Filed under Watercolors I Love
We were outside much of the afternoon yesterday – in the excessive heat warning – trying to get the oil changed on our generator. My husband had received a notice from his computer that this was needed, and wouldn’t put it off for even a day.
To make a long story much shorter, we went to town to get an oil filter, but it turned out it was not the correct one, even though we took the old one in to the store. We went back, but the only other one they had was a ‘comparable’ and was $30. Since the generator was apart, we took it. This one worked, but we were both wringing wet after getting it in, adding the fresh oil, cleaning up the spilled oil from the mistakes and getting the generator back together. I had also started out the session by checking to make sure the watering in our planters was going as it should, having to make some tweaks. We certainly had enough of ‘outside when we shouldn’t have been.’
Today I hope we have a quiet day, INSIDE in our air-conditioning. We have become quite spoiled regarding our creature comforts. I feel so sorry for the people in Texas who are suffering in this heat with no power – two weeks after Beryl. I also worry about the people working outside trying to restore that power. Awful situation.
I would like to get up to my art room today. Maybe it’ll happen. :0)
Have a good Tuesday.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
This is Jet, the one time she has been ‘quiet’ this morning. She enjoys sleeping in the bread basket I put on the counter to the left of my computer area.
She has been jumping into a box we left for her to play in in the middle of the living room, then exploding out again with a huge amount of noise from the bell we hung on her collar.
She has been flipping like a fish, playing with a catnip mouse, then looking as if she’ll bite your arm off if you try to pet her or pick her up. This is after purring madly when I went into the bathroom to feed her and clean up her area.
We’re going to be doing our errands soon, so I’ll leave her in the bathroom. Hopefully, she will be calm and ready to be reasonably sociable when we return. At least we can HOPE.
Filed under Family
Filed under Embroidery/Sewing Art
Good morning. We are back into some super-hot weather today with a heat index this afternoon and evening, starting around noon and tapering off around 8pm, of 106-109. Three of my poor transplanted tomato suckers are still alive, but I don’t know if they can survive this. If they can’t and don’t, I’ll start snipping suckers and putting them directly into the planter to see if I can get something going. It’s a fun experiment. Meanwhile, I gathered a few ripe tomatoes from the main plants. They seem to be in kind of a holding pattern right now. Lots of green tomatoes, but very few ripe ones, showing the stress of different amounts of water, rather than the steady watering they prefer.
Our excitement for the day is gathering trash and driving it down to the bottom of the driveway. We’ll also get mail and go to Walmart for a couple of things. AND, speaking of ‘exciting,’ my new coffee thermos came with a bottle brush to clean it, but didn’t have a brush to clean the straw that it uses. I just ordered several so hopefully I can keep residue to a minimum. We discovered we needed a new oil filter for the generator while my husband was changing the oil, so we’ll stop and get one of those, as well, while we’re out.
Hopefully, more work on the two wood-burning projects I have going right now. Not sure what the rest of the day holds.
I hope you are able to stay cool today.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Zenigifts.com – Dee Rob – Pinterest
Filed under Stained Glass Art
Filed under Alcohol Ink Art, Resinart202020Crafts on Etsy
I’m feeling a bit swamped this morning. I know I can’t control things happening in the world. I can’t even control much of what is happening in my own, personal world. I have to fight the urge to cover up my head and just escape.
The 20-year-old trying to assassinate former President Trump at the rally in Pennsylvania yesterday is the latest example of how lost our world is. We are filled with frustration and hate. We have forgotten how to communicate. We want freedom of speech for ourselves, but not for those who have views differing from ours. Once again, innocent people have lost their lives or have been injured.
I feel guilty that I want to escape. I want to insulate myself from all the bad stuff going on around me. Feeling helpless, I strive to find something that is beautiful, something that touches me, something that gives me hope. Me, me, me. Yes, I feel guilty.
I wish there were a “reset” button. A “reboot” button. A “wipe-the-slate-clean-and-start-over” button. While I’m wishing, I wish for a “listening-and-truly-HEARING” button. An “understanding” button. “Empathy.” “Compromise.” “Cooperation.” A “live-and-let-live” button. What about old-style values, such as “respect.”
“You never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice.” – Bob Marley
Filed under Attitude, Challenges
Even with the weird summer we’ve had, the three elephant ear bulbs I bought are doing pretty well. The one above is the smallest. It’s in the shade much of the day, but protected from a lot of the wind we get up here. It’s had several rough starts, but it seems to be holding its own now.
This planter is on one side of our front porch. This elephant ear is starting to do what I wanted, which was take over the whole planter and fill out as much as it wanted to.
And this is the planter that is in front of our garage. It’s obvious doing the best. This one bulb looks like it will fill the whole planter. I just love it.
Filed under Gardening
We bought a new coffee pot a couple of days ago, as the first part of solving our problem of ‘stuff’ swirling around in our coffee. At first I thought the ‘stuff’ was grounds, due to my husband’s hands shaking, or our maybe putting too much water in the pot, causing an overflow over the top of the coffee filter and distributing grounds in the coffee maker.
I cleaned the coffee maker really thoroughly, using commercial cleaner, then baking soda, then rinsing really carefully and wiping everything out, plus another running of the carafe and the filter holder through the dishwasher. No dice. STILL stuff in the coffee cups.
We used the new coffee maker. NO ‘stuff’ in the cups at first pour from the pot. We still had problems when we refilled the cups from the big coffee thermos we use. So – we had a problem there, too. There was no way to really clean the thermos any more than I was by putting boiling water and baking soda in there, too -which I did – but that didn’t do the job.
I ordered another thermos from Amazon which was supposed to be delivered Monday. Happily, the guy from Amazon deliveries who has been coming up our driveway (hooray!) lately, came TODAY with the new thermos!
I immediately rinsed out the old thermos and left it to dry, thinking if the world ended and the new one didn’t work, the old one was better than nothing. I started a new pot of coffee in the new pot and got the new thermos ready to receive it.
VOILA! I poured the fresh coffee into the new thermos and there was NOTHING swirling around in my coffee cup! And the coffee tasted good, as well.
I couldn’t be more pleased.
Filed under Attitude
I really can’t believe these were done with needle and thread. I would love them if someone had PAINTED them, or taken photographs of beautiful places. These were embroidered, one length of thread at a time, by Katrin Vates of KatVatesEmbroidery on Etsy.
Filed under Art From Found Things, scrap metal art
The generator repair guy texted me yesterday afternoon, saying he was planning to come by if we were here. I texted him back, saying, “We’re here!”
I stayed out of the way, letting the guy and my husband do tech/mechanical speak. In fact, I was up in the art room and didn’t hear the driveway alarm go off. By the time I found out the guy had been here, he was gone!
He stayed about 20 minutes, fixed the generator, and left. My husband isn’t sure what he did to get all the red lights to go off. The man said he had never seen a Generac generator as old as ours. (He probably hasn’t seen PEOPLE as old as WE are, either!) So – the red lights are off. The automatic test should happen next Friday around 2pm. Fingers crossed.
We. may. be. healed!
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I’m hoping to spend time in my art room this afternoon or this evening. I started a new piece yesterday, but didn’t get to the actual wood burning part of it due to my husband coming up to tell me he was going to look for something in the basement. Since we didn’t know when the generator guy was due, I came downstairs to listen for the driveway detector to go off.
I’ll see if I can get some work done on it today, plus continue the work on the plaque I’m trying to do. There are people on Etsy offering laser-guided wood burned pieces. They look really nice, but I prefer the things that are done by hand. I’m feeling excited now. Challenged, but feeling as though I might be able to do some interesting things. I’m loving it. :0)
___________
With all the really challenging weather across the world now, I’ll just wish you a safe, happy day.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Filed under Favorite Quotes, Poohisms
Filed under Art From Found Things, scrap metal art
Filed under Watercolors I Love
Do you ever feel you’re being ignored?
There are two instances staring me in the face right now. I’ve been trying to resolve each of them for a couple of weeks or more, and I’m getting NO action. NO resolution of the problem. NO answers, even.
The one thing that I’ve gained from achieving the status of ‘older than dirt’ is that I don’t give up easily. I’m relentless. I don’t give up and I keep good records. EVENTUALLY good things happen, or at least I get some satisfaction.
Can you see me gritting my teeth and preparing to dive in once again?
Filed under Attitude, Challenges
I just finished planting the tomato suckers I’ve had on our dining area table for almost two weeks now. They are looking pretty sad, but they MIGHT make it. We’ll see.
In the meantime, I noticed I had more suckers on the main plants, so I’ve decided I’ll snap off some each time I’m harvesting, and go ahead and plonk them into the tomato sucker planter and see what, if anything, happens.
The bringing them in and planting them in cups and nuturing them inside didn’t seem to be very useful, and ANY plants that make it – regardless of the technique – are essentially FREE tomato plants, so I’m excited to see what works.
I just researched horizontal breaks in tomato skins, since I have ‘lines’ all the way around the two tomatoes I harvested this morning. The article says concentric breaks in the skin happens mostly to fruit ripening after a heavy rain, caused by big differences in the amount of water the tomato plants have received. I’m hoping that since the rains have stopped and the planters are on our irrigation system, the coming tomatoes will be nicer looking.
Filed under Gardening, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds
Lately our coffee hasn’t been as good. I’ve been mentally blaming it on my husband, who makes the coffee a lot of mornings. His hands shake, and I was assuming that was the reason we’ve had ‘grounds’ in the coffee lately.
I used a commercial pot cleaner, and then followed that up with a suggestion I found on the net to use baking soda. I made sure to run several pots of just water afterwards to clean out the cleaners. I ran the coffee pot carafe, lid, and filter holder through the dishwasher, as well.
The result is the same. This morning, as I was refilling my cup from our large coffee thermos – the thought occurred to me that maybe the THERMOS is the problem. I’ve cleaned it, of course, but we’ve had it for years, and maybe what I’m seeing isn’t ‘grounds,’ but bits of ‘stuff’ from the inside of the thermos.
I have thrown caution to the winds now, ordering another large thermos with pump from Amazon because my husband is really serious about his one cup a day of coffee (rarely two), and I EXIST on coffee all day long and into the evening until all the coffee is gone. (My only ‘limit’ is that I don’t make another pot). It is supposed to be delivered tomorrow.
We’ll start using the new thermos as soon as we have it and then will decide if we need to buy a new pot, as well.
Sometimes ‘priorities’ are very basic.
Filed under Challenges
Filed under Stained Glass Art
I love embroidery. I’m in awe of the people with the patience and talent to create things with needle and thread and vision. Katrin Vates, who I just discovered yesterday, brings the art form to a whole new level, though.
There are simply no words to describe this. Remember, these are created with a needle and thread.
When I was getting dressed this morning I saw a spot on the carpet behind the door. As I leaned down to look at it more carefully, I saw it was a curled-up scorpion. It was dead, but I got the forceps we keep on a hook to pick it up anyway. As I started to pick it up, I discovered the scorpion was NOT dead. I managed to grab it, though it wasn’t hard because it was obvious he was quite ill. I disposed of him, but felt thoroughly shaken anyway. And this is after TWO trips to us for full house spraying, inside and out, this quarter. I don’t enjoy waking up this way. :0(
We have all our morning chores done. My sweet husband has already been out to the shop, working on the drink holder he’s making for me (the one above shows HIS holder, and he’s making one like this for me.) HIS holder was created after I threatened him with throwing him in the hole I’m having dug in the back yard if he continued to dump his drink off his tray table in the living room. Since he’s been using it, he hasn’t dumped a drink. He said he needs to take one of the cold drink glasses out to the shop next time for the ‘fitting’ of the holder. MINE is needed now that the cat has decided that she wants to rub up against and sample any cold drinks on MY table. I’ll use the holder when it’s finished and put a heavy marble coaster on top.
Speaking of the cat, two things –
THING ONE – she had jumped up onto the shelves to one side of my computer and sprawled out this morning. Her tail was swishing, so I kept my distance, understanding that is a signal she isn’t ready for affection yet. My husband, who refuses to even try to read the cat, decided he wanted to pet her. I grabbed the small spray bottle of water and turned in my chair as my husband petted her. Jet immediately zeroed in on the bottle and ‘allowed’ my husband to pet her without incident. We both noticed that is a very good sign.
THING TWO – she got us both laughing out loud as we watched her attack of the catnip mouse this morning. She started out under my husband’s roll-around chair, batting the mouse around on his floor pad. I got the fly swatter and carefully moved the mouse to my floor pad, where she would have a bit more room and not be hurt by chair wheels. She immediately attacked the mouse and was batting it from one end of the floor pad to the other, whacking it with her paws, grabbing it and holding it while she rolled, biting it, batting it again, having a big time. We couldn’t help but enjoy the antics.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEET LYNN!
I wish you a happy day.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
“If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older.” ~ Tom Stoppard
Filed under Favorite Quotes
I’m having a bit of trouble throwing off ‘the groggies’ this morning. I think I slept well, but I’m having a bit of a challenge on the actual getting up and getting going. Maybe after another cup of coffee…
We’re having really nice weather for summer here today, and for the next couple of days. “Normal Summer” doesn’t sound like much, but after the excessive heat warnings followed by rain for a couple of days, sunny and 75 seems unbelievable. A high of 91 with much lower humidity is a winner in my book.
I’m hoping that my tomatoes will ripen. They have been as shocked by the intense weather, too. I have lots of green tomatoes, but they are very slow to ripen. I’m in withdrawal, having eaten the last ripe one yesterday at lunch.
This is my first wood-burned piece. As you can see, I’m just learning, but I’m encouraged that I was able to anything with the new wood burning kit. Watching YouTube videos, experimenting, and dreaming is a really fun combination. :0)
“Monster Cat” aka “Jet” is really showing her personality these days. I guess she’s growing more confident as the days pass and she sees a routine. I’m making a bit of progress, though, in encouraging her compliance in a couple of areas.
She was trying to pull some bagged products down from my “Etsy shelves” onto the floor. I loudly said, “NO!” and she STOPPED. Woo HOOOOO!
Then she jumped up on my desk – after walking across my keyboard and disrupting my work and train of thought at my computer area – and started messing with a group of things, trying to knock them off onto the floor. I turned and rattled the little water bottle at her. That made her pause, but the attraction for the things on the desk was too great and she returned to messing with them. I then rolled over closer to her and sprayed her with water. She immediately jumped down and went to another room to find something else to mess with. :0)
I’ve been having to apologize to my SIL, who is on the receiving end of all the weather I whine about, since she lives east of me in NC. She is now having to live through the awful excessive heat warnings and humidity I have sent in her direction. I tried to get Mother Nature to relent, to no avail.
I hope that you are not in the areas hard hit by Beryl. My heart goes out to all suffering from the aftermath of the tornadoes, wind, excessive rain, and flooding, plus the added challenge of no electricity.
Try to stay safe.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
I’m in awe of this man’s imagination and talent. He sees the spot on the left. I see it, too, but THEN he creates the picture and ‘story’ on the right.
He sees the weed growing at the base of the building, and Nadine finds a friend.
Rudy is prepared at any moment to rain on your parade.
I just love his work.
Filed under David Zinn - Street Artist, drawings
creativeartworksblog 