’ve gone to a different planet. I LOVE IT !
I got started cleaning out the deck planters yesterday afternoon. There are 11 planters out there, I think. I have the 4 larger ones left to do today. I’ll share pics if I finish.
Lunch Bunch was fun yesterday, although it was just Bud, Kay, my husband and me. Bud is the newest addition to Lunch Bunch. He’s Kay’s husband, and until recently has worked every day. This might not sound unusual, but he’s in his mid 80’s, I think, and he still runs a backhoe and other really big equipment, a dying art. He is finally just working as backup when they can’t get other skilled people. I’m delighted, because I’ve gotten a chance to get to know him a bit. He has a really great sense of humor and regularly has me exploding with laughter as he surprises me once again, eyes twinkling.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
“My Garden” – Gregorio Catarino – @gregcatarino1 on X
I love this painting. I wish I had an area like this. I used to have a greenhouse that my husband and I built-
But a storm killed it beyond repair a year or so ago and we had to take it down. The reality of it is that if you don’t have a separate heating and cooling system for it in Arkansas, you can’t get the temperature right for good growing of seeds and plants. It was a fun experiment.
TODAY’S PROJECT –
As you can see, there are multiple small containers that are totally overrun by weeds. I need to completely clean them out. The heat got to everything – despite the fact that we used our automatic watering system twice a day – and the flowers died. The weeds are much hardier and used the opportunity to thrive. I’ll have quite a job getting these out.
Filed under Gardening
As we age, we deal with issues we didn’t even think of in the past. Day to day life becomes more challenging because it’s harder to get things done. Things are getting more complicated. How you have always done it doesn’t work anymore. You need to learn new skills, develop new patience, stop and breathe.
I’m spending more and more time each day on YouTube listening to music. I watch auditions on the competitive shows. I listen to ‘reactions to music’ to find musicians and singers new to me. I save things to my bookmarks and go back and listen to more music from new and old favorites.
Music takes me away in the same way a beloved book lets me escape. I go to a different place in my mind where I calm down, shed years, worries, and cares, and BREATHE for a few minutes.
My life is such that my husband (the bane of my existence and the love of my life) and I are together almost 24/7 these days. He had a couple of strokes and though others may not notice much, these have changed him in lots and lots of ways. He is perfectly capable of getting up on the roof and trying to fix things – and therein lies much of the problem. He will be 80 in November and has no business stomping around on the roof. He then has trouble getting down, and has spent an hour or so while I was getting my hair cut, lying on the roof, waiting for me to get home and help him get on the ladder.
Since getting my hair cut and getting a monthly massage are my only times away, I have developed some things that ‘take me away’ while not going anywhere (if that makes sense.) Listening to music is one of these.
I have always been amazed that hearing a piece of music you “shook your parts to” as a teenager takes you right back there in your mind. In your head you picture the whole scene at the party, the cute guy with whom you were dancing, the moves everyone made, the happiness that surrounded you. Music is magic.
Filed under music
Ken James Photography – @openshutter21 on X
University of Westminster
“Rosh Hashanah, meaning “head of the year” in Hebrew, is the celebration of the Jewish New Year. During Rosh Hashanah, Jewish people around the world ask God for forgiveness for mistakes they’ve made over the past year and remind themselves not to repeat those mistakes in the coming year.”
I wish you a happy and safe new year.
____________
@PaulMillerArt On X – I thought this was a photo when I first saw it. An excellent photo. And then I discovered it WASN’T a photo! I think this is truly amazing art work. I will look to see if I can find and show you more.
USAGIF.com
We leave for Lunch Bunch in a bit. I’m hoping that Kay and Bud’s daughter, LaDonna, will be visiting from Albuquerque. She’s always busily doing something new, so it’s really interesting to talk with her. We don’t have any errands today, except for getting our mail. My husband will probably insist that we visit our nearly-finished new bridge so that he can gripe that it’s not open yet. :0)
The weather is supposed to be nice, so I might work outside this afternoon. I haven’t been able to get upstairs to play in my art room this week. Something else has come up each day, sucking the time out of the day, so it would be great if I could get up there. We’ll see.
Wall Hanging – 9×12 “I’m Ready” – “Living with Gusto” Sign Series – $17.95 with FREE SHIPPING to the contiguous U.S.
I hope you’re having a happy day.
Before – the trio of brick planters had become completely overgrown with out-of-control runners on plants, weeds, and Bermuda grass. Today was a perfect day to try to get this under control. The sky was mostly overcast. It’s just now 81, but was cooler most of the morning while I was doing the first session. There was a breeze. I had my stool, the big trash can, my gloves, and two kinds of loppers.
Things are looking a bit better now, and I’m finished for the day outside. I haven’t decided what the next project area will be yet, but I have a wealth of areas from which to choose….
Filed under Gardening, Lewis projects
Filed under Neil Buchanan, paintings of children
YouTube.com
I would LOVE to have this in my yard. If we DID try to do something like this, it would have to be created as a stand-alone wooden piece of art. We don’t have a fence at all. It’s wonderful, though, isn’t it?
Women’s Health
Shout-out to Cathy – and others who need it today –
As I type, it’s rainy and 67 degrees. I don’t know whether things will dry out enough for me to weed today or not.
Since I can use as much motivation to lose the lard as I can amass, I dug out an old NutriSystem bear I earned years ago in order to mark my newest efforts. I’m monitoring my eating (watching it like a hawk), not eating between meals and being mindful to get some kind of exercise in daily, drinking glasses of water between cups of coffee and weighing each morning to keep my goal in the forefront of my mind (wherever that is :0) ) I’m hoping it will continue to all work together to steadily shed my excess lardage over time. I don’t really care how long it takes, as long as I’m moving toward my goal in a mindful way. I’m down 11.4 lbs as of this morning. My next ‘eye-on-the-prize’ goal is 15 lbs, and I can look forward to digging out another bear eventually.
The Gardner School
If it turns out to be too wet outside to weed, I’ll plan on spending time upstairs in my art room.
I hope you have a nice day planned, or that you get some happy surprises that make you grin from ear to ear today.
Filed under DIET!, getting the lard off, Thoughts on a ________
Jane Wood-Pinterest
Lacey London-@thelaceylondon on X
Vera Bogdanova-f.fansuri
Victoria Zagorodnya-cakesdecor.com
Filed under playing with your food?
@TaoGardening on X
I’m drooling over these flowers and photo. Exquisite!
We had a good trip to town, although my husband was kind of oblivious to a lot of what was going on around him. As is usual, when I want a quick trip to Walmart, he’s in the mood to dawdle, looking at TVs we’re not going to buy, albums and DVDs he looks carefully at (every week) and then decides they’re too expensive, etc. We did manage to help a man whose car wouldn’t start in the parking lot before we left. He just needed a battery charger boost, so it was easy.
On the way home he turned into Sonic. Apparently, he hasn’t noticed that I’m watching every bite, not eating anything in-between meals or before bed, and was surprised that I didn’t ‘want’ a chocolate shake. (I’m down 11 pounds even as of this morning). Anyway, I gnashed my teeth a bit while he got a large banana shake that he’s not supposed to have due to his diabetes.
The barricades were still up on the road that goes to town, but he was adamant that they HAD to be finished with the bridge. When we got there, it was like it was the last time we checked – looking pretty finished, but barricades still up and big equipment still there. He was beyond aggravated.
Old Mission Gazette
The past two or three days our driveway detector toward the bottom of the drive keeps going off over and over. It means that it ISN’T a vehicle, but we haven’t been sure what it IS. I actually saw two or three deer when I went outside last evening, and again this morning. They were just standing in the driveway and looked at me as if I were the interloper. (I guess I AM, from their point of view.)
It occurred to me when I was more awake that – regarding my husband’s prescription –
I’m getting ready to go out and tackle some of the weeds in the trio of brick planters across the yard. Pics later.
Hope you’re having a good day.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
@Ariaa Jaeger on X
We’re enjoying a cool front from Canada for a few days and I’m really happy about it. We got a good rain yesterday. It’s really nice and 69 right now, with a high of 82 forecast. I’LL TAKE IT! :0)
We’re leaving in a bit for some errands. The rest of the day is free, I think.
Wow. I feel as if I just went through a time-warp. I called the number of our local pharmacy to renew a prescription for my husband. I got Walgreens, instead. I thought I had gone nuts and dialed the wrong number. It went through to Walgreens again. The lady said our pharmacist was retiring and had sent our prescriptions to Walgreens. The end result is that I will get a text on my phone when the new prescription is ready. I’m not awake enough for changes like this.
Today’s outside project is weeding our trio of brick planters that run between our front yard and our driveway. I’ll tackle that when we get home.
I hope you have a happy Wednesday.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
iPhonewallpapers.com
YouTube.com
Filed under Iridescent Art, paintings I love
Peter Hogarth Artist – Dog Portraits
@PeterHogarth55 on X
Filed under animal paintings, Peter Hogarth - Artist
Women’s Health
Shout-out to Cathy, who MAY be undergoing her last week of radiation and chemo! Decisions to be made, but fingers crossed that the very best treatment for you will be decided. My heart is with you today, Cathy.
My computer says it’s 67 degrees this morning! The high is supposed to be 77 this afternoon and it’s raining! Woo HOOOO! We have the doors open and the ceiling fans on, airing things out and enjoying the deliciously cool breeze. I love it. :0)
Giphy
PLUS – since it’s raining, I’ll plan to do a session of yoga this afternoon – rather than weeding more flower planters – as my exercise for the day.
I think I told you I was having trouble getting meds for our dog, Amber, online, due to a new requirement that the online store contact your vet to okay the prescription. I wrote to our vet, explaining that we are on a fixed income and need to watch our pennies, and that I wanted to do what was right for Amber, but couldn’t afford to pay $40 more for the prescription. My vet’s office has now offered to match the online price for us. There are still good people in the world. :0)
I tried this yesterday afternoon. No yeast, no kneading, no rise time. And it was good! Even my husband said, “This is pretty good” – a HUGE compliment. I’m going to use some of it tonight to make us some grilled cheese and ham sandwiches and we’ll have some soup with it. YUM! A real “celebrate the rain and cool” dinner!
Enjoy your Tuesday.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Giphy
This morning I’m down almost 11 pounds.
FunnyTab
I seem to have finally put together a group of behaviors that is working for me –
I’m eating breakfast nowadays – Fiber One Cereal, blueberries and milk. 18 grams of fiber, NO sugar. The milk and blueberries add a bit of sugar, but not much in the grand scheme of things. The cereal tastes like rabbit pellets, but I’ve been having trouble finding more, so I’ll quit griping. I finally found some at Walmart on ONE of our trips, but none there or at Harps last week, so I ordered more from Amazon. It took a month to get the first order from Amazon, but there was no problem this time. I have no idea what the problem has been. I’m just glad I can get some.
I’m having a pretty heavy lunch – deli slices of turkey, some cheese, a hard-boiled egg, and some fruit.
Dinner is either a frozen dinner (like Atkins or Healthy Choice and a roll) or something I’ve cooked, with careful portions and the rest frozen in individual portions for another night.
I’m weighing each morning because the prospect of that – and MAYBE seeing good results – is keeping my motivation high.
I’m trying to include more veggies, drink more water and I’m eating nothing in-between meals now. I’m trying to move more with yard work outside or yoga inside daily.
The fact that I’m seeing some steady progress now is motivation to continue. So
123RF
Filed under DIET!, getting the lard off
before
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The outside project is done and we just got the mail and drove the trash to the bottom of the driveway. Now we’ll eat some lunch and I’ll rest awhile before going up to play in my art room. :0)
Filed under Gardening, Lewis projects
dimanche 29novembre2020-tigre-Eric Clemens-photo-mosannick.blogspot.com
dimanche 10janvier2021-ArtsyAnnick
hereford-samedi 23janvier2021-mosannick.blogspot.com
leopard-mardi 29decembre2020-mosannick.blogspot.com
Filed under Pastels
Paul Gundlach Photography – @paulsgundlach on X
I love Phyllis Harris’ work. She has several books and coloring books on Amazon. :0)
STUPID MOVE OF THE DAY –
I won this contest hands down (pun intended) yesterday. I needed to open a box of baking soda in order to pour it into an over-center container I use. I was using the scissors to open the top more and ‘suddenly’ the handles of the scissors snapped shut, pinching my hand just below my thumb. It happened really fast, hurt like crazy, and had me bleeding all over the place. Thankfully, I was in the kitchen where it could be wiped up, band-aids found, etc. I only have a little bruise today. It isn’t even very sore. The intense feeling of stupidity remains.
My outdoor to-do list for today is 4 planters around our garage pad. (There are two small ones and two regular-sized brick ones. ) If I can get them done, I’ll post pics later.
Nursery World
If I finish those, I’ll try to get to my art room this afternoon. I’m still practicing with the pen type engraver. It’s a good thing I have a lot of practice time. The jury is still out on whether I can actually do well enough to create the Christmas presents of etched glass I’m envisioning. I’m also having a great time producing some signs with sayings I like.
Attitude Sign – 6×8 Hand-Painted Sign on Hardboard – “Attitude” – $14.99 with FREE SHIPPING to the contiguous U.S. HandmadeHavenByLinda on Etsy
Enjoy your day!
ABC
9-11-2001. In some ways it seems like yesterday, yet there is a whole generation who doesn’t know first-hand what happened that day – who learn about it as just another item in history books, or just another story their parents or grandparents tell.
The world has ‘moved on,’ with holes in their hearts. As usual, no one has really been held responsible. We watched 60 Minutes last night. The section where they interviewed some of the children of the firemen who lost their lives particularly got to me. Their lives were forever changed and they have decided to honor their loved ones by becoming firefighters themselves, continuing the legacy.
There is definitely a ‘before’ and ‘after’. ‘Before’ we thought we were invincible. Awful things happened in the world, but not to the U.S. We felt bad for what man did to others, but it was somewhere far away. ‘After’ we realize that it CAN and DID happen here. The awful thing killed friends and family HERE.
Each year on 9/11 we honor the people who died – people at work, people walking by on the streets below, people trying to fly home – and then all the people who tried to help in the aftermath – plus all the loved ones.
We face the new normal that we ARE vulnerable. There are people who live to try to hurt us. Our leaders say the ones responsible will pay – and they never do – and the world goes on the best it can. We hold all these innocent people especially close in our hearts today.
Filed under holidays
8 foot tomato planter before
NOW
Square tomato planter before
NOW
And that’s it for my outside work (and exercise) for the day.
Tomorrow (weather permitting) I have 4 planters – two really small concrete planters on either side of the garage door – and then two regular-sized brick planters that are on either side of the garage pad.
Here they are –
Hopefully, I can get something significant accomplished each day until I have things under control once again.
Filed under exercise, Gardening, getting the lard off
junerollins.wordpress.com
I hope you’re enjoying your day.
It’s sunny and 74 here right now. Since our weather is forecast to be much more civilized in the coming week, I’m going to try to get something done outside each day. This will be good for the yard AND my trying to move more. Today’s project is pulling out the dead tomato plants and cleaning up the planters.
______________
Challenges –
THING ONE– We have Humana. I got a letter saying that since they were having trouble contacting me, they had cancelled my auto-renew authorizations on meds. ARRRRGH. The whole point of auto-renew is that they shouldn’t HAVE to contact you! ARRRGH again. I tried to solve this online, but it wasn’t working. I got on my phone, installed their app, and tried again. This went through fine, but I really don’t like having a lot on my phone…
THING TWO – I purchased a year’s worth of heartworm preventive medicine for Amber last week. I had to give my vet’s info. I did that. I got a call later in the week that said my vet’s office said they wanted me to go through them. That meant my purchase was cancelled. Since we had used the last pill, we went and bought 6 months worth at the vet. I’ve just written them an email telling them that I could save $40 on the 12 month supply online, explaining that we are on a fixed income and need to watch our money carefully, asking him to reconsider. We’ll see.
_____________
I’m going to jump outside now and see if I can do some good on the tomato plants. I’ll be back later.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
creativeartworksblog 