joliecarte.com
Lake Girl
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The sun is out now, but it was raining earlier and I think we have a 100% chance of heavy rain off and on today, at least according to the weather app on my phone. Since the “bucket and towel brigade” seems to have been given the go-ahead to retire, I can simply smile and look outside, or take my umbrella if I’m going out. Hooray!
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These are my latest painted sketches. I’m doing the base painting on two more today, plus working on a sketch that shows two women scrubbing an outside porch and steps. I’m also going to TRY to draw an old lady’s hands (mine). That will be super difficult and may be totally beyond my abilities now, but I’ve been dreaming about it.
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I opted out of the gym this morning. For some strange reason, I really didn’t sleep well. I ate breakfast with Brian, came back to my place, stretched out on the couch and slept until about an hour ago. I feel much better now. I’ll do a good session of yoga stretches this afternoon.
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I’m reading a good book called “The Goodest Boy, Volume 2: Heartwarming Dog Stories” by author I.L. Williams. I follow him on Substack and I can’t say enough about his posts and his writing and his heart.
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Teresa McBee – Ingenious Umbrella
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
I love the art of Duncan Crombie of Blue Sky. I think it’s fascinating and can’t get enough of it.
It is synthart – “SynthArt: An Italian generative art studio founded by Valeria Pistilli and Michele Durante. It focuses on “symphonography” (the craft of creating images using Artificial Intelligence) by combining AI-generated concepts with hand-finishing, resulting in certified, museum-quality printed artwork and bespoke wallpapers.”*
You can find his work on Blue Sky at @the-art-of-web.com
* Duncan kindly sent me a correction. He said, “synthart’ is a generic term referring to synthography, and not the Italian studio of the same name :)”
Thank you, Duncan. I love your work.
Filed under Synth Art
Donna Grace
Dreamy Food Palace
Gummies Snacks
Jing Cheng
Filed under playing with your food?
Pamela Schifano – @pammypoo on Substack
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We visited Harvey at the nursing home this morning. He was calm. He wasn’t hurting. He seemed glad to see us, but didn’t have much to say, other than asking if I had gotten the guitar when I mentioned that I was trying to learn the chords again. Other than that, we held his hands, hugged him, and sat with him.
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I’ve just come back from spending a very nice couple of hours at the cafe sketching. I got my favorite spot, enjoyed an iced latte (with reduced sugar) and spent my time between sketching and watching life outside the window.
These are my latest painted sketches. I did two sketches at the cafe today, plus started one where I’m trying to show some ladies scrubbing the porch and steps area of a building. They were down on their hands and knees with scrub brushes, rags, and buckets.
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One Green Planet
I played with the incline on the treadmill today, increasing it every 5 minutes for about half of my walking time. It makes me work harder, but didn’t bother my balance, so I was happy. Before dinner, I’ll do my water bottle exercises to work my arms and back.
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When I left my clothes at the laundry yesterday, I gave the lady a “thank you” card. She has been very patient with my efforts to understand the system, try to give her the correct change, etc., so I wanted to show her I appreciate her kindness. She seemed happy with the card, and indicated she would put it in a special book she had on her desk. :0)
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Pattaya Mail
We are forecast to get a lot of rain the next 10 days. Unlike Arkansas, when rain comes, you basically need to reschedule the whole day, here it’s like a faucet was turned on. It rains like crazy for a bit, then the faucet is turned off and the sun comes out. This may happen over and over, but it usually isn’t cause to change your plans. If this happens when I’m at the cafe, for example, I just wait until the faucet turns the water off and go home between showers. I carry my umbrella and my rain suit this time of the year wherever I go, plus take my hoodie if I only need a bit of protection from the rain.
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Hennie – Ingenious Umbrellas
Filed under Uncategorized
Creations Defind-Etsy
Haileys Handy-Etsy
Marila My Shop-Etsy
Marila My Shop-Etsy
Filed under quilts
These are funny memes gathered by the BoredPanda.com team of Kornelija Viecaite’, Justinas Keturka, and Rugile’ Zemaityte’
Filed under Funny Signs - Humor
Niki Firmin has long been one of my favorite artists. She is a master at bringing the personality of the animals she draws to life, making you expect their tongues to come out, or them to turn their head and blink at you, get up and wag their tails.
She has a project where she honors K9 Heroes and then puts the drawings together into beautiful calendars. You can find her on X @nikifirmin, and if you are interested in having her do a portrait for you,, or purchasing a calendar, you can reach her at niki_firmin@hotmail.co.uk.
Filed under drawings
@tracychrest989204 on Substack
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These are my latest painted sketches. The upended cat was from a section of the “Cats on the Beach” jigsaw puzzle I finished recently. I have photos of another couple of sections I’m going to try to draw.
The “Planting the Rice” scene is from a photo taken outside my husband’s room. I was fascinated that the workers had made hats of umbrellas so their hands were completely free and they were well shaded from the really strong sun. I’ve tried to show the “poking” gesture they were making in distributing the rice seed. I have no idea why they do that, rather than what I expected – more of a feeding-the-chickens type strewing motion. I have actually seen workers putting the plugs in the ground in rows once the seeds have grown. There is another part of the fields around that is the brightest, most stunning shade of green I’ve ever seen. It was simply beautiful!
I’m going to do the base painting on two sketches I did at the cafe yesterday. I’ll take my art backpack to the cafe later this afternoon.
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Today is yoga stretches to go along with the walking on the treadmill I did this morning. I’m also taking the stairs when I come down from Bri’s condo to mine at least twice daily.
LOSING THE LARD MONTHLY UPDATE – As of today, I have lost 95 pounds (going from my heaviest at 205 to the 110 I am now.) I have lost a total of 89.7 inches. I am trying to eat like a normal human being (breakfast and dinner with careful portions daily, drink more water, and move more. I am now concentrating on trying to increase my balance, flexibility, core strength, arm and back strength.
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My new way of practicing my guitar was better yesterday. I’m showing the lyrics and chords needed on my phone and the finger diagrams for the chords on my computer, looking from one to the other as I practice. I am lasting longer with the practice, with it taking longer before my fingertips yell at me. I’m hoping this will increase gradually and I can concentrate more on the song, rather than all the details. I’m enjoying trying to relearn something I used to do a lot a hundred years or so ago…
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I watch/listen to YouTube each evening while winding down for bed. I’ve been watching singing contest videos – loving it when people face their fears and discover the audience and the judges love what they’re doing. You’d think I’m their mama… :0). Lately, I’ve been talking into my remote, giving the name of one of my favorite singers or musicians. YouTube pops up several videos I can listen to from that particular artist, plus collaborations with other artists. I really like this feature!
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TheFunnyBeaver.com
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Anna B. – @bornforart.bsky.social
Anna B. – @bornforart.bsky.social
Anna B. – @bornforart.bsky.social
Born for Art.
Create original works with Synth.
Share brilliance from others.
Recognized as a “Synth Artist” since 2025.
© All rights reserved.
“In the art world, “synth” can refer to several completely different concepts depending on the medium. It generally acts as a shorthand for Synthesizer (in music and sound art), Synthography (for AI-generated imagery), or Synthwave (a retro-futuristic visual aesthetic)”
Filed under Synth Art
eBay
Sesliyman
Walmart
Walmart
Walmart
Walmart
Filed under quilts
@openwings on Substack
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These are my latest painted sketches.
I’m working on several right now, doing the base painting in preparation for going to the cafe this afternoon to finish the details.
I researched planting rice in Chiang Mai. The first step I kept finding was where a group of people have ‘plugs’ of rice plants that they bend down and stab into the ground in rows. The thing I’M trying to draw is one step before that – when the people are carrying sacks of rice seed. They use one hand to make a kind of “poking” motion as they let the rice go. I guess this may result in a cluster of seeds forming the ‘plugs’ they later pull up, divide, and replant in the rows. I’ll continue to research. Meanwhile, I’ll try to finish the sketch.
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Dogs Naturally
I did well at the gym this morning, moving my speed up a tick and staying steady. Brian and I shared a nice breakfast of two fried eggs with cooked sliced sausage and chicken slivers cooked right into the eggs. Delicious! Today is Sunday, so that means exercises with water bottles this afternoon.
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ru.pinterest.com
I did my first session of a new way of practicing for me this morning. I pulled up the lyrics to “Killing Me Softly” by Roberta Flack on my phone. It shows the chords that are to be played, too.
On my computer, I pulled up the diagrams of the finger positions of each of the chords I need to play the song. (I missed C sharp and F major 7, though, so I’ll need to find those. I tried to play the song, practicing changing the chords at the proper time while the sick frog croaked and my eyes moved from the phone to the computer to the neck of the guitar. I started to get a feel for when the chords change and was moving from one to the other. I lasted about 10 minutes more before my fingertips started screaming. I’ll do that once or twice more today.
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We found out that my “Abstract Cat” Puzzle is NOT coming. They failed to notify Brian about the problem, but he was able to look up the order. I spent a lot of time yesterday evening and chose another one. Brian ordered it for me last night.
I like chameleons. I love the colors in this one, plus the 3-D quality of the flowers and his ‘scales.’ I’m looking forward to it being delivered sometime soon.
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Spiritual Sundays
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
John Rinaldo-The Positive Pen-Substack
Jos Burrmans-New Zealand-@josbuurmans.bsky.social
Zinoky-@zinoky.bsky.social
Filed under Awe-Inspiring Photography
Filed under drawings
Substack
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Latest painted sketches
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We visited my husband this morning. It was challenging, in that there was very little of my husband “there” today. He acknowledged us, but had nothing to say that made any sense at all. I think we brightened his day a bit, and he wasn’t upset or hurting.
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Fit & Well
I went to the cafe this afternoon. It rained twice while I was there, and still looks like it could rain again. I came home between rain showers. I’ve just finished a good session of yoga stretches. Ahhhh!
I never realized before how much I clench my jaw. When I’m doing my yoga stretches, I have to consciously remind myself, “Relax your jaw. Relax your face.” It’s amazing how much that helps. I spent about 45 minutes today and feel good now.
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I checked on my puzzle that we ordered from Amazon this morning. It showed, “Unavailable. Not sure when or if it will come back in stock.” Brian is going to check to see if he has received any notices about the order or if we lucked out and got the last one or something. If we didn’t, I’ll need to start over on finding a new puzzle. 🧩 ☹️
I went ahead and took apart the “Cats on the Beach” puzzle this afternoon. I bagged it up carefully, included the reference picture, and put it in the original box for donation. I left it in the donation area before I left for the cafe. My puzzle area looks really empty right now. I’m looking at that as a character building exercise.
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I haven’t practice my guitar yet today. I’ll spend some good time on that this evening after dinner. I found diagrams of the chords needed to play the two songs I want to be able to sing one day again. I’ll start practicing all of these at least once a day until I’m able to go from one chord to another without having to check the diagram or fight with the fingers of my hand to stretch them into the proper position without messing up the sound. I AM making a slight bit of progess – not so that anyone but ME can tell, but it’s there. 🎸
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I’m going to look for a video that shows the steps in growing rice. I’m working on a sketch now that shows some people in the rice field outside Harvey’s window at the nursing home. I want to know more about the process and hopefully can do at least one reasonable sketch of how the process is done here. 🌾
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Filed under Thoughts on a ________
I’m loving finding these creations by people who have seen potential in scrap metal. It got harder and harder for my husband and me to find sources for wonderful scraps, due to insurance liability issues at junk yards and used car parts places, and it was hard to find anything but used tools at yard sales. I think these are fantastic.
Dale Murree
Dave Parsons
Etsy
Inside the Kerf
Filed under scrap metal art
John Rinaldo – The Positive Pen – Substack
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This is another Fabulous Friday, starting with the gym, shower, and breakfast, then great massage, then spending time with Brian in my place while the housekeeper is cleaning his, then going to the cafe to get out of the way while she cleans mine. Today she wanted to come early, so that worked out fine.
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These are the latest painted sketches.
I had a nice thing happen on the way to the gym this morning. As we walked through the lobby, one of the cleaning ladies for the building greeted us. I said my usual version of a Thai ‘hello,’ and she said to Brian that my Thai sounded GOOD! Then, delighted, I turned and said my version of Thai ‘thank you,’ and she hugged me. What a beautiful, encouraging person she is!
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I had fun sketching at the cafe today. I got ‘my spot’ – something that I haven’t had this week, so I was super comfortable with my picture window, a table, two chairs, and a wide window ledge where I can spread out my supplies. I had a latte with ‘less sugar,’ so the atmosphere was perfect. I can watch people come in and out of the cafe, watch people and traffic on the street, and sit there comfortably working on one of my sketches.
Today I did two simple sketches and have started one that I HOPE will give people the idea of what goes into the planting of rice here.
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Brian ordered new air filters for our systems and they were delivered today. We brought them up, got the old filters out which were completely filled with ‘stuff’ from the hot and hazy season – produced by the farmers burning off the residue of their fields and getting ready to plant again. We are now able to dial the intensity of the systems back to a more regular level, making them quieter and not having to work so hard. We won’t have to change them again until the NEXT hot and hazy season.
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I have my a/c on and my fan swiveling in my clean condo, so I’m sitting at my computer happily talking to you now. I hope that things are good where you are, too.
Ingenious Umbrellas
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
I was going to search for quilts I thought were wonderful to share with you, when I found a whole new thing for me – quilted laundry baskets! I had never seen them before. They are creative, colorful, and I would have them sitting around EVERYWHERE used for everything I could think of – INCLUDING as laundry baskets. I can think of a gazillion things you could keep in them!
I love the colors, the texture, the 3-d-ness of them…
eBay
eBay
eBay
eBay
Filed under quilts
One of the really fun things my husband and I did when we lived on top of our ridge line in Arkansas was create ‘critters’ for our yard. Large and small, we enjoyed finding things we thought were interesting in junk yards, in yard sales, along the roadside, scrap yards and more, and then basing a ‘critter’ on one or more parts we found. We would then look around to find what we had to add to the piece until it was ‘finished.’ Then we would paint the critter with protective paint and find his or her ‘place’ in the yard. Since we lived on 8 acres, it was fun to dot them up and down the driveway and then around the house.
I am in awe of the imagination I see when I search for “scrap metal art.” These people have really brought what was simply fun for us to an art form.
Barbara Behrens-Pava Metal Design
Bored Art
Brad Weidman
Chris Kircher
Filed under scrap metal art
“Last Breath” – Beth Robertson Fiddes via @womensartbluesky.bsky.social
Water is ‘impossible’ to draw or paint – so says ME – – – this is magnificent, isn’t it?
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I’m getting ready for my housekeeper to come tomorrow – changing sheets on the bed, getting out fresh towels, gathering trash, straightening, etc. Soon I’ll go get cash for this and my massage tomorrow.
I had a good session walking at the gym, ate a delicious breakfast, got my laundry hung on the balcony, and then felt sleepy. So – this decadent lady took a nap! Ahhhhh! And I don’t even feel guilty. 🤭 I feel much better now.
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These are my latest painted sketches.
I’m doing the base painting on more so that I can work on them when I go to the cafe later today.
Speaking of the cafe, I had the NICEST thing happen yesterday. I was in the elevator and a young couple joined me. The man turned to me and said, “You’re the lady who paints in the cafe! I love watching you work.” To say I’m still walking around 3 inches above the ground is an understatement. 🎨 😁
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Today is Thursday. That means that I’ll do my exercises with water bottles today. I’ll also do a couple of practice sessions with my guitar.
By the way, since my fingernails are shorter, it’s easier to press my fingertips down on the frets on the neck of my guitar now. I had a better practice session yesterday. I still have a long way to go, but I’m making some progress lately. Since the two songs I would like to work on playing and singing use different chords than the basic ones I’m practicing now, I’m going to see if I can find finger placement diagrams for the other ones I need. 🎸
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Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Jean S Kaiyou – Substack.
Thierry St-Laurent Dion – @tstld.bsky.social
Thierry St-Laurent Dion – @tstlfd.bsky.social
Filed under drawings
Ali Khaliq – @khaliqali.bsky.social – posts beautiful photos and artwork by others that he finds and wants to share. I’m delighted to share with you some of the waterfalls photos he has displayed.
Michal Straka – “At the Lake Stream”
Ray Etchells – Pecca Falls
Son of Squatch Photography – Twin Falls – http://www.facebook.com-share-p-1Fc7
Waterfalls and More by Brook – @hhs761.bsky.social
Filed under Waterfall gifs
@drritalouise-substack
This is such an important thing to learn. However, few of us has the confidence to stand out at a young age. I remember how hard I tried to ‘be like everyone else,’ and ‘fit in’ when I was growing up. I got so upset that I got sick before school because my mother insisted that I wear an outfit that had green and yellow in it and it was a Thursday. This was a huge ‘no-no’ in my group, and the nurse sent me home when I kept throwing up.
It was, I guess, when my husband and I lived on top of a ridge line in Arkansas, seeing very few people on a daily basis that I realized that no one really cared anymore what I was doing or not doing, and that I could and should make my own decisions about what I wanted.
When I got to Thailand and my husband’s and my retirement plans went up in smoke, I really broke free and decided, since I had a second chance at life, thanks to to the good people in the ER in the hospital in AR installing a pacemaker, and then my husband suffering a stroke 2 weeks after we arrived forcing a month long hospital stay followed by residence in a nursing home, and my living alone for the first time in my life, that I should build a life where being different is a good thing, doing what I want, spending time doing what means something to me, what gives me joy, is the way I want to spend the rest of my life.
Being different still seems to be a thing to be avoided when you’re growing up. It should be celebrated, revered, encouraged, and nurtured. Maybe one day…
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This morning I was treated to a mani/pedi. I found something really close to the ‘cyan’ Brian has been wanting me to get. My husband just said, “blue,” so he should like this, too. I’ve decided that getting sparkly polish is one of the things I will enjoy as long as possible. Every time I look at it, I smile.
I made a change and cut my fingernails short so that I can practice my guitar more easily and effectively, so I had the nice ladies at the salon cut them even shorter and just round them off, and then cut my toenails shorter and cut them straight across.
Instead of half grown out nails on my fingernails and toenails that snag my socks, I now look much more civilized – PLUS – I sparkle!!!
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Flame Tree Blog – Flame Tree Publishing
I’m working on several sketches right now. I’m doing some base painting on some so that I can finish them at the cafe this afternoon. I’ll be able to share those tomorrow. I’m having a great time working on things, plus the ideas are coming fast and furious now. I’m even dreaming about them! Do you think that’s a sign of something worrisome? 😜
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I’m going to start TRYING to look at the chords and lyrics for Roberta Flack’s two songs that are my personal, long-time favorites to start trying to play them. It will be a LONG time before this is something I can really do, and I’m not even talking about the singing along with the guitar, but I figure if I’m practicing with a specific goal in mind, I MIGHT be able to persuade my fingertips to last a bit longer before yelling at me.
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Luvze
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
FalkauerFalls-@khaliali.bsky.social
Huangguoshu Waterfall – China
Jack Bell Photography – Glacier Natl Park
Lacey Horner
Ali Khaliq – @khaliqali.bsky.social – posts beautiful photos and artwork by others that he finds and wants to share. I’m delighted to share with you some of the waterfalls photos he has displayed.
Filed under Waterfall gifs
Insteading-flick river
My Kingdom – Beachcombing Magazine
Om Gallery
seabreezesculptures.com
Filed under Driftwood Art
@TracyChrest989204 on Substack
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We visited Harvey at the nursing home. He was comfortable and calm, but totally delusional about what was going on outside his window. We tried to explain that the people out there with white sacks were planting rice, seeding the fields. He wasn’t buying it, spinning wild ideas of what was going on.
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I’m just back from the cafe. It rained pretty hard for a few minutes and then cleared off with the sun coming out. I got a reasonable amount of work done, so I opted to come home and rest before dinner.
I felt like I had lost a whole generation when I got my wonderful necklace during Songkran, the water festival, with what were modern Disney characters that are so popular here. So I made it a point to look these up and make a record of the cute characters.
My other latest sketch.
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I told you that one of the issues I had after my surgery a year ago in February was hearing loss. We got me some hearing aids and they have been wonderful. One of them stopped working and we went to the place who sold us the aids to have them look at them. It turned out with as careful as I have been to clean them, there is still a place that is almost impossible to clean that becomes blocked with ear wax. They changed out the ear wax guard and my aid worked perfectly again. We ordered some more, and changed out the wax guard in the other aid, which had since developed the same problem. Now I can change it out without having to make an appointment. Hooray!
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We got my glass print of the “Rooster Runway” jigsaw puzzle a couple of days ago. It’s just a bit smaller that the personality portrait painting my dad painted of me, so I put them side by side on my statement shelf.
Brian has sent the photos of the “Cats on the Beach” puzzle for a glass print to be made, with strict orders to me to SLOW DOWN on my puzzle solving. So far, I’m complying, since my newest puzzle, “Abstract Cat” hasn’t arrived yet…. 🤣 🧩
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Shout out to Michael, who was mopping his floor and slipped, falling and fracturing his wrist. He is my former hairdresser and dear friend, so he will need all of our good thoughts on helping him perform his job, slipping off and on a soft cast splint thing until further notice.
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Canva
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
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These were gathered and presented by the Community Panda – BoredPanda.com
Filed under Amazing Animals
Ali Khaliq – @khaliqali.bsky.social – posts beautiful photos and artwork by others that he finds and wants to share. I’m delighted to share with you some of the waterfalls photos he has displayed.
@summerwind3.bsky.social
Anthony Andrades – Tikette Falls
Chamath Jayawardana – Lovers Leap
Don Albright – Copper Falls
Filed under Waterfall gifs
Elana Weust via Mark Donaldson – @markdon.bsky.social
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This is my latest painted sketch.
We have been to the gym, taken my laundry, and will go later to pick up my renewed visa and have Brian sign something for his 90-day reporting. Otherwise, my day is free.
This little guy with the long, long tail, was on the rocks outside the window when I was sketching at the cafe yesterday. I’m going to see if I can draw him. (I’m not sure if this is the same one who lived in the pot or not, as the light is really different.)
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I’ll do my yoga stretches, practice my guitar, do some base painting on some sketches in process, and do some more research on the computer. Happy day!
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I hope that you are enjoying your Sunday – Father’s Day for many – surrounded by loved ones, cherishing dads everywhere – having a relaxing, fun-filled, smiley day.
Curiano Quotes
Filed under Uncategorized
creativeartworksblog 