We’ve had a really poor year for hummingbirds.
How many we have varies from year to year. One year we remember fondly we would try to keep our heads perfectly still and count the number we could see. There were SO many, we would be laughing, unable to get an accurate count.
This year we had seen a few, but far between, in that our spring was longer, wetter, and cooler than normal. While that was wonderful for humans, I think it discouraged the hummers from coming to see us.
We went ahead and built the hummingbird bird bath above, hoping that when they finally came, they would enjoy it.
All of a sudden yesterday, while I was in the front talking to our wonderful handyman Foy, I saw FOUR at one time in the wisteria! I was amazed. Either our wisteria hasn’t bloomed enough or at the right time, or I wasn’t in the right place at the right time, to see them.
Since then, I’ve seen TWO at once several times going to the deck feeders.
But not one have we seen even TRY the bird bath!
I decided months ago that it didn’t really matter to me if the hummers, or any of the other birds, liked the birdbath or not. I love the LOOK of the thing, and I’m even happier with the SOUND. I find it very relaxing to stretch out in a chair, cold drink or hot coffee at the ready, feet propped up, closing my eyes and enjoying the sound.
Foy and Judy had some iced tea before they left yesterday and Judy mentioned the ‘water feature.’ I told her it was built for the hummingbirds, but that they didn’t seem to like it. She just looked at me and said, “Their loss.”
Isn’t that a great attitude? :0)
Filed under Amazing Animals, Attitude, Favorite Things, Lewis projects
Awakening People via Tim McGraw via Cathy Ruggiero
Filed under Attitude, Encouragement, Favorite Quotes, kindness
Abraham Lincoln – Zen to Zany via Cathy Ruggiero
We’re ‘finding a way’ on several things around here lately.
Finally, we called an acquaintance of ours who has helped us do weird things in the past. He’s going to bring over an air powered rock drill that takes a big compressor to run it to drill several holes as deeply as we can through our rock in a 3×3′ group. We’ll put 3 foot stakes at different angles into the holes and then put grout the consistency of slurry in the holes to hold the stakes and our pipe where they are. My husband built a 3′ x 3′ box form for concrete. When we get that over the pipe and stakes, we’ll start mixing sac-crete in our wheelbarrow and fill up the form. We figure about 20 sacs of sac-crete if each one makes 1 cubic foot of concrete.
Today, my husband went out with a shovel to start the hole for the drilling. He wanted to get the dirt out down to where the rock started. He soon came back to get a pick axe. He swung that twice and was done.
He then decided that at least he could mow the high weeds that would clear a path for the dig-the-holes project. He got that mostly done, but the riding mower was complaining when he was almost finished. We took it back to the shop to discover it had thrown a belt. My husband got that back on.
I was going to take the mower out again to mow the yard. I got to the spot where I wanted to start mowing, but when I pushed the lever forward to engage the blades, the motor started making a bad noise. We ended up pushing it back to the shop to be looked at later.
2. So now we have to ‘find a way’ to get the riding mower working again.
It makes me a bit afraid to start anything else….
Filed under Attitude, Lewis projects
Sirac Sayan via Mehmet Tayfun Dur
I don’t know what it is about being young that makes it not only desirable, but IMPERATIVE that you blend into the crowd you call your friends.
I remember vividly one morning when my mother, who had taken the time and effort to make me an outfit for school, chose a Thursday for me to wear it. I explained to her that if you wore green and yellow on a Thursday, it meant really bad things, according to my friends. She scoffed, insisting I wear the outfit. I started crying, panic-stricken that she would make me wear it. We ended up with a compromise. I would wear something else that day, but would happily wear it on Friday…
It’s amazing to me, looking back, that I unthinkingly swallowed up the garbage my ‘friends’ spewed. And my ‘friends’ would have been unmerciful to me, teasing, ostracizing, and making my life a living Hell without further thought or care.
I now wonder what kind of culture we had – where being different meant losing your ‘place’ in the social order of your life at school. I wanted to dress like everyone else, talk like everyone else…. Another glaring thing I remember was an absolute no-no was wearing clean sneakers. Not only did you have to have the same type of sneakers as everyone else, but they MUST be dirty… I remember how important it was. I wanted SO much to be accepted, to feel a real member of the group. I was never in the ‘IN’ crowd, but at least I made the NEXT level.
It amazes me because I grew up to PRIZE individuality, creativity, thinking outside the box, NOT CARING what others think. How did I get to this place – other than being old as dirt? Feelings are complex. I’ll probably never understand why I never wanted to lift my head up, never wanted to stick out in any way.
I WISH we could teach/demonstrate/convince our children and grandchildren and/or students to develop their personalities based on their interests, encouraged and happy to strive for what delights them, lights up their souls. I wish THEY, in turn, would not only accept, but WELCOME the differences in the people around them, encouraging each of us to dive into all sorts of things to discover what they are, how they relate to us, and whether we want to know more or not.
So much of my life was spent worrying about what others might think. I was afraid to look stupid/awkward/gawky/put-in-whatever-word-you’re-thinking. I missed a lot of experiences I now regret. I missed a lot of possible friendships. I just hope each of us, regardless of how we spent our childhood, learns to bloom – embracing as much of the excitement and joy the world has to offer as we can.
Filed under Attitude, Encouragement
My husband always says, “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished.” ~ Clare Booth Luce
Even though Amber was asleep beside my chair, I knew it was time to get her outside. I woke her up, hooked her up to the leash, and we went outside, followed by my husband, and then Molly and at least one cat.
This made Amber unusually hard to handle. I was grousing about that, even after Amber had taken care of business. We had some relative quiet as we did our usual walk around the outside perimeter of my raised bed square foot garden. All of a sudden I had a red wasp trying to sting the back of my arm!
I swatted at it with the handle of the leash. Amber, of course, thought we were playing a really fun game, getting into the spirit of things by trying to run around like a mad thing, jerking me around right at the guy wire for one corner of the garden. So I had a really happy, lively dog getting tangled in the leash, pulling my head into the guy wire, while the wasp was stinging the back of my arm – a really FUN combination.
I managed to hit the wasp – who was trying to sting me again – twice as I jerked the dog in the direction of the porch. I gave the leaping dog to my husband, who thought the whole thing was quite comical. :0( Molly was trying her best to keep out of the range of the leash, and the cat was eagerly awaiting the progress of the dog, anticipating getting to swipe the dog in the mouth with a paw.
My husband apologized for laughing after we got Amber back on the porch, Molly inside, and were in the kitchen putting some goo on my sting. His lips were twitching, though he was really trying not to laugh again.
So my antics clearly acted out the truth of the saying. My ‘good deed’ of walking the dog, giving her a chance to do her business outside, while getting some good exercise, clearly backfired. I’ll be more able to see the humor in the situation when my arm quits stinging…
baji.co.uk
Filed under Attitude, Challenges
Growing Bolder.com via Cathy Ruggiero
Filed under Attitude, kindness, making a difference
Elizabeth Gilbert via Corliss Barnes Darnell
I’ve decided to stop feeling guilty.
The list goes on and on and to be honest, I’m sick of it.
I can come up with endless excuses – in fact, I could teach a course on it. I’m very creative, too; coming up with more and more as the time allows, rather than putting my head down and doing better.
But I’m sick of coming up with excuses, too.
Right now “doing the best I can with the energy I have and the willpower I haven’t” will have to be good enough. Life is too short to agonize over every bite I put in my mouth, or how my to-do list is getting longer, rather than shorter. So what!
I’m going to TRY to ’embrace the glorious mess that I am’ and give myself a BREAK.
That’s not to say that once I incorporate the new labor-intensive focus of raising our lab to be a polite member of our family into my lifestyle that I won’t TRY to do better – but for right now, what I can do is ENOUGH.
Filed under Attitude, Challenges, Changes, Encouragement, Favorite Quotes
Desmond Tutu via Lisa Bearnes Richey
Filed under Attitude, Encouragement, Favorite Quotes
Sun-Gazing.com via Cathy Ruggiero
I used to want to have ‘something to do’ each day – somewhere to go, people to see, activities. I realize that wanting the opposite is definitely a sign of old age, but I’m embracing it.
Today there are no scheduled appointments, no ‘have-to’ errands, no commitments. AHHHHHHHHHHHH!
_________________
Yesterday my husband and I both worked most of the day in the hot sun.
My husband was trying to relocate a microlink to our computers in the shop. This is not a thing we HAVE to have, but it used to work and yesterday it wasn’t. In order to get it to work again, my husband had to move the equipment on the house end from the front of the house to the back and mount it on the window bars. This involved a lot of cable making, stapling inside the wall of the garage, welding and painting for the piece that mounted to the window, testing of cables, switches, and links, etc. It took my husband all day, but he got it working. Now he just has to put his tools away and cut down several branches on a tree between the house and the shop for a clearer line of sight.
In the garden, I planted two celery plants, pulled out the last of the spinach and lettuce plants, pruned the plants that were left, and weeded the raised bed planters. The only thing remaining in the garden to spray the weeds on the ground with weed killer.
I took some stuff out to the greenhouse in preparation for starting some tomato suckers, but the thermometer showed red all the way to the top – over 120 degrees – so I just put the stuff inside and came out again.
I dumped the water from the kiddie pool, washed it out, and refilled it.
I cleaned Amber’s porch up, hosed it out, then squeegeed and mopped.
I mowed the yard on the riding mower after helping my husband with the microlink several times.
By the time we finally stopped for dinner, it was almost 9:00. I cooked, we ate and watched a movie.
Whew!
____________________
There are things I’ll do today, but I’m concentrating on doing things INSIDE while the sun is at its hottest – as we SHOULD have done yesterday – and OUTSIDE when the sun is going down, with only the finishing touches on dinner to do.
I’m going to also take time to read more of my latest “In Death” series book by Nora Roberts while I’m relaxing.
Because my back is letting me know I overdid yesterday, I’ll try to work in a session of yoga.
Funny-Pics.co
AHHHHHHHH!
Thanks to Marsha Koenig for her email.
Filed under Attitude, Childlike Fun, Grin for the Day
Thanks to Marsha Koenig for her email.
Filed under Attitude, Grin for the Day
Chrissie Anderson Peters
Today is our 48th wedding anniversary. We dated for 8 years before we married, so in many ways we think of this as our 56th year together. We hope that – since we have a good start now – we can enjoy MANY more happy years together.
Each year we ask each other if our ‘option’ to share another year is to be renewed. (We don’t take anything for granted.) This morning we agreed that, indeed, we want to spend at LEAST another year together. :0)
I think that many people marry for the wrong reasons. When I married my husband, it was because I wanted to share my LIFE with him, whatever happened, forever. That’s a huge commitment and it should not be entered into lightly. Sometimes we feel very, very close. Other times I want to wring his neck. We’re two very different people. We don’t agree on many things. We don’t even use the same salt. But love overrides all.
We’ve shared everything for 48 years. We built a family together. We have a son who is smarter, braver, and kinder than both of us put together. We wish we could take credit for the man he is, but the truth is we lucked out. We created a daughter who was beautiful, but she died of SIDS at two months of age. The hurt and loss never leave, and changed our lives forever. We’ve shared wonderful things, and intense sorrow. We have celebrated the good things together, and have helped each other deal with many tough things. It’s ‘the two of us against the world.’
I have seen many people treat their spouse terribly. Then, when out in public – after fighting with their spouse – they turn on the smiles to everyone else. I truly believe it should be the opposite. You should treat your spouse with the best you have in you. Concentrate on treating him better than you would treat anyone else. (This doesn’t mean you don’t have disagreements, hurt feelings, anger, etc. After all, you two know each other better than anyone else in the world. You know what buttons to push. Sometimes there are hurt feelings because of the TONE. Sometimes it’s just a look. When you’re this close to someone, great care should be taken.)
I’ve been trying to ‘train’ my husband for years, to no avail. He quotes somebody as saying, “When a woman marries, she thinks she can change him, and he doesn’t. When a man marries, he hopes she’ll never change, and she does.”
Sharing your life with someone is a priceless gift. You should give it at least the same care as you would any priceless gift – care, attention, nurturing, patience…..
So, when he jumped over the back fence with a rose in his teeth, he took my breath away. He still does.
Werner Bollmann
Filed under Attitude, Family, Favorite People, life lessons
Thanks to Marsha Koenig for her email.
Filed under Attitude, Grin for the Day
http://www.itsalovelylife.com via Krafty Max
This is a lesson I finally learned, though it took about half of my life.
I met my husband-to-be when I was 14, in ninth grade. He had just signed up for the Marine Corps and he would leave at the end of the summer. My parents allowed me to invite him to go with us to our swimming club. And that was the beginning.
I lived – from then on – for when he got leave from the Marines. Almost everything else in my life was ignored, endured, put on hold. Then I was waiting for him to get out of the Marines. When he did, we waited again until he enrolled at the same college I attended. We did that for one semester and then he dropped out. So I was restlessly awaiting graduation from college so we could be together all the time. My parents said we couldn’t marry until I got my teaching degree, but they relented when I got into this special program that allowed me to finish my degree, doing my practice teaching in Tulsa.
From 14 ’til 22 years of age I basically WAITED, letting many good things pass me by.
The advice above is priceless. We only have one life. Live every day. Stop waiting.
Just STOP.
Filed under Acting Like a Grownup, Attitude, Encouragement
zazzle
Today I shut down my website, Creative Artworks. I’m feeling mixed emotions, but it is time.
In 2000, my son designed a website so I could try to sell the things I made. I then realized that for the same money, I could list the work of other people, too. At one point I had over 120 artists on the site. My enthusiasm was through the roof. I lived and breathed Creative Artworks.
I’ve met a wonderful variety of talented people over 17 years, and I’ve been proud to host the website, helping people sell their artwork. I’ll never cease to be amazed at how many really creative folks there are in this world. I’ve never met most of the artists who allowed me to display their work, but I’ve become friends with many of them.
The first one I told that I was shutting down the website was my son, who is halfway across the world from me. He worked tirelessly to make the very best website for me that he could. Even when he went on to do countless other things, he would make time to help me with problems, adapt the site to meet different requirements from the credit card people, web hosts, and others.
When I wrote to him this morning, he was still up, though there is 12 hours difference between us. He wanted to really chat, so he sent me the program appear.in (I think) so we could actually talk in real time and SEE each other. (This is like Skype – but we could never make Skype work well for us.) We talked for several minutes. He was worried that I was shutting down the site because I was upset for some reason, or was upset with him. I assured him that I had been considering the idea for some time and decided that it was time. I thanked him from the bottom of my heart for giving me 17 of the best creative years of my life, for designing the website that allowed me to show my own stuff and the work of others.
Part of me is sad because it’s the end of an era for me. I’ve truly enjoyed it, but my heart is now in writing my blog, square foot gardening, the new greenhouse, continuing to cook low carb and low sugar for my husband and myself, spending more time on my art, spending time with our new puppy, practicing yoga, and more. I feel really lucky that I am able to end one part of my life, freeing it up for more of the things I love.
Filed under Attitude, Challenges, Changes
Margarita Bloom via Cathy Ruggiero
Filed under Attitude, Encouragement, Favorite Quotes
Begin with Yes
My list has been thrown up into the air and has blown away in the wind lately – ever since we made the decision to get a new puppy in the middle of trying to get my husband’s cataracts removed.
We only have one more appointment with the eye doctor and my husband is feeling fine and getting his energy back now. He is being a big help with the puppy now, so I’m not feeling quite as fried every night way before it’s time for bed.
Today I called our dirt guy to tell him we were functional now and to please put us on the list to clear the land for our planned greenhouse, as well as repair our driveway. Happily, he MIGHT be able to work our projects in this afternoon!. We have some errands to run, but we shouldn’t be gone long and will be home to receive his call if he can, indeed, come today. :0)
Now that my husband is recovering, I’m feeling more able to call on him to give me a bit of time and space to regain my sanity. I’m delighted that we adopted Amber, but she is a double handful of extremely active puppy. I find that I’m a much better ‘mom’ to her when I can get my act together a bit between sessions.
So I’m ‘adjusting accordingly’ right now, and hoping to get a little bit of my normal life back soon.
Filed under Attitude, Challenges, Changes, Encouragement
Purple Clover via Cathy Ruggiero
I would LIKE to take the above to heart and quit worrying, but it seems to be something I carry deep into my DNA. I TRY to say I’ll stop, but then it rears its ugly head again.
I worry about things about which I have absolutely no control – a sure sign of stupidity – but, KNOWING it’s stupid and ACTING on it are two different things.
So, I post this in the hope that each of us will read it and digest it, hoping that THIS TIME the sense of it will sink in.
Filed under Attitude, Encouragement
Ground Zero Web
With the new puppy I’ve been moving a LOT more, lifting, walking, cleaning up after, playing, loving, etc. However, with all the movement, my back has started to bother me again, so I’m going to start trying to make time for at least one yoga session per day.
Now that my husband is able to take turns on taking care of Amber, I have a bit more time to try to get chores done and I SHOULD be able to get back on the mat.
Today is the first day in ages since I’ve made time for something truly good for me, so I’m excited.
Filed under Attitude, Challenges, Changes, exercise
Voltaire – Art by Anita – Zen to Zany via Cathy Ruggiero
Filed under Attitude, Favorite Quotes, Reading is FUNdamental
creativeartworksblog 