Heart-warming moment on UK documentary series when a school teacher helped a student overcome his stammer. The teacher used the method from "The King's Speech" with success. pic.twitter.com/ZMNZjo41Q7
We’re having a nice ‘day-after-quiet-birthday-celebration’ here today. The weather is nice. It’s supposed to rain late this afternoon into tomorrow, but right now it’s a beautiful fall Sunday. I plan to do some weed whacking before the rain starts.
I just had the NICEST phone talk with a good relative/but, more importantly, FRIEND. We haven’t talked in awhile, so I feel as if I’ve been verbally hugged.
We don’t have any big plans for Thanksgiving. If you’re traveling, I hope you have safe travels that go as smoothly as possible so that you can see/hug the people who mean the world to you.
I am working on rejuvenating my Etsy site. I try for awhile, give up in frustration, go do something else, then come back and try again.
The project right now is trying to rearrange the images for my products to change the look and focus of my shop. It’s taken me a week of looking, saying a few (or more) bad words, and messing around, but I FINALLY found the way that I can move my images around – just the first step in a lot of things I would like to do.
For now, I’m going to cut off work on that and switch to birthday dinner mode.
Happy Birthday to my husband. I’m delighted with his attitude. Yesterday he was “old and 79.” Today he’s “80 with cache’!”
He checked with me this morning first thing, to confirm I’m cooking ‘chicken chunks with onions, mushrooms, and soup over rice’ for his birthday dinner. I was planning to bake a pineapple upside down cake, as well, but he decided that was ‘too much sugar.’ (This from the man who denies he has Type II Diabetes – he just has a ‘sugar problem’)
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I told you that I’m trying to give my Etsy site a face lift. This is proving to be a real character-building exercise. I’ve been working on a banner to go across the top, a new logo, and lots of other changes and – I hope – improvements, but I’ve been beating my head against a lot of obstacles so far.
I finally decided that I could at least do one thing reasonably quickly, and that was to lower my prices. People are at least thinking about buying presents for everyone on their list for Christmas, and I think prices are particularly important when the economy is so challenging. So all of my prices have been lowered – some really significantly – and I’m still offering free shipping to anyone living in the contiguous U.S.
I lowered my prices yesterday and woke up to a sale this morning. Maybe a coincidence, but it was really nice, nonetheless. I just got home from a trip to town to the post office to get it in the mail. :0)
I’m lucky to have discovered how flowers – real or painted or photographed – can lift my spirits. The delicacy of the actual flowers and the richness of the colors fills me up, leaving little place for any negative thoughts or sadness.
The question of the day is whether our friends will be at Lunch Bunch in a little over an hour. Why don’t I call them, you ask? Both of them HAVE phones, but neither one answers. I leave a voice mail on one of them, but she says she doesn’t get it. The other doesn’t have any kind of messages set up on her phone, and doesn’t wear her hearing aids much of the time, anyway.
So – we’ll go and see if anyone is there, eat – or not eat – and then get some groceries on the way home. “The times – they are a’changin.'”
Dengarden
My challenge for the day is changing the wire holder on my weed whacker so I can continue neatening up around the house. I may have to break down and enlist my husband’s help, but I would RATHER prevail by myself.
Fox & Spice – Fall – Tumblr
My joy for the day is the truly beautiful fall weather we’ve been enjoying. Usually it’s in the 90s one day – then we have 3 days of fall – followed by snow, ice, and winter. It has been such a nice thing to almost take the beautiful afternoons for granted!
I have about 10 minutes to relax with a cup of coffee before it’s time to make our lunch. Just in time – after getting the beef stew ingredients in the crock pot for our dinner and just after I’ve pretty much gotten the kitchen clean. The crock pot is going. The dishwasher is going. And now, after lunch, I’ll need to do what I can to clean it up again. This is why I’m such a slob. When things are clean, I just want to stand and admire them. When things are not, I want to ignore them and do something else.
The pest spray guy will be here between 3 and 5 this afternoon. He usually hits the earlier part of the time frame, so I’ll have until about 3 to try to move things off the floor so that he can have a chance to do a good job spraying for us. We’ve been doing pretty well on bugs this year, but I REALLY don’t want to ever worry about scorpions in the house again after being stung by one in our bed several years ago. It still gives me nightmares and makes my skin crawl.
HighlandLakes.com
Added to this, I saw an article about a “Red-Headed Centipede” that really got my attention. When we first moved here, about a hundred years or so ago now, I was sitting in my recliner watching TV. All of a sudden I detected movement on the wall next to me. A CENTIPEDE was crawling up the wall! EEEEWWWWWW! I don’t remember if it was red-headed, blond, brunette, or what, but I freaked out. I insisted the pest people come out the next day and spray for EVERYTHING, including elephants, and have had them come quarterly ever since. Since they’re really good, we hardly ever have bugs that we can see in the house. Every once in awhile, we’ll find a dead one in the paper traps the man leaves in good places.
Got to run fix lunch. Hope you’re having a fine day!
I’ve decided to overhaul my Etsy site and my brain is scrambled. Some of the changes I would like to make are cosmetic (considering new name, banner, logo, etc.) Some changes I would like to make the Etsy site doesn’t allow.
I’m reading articles on describing my items. I have followed the Etsy forms on listing my stuff. When I go to ‘Etsy.com’ and type in a search term that I HOPE will make my stuff pop up, it doesn’t. I have NOW read articles that say I should be putting my key words into my title spot, rather than down where Etsy says to put them. I’m seeing in my research that a lot of the people on Etsy are doing this. I’ve decided that today the only thing I’m doing is lowering my prices and letting my head rest. :0)
The stress continues because I couldn’t change the thingie that holds the weed whacking line yesterday. I’ll tackle that problem again later. I THINK I’m smarter than the weed whacker, but the jury is still out….
The pest spraying people called and are coming between 3 and 5 this afternoon for the last spray of the year. I’m trying to get ready for them, clearing the floor areas as much as possible. It amazes me how MANY things are on our floors! I’ll just do what I can.
Before I do anything else, I’m putting the makings of beef stew into the crock pot for our dinner tonight.
I hope that you are having a fine day so far and that many things bring a smile to your face.
We are starting to stock up for the winter. Arkansas isn’t terrible in the winter, but it doesn’t do winter well. We almost never have just really pretty snows that cover everything with a beautiful white blanket and then melt away. We have ice, THEN snow, which makes it almost impossible to drive or walk or….
Lisa Wellwood – @studio22artz on X
Compounding that, we have a 650+ foot driveway on the north side of our property – long and steep and just perfect as a ski slope, if you were wanting one. Any snow or ice storm causes the trees on either side of the driveway to droop down or break off into the driveway, forcing us to chainsaw our way out.
I once sledded down our driveway with our son, pushing off at the top and ending up across the street that runs in front of our house, in the ditch, against the barbed wire fence, with my jeans jammed full of the snow I had gathered on the way down. Once was entirely enough, though our son thought it was wonderful and wanted to do it again…
G H Holt Photography – @ghholt on X
As a result, we already have our snow tires on our truck – just in case. We will stock up on food and supplies so that we can ‘hole up’ up here on top of our ridge line if we get snowed or iced in. The worst time ever was when we lost access to both public power and public water for 14 days. Thankfully, we have a generator powered by propane, and a well we can switch to, if needed.
Squirreling away things that will help us through the winter has begun.
We’re having a glorious fall day here in Arkansas. It’s 54 degrees F. now, and it’s supposed to get to 73 this afternoon. The sun is shining, our dog is smiling and trying to climb up into my lap as I type. (She forgets that she weighs 97 pounds and thinks she’s a lap dog.) Things are good and I have absolutely no complaints. :0) The weather folks are saying cooler weather is coming, so I’ll enjoy today with even more awareness and appreciation.
Better Homes & Gardens
I’ve been flapping my mouth about weed whacking, but haven’t actually DONE more than flap. Laziness and other priorities have been sucking up my time and energy, but I’m going to force myself to get outside and start neatening up around the house – the first session this morning. I’m feeling especially guilty because my husband got out yesterday, mowed the grass in front of the garden, and then ran the gas out of the mower to store it for the winter. He also changed another of the 8 foot fluorescent light fixtures in the shop to the new LED bulb configuration. I feel like a slug. :0( I’ll try to make up for that today.
Freepik
I told you that I’m thinking of changing the name and look of my Etsy shop. You would be surprised how difficult it is to (1) think of a name that is no more than 20 characters – no punctuation allowed – that hasn’t been used on Etsy before. And then, if you finally figure one out, ideas for banners to go across the top of the site and a logo that shows the idea of the shop, catches the eye, etc. I may die of old age before all of that comes together.
SO – I’ll share a few more things with you here on the blog and then get outside. :0)
Faster than the movement of a glacier, but I have a small grin on my face this morning, with the poundage loss at 15.6. Onward to 20!
My husband has a haircut this morning. As we leave, we are hoping to see that the trash can has been emptied. We’ll get our mail, get the haircut, shop for groceries, then drag the trash can back up where it lives when we get back.
Other excitement for the day is continuing the weedwhacking, glassware project, and reworking my Etsy site.
I’ve decided that my Etsy site needs a total makeover. I’m going to do it a bit at a time, trying to learn as much as I can about WHAT I can do, HOW to do it, and then, once that is done, making new things to add to it. This will be a long term project, but I’m feeling excited just thinking about it. I’m hoping my friends will help me, allowing me to bounce ideas off of them to get their opinions. My good friend Marsha already pointed me to a YouTube video on the subject. I’ll look at that first. :0)
The People’s Therapist
It looks like we have a whole week of good weather here! I KNOW! Hard to believe. I’m not sure if Mother Nature is feeling bad about her extreme behavior lately or if this is a test – where she dangles the good weather in front of us and then snatches it away, like Lucy and Charlie Brown…
This is probably the last of the flowers for us this season. This is a twice-blooming iris, which USUALLY blooms for the second time in October. It reinforces my opinion that Mother Nature is really enjoying messing with us this year. I’ll surely ‘accept’ it any time we get a pretty bloom, though.
UPDATE – It’s been about 45 minutes since I was working on this post. My husband came in, wanting to gather the trash and take it down to the bottom of our driveway. On the way down the driveway we saw 3 MORE purple iris!
TangledTulip on Etsy –
My husband is feeling of two minds about his birthday which we’ll be celebrating Saturday, Nov. 18th. He’ll be 80. On one hand, he has never wanted to do anything “public” concerning a birthday (he once almost decked a nice man who was playing “Happy Birthday” on his accordion right next to his chair in a restaurant). On the other hand, he privately thought he would never live to see 30 – so 80 is quite an achievement, plus he thinks it has a certain amount of cache’ – where being 79 is simply, ‘old.’ I just asked him if I could take him to dinner or celebrate in some way. This was quickly squashed. He finally said he wants me to fix his favorite meal – chicken chunks and soup over rice. I’ll do that, plus see if there is a way to make another favorite – pineapple upside down cake – with as little sugar as possible – that will still taste good. I’ll research that.
I have preordered the paperback version of J.D. Robb’s (Nora Roberts) “Payback in Death” that will be released December 26th.
To celebrate, I’m rereading the In Death series, totally enjoying being immersed again in LT. Eve Dallas’ world in about 2060 for book #42, “Brotherhood in Death.”
“Payback in Death” is #57 in the series, and #58 – “Random In Death” – is due out in hardback at the end of January 2024.”
Even though Eve Dallas is a murder cop and has to deal with the worst that humans can do to one another, the whole series is about grabbing what’s true, what’s good in life, trying to absorb as much of what’s right in the world as you can, treasuring the people who make our world special.
Eve has made it a point to be strong and independent, self-sufficient, almost impenetrable, and yet in each book in the series, she opens up a bit more, lets more in, cares more, understands what is important more. She prides herself on her objectivity and can-do attitude, but what makes her the best at her job is her humanity and caring.
It’s supposed to get to 70 this afternoon. I’m hoping to get outside and neaten things up around the house with the weed whacker – sidewalk edges, planter edges, under the deck, etc. I find that if I make it a point to neaten things up for the winter, my disposition stays much nicer than my normal, “meaner than a snake” demeanor (according to my husband :0))
My glassware etching project is progressing. I’ve found that really short sessions work best for me. I’m enjoying the challenge of this. The jury is still out on whether the finished product will go to friends or into the trash. :0)
My good friend, Nora, bought an Advent Calendar from JacquieLawson.com for me. If you’ve never seen these, it’s an online calendar you enjoy day by day, personalizing as you go. They are truly wonderful and bring a lot of joy to the Christmas season.
I hope the weather is such where you are that you can enjoy some fresh air and sunshine, the beautiful fall season, some good exercise, and lots of fun.
We had several freezes in a row here, and they took care of most of the flowers we had left. I have ONE twice-blooming purple iris right now that I’m going to bring inside so we can enjoy it.
That makes the beautiful paintings I’m finding of flowers all the more essential for a really nice day –
ArtLoveLife-@art_lovelife23-“Dreams of Spring” -Sabantha
I told you about our regular chicken-soup-over-rice dish I made recently where Amber (our 97 lb yellow lab) showed her approval by stealing the containers off the counter that were supposed to go into the freezer for future dinners. I’ve learned my lesson on that one now.
Two nights ago I made a new-to-us ham and cheesy noodle casserole that really hit the spot.
Tonight I’m trying a new slow cooker cheesy chicken and rice recipe. This really appeals to me today because I’m planning to spend several sessions outside this afternoon working in the yard and won’t be interested in cooking after that.
I was noticing on the way home yesterday that our trip from town was ‘pretty,’ with a good amount of fall color along the curvy road. The turn onto our road was almost picturesque and our driveway even looked homey to me.
It’s 39 right now, so a bit cool for working outside yet. I’m hoping to get some good time to work on neatening things up outside later today.
Veterans Day -Remembrance – Guardians of the National Cemetery
Sharla Derry, Greenwood AR
This is a nice picture taken by our City Clerk/Treasurer. It shows the outer circle of the memorial stones placed by families in Greenwood. It doesn’t show that there are now ‘spokes’ in the wheel going to the center, honoring more veterans. Memorial Park is FILLED with flags right now remembering the price so many people have paid to keep us free.
Yesterday we put up the decoration we made, the caterpillar from Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland on our mailbox. I like the actual tubing we used for the hookah pipe making a nice 3-D aspect we hadn’t tried before.
We’re home again after leaving to meet our friends for Lunch Bunch. Sadly, when we got to the restaurant, no one else was in the parking lot. We’re usually the last ones there, so….
We ended up going to another of our favorite restaurants, The Dari, instead. We had a nice lunch and I brought home a doggie bag of French fries, since I splurged, not having eaten any for over two years now. I’ll eat some more mid afternoon since the time for Lunch Bunch is at least an hour before our usual lunch time and I get hungry.
If things dry out a bit more, I’ll see what I can do with the push weed whacker behind the shop – beside the garden. My husband is saying he’ll start the mower and do the area in front of the garden. We’ll see if Mother Nature will cooperate.
Tenor
I’m beginning to think our days of “Lunch Bunch” are coming to an end after 20+ years. Linda is dependent on her daughter, Patty, to bring her from the retirement place, and many times her health is such that she doesn’t feel good enough to come. Kay and Bud get distracted, or forget to call us to let us know they’re not coming. We’ll keep going for now, but it looks like we need to make some decisions sometime in the future.
We’re having a really nice day here. It’s supposed to get to 67 this afternoon with lots of sun. Soooo nice after all the rain we got yesterday.
We leave for Lunch Bunch in about 20 minutes. It would be good if some of our friends are there.
I’m planning to work outside some this afternoon, plus work on my glassware project some, plus cook breakfast for dinner tonight.
A whole weekend of really nice, fall weather is forecast – all stretching out before us to do with it what we will. I wish you a happy, productive time. :0)
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